Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Your Pace/ Run happy

First of all, thanks all for your birthday wishes. I really appreciate it and truly feel loved and blessed.
Secondly for those who have been asking, I'm 31.
31 years old and feeling great about it.
A friend asked, " If you were given a choice on what age you want to be on your birthday, what will it be?"
I'd say 31. I wouldn't want to be any age younger. Do you ever look back when you were young and cringe at the things you said or did. I've made a couple of stupid/weird/bad choices way back then and suffice to say, yeah, I'm happy being where I'm at right now, thank you very much. Not to say, I'm so much smarter now but let's just say that it'll take me at least 10 years to look back and say to myself, " I did THAT( insert stupid behavior) at 31?"

I haven't much to say today. I'm just killing time waiting for my other half to get the car serviced.But I really want to write this down before I change my mind.
I'm really sad about the way running has turned out for some of us. It has ceased to be a hobby and become more of a burden. Running is supposed to make us happy but don't you think something is wrong when we're not enjoying it as much as when we first started? We used to enjoy taking our time, listening to the pitter patter of our feet shuffling to the rhythm of our runs. Now it's like we're more into how fast and how far we'd go, that 10-11 minute/mile is not good enough and  this mileage has to be done no matter what or we'll deem ourselves doomed.
This is a hobby.  A mere thing we do to fill up the extra time. It's not a job. We're not professionals. We don't have the extra 4 hours a day to complete that dreadly mileage we intend to do. We won't die today if we don't do that 15K. We have our  careers, we have our kids, we have our spouses. By doing this, running on and on for hours and hours, we're not only taking up our precious spare time, but we're taking theirs as well. Their time with us.

What I'm saying is, find that balance. That thin line that separates us from falling over the edge. Or leaving us feeling burnt out.

Don't stop racing. Oh no, I'm not even remotely suggesting that. And don't stop running. But do it at your pace. If you can only afford the time to train for 1-2 marathons a year, that's good enough.If you can only train for little races here and there, then good for you. If you can afford the time to train for a marathon every month and it makes you happy, then do that. At your pace. If it makes you happy. Secukup rasa.

But if it's starting to feel like a chore, like not once in a while, like in most of the time,every day, every time then slow down. Take a breather.
You're not racing anybody but yourself. It's called a PB because it's a PB. Don't fret, somebody already got the 2 03 marathon record. Somebody already did 50 marathons is 50 months. One more or one less, nobody's worried.

At least that's what I think.
I'm not a preacher and I'm the last person in the world to do this. This is a gentle reminder to myself
And I'm not good in conveying my thoughts in words. And this may get misinterpreted by some.
But that's what I think . For now.
Who knows, maybe 10 years from now, I would read back this post and cringe and think, " I wrote that at 31?"

14 comments:

  1. Aye aye, well summed up. Enjoy running. Why so serious lah? Unless of course running is your bread and butter ;)

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  2. well said julin .. like me slow slow pun lari jugalah hahah .. i still enjoy it and miss it with my creaking knees and swelling ligament lol .. 31 eh? wonderful age to be, then again, any age pun its wonderful in its own way :)

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  3. well said.. stay happy :)

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  4. i like this term..happy pace :)

    running should set u free like i bird, that's exactly i felt when running..bliss

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  5. Love you, JJ, has anyone ever told you you always say the right things at the right time? And yes, if there's anyone I can point at who's keeping everything in balance, it's you...you and your grey track-bots (ke sudah upgrade? hehe)and your ever improving speed.

    Happy 31st!

    If you ask me what age I'd love to be all the time, I'd say it's 40. :-)

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  6. superlike this post and agree with you jj! i'm always running at a happy pace pun ;)

    hope to meet you soon! :)

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  7. Yim & Syah: Exactly. It's just a hobby.
    Kjune: slow ke fast ke, at least we're moving right?
    Ray: It's human instinct to run kan? And it's human nature to be awed by running. Let's say you see somebody running down the road, seme org nak tengok kenapa dia lari. hehe
    KakHaza: Love you back..hehe. No lah,I say pretty weird things all the time, kebetulan je ni.
    Nana: That's what's important. Happy pace. Let that be a new term kan?

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  8. First of all, Happy Birthday Doc! Sorry I missed the FB train wishing opportunity. 31 is definitely a good number :) Good luck with balancing for coming years!

    Saya piley kesemua jawapan di atas :)

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  9. Happy bestday doc! I'll remember to run a happy pace with a happy face!

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  10. Ray : sudah lah!! happy pace konon..

    Julin nasi ayam : 31? aik? mudanya.. sempat lagi kumpul harta kekayaan..apa lagi, running obersea la pulak..

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  11. Diket: Thanks ;) saya juge piley!
    zaki: welcome back bro. take a breather here and there and you're good.
    Ijam: ha! ya saya mmg stok muda2 lagi..hahaha. Running obersea? nanti2 la, running in the sea pun tak terel lagi.

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  12. Spot on doc... if we want to keep on running, we musnt lose that joyous feeling.

    And happy 31st ya <3

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  13. Thanks Kak Tiff..I'm in awe with you because you're running 11k just for fun and not for any training. I only do 6K for fun ..hehe

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