It was on the nite of 6th Feb 2010, one week before the Chinese Lunar New Year, the running communities was flocking to Putrajaya for the first nite marathon in Malaysia. Putrajaya - the race site is well know for its hot, dry and humid condition during the nite and therefore the runners are warned to hydrate themselves throughout the run.
The calm before the storm, showcasing the 2XU compression apparels
The run started on time and I was running in a pack together with Loke SS and Jeff Ooi. Although the heat is surprisingly not that bad but we felt that the humidity level is extremely high, causing our body to perspire more than normal. We continued to pace together in the first 5k, then onto the 10k and continue till the 15k mark when Loke started to fall behind abit. I reckon he is probably feeling the strain of high humidity and would like to slow down and conserve some energy for the finale. I then continued with Jeff and as we approached the 20k mark, he fall behind as well leaving me on my own to carry on with the pace. I think we are running slightly faster than training pace, and hence as I reached the half way mark, I slowed down abit.
Heading towards the 25k mark, I start to feel more strain on my energy level. Its drawing more than normal. So I begin to slow down my pace even further as I know now the high humidity around the route is getting over me. And coupled with an uphill climb from 28k/29k onwards it will be a big challenge if I am out of energy by then.
As i reached the the ram and did the U-turn, and back onto the opposite side of the highway, I know this is where the challenge starts. It will be a long uphill climb and it will surely suck out more energy. As I approached the 29k mark, all of a sudden I start to feel that my body is not responding. The body feels very tired and legs are like jelly, it just decided not to move and continue running. Holy cow, and at this juncture I knew that my body had taken a toll where the last drop of energy was used up. I just HIT THAT BLARDY WALL!!!!!
Then I began to throw out some of the liuid that I consumed along the way. This is the end of the race for me and I am listening to my body. From 30k onwards it will be a power walk session for me. At times I tried to lift up my legs and started running but that wont last more than 1km. The engine had stopped and no point pushing it anymore. I just have to revert to power walking for the next 12k to the finishing. It was a 9min to 10min pace, very similar to what I did during the Putrajaya 12hr walk.
As I approached the final kilometre I resort to a slow jog and crossed the line together with Lee FK from Klang in a time of 4h 59min 59sec. Just did it below the 5hr mark.
The finale
Running at nite is so different especially the race site is at Putrajaya when the condition can be hot, dry and humid. Even experienced runners was caught by the humidity level and suffered in the race. Anyway it was a great exposure running in the event and a well organised one as well. Seeya next year.
Another hard earned FINISHER medal
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