StanChart KL Marathon 2010
AlhamdulilLah....., I managed to complete the race - even though I felt like crawling to the finishing line.
The Finisher's medal.
My personal hand time was 3hrs and 02 mins. I tried all my might to clock within the qualifying time of 3hrs but I just couldn't.
The last one km starting from the turn near Medan Tuanku to Dataran Merdeka seemed like one and a half mile.
But nevertheless, I was pleasantly surprised with my own timing. My earlier target was to finish the race in 4 hours. I was surprised that I managed to run non-stop and kept a consistent pace for the first one and a half hour.
I didn't stop for a drink at the first water station at 4km mark. Since I carried my own mineral water, I just drank from my bottle. I also didn't stop at the second water station at 6.5km mark. It turned out to be a good decision as I kept on running until the third water station at 8.5km mark. By this time i have emptied my mineral water. I ran to the furthest table and asked the volunteer to fill up my bottle with isotonic drink while i helped myself with two small cups of drink.
All the while i kept telling myself to keep on running for another 5 minutes, then another 5 minutes and another 5 minutes. The route was quite flat until we reached Jalan Loke Yew and later Jalan Cheras. The incline was gradual but went on and on as if there was no end. By then i started to feel discomfort at the lower end of my back.
After two hours, i started to regret my decision of not wearing knee guards. I started to feel the pain on my knee joints as if my knees were giving away. The pain became more and more as my legs hit the tarmac. I begun to walk more than i ran. The pain was less if i walk with wide stride.
I tried to do 2 minutes of walking followed by 2 minutes (or actually lesser) of running. I was still encouraged by my 'good' timing thus far.
By the time the route reached Kampung Pandan roundabout and later bypassing the Indonesian embassy, i have more or less 4.5km to go with about 25 minutes left to the qualifying time of 3 hours.
As i took the turn at jalan bukit bintang in front of Pavillion, I was confident that i could still make it because i was thinking that the route would be going all the way down Jalan Sultan Ismail before taking a turn at Medan Tuanku. But imagine my dismay when the route was actually diverted to Jalan Raja Chulan in front of Hotel Istana.
Luckily there was a group of cheering squad there to cheer the runners. We later took the turn at the Weld down to Jalan P Ramlee all the way to KLCC. From there almost flat run at Jalan Ampang bypassing Matic and later the final stretch of Jalan Sultan Ismail.
Upon reaching Jalan TAR onto the finishing line, i just could not hide my excitement that the run was about to come to an end. However that was not good enough to force my legs to run. I just jogged and walk to Dataran Merdeka and to the finishing line.
In the end, i was proud and very satisfied that i could finish the run. The fact that the time that i clock to complete the race was slightly above 3 hours in my first ever 21km run was really pleasing - it was sufficient to forget the pain on my knees.
Read my 2009 Malakoff 12KM experience here and 2009 StanChart KLM 10KM run here.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
The Finisher's medal.
My personal hand time was 3hrs and 02 mins. I tried all my might to clock within the qualifying time of 3hrs but I just couldn't.
The last one km starting from the turn near Medan Tuanku to Dataran Merdeka seemed like one and a half mile.
But nevertheless, I was pleasantly surprised with my own timing. My earlier target was to finish the race in 4 hours. I was surprised that I managed to run non-stop and kept a consistent pace for the first one and a half hour.
I didn't stop for a drink at the first water station at 4km mark. Since I carried my own mineral water, I just drank from my bottle. I also didn't stop at the second water station at 6.5km mark. It turned out to be a good decision as I kept on running until the third water station at 8.5km mark. By this time i have emptied my mineral water. I ran to the furthest table and asked the volunteer to fill up my bottle with isotonic drink while i helped myself with two small cups of drink.
All the while i kept telling myself to keep on running for another 5 minutes, then another 5 minutes and another 5 minutes. The route was quite flat until we reached Jalan Loke Yew and later Jalan Cheras. The incline was gradual but went on and on as if there was no end. By then i started to feel discomfort at the lower end of my back.
After two hours, i started to regret my decision of not wearing knee guards. I started to feel the pain on my knee joints as if my knees were giving away. The pain became more and more as my legs hit the tarmac. I begun to walk more than i ran. The pain was less if i walk with wide stride.
I tried to do 2 minutes of walking followed by 2 minutes (or actually lesser) of running. I was still encouraged by my 'good' timing thus far.
By the time the route reached Kampung Pandan roundabout and later bypassing the Indonesian embassy, i have more or less 4.5km to go with about 25 minutes left to the qualifying time of 3 hours.
As i took the turn at jalan bukit bintang in front of Pavillion, I was confident that i could still make it because i was thinking that the route would be going all the way down Jalan Sultan Ismail before taking a turn at Medan Tuanku. But imagine my dismay when the route was actually diverted to Jalan Raja Chulan in front of Hotel Istana.
Luckily there was a group of cheering squad there to cheer the runners. We later took the turn at the Weld down to Jalan P Ramlee all the way to KLCC. From there almost flat run at Jalan Ampang bypassing Matic and later the final stretch of Jalan Sultan Ismail.
Upon reaching Jalan TAR onto the finishing line, i just could not hide my excitement that the run was about to come to an end. However that was not good enough to force my legs to run. I just jogged and walk to Dataran Merdeka and to the finishing line.
In the end, i was proud and very satisfied that i could finish the run. The fact that the time that i clock to complete the race was slightly above 3 hours in my first ever 21km run was really pleasing - it was sufficient to forget the pain on my knees.
Read my 2009 Malakoff 12KM experience here and 2009 StanChart KLM 10KM run here.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Comments
Congrats OS for a race well run!!!