30km in 4 hours 3 minutes
Great Eastern Pacesetters 30km 2008
My legs hurt.
My joints hurt.
I'm hungry. Sleepy.
I've got friction burns under my right upper arm and on my left thigh.
But what a run!
It started out in a daze, waking up just before 5am after sleeping at 1am. Bad idea, but I had a gig last night. Good thing I prepacked everything the night before. Hopped into the car and drove to the Lake Gardens, still in a blur. Frantically looked for parking, found one and walked 500m to Tapak A while guzzling a bottle of Gatorade. Said hello to MS and gang. Bumped into some friends. It's funny how this part of the morning is a hazy memory right now. You know, the feeling you get when you wake up suddenly from a vivid dream and wonder if it was actually a dream?
Well, the gun went off at 6am sharp and the wall of bodies in front started moving, not unlike schools of fish. Chit-chatted with MS as we ran, enjoying the cool morning air and laughed at the antics of some jokers running in front of us. So off we went down Jalan Parlimen, then towards the Bkt Tunku area, the gruelling double hill route and then back to Jalan Parlimen. The first 10km felt pretty good. Whacked a Green Apple Powergel (sure tasted better than Tangerine) and we were back on Jalan Parlimen again.
The second 10km was rather painful - up the Bkt Tunku area again (surreal feeling doing the same route in darkness and then in daylight over a span of an hour plus), this time crossing Jalan Duta to Hartamas, up the gruelling hills towards Plaza Damas (oh, Fogel's Meat Market, how your bacon called out to me). Waved at AH on the other side of the road. I trailed two really old uncles (my race bunnies over the past 5km) but boy, they were hard to keep up with. Then I saw and waved to Aunty T on the other side (she's in her late 60s!). Waved to AS (also on the other side of the road). Ran down to the Petronas Station near Bulldog, made a loop round the playground and then back. Saw JJ and paced with her for awhile. Took the Powergel the organisers provided (Toffee or Coffee, not bad) and we caught up with IS and ED.
As we made our way back, I caught up with the uncles and we chit-chatted abit. They were in their 60s and 70s and they'd been running for decades. OMG. Before long, the uphill made me slowdown to a walk again as they powered on. The Powergel started to work its mojo, and I picked up speed again on the downhill. 8 more km to go. The uncles were way ahead now, little men in the horizon. Tried to catch up but I was no where near their league. The sun was high in the sky and it was getting hot. Left right left right left right. "There's no such thing as pain. There's no such thing as pain." Breathe. Huff huff puff puff.
Last 2 km, my legs were at the verge of cramping.
C'mon... 10 minutes to qualifying time. "I won't make it" I thought, and the quitter in me slowed down to a walk again.
Then I saw some people who had completed the race (more uncles and aunties) walking along the path on the way to their cars, smiling and cheering me on. "Young lady, 1 more km, come on, little bit more, go go go". Shy man...
So I pumped in whatever I had left.
400m. 200m. Finally. The finish line. YAY!
Three minutes past qualifying time.
No.109 in my category, sure or nottt...
Eh? Still got medal ah! Double YAY!.
Felt woozy. Walked around aimlessly.
Had some drinks. Owww, my legs...
Walked gingerly back to the car. Grabbed some money and forms for KLIM registration (21k run). Walked back to register and then back to the car (that's like 1.5km worth of a 'cool down' walk, but cool's not the word with that heat, man). Stretched. Had a bottle of Gatorade. Gawd, I reeked of sweat. Eww.
Finally left the Lake Gardens. My face and fingers were on pins and needles. Felt much better after a quick brunch with LY (bacon at J&R, and oh, brown toast, eggs, sausage, grilled tomato - abit lavish, but what the heck, it's a rare indulgence). Drove home, played with Sunshine, bathed her, bathed myself and then KO to a short, restless nap.
I'm sooo gonna suffer tomorrow.
I don't know if I will do this again, let alone entertain the thought of running a full marathon. I'll stick to the halfs for now.
Gosh. I feel tired again.
ZZzzzzz....
My legs hurt.
My joints hurt.
I'm hungry. Sleepy.
I've got friction burns under my right upper arm and on my left thigh.
But what a run!
It started out in a daze, waking up just before 5am after sleeping at 1am. Bad idea, but I had a gig last night. Good thing I prepacked everything the night before. Hopped into the car and drove to the Lake Gardens, still in a blur. Frantically looked for parking, found one and walked 500m to Tapak A while guzzling a bottle of Gatorade. Said hello to MS and gang. Bumped into some friends. It's funny how this part of the morning is a hazy memory right now. You know, the feeling you get when you wake up suddenly from a vivid dream and wonder if it was actually a dream?
Well, the gun went off at 6am sharp and the wall of bodies in front started moving, not unlike schools of fish. Chit-chatted with MS as we ran, enjoying the cool morning air and laughed at the antics of some jokers running in front of us. So off we went down Jalan Parlimen, then towards the Bkt Tunku area, the gruelling double hill route and then back to Jalan Parlimen. The first 10km felt pretty good. Whacked a Green Apple Powergel (sure tasted better than Tangerine) and we were back on Jalan Parlimen again.
The second 10km was rather painful - up the Bkt Tunku area again (surreal feeling doing the same route in darkness and then in daylight over a span of an hour plus), this time crossing Jalan Duta to Hartamas, up the gruelling hills towards Plaza Damas (oh, Fogel's Meat Market, how your bacon called out to me). Waved at AH on the other side of the road. I trailed two really old uncles (my race bunnies over the past 5km) but boy, they were hard to keep up with. Then I saw and waved to Aunty T on the other side (she's in her late 60s!). Waved to AS (also on the other side of the road). Ran down to the Petronas Station near Bulldog, made a loop round the playground and then back. Saw JJ and paced with her for awhile. Took the Powergel the organisers provided (Toffee or Coffee, not bad) and we caught up with IS and ED.
As we made our way back, I caught up with the uncles and we chit-chatted abit. They were in their 60s and 70s and they'd been running for decades. OMG. Before long, the uphill made me slowdown to a walk again as they powered on. The Powergel started to work its mojo, and I picked up speed again on the downhill. 8 more km to go. The uncles were way ahead now, little men in the horizon. Tried to catch up but I was no where near their league. The sun was high in the sky and it was getting hot. Left right left right left right. "There's no such thing as pain. There's no such thing as pain." Breathe. Huff huff puff puff.
Last 2 km, my legs were at the verge of cramping.
C'mon... 10 minutes to qualifying time. "I won't make it" I thought, and the quitter in me slowed down to a walk again.
Then I saw some people who had completed the race (more uncles and aunties) walking along the path on the way to their cars, smiling and cheering me on. "Young lady, 1 more km, come on, little bit more, go go go". Shy man...
So I pumped in whatever I had left.
400m. 200m. Finally. The finish line. YAY!
Three minutes past qualifying time.
No.109 in my category, sure or nottt...
Eh? Still got medal ah! Double YAY!.
Felt woozy. Walked around aimlessly.
Had some drinks. Owww, my legs...
Walked gingerly back to the car. Grabbed some money and forms for KLIM registration (21k run). Walked back to register and then back to the car (that's like 1.5km worth of a 'cool down' walk, but cool's not the word with that heat, man). Stretched. Had a bottle of Gatorade. Gawd, I reeked of sweat. Eww.
Finally left the Lake Gardens. My face and fingers were on pins and needles. Felt much better after a quick brunch with LY (bacon at J&R, and oh, brown toast, eggs, sausage, grilled tomato - abit lavish, but what the heck, it's a rare indulgence). Drove home, played with Sunshine, bathed her, bathed myself and then KO to a short, restless nap.
I'm sooo gonna suffer tomorrow.
I don't know if I will do this again, let alone entertain the thought of running a full marathon. I'll stick to the halfs for now.
Gosh. I feel tired again.
ZZzzzzz....
Labels: running
says Wandernut on Sunday, January 20, 2008
3 wandered by:
Burns on the thigh, I can understand. But burns on the arm? From RUNNING? You really must have been pumping those biceps of yours.
Sounds like a very gruelling run (despite those lao ah peks making it look so easy). Well your legs will scream at you, but at least you're walking (crawling?) away with a sense of satisfaction.
You masochist.
Nice to have met you, saw ur running. Damn powerful for such a hot day and a grueling course. Well done, bravo ;-)
ur cool person
first time jumpa, masa cycling
second time pula masa running
whoaaa, i'm impressed! keep it up
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