Experience Tumblr like never before
As a non-sporty person, it was a remarkable feat to have constantly ran throughout the race with minimal walks. It was all thanks to Iskandar, my close friend, who kept pushing me to keep on running non-stop. It was a fantastical moment to see that as a result of his encouragements, my speed was on par with some fitter students that I have known.
Initially, I thought that Iskandar’s physical push would be totally helpful because I had never really gotten someone to forcefully motivate me to run. Only to realised that despite his aid—his physical push to support my run—did not help solve or reduce the effects my physical exhaustion because it still requires tremendous effort to/maintain accelerate.
The continued efforts to run was largely attributed to my desire to keep up with his motivational demands as I did not want to disappoint him. The physical effect of running with and without his aid, would have been mostly the same such as physical strains and fatigue.
As Iskandar forced me to keep on running, he also pushed me beyond my physical limits. For the first time in my life, I could feel a subtle sensation of pain from my heart. It was a very unusual feeling. Normally, when I am tired or during peak performance, I would expect a tingling sensation — a feeling that my heart can’t breathe any harder, but this time, it’s a real pain.
It was negligible, before gradually becoming more obvious. This was totally unexpected. I always thought those who often complains “heart pain” was exaggerating, but this time round I personally felt it as I pushed my natural limits that I am accustomed to.
Yes, yes, I know that it is better to strive for a constant run as opposed to short walks. However, that is easier said than done. It was not practical to set that standard to an unfit person like me. It was just a matter of when will you eventually give up and walk.
This is probably because of my natural limits that my heart is not used to work at such rate and so it would be difficult for me to maintain that good, constant pace. Additionally, the early symptom (subtle sensation of pain) forces me to be mindful of a potential fallout.
Hence, I responded to this challenge with a 10-second rule. I could intermittently take a break of up to 10 seconds, so that my body could re-calibrate itself and to relief the discomfort of my heart then continued running. It worked very well, and I managed to complete the entire 3km run with little to no walking at all. Much impressive compared to my 2.4km practice, which I will usually walk ≈0.5-1 round.
This Road Run is significant to me because of this rare moment of a close friend, who truly cares about me, tried his best to encourage me to try my best and effectively sacrificing his potential medals or achievements. He concurs that friendship triumphs achievements.