Setting a new PR at Setia Alam

I got up late, at about 5 am & about 5 mins after I got up, the rain started to pour in. I decided to wait it out & fortunately, it went away at about 10 mins to 6am. So I went on with my plan to ride to the start. Anticipating a cold & wet start, I decided to bring along one of my running tee. I'd earlier decided to use my red Nike top. I got to the start about 10 mins past 6am & was able to park right next to the starting line. There were signs of rain coming down but I decided to use the Nike vest anyway. & I took my Oakleys with me, with the black lens on. I won't be using it throughout the race. I met Azam at the Powerbar booth & decided not to wait for the other 2 runners becoz we dun recognize them & we didn't have their bib numbers.

The race

Azam earlier told me he forgot to bring his footpod along. Great. I'd set my target pace to 6:00 - 7:00min/km. We went off pretty fast. So fast that I was worried I couldn't maintain the pace. The rain came down at about KM9 or KM10, fortunately it wasn't that heavy. I lost contact with Azam at the turnaround. Although the course was slightly different from last year, it was mostly flat throughout. & we were really flying. My Polar couldn't stop beeping, I was going faster than 6:00/km for more than 40 mins. I decided to try to maintain that pace, I kept Azam within about 100-200m from me.

In my last half mara at Energizer, I made the mistake of not eating in the last 10K, with disastrous consequences. So I was determined not to make that mistake again. However, my Chocolate-flavored PowerGels proved pretty hard to swallow. I think I'ma have to try other flavors after this. Maybe Tangerine or Banana. & I kept myself hydrated to prevent cramps.It was raining, so the risk of getting cramps was significantly higher. At KM12 I began to notice my hamstring tightening.. so I had to pay attention to it. But I didn't slow down.

I managed to run 3 30 min 5Ks. I hit the last 5K at 1:42, which was good. & I was able to sprint to the line summore.

The verdict.

I clocked a new personal best of 2:04.38, which was 21 mins faster than Energizer. & I went faster than I did at NB 15K last month. Truthfully, I didn't know I could run like that. It really opened my eyes & mind that I could really run a sub-2hour half marathon. & it really boosted my confidence ahead of PSP & PSKK. I knew I could run faster than 55 mins for 10K, so I'ma train for that.

I also felt really fresh after the run. So fresh that I could afford to have lunch at Wendy's after that with my wife. I rewarded myself with Wendy's 1/2 pound double burger with fries, to cover for the 2600 calories I've burned earlier. I just didn't have ice-cream. Maybe later.

After this my next stop would proly be Seremban Half.. although it clashes with Klang Centro run, I think I wanna do another half marathon, since I'm gonna miss SCKLM. I'm proly gonna do that with Azam as well. Proly try to set another PR.

Livestrong.