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I was told by many that it was impossible. I was told that given my ‘fat’ physique, I will be counting death. I was told that it was a crazy idea to put myself though this. I was told that no one in the right mind will do it. People look at me as if I am a freak. The aim that I told them is to complete 21.1 km in 6 months time.
Against all the odds, on 20 Nov 2010 (Sat), I have achieved my 6 months target. I have completed running the longest distance that I have ever ran in my life, 21.1 km. Thanks a lot to people who told me that I can’t make it. You are the fuel that kept me going when I doubted myself. You are the reason I am able to do so much in my life.
I have a really bad habit. A habit that I often find it to be more of a curse than a blessing. The habit: I don’t like to be told that it is impossible for me to achieve something. Whenever someone tell me that, somewhere within this 37 years old stomach, some magical fires will be ignited and that fuel my passion to make mission impossible possible. My PhD journey is one of such example. I was told by my Master’s Supervisor, Professor Ooi Beng Chin (current Dean of School of Computing) that I was not cut out to be a researcher. He even took the trouble to come to my office to tell me bluntly not to apply for PhD. Cos’ it will be wasting the time of the Professor who will be supervising me. Thanks to Professor Ooi’s comments, that magical fires were ignited. Since then, I never stopped trying to improve myself. As a result, I am now a part-time PhD candidate in School of Computing. More recently, through a friend’s facebook posting, I realized out of my pleasant surprise that I think a lot like Will Smith (See here). In fact, there is so much similarity in our philosophy about life that I wonder if he is my brother 
. See some of my earlier blog postings: 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. Be amazed at the level of similarity between what he has shared and what I have shared. Be informed that I have never watched Will Smith’s video before I wrote any of those blogs.
Back to my incredible feat of completing 21.1 km, I have also my good friend, Wee Yeh, to thanks as well. Not for discouraging me, but for introducing me to the Vibram Five Fingers shoes (refer to the link to find out everything about Five Fingers and the philosophy behind barefoot running). I brought my first Five Fingers TrekSports in USA. Since then, I have ran with it. From 5 km, to 10 km, to the now 21.1 km. It is a great shoes not because of the usual reasons that you can expect of from a shoe, namely comfort level, great padding and etc. It is a great shoes because it makes me constantly want to run because running in it is truly an enjoyable experience. You got to experience it yourself before you can appreciate it. You can also refer to Wee Yeh’s blog entries for more description of these great shoes (See here and here). If you do have a chance to get hold of a Vibram Five Fingers, please do share with me what is your experiences in using them? I hope you can develop this love for running if you are not already loving it yet.
