It's been a lon day

What otherworldly force could make someone wake up at an unearthly hour (5ish) on a holiday, travel across the country (I love saying that about S’pore), and subject oneself to brutal physical punishment; and basically have their @$$ handed to them on a platter? While on the subject, who among us men and women is actually crazy enough to PAY for the above. I'm not really sure, but the fact is, I did it once, did it again, and now can’t seem to stop.

Well, in case you haven’t figured it out yet, I’m talking about LONs; triathLONs, AquathLONs, MarathONs and other LONS that until this juncture in time I thought only crazy people and martians took part in.

Before I launch into an endless tirade extolling the virtues of these events, and those that take part in them, I think it wise to issue a disclaimer.
“WARNING : This post may contain references to sport(s). The author cannot be held responsible for (a) the inferiority complex that WILL develop once you read this post (b) that queasy feeling some people get when someone mentions the word 'sport'. MuaHAha” Don’t say I didn’t warn you. The reason I need to make sure this disclaimer is in place is that people who read blogs and the people who are “into” sports aren’t really the same people. Confused? Refer to the figure below. Long live that Venn guy. Alternately, may he enjoy his peaceful lull, and have a great time wherever he is.

Anyhow/anywho, let me continue. Lets flash back to 2 weeks ago; the 13th of Aug to be precise. While you were sleeping, I was busy swimming, biking, and running my guts out, with nothing to motivate me except everlasting glory, and a vague idea of the size my ego would grow to after I completed my triathlon. Long story cut short, I went, I saw, I swam (500m), biked (25k), and ran (5k), before I finally conquered my first ever sprint distance triathlon. So next year, long distance tri (with even GREATER; terrifyingly, mindbogglingly ridiculous distances), here I come.

The pictures of the event are up, and mine can be accessed at the following link (can't copy here cause I haven't bought them). (warning: ever so slightly risque?) :

http://www.digilab.com.sg/cgi-bin/search8/locatepics/search.pl?q=771%20QNFABBBI&stype=AND&t=159&s=N&stpos=0

Fast forward back to today, the 2nd of September; and the New Balance Aquathlon. Yes, sprint distance, with a 750 m swim and a 5k run. With one vital difference: I hadn't gone swimming or running for about two weeks, or since the day of the triathlon to be precise. Also, I had never actually swum 750 m at a stretch. Long story cut short, I went, I saw, I killed myself swimming, then dragged my limp and lifeless corpse 5 k to the finish line. But the bottom line is I survived; which was pretty much my intention throughout.

Even though in retrospect the gift of hindsight is overrated, let us look back (or ahead, or whatever) and and try to come up with a list of reasons why people are into LONs:

• Firstly, and this is probably the most probable, people do it for the T-shirts that scream to normal people such random words and phrases as “I’m an Aquathlete!,” “Triathlete,” and my personal favourite “I ran 42.195 km for this shirt”
  
• Next, some people do it for the finishers medals. Yup, there’s a huge slab of stainless steel lying around in my room. Among some interesting uses of a heavy metal medal: I could use it to maim my enemies, bludgeon rodents and other small creatures to death, or wait, even use it as a paper weight!
  
• Ego. Self explanatory.
  
• Some people do it to try to convince the world that they aren’t the lazy slobs that they are. If they can complete a full LON, they by Jove, I guess they aren’t.
  
• Divine Intervention. Some people do it because God came to them in a dream and said unto them “Children! Give up thine slothful ways, and start anew. Swimming, then cycling, then running is the surest path to redemption, and to me, my child. May the force be with you.” Yes, I know this last one is a bit convoluted; but everyone has their reasons, and this, is mine.
  
  Until next time,
  peace out