Of running and crying toddlers

Our weekly LSD today started at 6.35 am. Our attempt today was 18 K. Not much hu-ha there but this was hub's first attempt at that distance barefoot all the way.

Our target was going 5 and a half laps in a 2 mile loop at the Lake Garden which beats going round and round 18 times at the 1 km loop at the Rakan Muda Complex. This may seem taxing to those who hate running in loops but it's all okay really once you psyched yourself really good.
From experience, the first round was ran in silence on my behalf. If it's too cold, or too early or if I talk too much too soon, I'll be wheezing and struggling to catch my breath. So I let hub babble along and try not to snap if he asks me a question. By the 3rd km it usually gets better and I'll suddenly crack jokes and hub will be like ,  " I reckon you feel better?"

To make our run bearable, we like to people watch all the way. We deduct that old people are the best, greeting people with beaming smiles in the dark of the dawn. People in my age group are occasionally friendly but the young ones will almost always have their game faces on. You smile at them and they look at you like you're a nut.
Thumpers ( people who like to stomp while running) will try hard to pace with normal runners and occasionally attempt to overtake them, but will ALWAYS stop half the way. There was this Uncle Power Walker who walks way faster than we were running , and to me , this made the 50K walk world record in 3 hours plus more fathomable ( I kind of wondered how this was possible the first time I read it in the news). There was this chick who was also running 11 miles solo in the opposite direction and never got bored saying hi every time we passed ( which was really nice but commented, " Aiyaa, sakitnya" at my hub's naked feet on the last lap).

Sure in the middle of the run it got a bit tiring going through the same scenes over and over again but I try to psych myself with some encouragement. Instead of thinking, " Oh man, it's this hotel again. If I'll pass it again I'm gonna scream", I 'll say something positive out loud like, " Hello Hotel, I'm here again. See you later" or "There you are Zoo. How are the animals holding up? I'll be back". I know it sounds corny but it helps. And to catch a glimpse at people's faces when I say this is such a gas.

And by doing all these distractions, sedar-sedar our run was over. Hub's ankles and knees weren't acting up and all is well. The only downer was when I called Dad and he told me Adik was having a tantrum when she woke up. Tapi yang kelakarnya , bila ditanya " Adik, mama pegi mana?" , tau pulak jawab ( in between sobs) ," Mama kami pi lawi"

Aiseymen, kesian la pulak.