Q

I run by two basic principles.

It doesn’t matter where I run, when I last ran, what the weather is like: there are only two constants I need for a good run.

After a whole semester of not running, I resumed during the holidays and found that I could clear a decent distance on my first test run. I don’t usually note my speed or exact distance, but roughly Hougang to AMK (which Google maps tells me is 7k) in ~40 min.

My qualifiers for a good run aren’t distance or speed though. They are the lack of uncomfortable fatigue throughout, the gradual increase in my clarity of thought, and the good burning warmth of my skin by the end of the run.

A good run, by extension, is only possible when I have my two constants: fuel and a driver.

What I mean by driver is that I can’t operate my body running directly. I am a driver who steers and pedals by focussing solely on my breathing – which then drives my limbs to run almost automatically. I can run by moving my limbs, of course, but it’ll be as effortful as manually pushing a car than just driving it.

But yeah all I do is deal with breathing – with the diaphragm, fully, in sync with my body’s need – the running is just a natural product of my breathing. Sometimes I even think of running as something that facilitates this breathing. I often feel breathless because of anemia – like, i’ll be inhaling but i don’t seem to reap oxygen from the process of. Running helps me with this because it comes in tandem with deep and complete breathing.

The next is fuel. I need carbs, pure carbs, in the half hour before I run. Potatoes are the best, bread also works. The few runs I’ve had since semester ended were after two baked, plain potatoes, and they make such difference.

Today morning I woke up to weather that’s good in a way it hasn’t been for awhile. I also felt rather energetic, probably from a hearty home cooked dinner the night before, so i decided to run before breakfast. All i had was some tea and a square of chocolate, and I sped off quite excitedly down to receive the morning breeze and almost-sun.

Planned to do just a circuit to the neighborhood park and back again, but I had quite a nasty shock just a few minutes into the run. My legs felt heavy and I couldn’t get my breathing sequence right. It was definitely the lack of fuel. By the time I reached the park a walk was clearly a better idea.

Mid-walk had me at one of those tai chi practices. It was Sunday so the park was actually peppered with many of these groups. This particular one got me because they were playing shamisen music, which I am extremely partial to (when I was younger a half-Japanese family friend played it in the car when giving me a lift, and I liked it so much I was gifted the audio disc haha). This group was also the most informal: they had no apparent leader, no banner announcing their cause, no fixed attire.

I must’ve been skulking around rather obviously because one of aunties waved me over to join them. Without breaking their flow, they just opened a space to accommodate my presence and took turns to instruct me on what to do, without much fuss.

Tai chi, I know, centers around control, and about the transfer of energy throughout your body. That was all i knew, though. In my limited chinese/some cantonese, I managed to tap for a couple of explanations. One uncle in particular chimed in: “不是用力做动作，是每个动作要有力。” I really liked that. Energy and enthusiasm, no matter how much you give, might not yield much if you expend it haphazardly. Instead, every action should be deliberate, and done as much energy as you can manage.

It was only a fifteen minutes crash course, and I didn’t really master anything fantastic (also weren’t very big on a formalized tai chi exercise routine), but I did learn some pretty neat things. Harvesting energy from inside out, harnessing the energy to where it is appropriate, learning to control the speed and direction of this energy.

Had a pleasantly easy time running the last half of the park and back home again, with my mind sharper than ever. Feeling very zen and cleansed right now.