The end of my Run.

I had once said that running for me, is the most honest test of my body’s endurance, strength and most of all, my willpower. It’s just you, the demanding road under the soles of your beat-out trainers and your mind. You can never be more alone than in that moment when you call on your aching body to perform what your mind wills it to do. There was always something about a run that brought a little tightness to my chest and took my legs a couple seconds to  find a comfortable stride without butterflies fluttering in my inner thighs.

My brother stuck with me to give me moral support for my first 5k

I'm not a gifted runner, or a natural, nor had it been something I had been doing forever... As a matter of fact, I came into running quite late. But when I did discover it, there was no turning back. It was a new phase of my life and it was all mine. It was my grit, my steel, my throw my arms up in the air and push a little harder when one of my favorite songs blared through my headphones, my "I passed two more people today that I couldn't pass last month... YeeHaw!" I made new friends when I wanted to up the ante and joined a running group. I encountered hills that kicked my butt, and made me feel for the first time in my life, completely out of my depth and made me question my resolve.

My Bro & I after my first 5k

Some of my favorite moments whilst running were:

*sunrises around the Queen's Park Savannah;

*the smell of crushed seeds on the second turn of the Lady Chancellor Hill;

*seeing Paramin in the early hours of the morning;

*looking at the face of a hill on Hololo mountain and asking myself for the first time ever "what have      I gotten myself into?" and then pushing on;

*shaving off a few seconds and eventually minutes;

*feeling stronger and more alive with every improved run;

*my husband first started courting me by coming along when I first started running. He's as fit as a fiddle, so my "runs" were a walk in the park for him. He would chatter on whilst I huffed and puffed and compelled my lungs and body into submission. A favorite memory was running up Lady Chancellor Hill, with Edward and his cousin Jennifer (my friend). Edward chattered all the way up the hill and at some point turned to me to find that my lips turned blue because I was trying a new breathing technique! He messaged me later that evening to say "Blue doesn't quite become you! See you on our next run."

Me, Edward and Nina after my first encounter with Hololo Mountain for King of the Hill

But most of all, I will miss the sound, smell and feel of my body as I settle into my breathing and find a stride. This is the end of my run.