Time To Get Off That Couch! – #RunToLiveGreat

—I can’t believe I signed up for this!?

I am actually up at 7am in the morning!! On a SUNDAY no less! Did I mention that it is 7am?! Perhaps in another parallel universe, you will find me up at 7am on Sunday going for a woman’s run. But NOT this one.

Still, I had signed up for it four months ago. And I had trained for it (a little, yes).  I am nervous (can you tell?) It is my first run and I have no idea what to expect. I kick myself mentally for not asking my friends who are experienced runners to scope out what is to be expected.

Luckily, I am not doing this challenge alone. Four other mom bloggers will be running this race with me — Christy, Elizabeth, Angelia and Danessa.

I reminded myself that the reason I signed up was to 1) get fit, 2) role model for my kids the courage to take on new challenges and 3) set goals to achieve a desired outcome.  It was now time for me to realize those objectives, pluck up some courage, face my fears and overcome my biggest challenge — get up from the couch and exercise!

With that in mind, I changed into the running gear that I had laid out the night before, tied the laces on my shoes, gulped down my coffee and off I went to the Great Eastern Women’s Run 2014!

Flag Off 

For our 5km run, the flag off time was comfortablely set at 7.40am. Christy, Angelia and Elizabeth had agreed to meet me at the baggage counter.

I was late arriving to meet the “girls”.  After a flurry of sms text, I was told to make my way to the Start Pen and try to meet them there. START PEN! what’s that? 

By the time I arrived, there was a sea of red runners gathered at the start pen. See the photo below. Finding my girls was like looking for a needle in the red sea! *Panic!!*

I was a bit disappointed I didn’t get to take a start off a photo with the girls. Luckily, Christy was kind enough to wait for me at the 2km mark. Whew! I was glad to have someone as company to finish the race with.

The Run

It wasn’t as daunting as I had imagined. In fact, the heavy downpour the night before had lowered the temperature, and it was a nice cool morning as we gathered at the start pen for the run.

We were given a gentle warm up by the True Fitness people and the Emcee puts us at ease, even poking fun at the men who came to support their spouses or girlfriends.

“This is the largest congregation of men holding female handbags on the sidelines.” 

~GE Women’s Run 2014 Emcee

The flag off was staggered in three timings to ensure that we women folk don’t stampede each other. I was encouraged by the sheer number of women committed to be fit. The route of the run was very enjoyable, with a beautiful backdrop — the Marina Bay Sands at the Start Pen, the Benjamin Shears Bridge between the 3 and 4km and the flyer towards the end of the race.

Many runners stopped to take photos at the markers as mementos of the run along the way. Being a newbie, I was fumbling with my phone, trying to keep time and breathe at the same time. It’s quite a lot to juggle. I snapped as many random shots as I could with my phone camera while running at the same time. I am not sure if it was the sun against the phone or the blinding light building behind my eyes due to lack of oxygen or nitrates. Only the one below is acceptable to be published on this post.

You know what they say about a woman’s mind —how the running commentary in their head never stops? So, here are the innocuous and frivolous thoughts that  cross my mind as I ran: —

“Ooh, she has a nice run!” — some very athletic runners; “Why is she running like that?” — some floppy like a duck (I swear);

“I wonder what the runners wear to match the lovely red GE Women’s Run top?” — shorts, tights, three-quarters, long pants;

“How do they carry their phones?” — this last one because I broke my phone screen while attempting to run and take pictures… and finally,

“How does she (runners) look so good after the run!?” — me? I look sweaty, puffy and out of breath!

Like I said. Frivolous thoughts. But they distracted me from my aching muscles and helped me push forward…

After the Run

Christy and I cheered as we crossed the finish line at a very respectable time. WE. DID. IT!!

Considering the number of training runs I squeezed in, I thought I did really well. Most importantly, I am PROUD that I “Showed Up” and finished the run!

After crossing the finishing line, Christy and I followed the stream of runners to collect our drinks and medals.

Mission Accomplished!

Even though it was only 5km, it was exhilarating to have completed the run. I now understand why runners keep on running… I am motivated to find the next available run to train for.

A BIG THANK YOU to the GE Women’s Run Team for their support and encouragement throughout the fringe events and the actual run. See you at next year’s run.

And a BIG, BIG Thank You to my fellow runners/mom-bloggers who went on this journey back to fitness with me! Here are the links to their experiences on the run:

Angelia — Yahoo to 5km Mission Accomplished – 10k Here I Come 

Danessa — GEWR – Unpacking The Race 

Elizabeth — I did 5km in 50 minutes and I’ll do it again in a heartbeat

Share your running experience and what gets you off the couch in the comments below. Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.