Timeless gadgets

So, one thing that I know about me is that whenever I hit a serious plateau in my non-climbing sporty activities - ok, not necessarily plateau, but let's say when i am starting to get lazy - I buy new gear/gadgets. It is so that I bought the Nike+ sensor in April 2007 and I begged marian to buy me the Polar running watch for Xmas last year (ok, i was begging in October or so). The Nike+ counts my km based on the length of my average running stride, and the Polar watch monitors my heart rate and beeps whenever it goes above (or below) a given threshold.

Unfortunately, it was only last night that I found out that neither the Nike+ program on my ipod, nor the Polar watch, can tell me the bloody time while they are in use!!! Last night it was really important to know the time. This was because I first ran about 5 km with Regina and A., at a snail-on-red-bull pace, and afterwards proceeded to run to Raffles Place for my 1:30 mins yoga class. And because of the snail-on-red-bull pace that I could never shake off even after I left the girls, I was constantly afraid that I will be late.

Add to this the fact that around Queensway MRT I suddenly started to feel very thirsty. And then thirty seconds after that I started to feel that I really need to pee. It's an amazing feeling, running while at the same time contracting ones ... everything ... to prevent ... leakage ... and also wetting ones lips because of thirst. With these thirsty urinary feelings came also the very strong desire to QUIT and take the MRT. Especially since I felt it had taken me a long time to run there, and given my current "undecided" state, it would probably have taken me even more time to run to my destination. Knowing the time would have made such a big difference.

Ah well, in the end I stopped at Queensway MRT when the sight of a restroom degenerated my ... desires. When i came out from the loo I bought a 0.5 l bottle of water and drank it all while sitting on a bench and contemplating the pros and cons of quitting. Again, the fact that i had told 2 people i would run to raffles place saved the day. Very slow, but very satisfying 16-17 km.