Godsent Samaritan

Out on my run today, for some strange reason, I decide halfway through to switch up my route, which is something I rarely do.

Towards the end of my run, I'm a couple blocks away from home and run past the lift. Out of the corner of my eye, I see a little girl crouching by the lift. I slow down and turn around, to see a young bloke, looked like he was in his early twenties, come out of the lift. He stops in his tracks and starts talking to the girl. I approach them, and realise that the girl is in tears. I crouch down and try talking to the girl, first in English then in Malay, asking her what her name is, if she knows where her house is, where she saw her mother last, but she isn't responding, and barely even looking at me. I ask the guy if he recognises her at all, and he says he thinks he knows which floor her flat's on, and that he's seen her before, and she has a twin sister. He's not entirely sure about the floor, but we figure that we might as well try, and if we really can't find her place, I'll have to bring her to the police station down the road.

Crouching down by the girl again, I call her adik (little sister in Malay) and she finally looks at me. I ask her if she wants to go home, and she nods tearfully. I then say "Come, let's go home", and she stands up shakily. The three of us enter the lift, bloke and I have a brief conversation, and he tells me that he doesn't even live here, his girlfriend lives two floors below the girl. When the lift stops at the girl's floor, she immediately walks out and heads directly to her flat, still in tears.

The front door's open; only the gate is closed. I call out a hello, and a teenage girl walks out, looking bewildered, shocked and relieved. She's all "I thought she was with her mother!"
I know for sure that this was the correct flat, and it's cemented further when the girl's twin wanders out into the hall area. I explain to big sister (?) what happened, and she thanks me profusely, pulling out her mobile to call her mum.

Bloke and I then leave, on the way down expressing how relieved and glad we were.

To be sure, it seems like a happy coincidence that I was running past, just when the lift door opens and someone who recognises the girl walks out.

I just believe a higher power sent both of us there at that time. Neither of us live in that block, I rarely pass that block, and I've never run that route. The guy knew which floor she lived on. I was able to communicate with her. Separately, we wouldn't have been able to bring her home. Together, we did. Thank you, Universe, for looking out for the poor dear, and making sure she returned home safely.



Unimportant stuff: ran a little over 2 miles, it's getting easier, my time is improving, blah blah.

Friday Fatigue

I started running again on Tuesday, and ran two miles. Wednesday was supposed to be my rest day, but I walked a mile towards home. I would have walked the next two miles home, had I been in proper footwear. As it was, the flats that I was wearing weren't the best to walk in, so I decided to stop before I caused myself damage.

Was pretty tired last night after work, and super hungry to boot, but decided to do up my laces and get out anyway. Two miles this time was a lot easier than it was on Tuesday! Was ravenous when I got home; I drank a litre of water, had a cup of yoghurt, two slices of toast and peanut butter, and about a dozen lychees.

Yeah, kinda defeats the purpose of working out if I'm not going to eat right! But hey, at least I got me some protein.

No, that wasn't an innuendo.

Today is rest day again, and I intend to take it seriously. No point pushing myself to the point of injury. I felt a slight ache of shin splints this morning, so I'd better take it easy for a bit. Besides, I'm only pre-training for the 10K, so I have lots of time to get up to speed. And hopefully I can wake up early enough tomorrow morning to go for a run, before having to get ready for J & L's wedding. If not, I'm resting til Sunday!

So yeah, no run for me todday. Besides, today I'm meeting CT after work. Apparently she has stuff to tell me! She messaged me a couple days ago, totally out of the blue, and says that she has THINGS to tell me. I must say, my curiosity has been piqued. I get the feeling it's nothing good, and that it might be 'bad gossip' about one of my friends. Since CT does have the tendency to get rather angry about stuff (she has a temper to rival mine), I plan to just take everything with a grain of salt. She's well-meaning, and she has a good heart, but she doesn't seem to be able to let things go sometimes. Well, if it helps her to talk to me about it, I'm happy to listen.

In other completely unrelated news, I need want to get a red bag, a more structured one. I like the H&M one I have now - Sis!S gave it to me for Christmas last year - but it's a bit casual. I'd like to get a proper faux leather one ("proper faux"? what the hell, Ki?), or even a real leather one. Yes, you heard me. REAL LEATHER. Oh no, think of the cows! you say. But I do. I think of the cows every time I chow down on a juicy, medium-rare steak. Om nom noms.

Now I'm just sitting back, waiting for The Vegans* to show up.





*I have nothing against vegans. I have a lot against self-righteous vegans who preach and tell me I'm a horrible evil person who's going straight to hell** for eating meat/using animal products.


**Oh, I'm sure I'm going straight to hell.  Just not for those reasons.

Getting Fit

As if I hadn't had enough on my plate, I had to go add one more thing to it.
I've signed up for the Yellow Ribbon 10K in September, and I'm thinking of registering for the Great Eastern one as well.

I was rather iffy about doing a 10K, especially since I haven't run in ages. I'm so prone to shin splints, because of my silly flat feet, so I'd stopped working out for a bit. Especially after I injured my knee. Got new workout and running shoes from good old Jeffrey, shoe whisperer...damn, that guy knows his stuff. Takes one look at my stance and can tell what kind of shoe I need. Asics. Always Asics. Nothing else works for me.

My new Asics workout shoes are black and pink; very stylish, I like! And they make my feet look...not so gigantic. My new running shoes are...mostly white. So very white. So very blindingly white. Took them out for the first time last night, and boy, do they feel good! Such great support; I'd forgotten how amazing it feels to run with new shoes on.

 I have my training schedule sorted. I just have to stick to it! I've already enlisted Doof as a personal coach of sorts...his job is to get my running playlist sorted, and to push me to actually go on my runs/workouts. I'd planned to run only a mile last night, start off slow and easy. Ended up running 2 miles instead, because it felt so good. I haven't hit my old runner's high yet though...that will come in time. I'm looking forward to it!
And hey, I bet once I lose a bit of fat and gain a bit of muscle, it'll just be easier to run. I'm tempted to join a gym that's in my building, but as I'm only here for about 6 months, would it be worth it? Hmm.

Treading Water

I've been so busy lately that it seems I barely have enough time to breathe.


At work, this project is coming to a close, and there is an unbelievable amount of work to be done. The next project is starting up, and I'm working on that too. I've been coming in to work earlier than usual, and putting in a tremendous amount of overtime.

Working 16-hour days are fast becoming the norm for me. What's frustrating is that just when I think I'm getting a handle on my workload, another huge pile comes in. It's all I can do to keep my head above water.

Most days, I don't have time for lunch - I take 20 minutes at most. I refuse to log on to Twitter, as that would just eat up loads of my time. I rarely log on to Facebook.

Thank goodness for people like Neko - when she's not online, I feel like something's missing. Also, she makes me smile and laugh, which goes a long way in chasing away the Monday doldrums.

Then there are classes for TESOL. I'm on my final module for the Advanced Diploma, and then I'll have to complete my assignments, which will take an awfully long time. I'm also doing the course to attain a Certificate in Teaching Phonetics, Phonics and Speech. I'm finding it really easy, and sometimes it gets boring. I've done all of it before, and even the first time I studied it in school, it was a cinch. I might have slacked off a lot as a student, but that was a class I aced with the barest of efforts.

Of course, this doesn't bode well for my attention span; Last night's class was extremely boring, and I'm afraid I might have let that show. I quite like and respect Trainer P, and I think it was awfully rude of me. He is fully aware that I know the material and he's smart enough to realise it'd bore me, so hopefully he didn't overly mind. Also, everyone's expecting me to score a distinction...and I'll be dissatisfied with anything less.

I desperately need to get moving on my assignments, as I am so far behind and the longer I take to finish them, the longer it'll take for me to get my certificates.

Once come September, I'll have more time - classes end then. Of course, then I'll still have my assignments to complete. And that will be done...just in time for me to do my Masters next year.

I'm really happy right now; despite my exhaustion, I do so love the adrenaline rush that comes with meeting challenges and deadlines head on. I love that the head honchos find me competent and capable. I love the satisfaction that comes with completing tasks well, and doing a good job.

I'm so excited about how each new day brings new challenges and opportunities. With each passing day, I receive even more blessings. I know that all my hard work will pay off; I'm already reaping small rewards.

But I'm also feeling rather overwhelmed right now. I am only one person, and there are only so many hours in a day. There are moments, like this one, when I don't know how to handle it all, and I feel like I'm on the verge of collapse.

Then again, this too shall pass. And like all other times when I feel myself losing it, I shall take a deep breath (and a sip of coffee), and all will be right in my world again.


And this is one of the (many) reasons I want and need to start running again:
Running is a statement to society. It is saying 'no' to always being on call, to sacrificing our daily runs for others' needs. When we run we are doing something for ourselves.

-- Phoebe Jones, runner

And goodness knows I need to do something for myself right now.

Gonna keep on running

I'm maintaining my basic running distance, but my pace is picking up bit by bit. I'm definitely not where I want to be, and no way am I ready to run the 5K.

I've signed up for the 5K in September, and the 10K in November. So that's two goals to work towards. I like where I am now; I like that I've started...nay, I'm proud of myself for starting.

I've become a runner...and I'm enjoying it.

It's fun to run!

I started running again on Monday, after a LONG time of not running.
Monday night, I barely made it 2 kilometres. I think I ran less than 1k before running out of steam. Of course, it didn't help that I wasn't hydrated well, and I was awfully hungry. Ached a bit yesterday, but I didn't feel good about it.

Last night, I had a cup of tea and a bit of bread about an hour before I started running, and that might have helped. I ran 3.5km, no problem! Oh alright, it wasn't a full on run, more of a jog-run. But I felt really good after!

I'm aching today, especially my thighs, but it's the kind of ache that feels good.

Going for a run again tonight. Will prolly run 3.5 km again, possibly more if I feel up for it. Tomorrow is rest day, mostly because I'm tutoring and won't get home until about half 9.

I think it's pretty good, that I haven't been running in so long (about 2 years?!), but still found it easy to hit 3.5k.

I just want to keep at it; I tend to be very motivated upon first beginning a project, then I slowly peter out. I suppose if I chart my progress, that would keep me going.

Yes, I shall do that.

My ultimate goal? Run a marathon, of course!