I wonder…..if I would collapse and die…

The much anticipated Standard Chartered KL Marathon 2010 (SCKLM) took place last Sunday (June 27). Geez! That’s almost one week ago. Okay, okay, sorry I took my own sweet time to blog about it. As if anyone’s waiting, eh?

So, how did I do? Did I complete the race? Was I as kiasu as the Larian Go Green race? Well, continue reading…

Prior to the SCKLM, for three weeks straight, I went for my yoga class every Monday and Wednesday and ran for 4 - 5 loops around TTDI Park every Tuesday and Thursday. Without fail! I also controlled my eating. So, the sudden change in my ‘lifestyle’ was not because I was training and preparing myself for the SCKLM. The only training that I had for it was probably the 7.5 km run in the Larian Go Green the week before. I just had to inject the-3-weeks-straight-yoga-run thingy here so that you would go, “Fuiyoo! So fit!”. But the truth is nowadays my social life is as good as non-existent! I have nothing better to do, so I exercise. How pathetic, huh? I did lose 2kgs, by the way. Ehem! Anyways…

Reality only hit me when I went to collect the race pack that Friday at Stadium Titiwangsa. When I saw so many booths especially for the category that I signed up for, the 10km (10 booths for 10km alone) I was like, “OoooO shit! What have I gotten myself into?!” I collected the race packs for J and myself without any problem. And thanks to MZ for accompanying me or else I would be cursing trying to look for the place. I took a look in the sling bag given, there's:

• a personalized race bib - I had my name on it (don’t play-play!) & my emergency contact details behind the bib;
• timing device - I didn't know what it was at first. Thought it was just a sticker with no particular function! (See picture below) That's how the D-Tag was attached. Don't ask me how it works!;
• runner's vest - Hah! Finally I can don one when running at the park err…. you know, just to show off;
• Runner's Guide Book - contained all the useful info; and
• a 30% discount voucher from New Balance - Like I have the dosh to get a new pair of running shoes!.

Wah! I felt like a champion already! Eheh!

So, what was my goal for this BIG race? I didn’t have any except… to complete the 10km and hoped that I'd still live to tell the tale! As it would be my first time running 10km, I didn’t have (please allow the kiasu me to use the running jargon here) my PB (personal best) or PR (personal record) to beat or anyone else’s PR/PB that I could use as benchmark. The 45 minutes for the 7.5km I did in Larian Go Green? Nah! That wasn’t the official time as no timing device was used.

Fast forward to the BIG Race day…

I woke up at 4am that morning. Woke up?! I did NOT sleep AT ALL!! Not for a single minute! Tried but failed miserably! Maybe I was too tired considering I had a packed Saturday (from a wedding reception to a pool party to a showcase). Maybe I was too anxious or excited or nervous about the BIG race. Or…maybe I was just scared to fall asleep and not hear the alarm clock and would miss the race?! That would be damn chialat!

The original plan was to get our asses to Dataran Merdeka (Square) by 5am to beat the crowd and grab a parking spot at Padang Merbok but we only left J’s house at 5am!! It was drizzling but as we got into NKVE, the drizzle became rain! It was pouring cats and dogs! The organizer must have forgotten to hire the ‘bomoh hujan’! Pity the full marathoners who were flagged off at 5am. K, was one of them. They must be soaking wet and cold, I thought.

We got to town around 5.30am. By then, the rain has stopped. Perfect weather for running! Didn’t get to park at Padang Merbok but managed to park illegally near Bukit Aman. Ah! Like the cops would give a damn! We had to walk about 15 – 20 minutes to Dataran Merdeka! A good warm-up, that was.

I was amazed with the amount of people at Dataran Merdeka! Probably 1.2% out of Kuala Lumpur population was there. Okay, maybe I exaggerated a bit there but really…there were so many people in the wee hours of that Sunday morning! 17,500 entries, I heard the announcer said over the PA system. That’s just the runners alone! But surprisingly, there weren’t many familiar faces around. Of course most of my friends were nicely drooling away in Lalaland!

Since the 10km runners would only be flagged off at 7am, J and I had slightly more than an hour to kill. The two ‘rookies’ weren’t really sure what to do. Should we start doing our warm-ups already? That would be too early and too kiasu! So, we just walked around looking for…freebies. Sakai! J felt so inferior every time he came across runners with the green bibs, the half marathoners. Luckily, those with blue bibs, the full marathoners had gone off for their 42km race or else J probably would have gone home instead of running the 10km! Just kidding! But, let me tell you. This guy’s kiasu-ism is worst than mine, okay!

So, what freebies did we manage to get? First, we got our noses stuck with those nasal strips. Wait a minute! Isn’t that thing for reducing snoring? Apparently, runners also wear it for easy breathing when running. As much as we wanted to look like serious runners but we looked too stupid wearing it, so we took it off. Then, we got the PowerBar Energy Bar. I didn’t like it, tho’. Taste like a sweet rubber to me. Yucks! We found nothing else. No van giving free Milo. No Chinese women from China offering free reflexology. No clowns giving away balloons. Eh!

The race for half-marathoners was flagged off at 6.15am. So, the 10km runners had another 45 minutes to go. J the Uncle was already feeling restless. I was feeling sleepy. Some 10km runners around us had already started doing some warm-ups. I was just standing….and staring into space. J the Uncle was sitting on the pavement and then suddenly…he got attacked by the thing which I kept warning him about for days – tummy ache! Alamak! Fail betul la, unkel ni! I told him to go to the porta-potties which were just right behind him but probably he thinks his ass has a class of its own, so he refused. Then he said the tummy ache’s gone. Phew! FYI, this guy has a really bad case of a weak tummy. Anything that goes in will come out immediately. It must be the PowerBar he had earlier or the 3 servings of lamb he had at the wedding reception the day before!

At last, all the 10km runners gathered around the start line. 20 minutes before show time! J tried to drag me to line up at the front of the pack but I refused. (Told you his kiasu-ism is worst than mine, didn’t I?). We positioned ourselves somewhere in the middle. I looked around. Wow! So many people in the 10km category! Big, small, tall, short, fat, thin, young, old, pretty, handsome, so-so, ugly, black, white, yellow! Macam-macam ada! (I found out after the race that there were about 7,500 runners for 10km alone!) J the Uncle put on his headphone and started doing his infamous cucuk langit + munchung fengtau dance moves. I got bored waiting. I was getting sleepy. So I just stood still with my eyes closed. An attempt to have a power nap...standing!

Then…..7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2…..and off we went……Just like Mat Rempits illegally racing at Dataran Merdeka on Saturday night! The only difference, we were on foot! Everybody was trying to overtake everybody. It wasn’t easy to run at first, with the hordes of runners. You gotta arrange your steps properly so that you wouldn’t ‘knock down’ anyone in front of you or pounce into a puddle. Imagine you were a Mat Rempit riding a bike without the side mirrors. You gotta turn your head behind to see if it’s clear and safe before changing lane or overtaking (errr...as if a Mat Rempit would really give a damn!). Hundreds of runners were passing me left, right, center! It was insane! I heard J was shouting,“Kiasu, siot! Kiasunya!” I responded,“Ah Ah! Kiasu! Gila kiasu!”. The brief conversation between two kiasu buddies!

Some runners started to walk after the 1st kilometer or so. “Already? Good!”, said the kiasu me to my kiasu self. J and I kept on running, passed the KTM on our left, then passed the National Museum on our right. Wow! We were running in the middle of the normally busy Jalan Travers but this time there were no cars, no motorbikes! Just human traffic jam! After we passed KL Central, just as we entered Jalan Tun Sambathan, J told me that he really needed to make a detour to the….toilet! Aiseyman! He couldn’t take it anymore. Kiasu J became Kancheong J! He told me to go ahead and he would catch up with me. Then he zoomed off to the nearest mamak restaurant to do the big business!

I continued running. I saw a girl running…barefooted (not sure if I should be impressed or feel sorry for her), saw another girl looking like a real athlete but running carrying a backpack (later I found out that it was actually my close friend, Z and the backpack was actually a hydration bag!), saw a MILF running while pushing her kid in a stroller (supercool!), a guy running wearing pants and shirt (what the…!), an aunty running wearing loud colour top and bottom with loud hair colour to boot (Go, Aunty!), I saw all sort of people. No, my kiasu-ness didn’t kick in. I didn’t make anyone as the ‘target’ to overtake. I was too thirsty. I didn’t hydrate myself enough before the run because I was afraid that I would make a few porta-potties stops in the middle of my run. Stupid, I know!

I didn't notice any distance marker along the route we had taken. Was there any? Or did I miss it because I was running with my eyes on the ground most of the time? So, I didn’t know how far or how long I had been running until I saw the first water station on Jalan Syed Putra. If I remembered correctly, in the Runner’s Guide Book it says that the water station would be available at the Start & Finish area and then every 2km after the first 4km. So, this was the first station and... "What?! It's only 4km!?" It sure felt I had run longer than that! Another 6.383km to go! Haih! (FYI, the official distance for the 10km category was 10.383km). As it was the first water station and after running for 4km, you can bet, most of the runners were drained out. Manners aside, everyone was grabbing the drinks like a bunch of piranhas! My head got elbowed a few times. The price I have to pay for being short! Learning from my experience in Larian Go Green race, to avoid getting choked on water, I should walk and drink. So, I did. It wasn't water but it was 100 Plus. Nice but a warm one, ‘tho! Then I started running again. At a slow and steady pace.

It was at the bridge or flyover or whatever you call it at Jalan Sultan Sulaiman that J caught up with me. I was surprised and amazed at the same time that he could locate me among those thousands of runners! But then again, J is the kind of guy with wandering eyes, even while running. So, maybe he saw an opportunity to woo a cute girl who was running all by herself but only to find out that it was his BFF….yours truly! Ahaks! We continued running towards Lake Gardens. Here, I took a few walking breaks. J tried to chat with me but I had to shut him up a few times. One - he was shouting because he couldn’t hear how loud his own voice was because the music on his headphone was at maximum volume and Two - I do not like to chat while running because I feel it takes up my energy.

On Jalan Parlimen, we saw the second water station. 2km after the first station. We were at our 6km mark now. J told me to not grab the drinks from the front of the station but from the middle or the end of the table to avoid the crowd. He was right. I managed to grab two cups this time. Then we saw the sight of our big Malaysian flag at Dataran Merdeka. We're not that far from the finish line, so we thought. Woo hoo! But little did we know, we had to run on a long stretch of Jalan Raja Laut and make a turning to another long stretch of Jalan TAR and then run towards the finish line at Dataran Merdeka!

It was on Jalan Raja Laut when J decided to live up to SCKLM’s slogan for 2010 – “Run As One”. Maybe my pace was too slow for him to keep up with (mentang-mentang perut dah ringan!) or probably he found me to be such a bore because I refused to chat with him. Nah! He’s just plain kiasu! So, without pre-empting me, he ran off and left me to run on my own…once again!

I decided to just walk on Jalan Raja Laut to save whatever energy I had left to run again when I get on Jalan TAR. But I felt like I was wasting too much time just by walking. So I walked-ran-walked-ran, like an indecisive mofo! I was walking beside a cute looking gwai-lo (mat salleh) and I was so tempted to ask for his number. Nah! Kidding! I was so tempted to ask him for the time. But then again, I thought to myself, what difference would make if I knew the time, anyway? It’s not as if I had a PR to break. So, I didn’t ask him.

I assumed the turning to Jalan TAR would be the road near Sogo, but my assumption was wrong. It was a little bit further, at the small road between MARA and Pertama Complex. Thank God! Luckily the turning was not near the traffic lights intersections near Sime Darby or else I'd die!

As planned, I started running as soon as I was on Jalan TAR. I wanted to quicken my pace but I was too drained. I did manage to run pass the barefooted girl I saw earlier. I kept on running but slow. Too slow, indeed. I ran as far as my short legs could take me until I felt a piercing pain in my chest, like the one I had in Larian Go Green. This time it was more painful. I tried to make the pain go away by breathing deeply and slowly and rubbing my chest at the same time. There were a few photographers snapping random pictures on each side of the pavement. I just hope they didn’t snap any picture of me rubbing my chest because it would sure look as if I was fondling my titties!

And then I saw the ‘Start’/’Finish’ arch. “This is it!” I ignored the pain and I started running again. I imagined as if I was in a movie. You know, the kind of movie where the runner couldn’t go on anymore but suddenly rose to the occasion because she was motivated by the support and cheering of the crowd? Hah! That kinda movie! Well, actually I had no one cheering for me but have you forgotten what I mentioned earlier? I imagined as if I was in a movie! I ran pass the aunty with loud hair colour (Well, hello again! Oops...Goodbye!), ran pass a familiar face I saw a few times at the TTDI park, I ran pass so many runners, squeezing my way through and pushing my limits to cross the finish line! And....I...finally...crossed it!

Yes!! Yes!! I did it! I did it! I've completed my first ever 10km race! *Clap*Clap*. Time? I didn’t bother looking up to look at the time displayed. The feeling? I couldn’t really describe how I felt but I knew that greatest sense of satisfaction for completing the 10km was there!

I managed to find J who finished ahead of me (of course!) near the third and last water station which was situated after the finish line! (I thought a big race like that would provide more than three water stations!) J and I then proceeded to get our finishers’ medals. Both of us were grinning from ear to ear. We did it! We hung around for a bit, just to enjoy the moment. Most of the runners were seen taking pictures with their medals including J and I! After tweeting and facebooking about our achievements, we left Dataran Merdeka for nasi berlauk in Ampang. I then went home and slept throughout that day…smiling!

A couple of days after the race, our results were out on the website. My rank was 825; Gun time: 1:24:03; Net time: 1:22:56. All results and rankings are based on the Gun Time. 825 out of 3,212 runners (veterans included) in the Women Open – 10km category! Not bad, eh? Yesterday, I found out that my new rank, after the veterans have been segregated, is 545 out of x,xxx runners. The organizer did not provide the total number of runners in each category. What’s the point of knowing your rank if you don’t have that important piece of info, right? I’m still trying to dig some info somewhere. I’ll keep you updated. That aside, I guess, 10km may not be a big deal to some but it was to me. It was a challenge I set for myself and I think I did quite well and I'm proud of myself. *pat self on back*

In case you are wondering, how did J do? Rank: 1341; Gun Time: 1:21:52; Net Time: 1:20:45. Not bad but he could have had a better PR/PB if he didn’t take that 7 minutes loo break. (Yes, he actually timed himself!). Oh! On top of the Finisher's Medals we received, the Finisher's Certificates will also be posted to us. Cool, eh? Should I get it framed, then? Eheh!

So, what’s next for me? Half-marathon? Nah! I don’t think I’m ready for that. And I am not that ambitious. But I think I have the running bug now. The next running race for me will be the Siemens Run 2010 for the 10km category on July 18. A bit competitive race that will be as I'll be running together with six other friends. Nah! My only goal for that race is - to beat my PR/PB of 1:22:56. But of course!

Lessons Learnt from this race:

1. Do not go out the night before the race;
2. Rest well/Get enough sleep;
3. Drink plenty of water the day before the race;
4. Bring along hand sanitizer - when I run I always feel as if my hands are dirty (weirdo! Or is it a new OCD?);
5. Bring an iPod if running with (only) J (*peace*, J!);
6. Pin my bib properly (my hand kept getting caught between the bib & my vest when running); and
7. Must remember to smile and close my mouth when running towards the finish line so that the photos taken by random photographers will not turn out... like this……

BOOHOO!

When I had that piercing pain in my chest, I wondered…if I would collapse and die. Thank God, I did not. But it wasn’t so lucky for another 10km runner. Lim Ji Wei, aged 25. He collapsed just 2km away (I think) from completing the race and he was declared to have died of cardiac arrest. My heart goes out to his family. 25 is such a young age to die. God gives life and only He can take it away anytime, anywhere even when one was doing a (supposedly) healthy activity like running!