'When fear rears its ugly head, beat it down quickly. The best way to do that is to do the thing you fear.' - Robert S. Sharma

I've been slowly devouring the truths in Sharma's brilliant book. So many. So true. I have a feeling it will become a bible of sorts as the years go by. In a moment of weakness, I realized I was starting to have a great fear - for running. Everytime I run, I am afraid of feeling the pain sear through my knee. Everytime I run, I'm afraid of the little voice which gives up on the goals I only hope to achieve in the years to come.

I was afraid.

So it was time to face it head on. How? '.. attack your fears... If you fear public speaking, sign up to give twenty speeches.' My fear was running again. So it made sense... First, there's the upcoming adventure race in June, then the tri in July. With moral support and resolve from the two Gs at work, I sorted the paperwork out for a 10km run in July after the triathlon.

And with a sudden twist of fate, we're doing Bintan in two weeks! It'll be a good warm up for the other ones coming up. Clear water to cut through, a challenging bike leg and a gorgeous golf course to run through. I'm sure it will be an experience more than anything else and all I hope to do is finish.


courtesy of bintantriathlon.com

After we received confirmation of it all, I put my running shoes on and headed out the door. No hacking, no fear. I was on a total high. It's amazing what signing bits of paper can do and Sharma is so right about fear being a total state of mind. A negative part of your consciousness. I was running really very slowly but I didn't care. The important thing was that I was doing it and not obsessing about the fear of what my injury would do. Needless to say, I felt the pain 3km into the run and I had to talk myself out of it. It couldn't be ignored, however, so I listened to my body and slowed to a fast walk.

I finished the 5.8km loop in a miserable 55 minutes. But I didn't care - As far as I was concerned, I felt on top of the world again. I just love not being poorly. I love not having to stop to have a coughing fit. I really feel like new again.

Distance: 5.8km
Time: 55:19
Energy: 357kcal