It's over...?

How to describe...a 12 hour non-stop day...

Had dinner with parents after my 1 hour afternooon nap the previous day, in preparation for the non-stop recce to be conducted in the evening. Dinner at Swensen's was nice, 'cuz they had the $26 discount thingy and therefore, I think I had a good and satisfactory meal.

After that, I joined Candice, Tianqi, Jorin and Henghong for the night recce at 9pm (was late -_-), and we targeted to cover the areas affected by the road closures due to AHM the next day - namely, Fort Road, Mountbatten Road, Stadium Blvd and the area around the Padang and Fullerton (Collyer Quay, Cecil St etc). Initially, the process was okay, going at a good speed and we were still high and fresh.

As night drew to a close and 11th Sep beckoned, the tired souls tried to rise up to the challenge of the night and continue with the search for possible clue areas after finishing up the West route. Alas, I failed to find enough decent checkpoints. Damn.

And my mind was wondering, my heart was screaming for some sleep, yet, I doubted I should ever do that. To say "I Quit" is a wrong in itself. Moreover, I think Tianqi had an even harder time as a driver. Try being one throughout the night for 8 hours straight.

And I know I had made a mistake. A mistake to join the AHM on the day after the recce, or rather, minutes after the recce.

A thought flashed through my mind. Which was more important? Running? Or Rovers? Sudden surge of 2 likings contradicting each other made me feel all the more worse.

And I think I felt distant, as AHM drew close. On one hand, I was trying to psyche myself for the daunting (but do-able) 21km, while trying to help out in the naming of the clues for the East route. I admit, I'm not good at such things, and I think I'll be better off playing. Maybe. Or maybe, I got the concept wrong. So someone, please tell me what did I do wrong. Please. It's my fault, I can feel it.

And Tianqi was very nice to drop me at the AHM starting point at 5.20am. Thanks dude. I really appreciate it, but I felt bad for not finishing the recce. Henghong and Jorin had to split the work out to cover me. My failure.

Maybe it's all my figment of imagination, or I'm just acting on adrenaline and plain sensitive at that time. I could not bring myself to say sorry and not recognising the possible pitfalls of the East Route.

Enough of that rambling I guess, since, I think you guys would get the point.

Back to the AHM thing, I was feeling really lethargic, and thoughts of dropping out of the run went through my mind. But I was thinking, "Should I?" Definitely thinking of someone, but I wish to complete, not because I paid, but because I felt that I should.

Rushing over to the gathering point for sgRunners, I realised all were ready and raring to go. And the sight of a white tee-shirt dude in sandals running to them certainly made them amused. Sigh. I was late, and it was 20 mins to the start of the race.

Went over to the toilet area to find cubicles for me to change, but there were none. Suddenly, I had an idea, and went straight down to the closed Esplanade carpark and did a quick "Superman".

Brother Kops helped me by passing the bag to the bag collection area, and I did a quick stretch to warm up my muscles. Not having enough sleep, certainly made me think twice about pushing for a PB this time round. I knew immediately I could not, not even with heaps of ice-cream waiting for me.

And the competitive runners went off without me knowing. Wow.

So, I was stuck in the non-competitive crowd with Kops and his friend, and I hoped to start slow, so as to see whether I was up to it. Not having any sleep prior to the run, certainly made me feel uneasy. But I just had to go. And off I went.

The first 3km was relatively easy and slow, since I decided not to push it and get in front of the looming pack. A bottleneck was created en route up the highway, and I reckoned we lost about 2 minutes during the walk-a-thon.

After that, met up with Yuan Ern, and both of us ran on till the ECP turning point.

Waterpoints till then were minimal, and lots of runners had covered the floor with water and styrofoam cups before us. Gee. Talk about environmentally friendliness. Did not manage to grab a drink at all the waterpoints, since it was often crowded by people. And demand exceeded supply.

Okay, so I managed to keep a relatively comfortable (but slow) pace of 10km in 1 hour, and I decided to push it, seeing that my body could take it. Yuan Ern decided to give it up, and continued at his own pace. I just went off, and met some Army friends (Wee Siong, Lawrence and Jason) on the way to the finishing mark.

Luckily, it was not too hot and sunny on the way back. I was briefly surprised, and it helped me. I could feel my head going giddy at times, and body shaking briefly. But still, I was pushing, and thinking of people, friends, and family. Flashes of her passed me by, but I think that was the work of the tired mind.

Anyway, managed to reach the ending point without much problems. No cramps, no stiches, nothing. Must be the food helping (i.e Blk 85 Bak Chor Mee). The gun time showed 2:13, but I doubted the accuracy for me, since I went off with a different group. Definitely lower, but I'll just wait for the results.

After the run, it was like a sudden loss of adrenaline. I bet I was running purely on a combination of adrenaline and thoughts of her. Messaged people after the run, but I guess she's asleep then.

Met up with some 6DSMBians, including CPT Darren and SSG Koh, and it was great meeting up with them. Time really flies.

And all who saw me said I became thinner. REALLY? Sighz.

Messaged Wanling also, since I knew she was taking part in the 12km run. She finished it. Yipee! Haha. Though I never met up with her today, cos she's with her friends.

After that, my body never crumpled, it just switched off. Mentally, I was drained, and I just collected my bag, took my goodie bag, and found the sgRunners people. Drowning myself in Gatorade, my body screamed for sleep.

Which is what I'll do now. ^_^

I've gotta thank Bro Kops for sending me home. I KO'ed all the way till the destination, yet he was awake. Many thanks, pal.

Time to think of homework after the snooze. Sighz. Life is so demanding, but I'm challenging it to the best of my ability.

Current Mood: Shacked Out

Current Music: S.E.N.S & Sun Yan Zi