night runner

I went to KLCC Park after maghrib for an evening after-work jog/run. It's a good place since its not-so-far from office (okey laa), got vast parking lots (though the only setback is that they aren't free :p), a mosque just beside the jogging track, drinking fountains, safe (there are security personnels scattered around to watch the place) and plus, I don't think it'll be a lonely workout as I always see people running around there until night.

That was the first time I run at night, and I think it gives a different kind of a nice feeling compared to running in the dark of an early morning, though I like a morning run as well.

I had only finished the first lap and already I felt that my legs were going to cramp huhuuh. Yeah you guessed it right, I jumped straight out from the car onto the track without proper stretching. The pessimist side of me already begging to go home, but the cheapskate in me won the war, rationalizing that I'd already been charged a parking fee for the first hour while I'd only been there for a mere 15 minutes. So that pushed me to another lap.

Slowing down as I neared the end of the second lap, I was ready to call it quit when suddenly a guy ran past me, marching to the rhythm of his MP3 player. I noticed that his pace was not so fast but constant with short strides, and I thought I could catch that. And suddenly I found myself already on his ass tailing him closely, one stride behind.

It was a surprisingly nice run! Focusing to him and being careful not to step on his feet, I just tagged along mindlessly that even the leg cramp disappeared halfway through the circle.

But noticing that he sometimes slowed a bit and glanced to his sides to check on his stalker, I feared that he would suddenly turn around with a fuming mad and annoyed face barking to me, "Why are you following me?! Are you some psycho??!". Anticipating such scary moment, I cooked up so many excuses in my head from a plain "I just need someone to pull me through the course" to "I have low blood pressure and worry that I would faint, so I need to run closely to somebody" to even "You look like my ex-boyfriend, I just can't get you off my eyes" (ok the last one indeed sounds like a psycho huhuhu)..

Hence my heart almost skipped a beat when he did turn around to me when we came to our starting point! Except, to my relief, not with a fuming mad and annoyed face, but with a wide grin, eyes twinkling, calling out to me, "Last lap!", and sped off forward for another round.

I surely didn't expect that..I was so stunned that I just stood there and laughed out loud, before screaming back to him "Are you really gonna sprint the whole lap?!" and got back on track to catch up. Luckily he slowed down halfway, so we rejoined and sprint the last 100m together (though of course I was far behind heheh). Huff-puffing and panting, and face beaming with joy, we smiled and thanked each other for the fun workout together, and parted.

It's amazing how we can so much enjoy a company of a total stranger, though only for half an hour and most of the times in silence, that it motivates you to go through a course that you already thought of quitting.