5 DAY BLINDS

Sunny.
Hot.
Arid.
Polluted.
Sh't.

The sun was strong, beating brightly at the starting line. I sat down to shade myself within a packed forest of men; a few minutes later, however, after the jocular pleading of another competitor, I was up again, and the sun hammered me mercilessly.

I hit the first wall at the 3km mark. My mouth was dry, and my pace slackened; I longed for a drink to ease my malaise.

At first blush, I survived the first 5km in good shape, turning around at 20:30, on pace to break last year's mark of 44:00. But I could feel my energy ebbing from me; and the heat exhaustion was now creeping in, its onset tiring my mind and body.

As I drank three cups of water at the 7km mark, I became incontinent, a first for me. Pouring water into my mouth at the station transformed my little man into a leaky faucet, drip, drip, drip. For the rest of the race, I would urinate, uncontrollably, a splash here and a splash there. Though no one else noticed my loss of bodily control, I felt embarrassed; and alarmed since, it was obvious now, heat exhaustion owned me - I could neither retain water nor sweat properly.

I re-injured my left hamstring around the 8km mark; the elements and my own body double-teamed me; my muscles were gassed and my gait faltered; my hamstring screamed. It's not a coincidence, I conjecture, that my last two races on this course have resulted in straining my left hamstring. Perhaps the course is too straight, and too flat for my body, forcing my left leg to incur repetitive stress and shock. I don't re-incur this injury on hilly courses, much to my amazement since I originally received this injury on the undulating China Coast Marathon route.

I walked a bit, and ran at times over the last 2km; people were passing me left and right. Yet I put up a fight at the very end, sprinting to the finish. I thank God that my hamstring did not dash itself further.

And then the surprise came. After a convalescent half hour laying underneath the trees, my body splayed on the cool bricks, I capriciously checked the final results. My jaw dropped upon my second glance. Though I had been put through a torturous physical wringer, even as my mind and body continued to twist and to burn, I had, indeed, placed in my race category!

My euphoria reminded me of the ending to My Sassy Girl in which the crestfallen couple break apart, it seems, never to be together again; only to pull off the miraculous, superman-comeback-reunion to the audience's smiles and cheers as the credits roll. I was stupefied at my success - what the F!?

I grabbed my precious hardware and had my picture taken. I went home, showered, and went to HKU where I languidly labored to walk, to eat and to talk; it's the evening now, and my exhaustion has lifted, just enough for me to finish this entry and to consider how I shall rehabilitate this obstinate left hamstring.

All photos were taken from wahmanhungying's photo blog - thanks!

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