Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Bananas

Hi kids! For today's lesson, I will introduce you to the action-reaction theory of The Ape Effect.

Okay, so imagine yourself in a zoo. You'll most likely see a bunch of kids gawking in front of the ape cage, hooting and making weird noises to attract the poor creature's attention. They will continue doing so until suddenly , the ape roars. This is the action. The reaction that follow will probably be : the kids will stop, giggle nervously then slowly disperse. This, is the Ape Effect.

Hail fellow runners, we can apply this theory in our daily runs.
A runner, while running in his/her running route will most probably get the occasional rude or smart alec crack from uninvited roadside spectators. What one should do is, one should make weird noises ( such as a caw or a bleat) or better yet, make a 'back-atcha' wisecrack, confidently to the spectators while maintaining direct eye contact. The usual reaction from these people to this would probably be : stop, nervous giggle then look/walk away. Thus, The Ape Effect.

I have tested this many times and can give my sound testimony that it works. Sure they'll think you're weird but at least they'll stop bothering you.

Anyyywayyy...I've entered my 10 week training period this week. And let me tell ya, after a month of running on the thrillmill, I've lost sight on how hard it is running on road. On the machine, I could do 10 minute/mile for 5-6 miles easy. But on the road, nak maintain 11 min/mile pun macam apa ntah. I was wheezing like anything, and coming across a slithering snake on the road doesn't help either.  I hope I can improve in time for my next 10K race in 2 weeks time. As usual, my hub manager says, " Boleh, boleh" while eyeing me as I munch on raya cookies. But I guess, if he's confident with me, then I should believe in myself too eh?

Oh and on the 4th day of raya, manager and I went out running and it rained halfway but we ran anyway. When we got back to my parents place ( we ran at our kampung route), my mom shook her head dissapprovingly, " You ran in the rain?"

Well, sure beats walking in the rain.

8 comments:

  1. People in my streets have ignored me for years now, they still stare but at least no more silly remarks. But the Ape Effect can be applied to stray dogs too, kan?

    Eh, goodluck for PBIM training and the 10K!

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  2. Can, can. But sometimes, it doesn't apply to hardcore rempits. When you chance upon these hooligans, sila buat donno je.
    Goodluck on your TNF training,Kak Haza! Today might suck but tomorrow will be super!

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  3. same here, but matrempits tu different species better to treat them as invisible lol .. u will be finelah julin, dont worry .. its just jitters ;-)

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  4. I think we need to give more weight to the security issue of a runner when it comes to public. at the rate of the gruesome crime Malaysian are more capable of, we should be more mindful and extra careful :D

    a lot of crazies out there

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  5. best comment : emmmbeeekkk...!!!!

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  6. KakJune: I just hope I don't cross paths with those notorious harassing mat rempits. That's why, as bulky as it is, I carry my hp with me at all times. Mana la nak tau kan?
    Syah: Everytime we're on the road, we're exposing ourselves to various hazards. Motorist, weirdos an the likes. I guess, we can only take the appropriate precaution macam tell people who matters where you're running, run in groups, run with hp, run with pepper spray?
    The rest tu tawakal je la. If not mmg tak lari la jadinya.
    Ijam: Haha. The best.

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  7. Awak buat biskut raya perasa banana ke?

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