Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Plodding Along

Ramadhan 24 1429

Got out for my sixth run of Ramadhan just after breaking the fast. Last year was the first time I tried any sort of exercise in the fasting month and I seem to have got the knack now of knowing when to fit it in. In fact, over some twelve years of doing the fast my behaviour on breaking the fast has significantly evolved.

Time was when I would set about greedily wolfing down whatever was available in a sort of flurry of relief at finally being able to do so. I actually used to feel hungry. Nowadays I drink a glass of water, a cup of tea, eat a couple of dates and then do the prayer immediately. (By the way, it's compulsory to break the fast immediately you hear the call to prayer so all this is quite in order, just in case you were wondering.) By the time the prayer is done I feel pretty much replete so it's just a matter of a bit more tea and a very light snack. We only eat seriously a good deal later in the evening. So that's a great opportunity to get out and do some exercise once in a while.

Tonight's run was fairly enjoyable, though I did feel a touch heavy with a cup of tea or two on board. At the moment I'm sticking to the same route, running along what are known as the park connectors up to Telok Kurau Park and I can get a good sense of how comfortable I feel when I go up an overhead bridge on the way. On a good day I can bound up like a young gazelle who isn't too flustered by the sudden appearance of an overhead bridge on the plains of the Serengeti. (Yes, I know, there are probably no gazelles to be found there, but allow a little poetic license.) On a not so good day it's more like a gazelle who's just received a pension and might be spending it on a walking stick, which was the case this evening. I was just grateful to get to the top, and wouldn't have minded staying there a while. But that would have been to have delayed the utterly wonderful oxtail soup the missus had spent the day preparing. Sedapnya! (Which might be Englished as something along the lines of Get that down your neck!)

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