Always Running

It was not too long ago when i loathed running. Then i was... in my final year of Junior College where i had to comply with a "10 rounds" rule every PE lesson. That, was a result of me having strayed out of my "acceptable" BMI range. Despite having total body fat percentage of 11.3% in my Bioimpedance Body Fat Test and a specialist certifying that i have high bone density as well as larger bones than most, no... the people in charge were adamant that I clock 10 rounds every PE lesson. *Roll eyeball...

Then NS came beckoning... What was initially welcomed as a pitstop for my overworked neurones proved a deadly killing field for my muscle cells. :X And so you can visualise, ladies and gentlemen... Monsieur Eric making a leap of faith from a charcoal fire to a frying pan. As to which one is the lesser evil, i am still unable to discern properly. Yada yada... *Fast forward and then i came trudging to Mt Barebones which i already knew from my BMT days from her unflattering nicknames.

Ironically, Mt Barebones proved to be my very undoing for this is where my body finally declared an all out war with me. My legs just simply went on strike for many days at a time... I suppose it was due to the hilly terrain that did me in. It was one place where the familiar army ditty,"Up the hill, down the slope.." rang true. And so i bowed to pressure from the strikers and went for an extremely long hiatus. That was when a stealthy enemy struck me and boy, it went creeping on me when i was totally unaware all the time. Then again, many people are still fighting a losing battle against it. That's right... it's the dreaded Flab~... After sitting on my fat arse for nearly 3 months, i decided against looking like Junior out of screen set any longer.

From then on, i transformed into a General of the anti-Flab army, where every conceivable post was held by... who else? ME!! I started on a plain old cardiovascular programme utilising running as the main platform which i directed my assaults against the heart of the enemy. And till now, i am still fighting the insurgency which is already into its seven months. And here i am, proud to declare that i have made significant gains against the abominable enemy...

But just like everything that grows with time, irrelevancy soon sets in. At first, it seems pretty obvious what the primary objectives were and so it was relatively easy to work towards that. The initial layers of opposition melted away like butter to a hot knife and so the small victories came trickling in, profusely. However, as the conflict dragged on, the tempo increased. The inner layers of the enemy proved harder to decimate so I too, had to change tack. A harder enemy simply meant that i had to provide a harder offensive and so i increased the intensity of my cardiovascular programme.

Like any well discerning individual, i too recognised the importance of a multi-pronged attack. Simply attacking the enemy with calorie busting exercises is not enough. I targeted my diet by reducing intake of energy rich food like carbohydrates and fats but i took extreme caution to ensure that overall, my body still had sufficient intake of essential nutrients.

By the end of the year 2005, i was already addicted to exercising by some extent. Any unforseen event that took away my usual exercise slot will have me all consumed in self-guilt for not exercising... One day spent in Mt Barebones is one day spent in monotony yet again so exercising lends an interesting break from routine. Asking someone else to enjoy every round of running like relishing yet another delectable morsel is crazy i know. But till you exercise like i do, this uprush of endorphins each time will remain elusive to you...