My Maiden Marathon

the 3 M's :)

If you were to tell me one year ago that I would be joining this year's Standard Chartered KL Marathon, I would have given you an incredulous look and say, HAH. ;p

And yet, here I am today, having just completed my very first marathon :)

It all started during our MLYC meeting in La Salle Hall, when Chux mentioned that he will be taking part in the marathon. Thinking it was a good initiative, I decided to sign up. Of course, realistically speaking, I couldn't possibly finish the 42 km run, so Boy and I decided to take up the 10 km one. Start slowly, and build it up to 42 km one day. I'm not saying when, but one day :p

So, the days leading up to the marathon were pretty much routine, work, eat, sleep, bathe, etc.. Oh and I was going around telling people I would be running in the SC KL Marathon :D That was since January.

Did some jogging around the housing area, usually running for 45 mins, plus minus, but with no exact count of how many kms I did, cos I didn't really count it earlier.

the goodies in my Race Pack

Roadblock 1
One month before the run, I decided to see just exactly how far 10 kms is. So I got into my trusty little Milo, and made the 10 km drive. I know, it's a bit too late to see how far it is >.< But, I had to give myself an estimation of how long I will be running. And that was when, to my horror, I realised that my runs around the neighbourhood didn't even reach 2km >.< I remember thinking that come the day of the run, I will be dying by the time I reach the finish line. Not to mention the fact that for the past two months, I have not been going out running cos I was so swamped with work, I didn't have time to go jogging. So I decided to be prudent. Instead of the anticipated 1.5 hours I might take to cross the finish line, I gave myself four hours (of which I was still doubting if I could do it). I was filled with trepidation, thinking if I had made a mistake by signing up for the marathon. But I told myself, if I don't try, I will never know. So what the heck, I made up my mind to go for it.

You can tell by the funny faces that ah Boy made that he's not in the right frame of mind today :p

Roadblock 2
Then roadblock 2 happened. I had to go to Ipoh for SMI's LEAD OT meet. On Saturday. The day before the race. Initially I was wondering how I'm gonna come back in time for the race. But I decided to take the 6pm train down on Saturday, and reach KL by 9pm, after which I will immediately go home, and sleep till 4am before ah Boy comes to get me. Another factor I had to consider was whether or not I will be too tired to run the next day. But if worse come to the worse, I will just walk. After all, there will be plenty of people doing the exact same thing :)

Race Day
I got up at 4:15am, thanks to ah Boy, and got ready my stuff for the day. Because we were advised to travel light, I didn't know what to bring, so I just got my phone, some cash, IC, License, house keys, and a change of clothes.

At 4:45am, ah Boy came to pick me up, and we headed to KJ station to wait for the bus. There were tons of people there, and the bus came at very irregular intervals. In the end, we decided to get the lrt to Masjid Jamek, and walk to the start line.

Our tracking devices, on which we will know what our exact time is :) It really is an ingenious piece of equipment >.< I'm still wondering how it works actually :/

Of the 22k plus people that registered, the number of people running the 10km run is approximately 12,500 ppl. That's like, half the number of registered participants for the entire event!

When the bell rung to signal the start of the 10 km run, we were a good ten minutes walking distance to the start line, so officially, our time didn't start until 10 minutes after 7am. Ah Boy and I kept to a good pace, and we ran side by side til the 3km mark, after which I dropped off, because I was too tired :/ So I walked a few hundred metres and started running again. When I passed the water station at the 4km mark, I took two cups of water, and 1 cup of 100 plus, because I had to replace the electrolytes I had lost (yes, I know that!!! :)). Personally, I felt a sense of accomplishment every time I passed a km marker, signaling that I'm getting closer to the end of the 10kms :)

So basically the entire run was like that, some walking, some running, and some walking again (mostly running). When I passed the 9km mark, I told myself, I have to run the final km. So I braced myself and my tired feet, and started jogging at an incredibly slow pace. I was so slow, that even those walking could keep up with me!! But hey, I'm jogging!! lol (excuses, I know ;p). When I was 200 metres from the finish line, I felt like I was about to pass out and my legs were giving me the signal that they will give in from under me any time. The insides of my thighs were chafed, and I had difficulty running. But I didn't give in. I told myself, I am already so close, I should just finish it and while I'm running my chances of finishing it fast is higher than if I were to walk.

And then................I CROSSED THE FINISH LINE!!!!! *cues fanfare music* I felt like lying down on the pavement and saying hallelujah!!! :p But of course, I did nothing as dramatic as that :D I made my way to the finisher's line, got my banana, 100 plus, and finisher's medal. I'm not sure what time I made officially, but I would say it could most probably be around the time of 1 hour, and 45 mins (plus minus)


AND I FELT SO PROUD OF MYSELF, I THINK THAT WAS ONE OF THE PROUDEST MOMENTS OF MY LIFE THIS YEAR :)

So after that, we met up with Vinesh and Joyce and Reuben, and Ben Kee. I can't help but feel awe for Ben cos this is also his maiden run, and he's doing the half marathon of 21 kms! and the best part of it was, he managed to keep up with Vinesh for the first 16 kms!! :) Bravo Ben!!!!!

This is me, and Ben :D

All in all, I didn't regret going for the marathon. Though there were times I felt that I made a mistake to sign up for it, but I am very sure that I would regret it if I didn't push myself and give it a try. I will always be left wondering what it's like to run in a marathon, and I gave up my chance.

As such, I would like to say a very big thank you to those who have supported me throughout my SC KL Marathon journey, and who have always encouraged me and told me that 10 km is not really that far (but it is!!).

My Finisher's medal, dedicated to all those who believed in me and supported my decision to participate in this run :)

We did it!!!!! :)

Update: my official time was 1 hour, 46 minutes, 01 second. I rank 2,365 out of the total 4,489 women that ran the 10km run :)

And I got myself a cert!!! Because I finished within 2 hours of the race :) makes my proud moment even prouder ^^