Running with Injury: Post Standard Chartered

 I completed my second half-marathon for this year at the much talked about Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon. I am back now at home, nursing my massive swollen knees and foot. One look at them and my doctor went, "WHAT DID YOU DO?" I think I might not be running for the Malakoff. I know I'm swearing off (or have to) running next year for about at least 2 months. I can't stand running any more races feeling like hell throughout. For this race, I suffered body cramps - at my stomach, upper back - from bracing the severe pain of my knees. At 7km mark, I told myself, "Maybe I should stop this." And then I saw a message on the back of one runners: Quitters never run, Runners never quit. Oh WELL!

 I finally finished the whole 21km of running on hot coals and hot rods at the horrible but gratifying time of 2:58. I do not care what anyone thinks of this time. I completed my second 21km without so much of a training, with runners knees and plantar fasciitis, and after 5 months of jumping into this running scene. To think my first race was McDonalds run, and back then 7km felt like going to Johore. I was so proud of myself. Still am.

 I want to thank my boyfriend for being a great total support and a great fan, waiting at the sidelines (patiently) until I appeared. Here's to many more years.

 How about you guys?

 Detailed stories and pictures later. 

FRUST MENONGGENG

To tell you the truth, I am looking forward to Pacesetters 30k next year. Nevermind that I have nonexistent mileage sheet and that I probably haven't had a proper run since ages, if you count out the races.

 But I WANTED to. I think 30k is such an appealing distance. Daunting, and intimidating, sure, but at the same time appealing. 

 And then it just came crashing to me today: I won't be around January 17th. I would be in Los Angeles, freeloading my sister's overseas trip.

 Never had I felt soo... frustrated despite the fact that the alternative plan on that date is not exactly a bad thing, in fact, a great thing to many. My sister is going to L.A on a job thingy and she asked me along to which I said yes (of course) even if I have to cough up the flight ticket.

 I was in the midst of doing my Asar prayer today when it suddenly came to me - eh, yang 30k tu bukan 17 january ker? (nampak sgt tak khusyuk kan, ish ish ish). The trip is from 13-17 January 2010.

 FRUST NYER! 

All the way back from work I went between consoling myself to berating myself. I mean, going to L.A is once in a lifetime thing, I would probably never have the incentive to save money to go to L.A, whereas Pacesetters 30k is an annual event (let's hope so it remains that way). But I have been to L.A before, when I was 16, and it's not like I have enough money to have a shopping spree there pon! I mean, coughing up the running fee is a cheaper option.

 But then maybe it's a sign that I should take some time off running with my bad knees and all. I barely have enough rest after Nepal with Mizuno and Great Eastern 10k and PBIM and the upcoming SM and then Malakoff. I should be sated with all the running on my plate. My knees never had the chance to recover properly. They still hurt a teeny bit when I do my prayer or when I go down a long staircase.

 Yeah, maybe I should take a month off from all the running. Start again in February.

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 eeee, frustnyer!!!!

 30k, in Putrajaya. 

Great Swim

You know how runners always get that high? It doesn't happen often, but we are all lucky enough to have felt it. Your body seems to respond. Your legs feels springy and light and your heart doesn't hurt and you just feel awesome. I've felt it enough to know that I love running. And today is no exception, except I felt it during swimming.

 I've felt it before in a swim. After struggling in the water suddenly it's like entering this 'zone' where you're just gliding through water. I was struggling the past few swimming sessions because I was so determined to 'correct' my swimming form to no avail, and today after struggling for the first 2 100m, I just, glided. Everything worked in unison; my strokes, my bodyroll, my balance were in sync and I stopped caring about my overturn and anything else. I just swam. And swam. It felt wonderful... like falling in love. hahahah it's true!

 I was so psyched that I continued till I did 1km. 

 10x100m of bilateral 5 strokes each.

PBIM 2009

The place we stayed, B-Suite hotel. It was a family room as the studio room was all booked. The hotel does not have its own restaurant therefore no room service which forced us to walk to the nearest shopping complex for dinner. We had Marybrown which isn't the healthiest of choices but well. I bought bananas and some oat drinks as well. But the room is well kept and clean and comfy. I love.

Me at 210 in the morning. I slept early; dozed off at 8pm and woke up feeling quite refreshed. I think I just ate a banana and was about to head out to walk to the mall. I was hoping to bump into other runners who would accompany me along the way. I ended up walking with this orderly uncle who wants to be called as PK and we exchanged anecdotes on our Annapurna Base Camp memories. I think he has done 9 full marathons.

Wish I could write 'hard earned medal' but to be honest I didn't really do any training and I walked for maybe a total of 10-15 minutes combined. I knew I could have gone faster! This is the problem when you were in a competitive sport before; you would want to try going harder longer or faster then anyone who passed you by. I forced my mind to think about how awesome for me to be doing this under 3 hours when I thought I'd finish waaayy later due to my knees. 

Things I want to write down:

1) I was kind of hoping that they have someone with one of those deep heat ointment because I so badly needed it during the race. Yes they did have 2 'stations' where they would spray those muscle ointment thingy but it didn't do much justice. When I was in the Mizuno Waverun, they had a guy with a huge tube of deep heat and it was useful and easier as I could apply the ointment myself and on any of my body parts as I wished without showing to other people (I had a nagging inner thigh ache when I was running in PBIM... no one could spray THERE). Also ointment would be easier to reach into hard to spray places, like the arch of your foot... where it was hurting the most! Must remember to bring my own ointment for the next race.

2) No Milo station! I've said this before - I look forward to the Milo drinks as much as the medal and certificate and finishing. I was already robbed of this luxury when I did the Great Eastern 10k in Singapore but I thought running events in Malaysia would have the Milo station since its... deeply embedded in our hearts ever since kindergarten. So all I did was ice my knees and feet, took my bag and then walked home.

3) The bagging system was a bit hassled. You know how you would receive a chip with the number your bag has on so it would be easier for them to locate your bag? Almost every place uses the system - the bowling alley, the library, gym - so it's a surprise when PBIM system consisted of just asking for our names and the description of our bag, which was why it took them about 20 minutes to find mine as I was using the yellow Digi bag that 60% of the participants used as well! Kudos to 2 volunteers who were energetic, chirpy and friendly even after looking for 2947728 bags all with the description of , "yellow digi bag."

4) I didn't really like that they gave out water bottles. I especially hated it when I see most of them were half empty and some were quarter full. What a waste! I feel like I have the right to feel indignant since I've been saying no to plastic bottles for 15 months now and hate to see excessive use of it anywhere when you're forced to use them. they could have given water in paper cups like most races.

5) This lady runner who sprinted like mad when going down the hill and later stopped due to knee pain. I was cringing when she was slop slop slopping down the hill. 

6) This lady runner who had a funny running form. It looked like her right shoulder is yanked by an invisible hand every 3 steps.

7) the uncle who shouted encouragements to runners at the roundabout near the finishing line. He was noisy and could be annoying but I enjoyed him. He was shouting in chinese but when he saw ladies in headscarves he went all, "Lari lari jangan jalan saja! Hanya 500m sikit saja!!" Loved it!

8) the run itself. I was going at a slow pace and carefully monitoring (or feeling) my knees and ankle. My feet or rather the arches started to hurt at 2.5km mark. And they never STOPPED. At times it got so unbearable which forced me to limp for maybe 1-2 minutes before I ran again. But I enjoyed it. When we reached 15km I was like wow really? It felt like a short distance. But then again, maybe t was because the run was in the dark without the heat. I might sing a different song in Standard Chartered!

bad knees again

my knees are starting to swell up. even after icing, etc.

 im starting to wonder if I could ever run normally again. and I've been running since i was 15.

 I refuse to even think it. 

 i am dreaming for the day to come when I run without piercing hot rods sticking through my knees and arches.

 pictures later!

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.