The Big Walk

I’m not really sure how many people I know would be insane enough to actually join the Big Walk, since exercising seems to be something of a nono among them. It seemed to be fun though, and going by my “if you haven’t tried it, you’d better do” philosophy, I signed up for the darn thing a few weeks ago.

Crawling out of bed early in the bloody morning, reaching the stadium only to find like thousands of people already there was a bit of a “whaddafcuk?” Then again, I’d already realised that on the MRT trip. (More than a third of the commuters had running shoes and the TNP Big Walk tee.)

Looking at the sea of people, it felt like the JP Morgan run all over again. Actually, it was worse that that. I was actually slightly thankful that I was alone, else it would’ve been insane if I had to pull someone along with me in that stifling crowd. Primary school kids, happy families and couples holding hands, hardcore photogs with their huge-ass SLRs, single ladies strolling along with oversized dogs, it looked like all sorts of people were along for the event. It certainly felt good to be part of it. It’ll be something fun to do if you had your own family, something like a social bonding activity? Definitely something I’ll encourage my family to go for, since it’s little things like this that enhance the cohesion.

It’s at times like these that I feel torn between two places.

I would’ve loved to have a camera handy and be able to snap all the interesting things that happened today. Like the two ladies who panicked when their dogs started chewing each other up. Or the costumed stilt walkers who were hanging around the place. And the hardcore walkers who were almost an hour ahead of me, sweating gallons but firmly keeping in pace. The official photographers in yellow, who were oddly snapping two miniature model figures on the ground instead of the people walking by. The relaxed looks on some people’s faces, you could really see them enjoying themselves. It would’ve been something if I could capture the mood of the place.

But if I did that, I certainly wouldn’t have had the experience of finishing the 10km like I did today. The agonised feel of every step, to catch up with the guy infront. Mental stamina to hold on, keep walking and not slow down. Feeling the sweat rush out in a flood, and the kick of adrenaline. To keep going, overtaking, progressing.

Decisions, decisions, decisions.

Well, at least now I know how competitive walking feels like heh. Not as strenuous on the lungs, but your legs definitely have to be in darn good shape if you wanna make a decent timing. It’s at times like this that you realise why competitive walkers walk with that exaggerated swing of the hips and the arms. It looks screwy, but after a bit of experimentation.. I belatedly realised that that was actually the most efficient (and probably most comfortable) way to walk.

No pics during the walk, since I was too busy just trying to stick to my pace. So I hung around after the run and took a few of the place, hmm. Not too fantastic but that’s all I got ;p

For some weird reason, my back muscles’re aching more than my legs hrmmm. Does walking put a bigger strain on the back than on the legs? Even my butt muscles’re aching, argh. I think it’s my body’s way of punishing me for playing bball right after the walk, geez.

Maybe I’ll join the Men’s Open category next year : )

Sidenote: There’s the runway cycling event at Paya Lebar Airbase next weekend, and the Osim triathlon in July but I doubt I’ll be going for either. The runway cycling feels a little moronic, since it’ll be another crazy jam and I absolutely hate jams when I’m cycling. Cycling on a runway just doesn’t appeal to me. I’ll definitely be lacking in training for the triathlon, so I can skip that one as well.

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Addendum:

- Cheryl writes a good one about why whiners aren’t restricted to a single sex.

- Captnj’s post on protein intake for Singaporean food types; this is something worth noting for people who work out.

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You might be interested reading in these posts:

• bleh.
• Big Walk aftermath
• and so..