I Did It!

And it was for me a great first time!

 I didn't know what to think, or what to anticipate. I haven't been running for 4 weeks if you count out the two races. I was not even in any runner's mode - physically and mentally. So to not freak me out I just pushed the race out of my mind. I went to sleep at 8. And woke up at 2am.

 I thought many things: I would faint, or collapse from exhaustion. I would suffer from the run so badly that every step is my mind screaming to stop and give up. I thought I would be running solo. I thought I would be running a horrible horrible race.

 But 21km didn't feel like 21km at all. In fact I was so surprised when we reached the 15km mark. I was enjoying the race with the runners all around me, some limping some eating and drinking and what have yous. My only regret (or complaint) would be that I have to slow down to a walk due to the relentless, unbearable pain in both the arches of my feet. It was so horrible that I walked quite a number of times... 5 or so. It's a bit disheartening actually; I've always wanted to finish a race running. I only allowed myself to walk when we were going downhill as I did not want to jeopardize my knees. But the arch pain persisted. I just didn't want myself to get used to walk in a race. And furthermore I read somebody's race reports that he too, had the arch pain but he pushed on and on until the end. It made me feel like a failure, somewhat.

 My time according to my RM10 wristwatch is 2 hours and 50 minutes. Which makes the pace to be 8:05 per km hahahhaha. But hey, with recovering knees, my maiden half-marathon run, and ZERO training (the LSDs being the 2 10ks), I consider this to be a great achievement. Kita tunngu bila lutut hilang sakit! hahahah

 Syukur Alhamdulillah!

2 more days!

I was realllly nervous the weeks before, but right now I'm a mixture of really nervous and totally excited. I have no idea what to expect but at the same time I know what I would be facing.

 I've gotten over the fact that I have not been doing any sort of training since I came back from Nepal. The only running I did was for the Mizuno Waverun and the Great Eastern Women. Other than that, the only form of exercise I did was a couple of slow walk around the vicinity of my neighbourhood and a lot of swimming. But although swimming is as good a cardio as running, it is not running. It is not going to help me mentally in terms of carrying myself for 21km.

 I keep telling my friends who know I am going to PBIM, "I cannot even imagine 21km. I have no idea how far it is and can't gauge the distance." The longest distance I ever did ever since I started competing was... 12km. And that was in a race. I have never attempted anything longer than that.

 But you know what? It doesn't matter. When I first started entering races, my target was simple: to finish a race. Well, my actual real target was to finish a race running, but for this one I'll go easy. I'm going to walk as much as I could and run as long as I could without seriously injuring my knees again. I know at some point I would suffer, my ankles would hurt and my feet would ache and my knees probably would be singing. I know my shoulders would be heavy and my lower back hurting and I would feel like stopping. but I'm just going to take it easy, enjoy the whole race, and say hi to people that I know or want to meet (hello fellow bloggers!).

 Two days back I was nervously googling about the things you should have when you run a half marathon. I always go to a race with just myself and my shoes. No water, no nothing. But 21km is a long distance. I'm thinking that maybe I should equip myself with some tiny muscle rub, and OSR packets to drink at the water stations.

 

 Also, the biggest misconception I had for half-marathon was that you don't really stop unless you want to drink. And you definitely don't stop to eat either. But the blogs have all these suggestions on food to bring, and some even suggest a 2-3 minutes break. I never knew you could stop and sit and relax! I always thought you'd.. well, just run non-stop! 

 Also, I thought that you had to hold in your pee too. It never occurred to me that you could actually wander to the nearest petrol station and do your business. I guess the race mentality in high school and uni is deeply embedded in my mind. You certainly don't stop mid-run during a 1500 race. And going to the nearby 7-11 during cross country felt more like a rebellious thing to do than a normal thing.

 I'm going to Penang with my sister who'd be sleeping as I am waking up to go for the run. I hope I get to meet some of the people whose blogs I've been reading. In case you don't recognize me, my bib number is E25121. Say hello!

 And Good Luck everybody!

 BTW, I swam today. 8x50m, 2x100m, 1x300m. Total 900m. Awesome session! I love.

Swimming 3k

I spent lunchtime at work going through the SwimSmooth website and staring at the animation for long minutes. According to Mr Smooth and the site, I have horrible swimming style. As I mentioned in the earlier post, I overturn when taking air, my strokes cross the midline and I do not have the 'catch'.  I was determined to at least correct my bodyroll today.

 The attempt was horrible. Obviously, a self-taught swimmer's not going to get any better with her form if she's the one teaching herself, and have no idea how she looks like in the water. I had to idea what I was doing. Somewhere in my 4th lap, I actually breathed in water through my nose and I was at the 25m mark. I had to struggle to the end, swimming short strokes and trying not to choke and cough. My breathing was awful because I was concentrating on too many things: my strokes to go straight, to 'catch' and to breathe with one goggle underwater. When catching a breather I noticed that all swimmers overturn. Finally after trying in vain to breathe properly, I chucked them all off and swam just the way I know how. I mean, I'm not going to the Olympic or even competing. I was just going to swim for as long and as much as I could for my fitness.

 I did 1000m of easy freestyle with maybe 2 laps of side drills. Can't wait to swim on Wednesday. No, I can't wait to RUN.

7 DAYS

My dad used to tell me, "The more you know, the more you don't know."

 I remember my first 10k race. Prior to that, the longest distance I ran was 3km. Tired 3kms. But I made it through 10km on sheer race-day adrenaline and perseverance. 

 And then I started to read running books, blogs, forum, whatever you have. And I started to do all the right running things - speedwork, hill runs, lsd, tempo runs. And that's when I found out that it's sort of impossible to do a 21km without training. 

 But at the same time I know of some friends who jumped into the 21km race without proper training, that I know of. They did it again this year for BIM with minimal training that running blogs would have a heart attack on upon finding out. One dude even did the full marathon and I think the longest LSD he did was 18~ km. He finished.

 In 7 days, I'm going for a 21km. I'm freaking out because everyone says it's not easy, especially the last 7k part. Mentally mostly, and your body takes some toll on it too. My serious lack of preparation as stated by all these running blogs and magazine is freaking me out, bit by bit. But  on the other hand I'm trying to remember these set of friends that ran 2 half marathons with just hard motivation. They didn't know that running without training was suicide.

 I'm just going through with it. I wouldn't know how hard it would me on the race, but I'll try my hardest to finish it, whatever time it takes.

 

cardio: badminton

What a tournament! haha.

 We came in third, all because we lost the crucial first game. Being in mixed doubles lets me know for the umpteenth time how much I hate team sports. I hate having to rely on other people for the outcome of the competition. Solitary sport, like running or swimming, is muuuuch better. If you lose it's your fault, and if you win, it's your triumph. Yesterday at the game it was hard because my partner and I didn't really have a good playing chemistry. And plus I have a lousy attitude of 'membolot'. I did that during my field hockey days. I always don't trust other people to do the work for me. I'm telling you, I'm the worst teammate in any sports ever. 

So we lost the first game. It was a boring set! 

 The best part was when other teams were playing, and I played a single game with Hameed. He was my friend in university, we took the same course right up to having the same final year presentation slot together. Hameed was actually a pro tennis player. But he'd played badminton once or twice. We started playing and it was awesome. It was supposed to be a warmup for the both of us before our game started but we were exhausted after the first set. We played a mean net play and both of us had each other running to other side of the court. I was drenched after the game. Tired to the point of ten.

Planned to go for a swim today but..

Have no idea what my excuse would be yet.

Boleh tak?

Easy Light Swim

Yesterday went for a swim after 2 days of being stuck at some work meeting in Cyberjaya till late. I went with a friend this time, and we decided to go to the nearest, 3k, because it is an indoor pool (it was raining). 

 I've always liked 3k pool. Maybe because I'm just so used to it, but swimming there feels so much smoother than any other pools I've tried since. Of course, in my opinion, nothing beats Shah Alam Aquatic pool yet - it's amazingly deserted even during peak hours. I think that would be one of my main criteria in choosing a good public pool. Others include:

1.  warm water
   
2.  even 10 ft depth
   
3.  proper swim lanes
   
4.  DESERTED
   
5.  separated for women and men
   
6.  open till 10 pm
   

I have yet to find one that has at least 3 or 4 of the above. UITM pool has no 5 and 6, but is cold as ice and is gradually sloping instead of being even 10ft. Shah alam aquatic center has no 2 and 3. Which I like cause you just feel professional. Kelana Jaya has no 1, a great surprise and a pleasure during these cold nights. 3k has... well to tell you the truth 3k has none but I still like it anyway. I'm such a creature of habit!

 I also realized that when it comes to sports or working out, I'm the solitary type. Bringing a friend yesterday was not exactly a bad idea, but it disturbed my swimming goal (to do 1km) because I sort of feel guilty leaving her hanging at the pool sides. She is starting to swim regularly but since she smokes so much she could only do a short breaststroke before getting winded. I usually charged ahead with my laps without talking to anyone but yesterday I had to stop in between laps so that we could talk for a while. I realized then how I enjoyed going to the pool alone and having nothing but myself and the water around. What a great release to be focusing on just your swimming. We planned to go swimming regularly but I hope she gains fitness soon so that she could join me in doing laps. I don't want to make her feel bored waiting for me to finish my laps.

 so yesterday was an easy 600m, left and right (or bilateral? or whatever), 5 strokes each. Planned to go swimming today but felt extra tired so probably Sunday morning would be great. I need to work on my form - found out that my stroke is bad: i sliced using my thumb, my catch is awful, my stroke crosses the midline, and I overturn too much when exhaling. Urgh, what a downer!

Kertih Video

 My friend is lucky enough to live in a cute apartment just 25 steps away from the beach of Awana Kijal. Whenever I have to go to Kertih for work, I would always take the chance to run along the shores. It's a nice feeling - it doesn't feel like a workout, you totally feel like you're the star of a music video and some hunk's chasing you (nevermind if in reality it's the abang jual kepok leko) and at the end of the session you get to dive into the ocean. The length of the whole stretch I think is just about 1.8-2km, nevertheless it was a bit taxing due to the wind and the soft sands. 

 I enjoyed it. Just as much.