The pic above was from my 1st ever Larian Bomba back in 2009. That race was the 1st event I did when I decided to go competitive. & for that reason, Larian Bomba was always in my list of must-do races every year. I only missed this race twice in 7 years, once becoz it clashed with Pesta Sukan Treasury, & last year when I completely missed the registration date.
Unfortunately, this year's event was my worst ever experience since I took up running. My calf got injured again & I only managed to run half the distance. I walked the rest of the way, with a swollen right calf & as a result I crossed the finish line after the cut off time, the first time I failed to finish a race within the cut off time. & of coz with that, no medal for me this year. I was so embarrassed that it took me 12 days to write this entry.
Racepack collection
At RM30 of coz we couldn't expect a goodie bag of any sort. & after registering U will get something U will never see at any other races : a reporting card. This is perhaps the only event where this card is still used. What's it for? Well, to report Ur presence at the start line of coz!
Pre-race
I didn't get to do a pre-race run bcoz of the weather. I only managed to do a short 20 minute tempo on the treadmill the day before the race. I felt okay at that time, although my calf felt a bit tight afterwards. I tried to shake it off with stretching & foam rolling. & I decided to use my Newtons again for this race.
Start line
The 10km flag off was at 7:30am, very, very late by today's standards. So I went to the start line after Subuh prayers. I got to the start pretty early & did my usual warm-up. As soon as I began my warm-up I learned that the tightness in my calf didn't go away. I began to worry & did a longer stretching than usual. I went inside the start area & met my LYNR friends, Jimmy & YK. I went out again & did more warm up, trying to shake the tightness off.
The race
By the time I hit the 1st climb, which was about 2km from the start, I knew I was in trouble already. I felt really heavy. & right at that 1st climb my right calf twitched, it was almost as if the calf muscle shifted sideways. But I kept on running & when the road went downhill shortly after, I tried to stretch it off. Going downhill seemed to help a bit. But at 5km my calf twitched again & this time I couldn't run. I tried to get down to do the calf stretch, but I couldn't bend my knees becoz the calf was super-tight. I knew then that my race was over.
I couldn't even do a light-jog becoz the calf was swollen to almost twice the size. So I just walked the rest of the way.
It was an unreal experience, being at the back end of the field. A lot of runners who went pass me gave me words of encouragement, I thanked them for that. I saw that the mid-pack & tail-end runners offers more support to others than the front runners would. It was an eye-opening experience.
Post race
I hit the finish line in 1:34:17. I didn't even make the cut-off time! A lot of firsts in this race, none of them good ones. I was off the road for 16 days due to this injury. Now I'm back on the road again, I hope I can avoid getting injured again, becoz there's gonna be a lot of good races after raya.
Livestrong, run stronger.
The 10km flag off was at 7:30am, very, very late by today's standards. So I went to the start line after Subuh prayers. I got to the start pretty early & did my usual warm-up. As soon as I began my warm-up I learned that the tightness in my calf didn't go away. I began to worry & did a longer stretching than usual. I went inside the start area & met my LYNR friends, Jimmy & YK. I went out again & did more warm up, trying to shake the tightness off.
The race
By the time I hit the 1st climb, which was about 2km from the start, I knew I was in trouble already. I felt really heavy. & right at that 1st climb my right calf twitched, it was almost as if the calf muscle shifted sideways. But I kept on running & when the road went downhill shortly after, I tried to stretch it off. Going downhill seemed to help a bit. But at 5km my calf twitched again & this time I couldn't run. I tried to get down to do the calf stretch, but I couldn't bend my knees becoz the calf was super-tight. I knew then that my race was over.
I couldn't even do a light-jog becoz the calf was swollen to almost twice the size. So I just walked the rest of the way.
It was an unreal experience, being at the back end of the field. A lot of runners who went pass me gave me words of encouragement, I thanked them for that. I saw that the mid-pack & tail-end runners offers more support to others than the front runners would. It was an eye-opening experience.
Post race
Ratings
Route (Challenging, unique) : 4/5
Organizer (Overall organization of race) : 3/5
Runners welfare (Water station, pre & post race facilities) : 3/5 (only 2 water stations instead of the promised 3)
Goodie bag (Content) : None
Race tee (Quality, aesthetics) : 1/5
Medal (Quality, aesthetics) : Dunno. Didn't get any...
My performance (execution of race plan, finishing time) : 0/5 Livestrong, run stronger.
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