k r i s a n d r o

I started joining long distance races only last year and signed on for 3 of them so far: Singapore Bay Run 2009 (21km), Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon 2009 (42km) & Adidas Sundown Marathon 2010 (21km).

A couple of weeks before Singapore Bay Run last year, I was out with flu for a good 3 weeks and struggled to complete the whole of 21km. I didn’t even go for the Standard Chartered run because of a persistent hacking cough that lasted for 3 months before the race.

The Adidas Sundown Marathon 2010 is just this Saturday and guess what? I have been out injured because of a suspected inflamed tendon in my right foot that has been plaguing me for the last 3 weeks. Did I trigger this injury from training?

Nope!

I got it from chasing down a bloody bus because I wanna get home earlier to run!

Yes. That is my foot and the x-ray scan of it. No. HP Touchsmarts does not do x-ray scans but they sure make a useful backlight to see film like that.

I know that people always have an impression that I am pretty fit and *ahem* I think that is not far from the truth. *cough cough*

But I am and have been quite injury prone throughout my life and while I embark on this long distance running phase of my life, it seems pretty apparent that my injury woes continue to bug me like a persistent STD. (Not that I have one…)

KuKuNehNeh claims that I am cursed from running and told me to stop signing up for races because SOMETHING ALWAYS happens right before the races that displaces me back to square one sometimes even when I was training very hard.

Am I cursed?

Hi. My name is Kris and I have an addiction.

I used to think people were crazy to love it. How can anyone with a sane mind possibly love doing it?

It was hard to even begin at first. Every sense in my body told me it was the wrong thing to do. Friends told me how damaging it was for those who tried. Most people felt disgusted by it and wouldn’t even attempt it. Only a handful found it to be the missing piece in their lives and these rare ones are usually labelled ‘crazy’ by the rest.

Then something changed last year after I started trying it out. It felt exhilarating. It left me high and dry and wanting more even when my body tells me not to. Fatigue will sometimes last long after doing it but I can’t help but do it again. Every time I recover, I felt that I wanted more and more. I am almost obsessed with doing it at a higher frequency than most normal people would ever do it for.

I started to reduce my daily activities, socializing and sometimes even forgoing food, just so that I could spend more time on it. People frown when I talk about it. I can almost see the disgust in their faces when I explain my love for it. It makes me feel guilty sometimes when I attempt to persuade others to try it out, especially when their frowns deepen.

Many say humans are not meant to do it so much. It is harmful.

I say that they are wrong. It is the very thing that makes us human.

Hi. My name is Kris and I have an addiction to running.

After a long rest, I finally started on my training again for the Adidas Sundown (half marathon event) in May and for my 1st full marathon at the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon 2010.

For me, running is really quite enjoyable and all I need is to start in order to get the momentum going and I did it on 19th Jan. I have since ran 7 times and I am slowly building up my mileage like any proper training schedule.

I absolutely love to measure and record various numbers I can get out of everything and running is no exception. It serves as a great way to check my progress, adjust my schedule accordingly and of course to stroke the ego of mine whenever I see myself improving.

As you can see, comparing the 1st, 4th and the 7th run which I just completed hours ago, I have not only increased the distance I ran, I also ran faster and still managed to reduce the effort that my heart had to make for each run.

I do know that because I just started, it’s easy to have vast improvements but it’s still pretty interesting to have all the data recorded like that and compare it down the road.

Can’t wait to hit 10km and beyond in 3 weeks or so.

Boy am I such a running geek.

The running event of the year, the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon 2009, has been open for registration since the 16th July and early birds who register during this period till the 5th of August will get to enjoy discounts for the registration fees!

Wow~! 3 variations of the word ‘register’ in the sentence above and it doesn’t take a genius to guess the purpose of this post is to convince YOU to register!

Take the chance to register for a race so that you’ll find a valid excuse to put on your running shoes and get out there to sweat it out!

Well, if you are not as crazy as the few of us going for the full marathon, there are other categories to consider like the half-marathon, 10km, team races or even the 750m kids dash if you are 13 years of age and below.

Here is the breakdown of the fees involved.

And do consider registering yourself as a charity runner by joining their “Run for a Cause” (RFAC) program whereby you can help raise funds through a pledge card or an online donation portal to either of the 3 identified charities or all of them. The 3 charities are:

1. Bukit Ho Swee Family Service Centre

- a community-based focal point of family resources that promotes and strengthens the well-being of families in distress.

2. Lions Befrienders

- reaches out to lonely senior citizens with limited or no family support, to help dignifying and enhance the quality of their golden years.

3. Rainbow Centre Yishun Park School

- is a place where children with autism and multiple disabilities are respected and provided with specialised curriculum and services to develop their full potential.

Not that it is important if your motive is to help raise funds but the top 500 RFAC participants who raised more than $300 will be waived for their registration fees and be given a limited edition RFAC shirt.

I have yet to decide which charity to aid but I do hope that you guys will at least help to donate in the event that you do not wish to take part in the running.

See you on the 6th of December 2009!