Belly of the Beast

My 3 days stay at KL, was a short but memorable one. A good race, with great company! :-)
Many who went there achieved their PBs, despite the many steep climbs in the race.

"Don't try anything new on race day that you haven't tried in training before." I defied that saying on race day.  As I had just lost by Bikilas the week before, Ezan lent me his Nike Air Shoes before the race. It was quite flexible too, I just feared that I will not experience cramping again, like what happened when I wore my Asics during the 15km Progressive Series Run. His shoe was quite flexible and had minimal cushioning too.
The full marathon was flagged off at 4.30am, my 21km started at 6.00am sharp. I figured that if I stuck to a 5.30 pace, I will be able to get a timing of 1:50 or lower.

At the start line, I met a couple of familiar faces like Qi Hui and Ivan, along with many other F1 Runners. Even at the start line, my tummy was already making lots of noise which only I could here despite the loud head-banging dub-step music being played. The stomach pains, was most probably due to the 100PLUS I drank earlier, they both don't exactly get along well.

At the start line in Dataran Merdeka

I ran the first 5km of the race in about 23:40, way too fast, guess the pre-race excitement got the better of me once again, I slowed down to avoid a poor finish, and to go back on pace. Reached the 10k mark at about 51 minutes. The pace seemed relatively comfortable, and a sub 1:50 finish looked achievable. That was when the belly of the beast awakened.

For the next 10km, I slowed down my pace a lot, but I did not stop. I didn't consume any gels or bananas as I was afraid it will worsen my stomachache. I even thought of sitting on the portable thrones, but I told myself that I could hold it off till the end.I didn't drink any isotonic drinks along the route either. Where are non-carbonated drinks when you needed them? It was a truly tough mental battle, but nothing was going to stop me. 


Arafat was tracking me using a mobile app, and according to the app, I passed the 15.5km mark at 1:20:18 with a pace of 05:11min/km. 


I did experience some signs of cramping, so at around the 16km, I alllowed the volunteers to spray some Salonpas at my legs. I didn't experience any cramps for the run, and my post-race recovery was much quicker compared to the Sundown Marathon. 




So, after a hard fought battle with the belly of the beast, I manage to cross the finishing line with a PB of 01:52:25, knowing that my next target would be a sub 1:50. Despite the hills and the boring views, it was a good run and a great learning experience for me. Many fellow Singaporeans were present at the race too, most of them nailing their PBs due to the good weather conditions.There were many familiar faces from IMD and of course the Freaks too. 

My Dad ran the 10.6km run in 01:14, despite a injury. 

At the end of the race, while we were waiting for Shariff to finish, one of the runners slipped near the finish line and suffered a injury above his right eye, it swelled up immediately and most of us runners rushed to his aid. He was an elderly Japanese Man, thankfully there was a lady who could speak Japanese nearby. We elevated his legs, and formed a human wall to shade him. Once again, we see the unity that sports brings about. Although there was an ambulance nearby, it took more than 10 minutes for it to arrive. The Policeman there was very unprofessional and asked runners to carry the man to the side of the road, when clearly the man was shaking violently, carrying him would only further aggravate his possible injuries. We took instructions from a lady who had some medical knowledge. She advised us to elevate his legs and another man was constantly keeping track of his pulse. While the Japanese Lady constantly encouraged him and was speaking to him. A couple of runners started to fan him too. The ambulance arrived soon after, I hope he had a speedy recovery. 

Shariff arrived at about 06:08, his fastest in 2012 thus far. We all finished together.

















Well, my next overseas run will be the PBIM in November where I will be running the 10km Junior Category. This time, all of Team Maverickz will be participating, so we will surely have great fun.