My Asian Fitness Haven

My alarm went off at 6am.

This is OK though, because I fell asleep at 7:30pm. I probably overslept.

I'm back from my run and I am shivering. It's probably about 36 degrees outside and 70% humidity. Did I drink enough water yesterday? I cannot remember. My skin is hot to touch but I am really really cold.

I take a shower. I lie down and drink about a litre of water.

The run was well worth it though - I wouldn't take it back for a second...

After running for about 15 minutes along the sidewalk of a very straight long road, I had been wondering if people here exercised. I hadn't seen any joggers or walkers. Not that I expected to - but I just wondered.

Then all of a sudden, a park came into view on my left and and no shit it looked like Central Park in the middle of summer. Walkers, joggers, people stretching, practicing yoga, Thai Chi, you name it - they were probably doing it. I veered left and entered the park. Anything to get off the road, and this clearly looked like the place to be exercising. I was grinning like a fool.

I spotted some young men coming past in running singlets and shorts. They were setting a good pace so I settled in about 10 paces or so behind them and kept up as we weaved through through this large recreational paradise.

I could even hear music playing somewhere. Wow. We need more of these in NZ! I was on this super dorky high, being surrounded by so many fitness fanatics. It was like some freaky Asian fitness haven designed just for me. Seriously. I was loving it.

And then that's when I noticed the photographer on the grass. I smiled and he snapped a photo.

Then someone overtook me and he snapped their photo too.

Another guy overtook me and being somewhat slightly competitive, I picked up the pace a little. They were going pretty hard and it annoyed me. 'Jeeeeez, it's not a race!' I thought. Just as it became glaringly obvious that it was a race. And I was smack.bang. in the middle of it.

WTF?

Who has a race event with no race numbers?

We approached a drink station. Oh what the hell.. I grabbed a cup and kept going.

I could hear cheering and the music was pretty loud now. We turned a corner and there was a long straight lined with photographers and crowds cheering.

Oh fuck.

Embarrassing? Amusing?

I couldn't decide... I was naturally leaning more towards embarrassing whilst still trying to see the funnier side of the situation.

People were photographing me. They were clapping for me. Reaching out their arms and cheering for me. How.the.fuck. did I end up here? I must have been so caught up in following those guys I didn't even notice the rest of the walkers/joggers fade away as we were clearly on the 'race track' now.

I couldn't help laughing now. So I was grinning madly, pouring with sweat, sprinting my little heart out and waving to the fully asian crowd.

Fuck, maybe I looked like a celebrity?

We turned another corner and there it was. The finish line. The finish line surrounded by media-type, officials and more runners/crowds. I couldn't bring myself to cross it.

Avoiding eye contact with anyone, I jumped over the little barrier onto the grass and sprinted off in the opposite direction. It would have looked hilarious to the people watching me. They maybe thought I got frightened or something.

I made it home in about an hour and 10 minutes and my clothes are hanging up by the air conditioning. They are drenched.

I feel a little better now.