Puff and buff

The pictured shoes were my Mother’s Day present that I am working hard to deserve - no, not as a mother, as a runner.

Around three months ago I began running three times a week at the local sports club. It’s the first time since being in Cambodia that I have been able to find a regular form of exercise (apart from Saturday afternoon touch footy).

While I love sports, I normally hate running. But through the casual comment of a friend who offered to run with me when we go back to Australia, I suddenly have an aim – to get fit enough to run with her. But through the process, I’ve become addicted to the numbers… 1km, 2km, 3km, 10mins, 20mins, 30mins. I’m now regularly doing 5-6kms and working to improve my time.

The newly opened sports club services a growing market for rich Khmer and foreigners seeking to work off the extra kilos that accumulate with wealth. Although some members work hard on avoiding exercise, there are also a number of very determined people who are teaching themselves how to swim. Some sink. Some float. All employ whatever technique it takes to move forward. Their courage is often my inspiration to keep running when I’d rather stop for a walk (or lie down).

Each session as I search for a machine near a fan (and still manage to splatter it with sweat), I also note with irony the construction workers outside building a new extension to the gym area. Their glistening buff bodies are surely the envy of all who workout here.