The Newton Race was my first race after raya. The fact that it was just a couple of weeks after raya prevented me from registering for the 25K distance, knowing that I'd never have enuff training to even complete it, let alone complete it with a decent enuff time. & to suffer for 3 hrs in the hot sun is not really my idea of a good race.
The main reason of my joining this race was the 2XU compression race socks, which was given free to all participants. This socks retails for almost RM180, & to pay just RM50 to get those, plus other race goodies like the vest, etc, was enuff motivation for me to sign up. Having used 2XU calf sleeves for the past year, I know what these compression socks & sleeves can do for U. The vest though, was a disappointment, not that I'ma use it anyway. I now have at least a dozen race vest with me, with at least another 5 to collect. I dunno what I'ma do with those, I've got my favorite race vest that I always wear in races. Normally I'd wear 'em for training, maybe also for going to bed...
The race was held in Bandar Kinrara & I've no idea how hard the course was. One of the runner/blogger went there & took some pics of the course. He called one of the climbs the "ammah" climb.. & from the pics it did look scary. But the problems was, I didn't know that climb was just one of many. There was to be another 4 climbs.. luckily, us the 12K runners won't have to tackle the "ammah" climb.
Since the race was pretty close to my house, I decided to go alone. I've also decided to use my Newton Neutral Racer, as it was the main sponsor anyway... also I'd use my Nike running tights, but I couldn't decide which top to wear. So I brought both my red Adidas Formotion running shirt which I just acquired during puasa & also my usual Nike fire-engine red race vest. My race began at 7.00am, these days the sun was already up by then, so in the end I decided to go with the Nike vest. A wise choice it turned out to be, as it was scorching hot. My usual gear that is the Livestrong visor, Oakley M Frame Livestrong glasses, & of course the 2XU compression race socks. & this time I didn't forget my Livestrong band. I decided not to run with my music on.. I'd earlier wanted to take this race lightly, just as a training.
I got to the start early, just after the 25K runners was sent their way. I did some warm ups & managed to get to the front. I'd set a target to run at 6:30-7:30 pace. So I set my Polar at that zone.
The climbs were murderers. It was harder than Lake Garden double hill course I did during the Pacesetters NB 15K. There it was steep, sharp climbs. Here it was more of a gradual climb, but there were 4 of them. 5 if U include the ammah hill we didn't have to do. The course went easy & flat for about 4K, then it started. Boy, on a bile it would've been hard ! It was one after another, rolling hills. Even the water station was uphill.
I just put my head down & tried as much as I can to maintain my cadence & rhythm up the hills. That seemed to work. I managed to maintain a smooth stride, which I didn;t really expect. There was 3 water stations in the 12k course, I skipped the 1st one, & stopped at the last 2. For short races under 15K, I dun normally bring my hydration belt with me. So I had to rely on water stations.
Then it came. I saw the ammah hill. But I saw that there was a signage directing some of the runners to the right.. it was for the 12K runners. We didn't have to climb it !! Hurray !! I would've been down on all fours if we had to climb it. I managed to cover the hills pretty much unscathed.
But as soon as we reached the last K signage, stitches hit me. I dun normally suffer from stitches. Even if I had stitches, it would go away in a few minutes. But this one didn't go away. Only when I saw the finish line the pain went away.
When I got to th finish, I received the medal. & I was surprised to see so few ppl at the finish. Normally it would've been crowded when I finish. Later I learned that I'd finished really early, #54 out of 392 finishers in my category. There was almost 2000 finishers in all. My time was surprisingly fast, less than 40 secs slower than my last 12K race, Men's Health Shape run. My 10K was also 1:01, which was surprising considering the toughness of the course.
This performance has given me the confidence ahead of the Nike 10K run. I really hope to run a sub 1-hour race, hopefully I can get around 55 mins. With about 10 days to go, I think I can.
Livestrong.
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