You'd better be running

One of the best thing that I like about running, is that there is no luck involved in the outcome. Unless a race did not start due to the rain, when the race begins, it will be just you against the whole wide world. There's something terribly romantic with the sport of running, something passionate about holding on to that final stop. Nothing or no one would or could ruin this for you unless you let them to.

 I was thinking just that as I was watching the final game between Lin Dan and Taufik Hidayat. There's no doubt about it, Lin Dan is a skillful player. But badminton is a game where luck is 40% part of the match. You could be the world number one but if your shuttlecock keeps on hitting the net, or worse, goes out of the line, you're dead.

 I realized that that is the reason why running was my favorite sport growing up. I was in field hockey but I was a bad team player. In running, there's simply no one or nothing to blame on your loss. It's all you, whether you win or lose. The only thing you have to beat is the mental downer. 

 When I discovered long distance running, I was more hooked on running. Sprinting, or anything below 1500m in high school was just too stressful for me. Too short of a time to slog through the pain, not enough time to torture yourself. Also, I like taking over a fellow competitor through mental strength. I remember every moment before overtaking someone - the person would dwindle to the right or left, or waver, a sign of tiredness in sustaining the same speed over a long while. Aaah, I would think to myself gleefully, mental fatigue. And just like that, it was like someone shot adrenaline to my legs. I would move in for the kill.

 I would think of my dad everytime. He would always become my target when we run together.

  I always like who I have become everytime I crossed the finish line, regardless of time. I felt like I could take in anything. And I bet this is why we all do this too.

 I tell myself this everytime I think about closing the book on my running. And I would feel the old itch to love it again, give it one more chance. One of these days I know I have to stop doing it, for the sake of my legs and my future capability. But it doesn't have to be today, or tomorrow just yet.

 "Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up.  It knows it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up.  It knows it must run faster than the slowest gazelle, or it will starve.  It doesn't matter whether you're a lion or gazelle - when the sun comes up, you'd better be running."