Wind In My Head: Pride Goeth Before the Fall
Wind In My Head
Sunday, December 05, 2004
Pride Goeth Before the Fall
Today was the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon. Dan, my bro and I, ran it with Al and Luce. And the great thing, everyone completed the run. I'm so proud of Dan who only runs at Botanic Gardens when he feels the need to detox and my Bro, well, he hasn't really had that much time to run in the last couple of years, with the kids, his brain surgery and all. So, very very proud of them.Me? Well, I ran it last year so it wasn't a question of whether I could complete the run. Plus, all those 6-7 km runs I was doing at the beach had to come in useful sometime. Only problem, there were certain parts of the route that were really narrow and we ended up running on pavements, grass, slopes, everywhere. That and the fact that everyone was throwing bottles of water everywhere after the water stops, was just a disaster waiting to happen. And I ran headlong into it.
After the 6km mark, after a water stop that I decided I wouldn't use, I stepped on a full bottle of water. Had it been empty, I would have crushed it like a cockroach :). But it wasn't so, my foot rolled over it, causing me to trip and tumble and trip and stumble and trip and crumble. All this because I didn't want to hit the ground and get scrapped all over.
As a result, I have no outward bleedy war wounds but a seriously twisted ankle probably exacerbated by the fact that I didn't stop running. We were always taught that if you twisted your ankle, walk it out a little bit to realign the tendons and stuff, so I took it one step further and actually just continued running. It took about two minutes of limp, hobble hobble run run, to work the pain to a minimum. Why didn't I stop? I didn't see any first aiders around so I figured I was still going to have to make my way back to the finish point and I also figured, if I ran, I'd make it back faster and would be able to get some ice on it. Warped logic but that's me. Anyway, after a while, the adrenaline kicked in and the pain subsided. But, I think the most important reason why I didn't stop was because I didn't want to say I ran the 10km but didn't finish it because of a busted ankle. It sounded too much like an excuse to me.
So, because of all that pride, I can't walk now. It was all right for a few hours after, I mean, it was painful, but I could still hobble. Now, I'm glad I don't live in a double storey apartment like my parents. It took me a good ten minutes to climb up and down 15 stairs and I'm using my shoulders to swing myself around just to keep pressure off the foot. It refuses to bear any weight at all.
Now I understand why Dan was given crutches when he went to hospital for his busted ankle. They will come in mighty useful. For now, I'm moving around in my brother's office chair. Only way to do it. How I'm going for dinner in half an hour, I really have absolutely no idea.
OW!
Ondine tossed this thought in at 17:13
2 thoughts...
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At 11:12 pm
Tym said... Well done, you guys! And please take care of that ankle --- otherwise how are we going to run together next year?
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At 1:04 am
wahj said...
Sounds bad. Take care of that ankle - as in, get a doctor to look at it. The last time I did something like that - sprain an ankle and keep running - I didn't have a choice, because I was in the middle of a live-firing exercise. When I took my boots off after, the ankle was the size and shape of a tennis ball, and I had to go for a few months of physio to regain full use of it. So please see a doctor - and don't run on it again for a while, please!