How to survive a 50km walk?
Training.
Contrary to my team’s doubts, I did trained for the event. Though not as I planned. (My team walks regularly from MacRitchie Reservoir to Bukit Timah Hill, I have become a sleeping member.)
Initially, I planned my training in such a way that I should at least complete a 50km before the actual event. But due to work, play and mostly plain laziness, I only managed to complete one 20km before the event. Altogether, I only managed to do six walks: one 5km, two 10km, two 15km and one 20km walk. All on Saturdays morning.
I remember the first 10km walk was a killer. Walking from 11am to 1 pm in the hot sun, I nearly wanted to give up. Plus I was sweating like a pig. My legs are like iron bars. I was wondering why I was torturing myself. But I persevere and reached my girlfriend’s place and received a welcoming smile that made everything all right again.
Why my girlfriend’s place? Actually all my route would start from my house to her house. One of the most enjoyable thing to do for the walk is planning the training routes. Using Google maps and its distance measuring tools, I will design the route from my house to her house no matter the distance.
So I huffed and I puffed through my training walks. Listening to the birds sing or my brother’s I-shuffle or my handphone’s music, watching the cars and pedestrians going by and the stares from the people at the bus-stop; enjoying the sun, the breeze and the clouds and most importantly, receiving the homecoming smile from my beloved. I did what I could for my training. If not, I think I could not even complete 10km of the walk.
So now, I am contemplating whether I should continue my training and prepare for the 100km walk next time round….. Maybe a bit too ambitious…..
Chen Kee
Happy Chinese New Year!
