Next time, I will train

I decided after seeing Amy’s Instagram story that I was going to run. It was also an easy sell because it was free. I'm the new District lead in Abbott Elementary that supports ideas only if they’re…free. The concept of paying to run around a city that I typically run around for free is foreign to me.

Last time I ran was in August at Cora’s. After watching the Olympics, I realised I miss running outside. I set a goal to run 5km in 30mins by the end of August. Life in the way only it can yanked this leisurely goal from me. It’s been a month since my last run. Running and exercise in general is like secondary school maths. If you leave it, it will leave you. But it’s free 5km. I can do it. I won’t finish in 30mins but I’ll finish in less than an hour.

On the day of the run, my plan was simple: Work on my prospective employer’s task, eat, and run around at noon.

I woke up hungry but early. I had breakfast and started the task. I finished around 11:20. I opened Instagram and saw that Amy was already at the venue. Shit. If I appear at the train station 9mins away from me now, I would make it by 12 pm. I grabbed my all black ensemble, packed my hair and hurried to the S-bahn.

It’s the day you’re in a hurry that there’ll be train mishaps. The S-bahn stopped us mid-journey to change trains. I got there around 12:41 and obviously couldn’t participate in the 12pm race. The lady at registration couldn’t believe that someone would show up 41mins late. I understood her surprise. I too was astonished at my guts. Fortunately, there was a 2:30pm one.

Amy agreed to wait with me.

2:30 came and I should have started with the pace I’m used to, but noooooo, I started running like others. I gassed out quickly and had a rush of questions running in my head. Why am I here? Why am I running?

My usual style is to run fasted and without water, but under that final day of summer sun? I uniquely understood the rich man in hell asking Lazarus for a drop of water. I stopped by the parked ambulance to ask them, and to my surprise, they didn’t have. Amy noticed I was asking for something and started walking towards me with water. I was so grateful because how did I think I was going to run here by myself? I mean, I could have, but it was sooo much better with the support.

Even as I did my laps, I saw her cheering me on, and that put a little battery in my back to keep going. I finished under 40mins.

My official reason for being so slow is that I couldn’t hear the hype men and women since they spoke Deutsch.

After the run, Amy took me pictures and her friend airdropped me the videos he took. I allowed myself to be convinced to get ice cream. I got a flavor they recommended, blueberry cheesecake. It was delicious.

Sure, my inner thighs are paining me now, but it’s way less pain than I anticipated. In fact, I did leg day at the gym today.

Will I run again? Yes, but next time, I will train.

From my AirPods while running:

I started with my usual Run from your problems playlist, but when I started gassing out, I switched to the album my nieces and nephews will inherit, Beyoncé's Homecoming: the live album.