(that’s not sweat on me, it was the rain).

Happy Mother’s Day to you all on the other side of the world…

Doing the Mother’s Day Classic run yesterday, I had so many emotions and thoughts running through me.

It was wonderful and inspiring to see the huge turnout. People of both genders, all ages, nationalities and fitness levels. All joining together to raise money for a great charity. All getting up very early on a cold Sunday morning to do this together! It was sad to read the tributes pinned on the back’s of everyone’s t-shirts. I had my own tribute too…

I can tell you that 24 hours on I am in pain. My lungs and legs are really hurtin’. It had been so long since I ran, and so long since I had asthma that I totally forgot to bring my inhaler, of which I’m paying for now! I don’t think it’s even physically possible for an asthmatic to run without using an inhaler. Especially when it’s exercise and cold-air induced asthma. So somehow I did it and now I’m in pain. Boo hoo. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate exercise at all; I just hate running! Running when you are literally out of breath and wheezing, with a sharp stabbing pain in the diaphragm (a side stitch) is not fun, and because of that I couldn’t go that fast and walked most of it.

But would I do it again? In a heartbeat. Just make sure I actually train beforehand, and get up earlier on the day, and bring my puffer (and maybe a raincoat!), and wear proper running shoes. And bring lots more friends.

Complaints aside, it really was a great day. I walked about 1.5km to the race start area, and back, and the race was 4km so altogether I walked/ran 7km. And it was cold and wet, so I was quite proud of myself. It was a really fun day and they gave out some lucky draw prizes too. I came pretty close to winning one. They also gave out ’showbags’ which had some pretty nice things in it including a cute pink drink bottle by Tupperware and a health/fitness magazine by Reader’s Digest called Health Smart.

So I was reading it, and in this June/July 09 issue on page 30, there is an article by David Crosbie called “The spirit of happiness.” It talks about how to achieve happiness, and how superficial means and material things don’t help you achieve it. Quote:

“When people become more physically active, when they volunteer for a good cause, or when they join a social group like a book or walking club, they start to feel better about themselves. That’s why I encourage people to… slow down a little, take time to engage, and give a little more of yourself to those who cross your path in life.”

Is it a coincidence that I should read this article on the same day that I had done the aforementioned activities and felt an amazing ‘high’, and had this strange ‘buzz’ that I haven’t experienced in a long time? They say exercise produces endorphins (feel good chemicals in your brain) and that, combined with the fact that we were all doing this for such a great cause, certainly left me ‘high’ and happy all day long. I’m pretty sure I wasn’t the only who felt like this either – Yay!