Into The Darkness...

By Frank

After two back to back 21KM runs, I was totally knocked out yesterday. Totally flat that I slept soundly for 4 hours in the noon yesterday. But it was sufficient as I woke up wanting more. And with it, I decided to up my ante and go for a triple back to back.

But before doing so, I had to indulge myself with food as the diarrhea the day before left me pretty dry.

I haven't been watching football for quite some time but since there is a midnight game between Liverpool and Aston Villa, I took the opportunity to catch it before going for my run. Oh and yes, did I mention that my third run is going to be a night one, in fact during the wee hours. 3.30am was my choice as I'm guessing that this is the time that I will start to struggle during the Sundown Marathon. Would like to run a 30KM distance but I guess a 25KM will do just fine for now, for I do not know how my body will react by suddenly adding an addition 10KM especially at conditions like this. Besides, I have to work later in the morning and certainly wouldn't want to look to stone in front of my client. Therefore with only 4 hours of sleep in the noon, off I went running into the darkness in a white running top with a bottle of water in hand.

It's 3.30am and I'm getting ready to run...

The weather was rather humid and dry. No breeze were felt. My first 10KM will bring me to Damansara Perdana via Mutiara Damansara. This was the toughest of the entire distance due to the gradient. I was already huffing and puffing when I arrived at Mutiara Damansara, and there was still a climb towards the U-turn point at the Perdana View Condominium, and not forgetting to repeat to where I came from. I trip on a raise platform here as I ran on the pavement which was covered with bushes, thus it was dark. Was lucky it didn't send me flying.

The return trip saw me running my way towards Segi College on a rather flat road. I made a quick pit stop at a convenience store just about at the 20KM mark when my own supply of water ran out. From there, I made my way towards the Selangor Polo Club before re-entering into the residential area making a couple of loops before hitting my 25KM target. And by the time I was done, it was already 6.15am, just enough time for me to settle down, shower and get to work.

Before the run, I was actually a little worried about safety. "Mat rempits" or biker boys are sometimes seen hanging around the main roads. However, I was lucky as no were seen and most of my running route was through security posts and even the police stations. And though most of my running route is consider bright enough, I still had to down myself in a white running top, just for precautions. Overall, it was a peaceful run.

Call me insane for running at this time! I'm sure the security guards and others who saw me running earlier was calling me that. For what I know, it has to be done sooner or later. I'm glad I took the first step in running it. It was really tough running alone at this condition and I kept myself motivated by thinking of my running mates. Yes, the thoughts of them really help a lot. And at the end of it, though feeling really tired, I felt really great.