Brooks 21km Half Marathon 2012 Race Report

I had a sleepless night before race day despite skipping my evening nap. I end up watching movies which I've watched before, and refueling myself while enjoying the show. Sometimes I'm curious how much faster can I go by just improving my nutrition. As a not so disciplined athlete with not very well structured training program, I train only 5 hours a week. Studying for my final semester has taken a toll in my training schedule. 

Before putting myself on the starting line, I bumped into Uncle Siah and Karen. It was kind of weird actually, he was looking at me, then I stared back at him. I wasn't wearing spectacles so I couldn't see clearly that was Karen standing next to him. Then when he walked one step towards me and I walked one step nearer to him, I was sure that he is Kevin's father. Haha so funny. Karen was telling me that Kevin will "lend" his Felt TT bike to her  FOR-EVER. what a nice brother =p I had my left knee strapped up, just pray hard that it wouldn't give me problem as I'm still nursing my left knee. 

As a non black runner, I always fear of those black runners with long and lean legs, dress up with branded running vest and walk around with their ultra lightweight racing flats. No doubt, I lost the game mentally. The gun goes off and I saw top runners like Don Khor, Lionel Lee, Cecil Cheong sprinting fast to position themselves at the front pack. After 20mins running, the elite runners formed their formation and we formed ours. Cecil was telling me "Mr Chan, take it easy... long way to go.." He told me the same thing during Newton which I end up losing steam before the 15km mark. That same words did drop my confidence. I was pacing him despite my heart was telling me I'm not his speed. 

Before kilometer 11, Cecil stopped by the road side and passed urine. I increased the pace a little and kept going. Days ago Mr Moey posted a picture of a female Pro running alone at the back, but she ended up getting 2nd place overall. I had that in mind when I was running alone. When I reached Taman OUG, I saw Jamie's house, felt like dropping by to say hi to her parents actually =p It was so dark that I had to watch my strides and be very careful to avoid landing into pot holes. I was running alone in the dark. I smoked Cecil and Lionel. I put them as my benchmark because they are so damn good, I really really admire them! I dream of making them tired while pacing me =p Honestly I never thought it was gonna happen today. 

I always imagine Lionel running in front of me when come to the hill section. I had a hard time pacing him during Newton, the trauma lasts till this race. Today, I'm all alone doing all the upper-cut arm swing and high cadence short strides climbing up those steep hills. I had a quick glance of my watch and saw 1.15, I pushed harder to get out of my comfort zone. It'll be painful, but only for 15 mins and I was so ready to take the pain. Overtaking lots of 10km runners face full of sufferings was really fun =p  I expect myself to finish before 1 hour 30 mins despite the distance has been slightly increased. 

I finished 1.30.45 unofficial time. It was a great race, my new nutrition plan actually worked well. I studied on anabolic and catabolic effects, then made some simple calculation before pumping food into my body. I ran so fast at the nostalgic Bukit Jalil track to finish the race with glory, the track where I was humiliated for losing 4x400m during secondary school years. Before we left, we had a long chat with Nadea and Arif. I was shocked to see them at the race, Nadea is not a girl for u to mess with. Don't judge her by her physique, she is way tougher than that! Lastly, I shared some running tips with them for them to practice before doing full marathon in June =)

men open No 7!!! results courtesy Penonton.

It's time for a really good rest =) Goodbye readers=) zzZZzz