After more than 3 months absence in racing, I was rather pleased to register for the KLIM 2005 half-marathon category. It is easy to say there was ample time to prepare for this race but it was not the case as Feb was a busy month – festival and office work. Weekly 8-10 lap run at the KLCC was absolutely boring because I hate running in circles! Had I not participated in this race, I would have settled for a 5km run at home.
Was advised by the seniors mileage is important. I try to sustain a 90 min run without water but after the 10th lap at KLCC, I hit the WALL. Later, I tried drinking after lap 8 but somehow it made it worse. Without fail, my upper right calf will tense up after lap 10. The furthest I have gone was lap 12, which is equivalent to 15.6kms. How did I finish the PJ Half-Marathon? Was it the PowerBar/Gel, racing adrenalin....?
Calm before the storm
I consumed more than 20 bananas a week before the race. I stopped running 5 days before the race but yet the right calf was showing signs of discomfort. I popped multi-vitamins,
spirulina, vitamin B-complex, vitamin E, fish oil, garlic, ginseng and eat catfish (ikan keli) with the hope it will expedite recovery of the muscles or tendon. Applied 3 types of analgesic: Sloans, Deep Heat and Counterpain. Yes, I was in a state of panic.
The night before the race, I went to bed at 10:30 pm but could only sleep past midnight. Mee Peng teased me and said “Kan Cheong ah?” (Translated from Cantonese “Excited ah?”)
Race Day
Woke up at 4:15 am, throat was dry after taking so many supplements. Drank a can of Gatorade. Once again, have to eat the super sweet Oatmeal Raisin PowerBar. Took me less than 20 mins to reach Dataran car park. Was glad to meet my training mates Newton and Ben Lim –their presence gave me a sense of tranquility. Met Kwok Foo who flew all the way from Switzerland, for the first time. Later met up with the regular KLCC kakis: Kenneth Teh, Rohaizad, Ronnie and CS.
With the Champion Chip, there were no worries of screw-up timing (unless the chip system is screwed). All runners will be running on an entirely new refreshing route.
The Storm
Not sure how it started but the moment we saw the crowd storming forward, it was the start already. As usual, Newton and I paced together. Just 2 mins into the run, a few runners were already pissing beside the Dayabumi tunnel. At the KTM roundabout, I saw quite a number of runners rushing into the KTM building (?). Are they going to take a train to town? It is possible to catch the KTM Komuter to Sentral, hop into the Monorail and get down at Jln Sultan Ismail’s Medan Tuanku station – the last leg of the race!
Reached Mid-Valley Megamall in 36:41, there was a chalked marker on the road that says 6km. Newton took off from here onwards. The organizers have improved tremendously by providing close intervals of sponge and water stations. Somewhere along the 9th km, I received a Lime Lemon Powergel. How generous! I swapped the gel with my own (expiring soon) and slurped the Tropical Fruit gel. Took 2 cups of water, drank the first one and as I was rinsing my hands with the second one, somebody shouted….
Ooi! Don’t waste the water!
It was Kenneth! Pacing with Rohaizad. I thought they would have been way ahead since they are much faster runners. Continued running the road that veered downhill to the left, joining the TUDM road leading back to the city. I could see the Petronas Twin Towers. Thank god there was no haze.
I heard a familiar voice from behind; it was Rohaizad. Ken asked me to pace with them, of which I replied I don’t think I could follow their pacing. There was the champion chip mat (10km?) again we saw at the start, I made sure I stepped on it twice, timing at this juncture was 1:03. After pacing with them for about 7 mins, I realized I was going too fast for my comfort. …when my greatest fear enveloped – my right calf began to show signs of distress.
Leg preservation
Running the flyover that connects to the Dewan Bahasa road, self-prognosis told me that my right leg is going to deteriorate if I do not slow down. (In PJ half last year, the same part of the leg muscle contracted after kilometer 17). The 10km category runners converged at Jln Imbi. Psychologically, the crowd gave me a sense of acceleration as most of them were walking. There were several runners whom I have treaded leads with since the Mid-valley Megamall section. They were also struggling to maintain pace.
Marriot Hotel
After taking the refreshments at Jln Imbi, I felt energized and started speeding towards Jln Bukit Bintang. I hallucinated Jln Sultan Ismail would be the home run. For the first time, I skipped the drink station here thinking I could save a couple of seconds since it could be just 2-3kms away from the finish line. It was such a long stretch; any small incline was an agony. At the end of Jln Sultan Ismail, turning left to Jln TAR, many runners were looking for second wind: to squeeze the last calorie, oxygen, that remained in their body. I was grunting openly “Argh! Urgh!”. Time: 1:55.
Dying of Thirst
From Sogo, I paid the price for not drinking at the last water station because by now my lips and throat were so dry that I could literally drink anything that was passed to me. I looked around and saw a sexy girl holding an Ambank water bottle. I was tempted to ask if she could let me drink a few gulps but was afraid she might misperceive me as “ham sap” (dirty guy). Embarrassment overcame dehydration.
Just before Dataran, I was overjoyed to see another table setup but my joy was short-lived because the folks told me the supply of water “sudah habis”. Desperation, at this point my focus was not about finishing but where to get WATER WATER WATER! I thought about scavenging the heaps of used/thrown water bottles. Another wacko idea that crossed my mind due to fatigue, was to grab/steal a bottled water from the mamak shop and tell them “Nanti saya bayar!”.
In the end, I grabbed 3 sponges from the pail, squeezed them above my head and drank whatever that dripped into my mouth. A bystander who was watching laughed at my antics. I almost wanted to put the whole sponge into my mouth.
The officials were vigilant to ensure the Half-Marathoners do the loop at the Jln Raja Laut junction and not head straight to Dataran. Good work.
Pertama Complex
I was going around Pertama Complex and had to slow to a walk for a few seconds to catch a breather. Time: 2:16. As I regain my jog, I was surprised to find Newton walking in front of me. Newton had earlier suffered cramps. He asked me to go ahead. At the back of my mind I was confident he would not have trouble finishing within qualifying time.
Last 200 meters
There was this lady runner with the yellow vest “PJ KU” doing a walk-run to the finishing line. I have been trailing her since the start of the race and at some stage lost sight of her. She was, like me facing exhaustion and probably thirst as well.
As I sprinted to the end, saw Ronnie aka PM1 with his friends sitting on the road, having finished much earlier despite injury. Waved at him and ran to the finish. Collected the larger than normal Finisher medal and almost forgot to stop my stopwatch. Finished in 2:24:02.
My thoughts
After the race, met up with Ben, Justin, Ken, Rohaizad, Kwok Foo, CS, Newton, Jamie and Linda. Ben Lim finished 1:57 and according to Mee Peng his effort looked like “21k is nothing for me”. Linda again triumphantly finished with a medal in the 10km category. Only managed a few photos as the camera ran out of battery. Damn!
My salutation goes to CS: for having the heart to compete the 21km distance after 18 years of absence; Newton: for his never die attitude to complete the race despite all odds and the maestro, Jamie for nailing the full marathon in sub-5 hours (sub-4 next?).
Congratulations to Ken too on his first half-marathon debut with an impressive timing.
Lastly, I must commend the organizers: Ambank and FTAAA for doing a good job this time as compared to last year. Significant improvements: Sound system, luggage area, massage, food, free flow of drinks, distinguishable finishing line and diligent officials.
Keep it up and WELL DONE!
