I did one mistake that I think every runner should not do a day before a run - Never go for a massage or try anything new!!! When Shanaz and I arrived at our hotel, Royal Bintang Resort & Spa, which was a 10-min or less from the starting point, we decided to pamper ourselves at the spa while waiting for dinner time... And I had a blissful time at the spa since the last time I went for one was in March... But it was also my first time going for a massage a day before a race... Mistake oh mistake...
Shanaz, Azu and I woke up at about 5:20am to get ready and walked with Irwan and his friends to the starting line... We were flagged off at 6:45am... Irwan and I decided to pace with each other again for this run.... Yayyy! :)
My legs felt alright at the first km of the route... But then, out of nowhere, my legs started 'feeling' very heavy... And I have never experienced this before... It was as though I had to force by lifting them for the next 5km or so... I was cursing at myself for being so clever for going for that massage when I could have just gone for a scrub session only... Served me right! :P
And the first hill that we encountered didn't help at all... The 'heaviness' died off after 7km and I was ecstatic and decided to run a lil faster than my usual pace... But I pretty much brisk walked through all of the 3 or 4 hills that we had to go through yesterday... Lazy... Hehe... Note to self: Need to run at hilly route after this... No more brisk walking after this!!!
This time around, both Irwan and I exchanged very few words throughout the entire route, unlike the one at the recent GCAM... :P We both wanted to qualify and get the medal for our categories respectively... Mind you, they were only giving out 30 medals for my category and 150 medals for his category!!!
I was so happy when we were running along with the school kids that were joyfully walking... Because I know that we were at our last 2km of the route... So brisk walked at the hill and decided to sprint and run all the way to the finish line!
This is me (snapped by Aiman) posing towards the finish line... :P
Another achievement in the bag! :)
The best part was, when I got my placing card, I couldn't believe that I was placed at #14... I was really stoked!!! And I just found out after we left Seremban that they were given cash prizes for the top 20 finishers... But, the cheque is on its way into my piggy bank... :D
It was also nice to see familiar faces at this race... Of course, what is a race without camwhoring moments... ;)
Irwan and I... He completed with a placing of 101st in his category...
I was so good this time around right with no complains or shrugging... ;P
The G girls were awesome! ;)
Shanaz completed her half in 2 hours 2 mins... A PB and finished 5th in the category!!! Woot woot!!!
Azu completed her half in 2 hours 20 mins... A 13-min improvement from her maiden one!!! Awesome!!!
With the yellow boys... Gediks nya! ;P
International marathoners y'all! :P
I was wearing the Melbourne Marathon running jersey, Yim was wearing from his recent marathon in Pattaya, and superfast mama Karen was wearing hers from Tokyo... ;)
The skirters were making waves in Seremban... Woot woot!
With my sub-2 hour idol... Awesome la Izuan! ;)
The only thing that I have an issue with in this race which is a common issue here is that the water stations were insufficient... I think they were only about 3 water stations and 3 sponging stations... And the paper cups that they provided were super tiny!!!
Oh, and I was happy and satisfied with the pace that I was running at... An average of 6:14 per km yo!!! Even though my legs are experiencing a new level of pain today, I guess I can try and go faster than the pace and maintain it for a new PB in New York insyaAllah... ;)
The Gs had an awesome time in Seremban! :)
Next: Shape Night Run this Saturday night... Last run before the holy Ramadhan month... :)
not bad at all!!...congrats leng loi..err..i mean nana!!..wohoo!!
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