Venue: Dataran Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur
Date: 27 June 2010
Time: 5.00am
Distance: 42.195KM (42.6KM by Chee Kong's Garmin Forerunner 310XT)
Shoe: K-Swiss K-Ona
By Frank
0KM. That's my running mileage for the past 7 days prior to this race. My last run was a 20KM run with Jamie last Saturday. But despite that, I felt pretty good when I woke up in the morning. Probably it was due to the rest which allowed me to recover more from my ultra marathon a month ago. And speaking of that, lesson learnt from last year is to eat right to recover faster to avoid injury.
The Standard Chartered Kuala Lumpur Marathon 2010 technically wasn't on my to-do list this year. However, I decided to give them a chance to see if they improve on the overall race quality compared to last year. Aim was to run a sub 5 hour and to run it carefully as I believed I'm not 100% yet.
The race route this year...
Ready to run...Arrived at 3.45am at Bukit Aman to secure my usual car park. Proceeded to the start venue with Keat Seong, Jennifer, Paul and Poh Seng. It started to drizzle then it got a little heavier, enough to wet the roads and build up puddles of water. Not a good start for me as I'm not a wet person. But I got to admit it was cooling.
At 5am sharp, runners were set off as I started at the back with Jennifer, Chee Kong, Jamie and Poh Seng. Keat Seong was no where to be seen. There was an adrenaline rush in me as I felt really good. Immediately, I went on race pace but it was tough to navigate through the sea of runners and also to avoid the water puddles. I did go over a few but it wasn't a problem for my K-Swiss K-Ona.
My pace was pretty consistent for the first 25KM of the race despite experiencing the longest side stitch I ever have from the 14KM onwards till the 25KM mark. I slowed down but was still maintaining a 6.00 minutes pace or so bearing the pain as I run. It was about 17KM where Keat Seong and Chee Kong passed me. I tried to follow them but they were slowly disappearing into the distance. By the time I arrive 23KM mark which was just after the KL Tower, they were already gone.
At the 25KM mark just in front of the National Library, I spotted Chee Kong reduced to walking. I stopped beside him to accompany him though I know my own legs will lock up when I stop. But as he will be flying off to Scotland in a few days time for work purposes, I do not know when is the next time I will run or see him again, so I decided to run and even walk with him.
I started to feel my legs warming up as lactic acid started to accumulate. Slowly, it got painful and stiff but it was worth it for the sake of a friend. When we both got to Jalan Ipoh and then Jalan Kuching, I just want to get out of that area as vehicles piling up there was releasing fumes. But the journey out of it was not easy as both my legs were starting to show signs of cramping up. Had to stop a couple of time to actually stretch.
I was really relieved when I got to the Segambut roundabout where Jamie passed me here as I know Bukit Tungku which is filled with greens is really near. And John was there to greet me. As I entered the stretch which was block to traffic, my nostrils and lungs felt really good. Jennifer passed me here but as I after the Tijani Hill, both me and Chee Kong started to pick up our pace.
Ben was at the 39KM mark to cheer for runners. He told me McDonalds ahead! *grin* Rehydrated at the final 40KM refreshment station and told Chee Kong it's all the way now. We increased our pace but slowed at times when I saw Chee Kong struggling. At the final kilometer, I passed Jennifer and told her just one more!
Told Chee Kong to keep it steady as I didn't want anyone of us to suffer a cramp at the final stages. And as we approached Dataran Merdeka, we both felt a sense of relief as we both held each others hands high up to cross the finish line together in a time of 04:50:05. The only disappointment here was that our finishing photo was kind of ruin as there was a runner in between us at the finish line. Sigh...
Proceeded to rehydrate ourselves and also to collect our finisher's medal and shirt before regrouping with Jennifer and Keat Seong. Then it's time to bid farewell to Chee Kong. I had a good and productive but yet a little painful run with him. Hahaha... But trust me, it was all worth it.
Front view of the finisher's medal...
Rear view of the finisher's medal...Back home, immediately after cleaning myself up, I gave 14 of my personal training clients a call to check on them. After 5 months of training with me, they all embark on an "exam" to become a certified marathoner. I did not set any target time for them as for their maiden marathon, completing is the priority. I didn't even want them to meet me up before the race as my presence will probably pressure them. And boy did they amazed me. 12 of them ran a sub 5 hour marathon while another just missing the 5 hour mark by 5 minutes. As for the 1 more, CONGRATULATION Lewis for running a sub 4 hour marathon on your very first! I'm so proud of all of them as being individuals with almost no running background, they really amazed me with their results. I'm proud to say that I'm leaving the personal training scene with a huge sense of achievement. Thank you everyone!
Here are my split times:
05KM - 00:27:26
10KM - 00:55:52
15KM - 01:25:38
20KM - 01:56:01
21KM - 02:02:13
25KM - 02:28:35
30KM - 03:09:41
35KM - 03:54:43
42KM - 04:50:05
3 comments:
congrats frank, another marahon under your belt :)
aiks! you were just behind me. nice of you to accompany CK. i'm happy with my cardio but the muscular skeletal needs some steeling up. Can be done, now that my confidence is back!
RaYzeef: Thanks a lot! Am just glad that I completed it safely with a friend.
Jamie: Yeah, cause after conquering Tijani Hills, both me and CK increase our pace. But we slowed down at certain parts cause I can see CK struggling a bit. Don't want to cramp at the finish line so we nurse it back with a decent pace. I was just glad to finish my run with him for one time before he leaves. As for you, keep up with the good work. Take a step at a time and by October 2010, I know you be ready.
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