The Field Marshal

Fat cells beware, I am coming after you! Yesterday evening, Mydaemon and I finally overcame our inertia and went for a walk-a-jog. Months must have passed since the last time we exercised together. So, restarting a healthy regime needed much mental psyching since I have not in anyway, exercised for a long time. As I dusted the imaginary cobwebs away from my track shoes, I felt a sense of purpose in the jogging session. Well, as most of you know by now, Mydaemon and I are getting married in the near future, but we have yet to get many things sorted out in our lives. Health has been an issue between us since I have gout and a hint of high blood pressure. Guess that the price I had to pay for being the foodie that I am and being overweight for much of my life. It has been a difficult last 2 years when I had almost monthly gout attacks. These attacks are horrible! Some joint on my body will get inflamed and swollen. The skin around the joint will turn an ugly angry red. One thing that gout sufferers has to sacrifice is the consumption of protein, read red meat, alcohol, bean related produce etc. This has been the hardest part of the journey since I love soya bean milk, steaks, seafood, nuts and beans. And all these are on the restricted diet list. Sigh... Being the greedy guy that I am, I often often beyond the amount that I can 'safely' take. The end result is visits to doctors and consuming tonnes of painkillers. Thankfully, that episode is behind me now. My last attack was 3-4 months back. Going back to an attack-free lifestyle is a relief. Not only that I am more active physically, I am happier as a person now. It is not easy to live with constant pain. Pains inevitably wears down the person. I do actually feel helpless and depressed when the attacks just refused to go away. For gout sufferers out there, my advice is listen to the doctor. Take your allopurinol properly, and life can go on as normal. Back to th exercise regime. Well, I see the purpose of the regime as easing myself back to a healthy state. I stringly believe that a healthy body is one of the foundations for happiness in life. Thus, it is my responsibility to Mydaemon to remain fit and healthy for our future family unit. While I know that Mydaemon will always be there for me, in health or in sickness, I do not want to tire her with such concerns which can be avoided if I put in more effort. With that in mind, we outfitted ourselves in comfy attire, ready to take on the jogging track ahead of us. The jogging track we took was the dirt/gravel track bordering the Padan Reservoir. At the beginning of our job, I thought that a slow jog would be a piece of cake. But I realised that my calf, thigh and leg muscles have all atrophied since my last exercise session. The first 100-200m was ok. But as I progressed, the going got tough. And since I am not an Energizer Bunny, the tough got tougher. As I laboured on, I could hear Mydaemon's steady footsteps behind me. Come to think of it, we must have made an interesting sight. Interesting in that she was walking at the speed that I was jogging, or vice versa. I have to admit that my speed is really slow, but this only shows that Mydaemon is still pretty fit. Well, fitter than me at least. We jogged/walked for 25 minutes. In terms of distance, I think it should be in the region of 2km or more. For me, that's already a very good start. Now my legs are all rubbery and tired. I am just glad that my job doesn't require me to run around much. Hopefully, my legs would have regained their strength by this Friday, when Mydaemon, Summer Breeze, Shitake and I meet up for the 'planned' jogging session. If not, then I will have to find someway to move around the jogging tracks. Hmmm... perhaps I will be the first Singaporean to set a Guiness record for rolling the longest distance on a jogging track.