Since I’m due in the UK in the next 24-hours, I thought
I’d touch on a character that had been an interesting part of my childhood. He
was, what they’d call a reflection of the quirky part of British culture, a celebrated
loser. I am, of course talking about Mr. Michael Edwards better known as “Eddie
the Eagle,” a ski jumper who came last in his events in Calgary Winter Olympics
in 1988, yet despite coming dead last, Eddie became the star of the show.
Whenever he showed up, everyone cheered. He was, for a brief moment, a
celebrity. His story can be found at:
Then, I came back for National
Service. I was grossly overweight thanks to the fact that I managed to avoid
going for the weekly “Games” sessions and spent the time hiding in the dorm
munching Hagan Daz cookie dough flavoured ice cream. My first ever “5BX”
session nearly killed me. So, I had to find a way of making it out of the
physical training phrase in some sort of shape and so, I just gave what I could
during PT. This involved collapsing a few times and wanting to puke up after
basic running but I pushed through it.
I’m told that a lot of my peers liked
the fact that although I was physically weak, I still persevered. So, whenever
the Physical Training Instructor (PTI) singled me out and punished the group (which
I think only happened once), nobody held it against me.
I kind of lost that for a while. I
allowed myself to become a fat slob. What money I made, ended up being spent on
good food and booze. My idea of exercise was, well something a good family man
shouldn’t admit to.
That was until I married Huong and
ended up with Kiddo. Then, sometime during Covid, I ended up having to take a
blood test and they found my blood glucose was high. The message was simple –
daily exercise was no longer non-negotiable. So, as a result, I make it a point
to walk at least 10,000 steps a day and I do something more intense at least
three times a week.
Anyway, it turned out that Pure
Fitness held a challenge and for some reason I decided to give it a try. Booked
a slot and went over to try it out in the afternoon. Somehow, the activities
looked easier on the signs. For example, I only seemed to read that one of the
stations was 10 meters worth of burpee broad jumps. Turned out it was actually
10 x 10metres worth of burpee broad jumps. Then noticed a few shredded guys drenched.
I then realized that my obese middle-aged body may not have been up for the
job.
In a way, life is like that. Most of
us can’t be “prize winners.” However, we got to finish the race and sometimes,
when you look at the fact that the rules are often changed to screw us up,
finishing and taking part becomes the achievement in itself.
1 comment
Kudos 👏 to the great achievement 👏
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