Time-Turner

Would you believe me if I told you that the first thing I did on my birthday this year was running?

Perhaps one reason for my determination to run is birthday cake celebration the night before my birthday, and anticipation of more cakes to follow. I ran fast because my daughter texted me the minute past midnight, asking to be the very first one to say happy birthday to me.

Of course, there are many other reasons for me to run. I have a hunch that my genes and stress since childbirth call for more exercise to get me back on the right direction. Since I was a low birth weight preterm baby nearly half a century ago, the "famine" environment might have increased my odds of developing obesity, diabetes and heart disease. Still the odds! Priming from early-life exposure to "famine" nutrition, and subsequent mismatch with overnutrition, can forebode a unhealthy body, or what we call "thrifty phenotype."

Fast forward to my current middle-age race against the clock. I know pretty well my physical strength should have peaked years ago. I am running to stalk degeneration, instead of trying to turn the clock back. All of which is to say that I may not be as successful as Hermione who managed to travel back in time (as what she did in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban) by means of a charm she wears around her neck. I can't. But I can run faster than the clock, on a positive note.

Trophy

All parents (okay, almost all) go out of their way to expose their kids to certain experiences and to teach them the corresponding etiquette.

Soccer fans have their kids dressed in Manchester City or Liverpool jerseys watching Premier League matches. Video game gurus engage their kids with Roblox, Minecraft, and Fortnite adventures. Those interested in cookery use food as a teaching tool.

Here's what I am expert in: buy or check out a book from library to bring home. Tada! My daughter's face will then be totally buried in the book. Her mind will be so absorbed in the book so tight that she won't eat, sleep or pee. Ah, that is more rewarding than catching a huge bass.

The way a daughter loves reading is a bookworm daddy's trophy. When my daughter was hooked on Raina Telgemeier's new story book Guts the minute I brought it home, I knew I won another trophy tonight.

Elite

All parents yearn for their children to represent school in competition, an achievement worth uploading to social media platform. In fact, it might be tempting even to broadcast a live video to guarantee hundreds of "Like" on your post.

It is one thing to celebrate if your children get selected. But it is another thing altogether to consider how school teachers should choose the school team. A few weeks ago, a friend of mine took pride in his firsthand experience in school's choice of sending the best of the best candidate. The crème de la crème, end of story. Reputation first. Always.

Which brings me to a novel on my bedside table recently: Beartown. That's a story of junior ice hockey team. No one really knows where Beartown is. Not because it's nestled deep in the forest, but because it's poor. Their junior ice hockey team is about to compete in the national semifinals, and everyone in the community pins hope on the juniors. Winning would mean everything to this small town. So much so that the sports team has decided to fire the coach Sune and replace him by someone who says just one word: "Win." The club needs that; the town demands that.

It's just that Sune isn't so sure that's all a hockey team should consist of: boys who never lose. Instead, Sune told his hockey players: "Some of you were born with talent, some weren't. Some of you are lucky and got everything for free, some of you got nothing. But remember, when you're out on the ice you're all equals. And there's one thing you need to know: desire always beats luck."

That sounds inspiring. And it is. One would be nuts to say no to Sune.

The novel, it turned out, was written by Fredrik Backman, a Swedish college dropout who was working as a forklift driver at a food warehouse when he wrote his first novel A Man Called Ove. He signed up for night and weekend shifts so he could write during the day. I wouldn't be surprised if it was Fredrik Backman, but not Sune, who stated "desire always beats luck."

Shorts

To run, all we need is a pair of good running shoes and shorts. Period.

As Peter Sagal said in The Incomplete Book of Running: If you don't have sneakers, just grab your most comfortable shoes, or go barefoot on dirt or sand. If you don't have shorts, get an old pair of jeans and cut off the legs. If anybody judges you wearing ratty clothes, one of the privileges and benefits of running is leaving people behind.

To those who pay careful attention to my first sentence, I sound a cautionary note: we need more than one running outfit. We can't have that many runs each week if we have only one pair of shorts, for example. To get around this, some runners - okay, many - okay, me - can wear running outfits more than once before washing. If I choose to be honest, I'd have to say that it's not uncommon for me to dig out my smelly running shorts from the laundry basket for my second run the next day.

I admit, sometimes I find my running speed ramped up by how stinky my outfits are, the way a cheetah energized by an antelope. The stinkier you're, the farther you prefer to go ahead of others.