Finally I get to run in my first race of 2011. It's been quite slow ths year, well, I would've ran in my first race early ths month @ Bareno, but I had to skip that one becoz I had to go kayaking in Langkawi. I've never run more than a half marathon, so 26km, although just 5 km longer than a standard half marathon distance, is gonna be challenging. After I came back from Langkawi I did a 23km LSD just to prepare myself for the distance. I did that in a little under 3 hrs, averaging around 7:38. My race plan was to go easy (somewhat) in the 1st half, then push up to my half marathon goal pace in the 2nd half. Good enuff I guess.
Trip to Penang
I went to Penang with Azam, we've been running pretty much together in races since early 2010. We've agreed to share the hotel room, along with Chin Leong, another runner from the LY Net forum. Chin Leong would meet up with us @ Penang while I drove from KL with Azam.
It was raining pretty much all the way from Ipoh I think.. & the rain didn't stop in Penang. It was raining when we collected the racekit, & it didn't stop until we went out for dinner at about 8pm. As soon as we checked into the room, we went out for lunch, I was starving, Azam as well & we went to town. After that I was just trying to get as much rest as I can, but it was difficult coz my stomach was so full. Nevertheless, I did manage an hour's powernap.
For dinner we went to Padang Kota. Penang is known for it's very winding & confusing roads, so I was lucky Azam was there as my navigator, we found most places in a matter of mins. It started raining again while we were having dinner... I had RM8 worth of pasembur, one of Penang's signature food. On the way back we stopped at a petrol station to buy some food for breakfast.
The Race
It was still raining when I went to bed, but luckily it stopped when we got up. The starting point was just a walking distance from our hotel. But I guess we were among the last runners to leave the hotel..
My race plan was simple. As I wanted to treat this race as a race-sim, I'd spend the 1st half in a comfortable pace, then push to race pace after the halfway mark. In total there was less than a thousand runners, so the crowd seemed so small. When we went out for dinner, we saw the course markings & thought the course would be flat. We were dead wrong. About 3km into the race, we hit the biggest, longest climb I've ever ran in a race. It was about a kilometer & half long... It reminded me of my days racing in Penang. Penang race was my favorite race becos of the climbs. I didn't have much problem tackling the climbs, I didn't push that hard.
The halfway point was at the Esplanade. The sky was just about to open up when we got there. But it did for just a moment so all was well. & I really opened up to my half marathon goal pace once past the halfway point. But the bad thing was that I was only able to maintain that pace for maybe 6K, then I slowed a bit & when I hit the 21K mark I was virtually slamming on the brakes. Not a strange thing but, my limit seemed to be 21K... after that I realized that I had another 5K to go & I was starting to wobble badly... so bad that I had to walk for maybe 2-3K...something I've never done in a race.
It was a lesson learned with great pain. But after the race I guess it was okay. I got to the finish line alone... & the announcer said,"Here comes a runner, on green shoes with matching green tops !" Hahah... it was really funny. The skies really did open up as soon as I finished my post race meal, so we had to stay there until the rain stopped. Azam had finished about 5 mins earlier & Chin Leong got to the finish in 3hrs plus...
All in all it was a good trip to Penang & although I really suffered in the last 5K, I think I'ma come back nxt year.
Livestrong.
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