After it was over and I walking around looking for my husband at our promised meeting place, the first thing he said to me was "lepas ni 42km pulak?" (so after this you're going to do full marathon?).
To be frank, if he had asked me the day before, my answer would have been a full resounding YES! However, given the circumstances, for once I was lost for words. "Er..." I answered cautiously, "why ...don't we try something else like mountain climbing? We'll do Mount Kinabalu first, then maybe I'll think about full marathon".
Hubby was smiling. He said that, definitely can do together. He has bad knees from younger days of being very active in sports.
Myself on the other hand, could barely walk, tried to feign a weak smile. I knew one thing for sure, tomorrow it will only be worse.
It was my first half marathon and yes, it was nothing short of being memorable. We were late because of traffic. Since maghrib prayers start early at 19.01 I thought we'd pray first then make our way to Putrajaya. My brother in law had already advised to take an alternate route, but because we were unfamiliar with that route, I told my driver to stick to the known LDP. What a mistake. It was raining and that definitely contributed to the crawl to the Sunway toll, then after the toll there is another queue as the lanes merge. Traffic only eased after IOI mall and it was 20.00 by then! The HM starts at 20.20.
During the car ride I remember thinking to myself, well, if we're too late that I can't qualify there's no point really, and that would be a dignified way to chicken out of this predicament. I can't believe I thought that, but I did.
Nearer to the starting point it became obvious that I was going to 'make it'. We somehow managed to get clearance to drive into the compound near the race and I was dropped off not too far away. Running towards the starting point I saw an information counter, I immediately asked the ladies there "where do I register?" and they said 'You can start running now!' pointing towards the arch. (The race had already started and the crowd of runners were no where to be seen, there were a few other late-comers like me who had just started too).
And run I did. It's difficult not to over-do-it in the beginning with all the audience and hype going on but I had been advised well about this and kept monitoring my pace. After about 1.4km I met up with the 'running crowd'.
The way the race is designed, runners from FM, HM, 10km and 5km merge and depart at certain points. I was worried I'd get lost so I ran with the map in my right hand and my phone in my left hand. In the beginning, for me at least, it's getting used to running with others as I have only ran solo during practise. Another thing that distracted me was the drinks station. I think overall the stations were well placed and manned. On average at every 2.5km paper cups with plain water is readily available, I didn't feel thirsty during the event but only certain points had the isotonic drink. During practise I drank only iosotonic drinks and at 5km intervals, I think I might have done better if I had my own bottles of blue revive or 100 plus.
When we merged with the FM people and the elite athletes started to zoom by, well, that was a bit discouraging I must say. Some of them I think were way slimmer than me. One things for sure, they had trained harder and were much, much fitter to able to run like that. I was kind of jealous but I understand the sacrifice, hence I was able to rationalise.
I'm not sure why I started to have cramps at about 8-9km. Usually during training this happens only after 15km. Another problem was I didn't know what to do when it happened, I knew the underlying problem was the muscle running out of fuel, but was I supposed to continue or stop? A few other runners did briefly stop to ask if I was ok, I just gave the thumbs up, too painful to smile.
Thankfully it didn't last more than a few moments. I found that the best thing was to slow down the pace when you feel it coming on and when it is full blown, stop and then slowly walk it off. Some runners stopped and did stretching, some got massage I saw at the medic's and one person did spray something on my right leg which I think helped.
After 14km the count down signboards started, '7km to go' sign followed by '6km left' sign until the last '1km left'. There were some beautiful sights to behold along the race but I just couldn't bring myself to stop and take pictures. I didn't even reply when my hubby texted to ask distance covered. I just wanted to finish. My greatest fear initially was getting lost and later was not finishing. I was afraid to stop or sit down in case I couldn't get up again.
The worst part was the last 1km. The cramps were not disappearing and you just have to run with it. As painful as the experience was, I'm glad I did it.
To be frank, if he had asked me the day before, my answer would have been a full resounding YES! However, given the circumstances, for once I was lost for words. "Er..." I answered cautiously, "why ...don't we try something else like mountain climbing? We'll do Mount Kinabalu first, then maybe I'll think about full marathon".
Hubby was smiling. He said that, definitely can do together. He has bad knees from younger days of being very active in sports.
Myself on the other hand, could barely walk, tried to feign a weak smile. I knew one thing for sure, tomorrow it will only be worse.
It was my first half marathon and yes, it was nothing short of being memorable. We were late because of traffic. Since maghrib prayers start early at 19.01 I thought we'd pray first then make our way to Putrajaya. My brother in law had already advised to take an alternate route, but because we were unfamiliar with that route, I told my driver to stick to the known LDP. What a mistake. It was raining and that definitely contributed to the crawl to the Sunway toll, then after the toll there is another queue as the lanes merge. Traffic only eased after IOI mall and it was 20.00 by then! The HM starts at 20.20.
During the car ride I remember thinking to myself, well, if we're too late that I can't qualify there's no point really, and that would be a dignified way to chicken out of this predicament. I can't believe I thought that, but I did.
Nearer to the starting point it became obvious that I was going to 'make it'. We somehow managed to get clearance to drive into the compound near the race and I was dropped off not too far away. Running towards the starting point I saw an information counter, I immediately asked the ladies there "where do I register?" and they said 'You can start running now!' pointing towards the arch. (The race had already started and the crowd of runners were no where to be seen, there were a few other late-comers like me who had just started too).
And run I did. It's difficult not to over-do-it in the beginning with all the audience and hype going on but I had been advised well about this and kept monitoring my pace. After about 1.4km I met up with the 'running crowd'.
The way the race is designed, runners from FM, HM, 10km and 5km merge and depart at certain points. I was worried I'd get lost so I ran with the map in my right hand and my phone in my left hand. In the beginning, for me at least, it's getting used to running with others as I have only ran solo during practise. Another thing that distracted me was the drinks station. I think overall the stations were well placed and manned. On average at every 2.5km paper cups with plain water is readily available, I didn't feel thirsty during the event but only certain points had the isotonic drink. During practise I drank only iosotonic drinks and at 5km intervals, I think I might have done better if I had my own bottles of blue revive or 100 plus.
When we merged with the FM people and the elite athletes started to zoom by, well, that was a bit discouraging I must say. Some of them I think were way slimmer than me. One things for sure, they had trained harder and were much, much fitter to able to run like that. I was kind of jealous but I understand the sacrifice, hence I was able to rationalise.
I'm not sure why I started to have cramps at about 8-9km. Usually during training this happens only after 15km. Another problem was I didn't know what to do when it happened, I knew the underlying problem was the muscle running out of fuel, but was I supposed to continue or stop? A few other runners did briefly stop to ask if I was ok, I just gave the thumbs up, too painful to smile.
Thankfully it didn't last more than a few moments. I found that the best thing was to slow down the pace when you feel it coming on and when it is full blown, stop and then slowly walk it off. Some runners stopped and did stretching, some got massage I saw at the medic's and one person did spray something on my right leg which I think helped.
After 14km the count down signboards started, '7km to go' sign followed by '6km left' sign until the last '1km left'. There were some beautiful sights to behold along the race but I just couldn't bring myself to stop and take pictures. I didn't even reply when my hubby texted to ask distance covered. I just wanted to finish. My greatest fear initially was getting lost and later was not finishing. I was afraid to stop or sit down in case I couldn't get up again.
The worst part was the last 1km. The cramps were not disappearing and you just have to run with it. As painful as the experience was, I'm glad I did it.
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