Sweaty nights and lost shoes


This evening I went for a run. That was the first time I’ve been running in two weeks, and the first time in Singapore in a lot longer. I could only do this with help from my family – La Serpiente Aquatica Negra went to sleep in less than 5 minutes last night, after a bravura performance last night where she raged against the dying of the light and stayed awake on purpose for an hour while we were trying to get out of the house and drink sloe gin.

However, I’ve lost my favourite pair of off-road running shoes (they have disappeared, ever since The Great Relay) and so instead of going straight out for a run, I first searched through the whole house for them. On the positive side, I’ve tidied up the bomb shelter, which was a complete state, and I’ve thrown away a pair of old cycling shorts, but to the negative, I wasted an hour and a half looking for something that has dematerialised when I could have been out running.

That meant I didn’t get out until almost 9:30 tonight. I ran in a large circle, getting out to the old railway line (but having to loop back, because of dead ends, fences, and so on) and surprised myself, after not running for a long time, by apparently averaging under 5 minutes per kilometre the whole way round. I could only manage 5 k though, after which I stopped off at the exercise area below our block of flats and stepped up and down on a tree stump for a few minutes, then went home and sweat.

And sweat.

And sweat.

I’d forgotten, until I was standing in the kitchen, stripped to the waist and dripping on the floor, how much I enjoy sweating. There’s a wonderful feeling as the perspiration oozes out of your pores and runs down your body, where you can feel your body doing its level best to achieve homeostasis. It’s not very sociable or pleasant for those around you, but that just heightens the enjoyment.

Not that I could stand sweating in the kitchen all night. Eventually I relented and took a cold shower, taking care not to yelp in shock and wake up the slumbering children. La Serpiente starts her first day at school tomorrow, and she needs to be well-rested. I don’t get to take her to school (I’ll be at home keeping Destroyer company) but I can still worry about her first day.

I’m very upset about my missing shoes. I must be showing it, because my wife actually suggested I buy a replacement pair of shoes. (She’s still enraged that my collection of shoes massively eclipses hers.) If she thinks I should buy more shoes, then clearly I should. But what to buy? My Salomons were wonderful, with heavy lugged soles for running through mud, but enough cushioning to make pounding the pavement on the way to the trail survivable. All my other trainers are much lighter, but I expect they wouldn’t provide the same protection against stubbed toes and sharp rocks jabbing into my insole. And the thought of paying the ridiculous prices for shoes in Singapore does give me pause.

Also, every dollar I spend on shoes is a dollar I can’t waste on gadgets. What to do, what to do?


One response to “Sweaty nights and lost shoes”

  1. I hate sweating. It’s so messy. But now I’ve got to the point where if I’m not half blinded by rivers of perspiration, I realise I haven’t been working out hard enough. Tricky.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.