Undoing all the good that was done...?

New 4D number... if only the number 1 was replaced by 7... keke.. then it'll be my special number...

While most Jedis and padawans were asleep this morning in their nice and comfortable beds.. 11 Simplevillians.. woke up at ard 5--6am to get ready for the run..

I was so sure my timing this year would be much worse than the last.

For one, my pacer for last year, "Master Pretty", did not take part in this run. No one was there to push me.... Weak.. I don't have the determination to do things on my own, as always I'm over-reliant on others...

Secondly, I exercised less this yr (no more dance concerts to train for) and after the recent health check.. I realised I gained weight again!!! Crap...

True enough... my timing for the 6km run was slightly under 1hr.. that's pathetic... I think last year's was either 45 or 50 mins..

Nevertheless, effort and sacrifices were put in and made...

1. Effort made to wake up much earlier... (even earlier than normal school days..)
2. Effort made in running (plus walking in my case)
3. Sacrificed my two big toenails.. (improper footwear n running method caused blue black on my toes.. they'll most probably drop off again.. )
4. Sacrificed my time which could have been spent setting 'killer' papers for my padawans...
5. Sacrificed by being drenched in the rain...it felt like some sort of cleansing, rather refreshing (It rained at my last 1km.. and I was soaked - hopefully, the flu vaccine which was 'mercilessly' jabbed into me this week will be in effect...)

The exercise was good.. and I felt that something was achieved...at least some calories were burnt... but then..... I had to undo it all by eating Prata with cheese and sausage + Egg Prata + Teh Tarik.. with the other Jedis.. to the effect that I may have gained more calories than I burnt... then I questioned myself why bother running in the first place.....

It just takes one or two characters to undo all the effort and sacrifices that have been put in and made.... In my case, they were the 'pratas' and the 'teh tarik'.

In a similar fashion, we realise that it takes one or two characters to undo all the good that had been done to maintain some sort of peace and equilibrum that we have all enjoyed and to undo all the efforts made to re-establish ourselves via the improvements made over the years...

And when that damage is done, very few would consider the progress that have been made over the years and most would just remember the bad, because it's the end result that is there for all to see.... Unfair, isn't it?

But do we surrender? Do we give up? Do we beat ourselves because we think we have failed?

No, I think not... in fact.. I think we need to fight even more (please ah... figuratively not literally)... we need to redeem ourselves as a WHOLE.. including all the 'prata' culprits...

And that's precisely why, I'm looking forward to the next challenges...

2.4 km test run on ACES Day 31 Aug
6km Public Service Quarter Marathon on 9 Sept....