Think Big. Live Large. Make A Difference.: My First 21km :)

I just want to be in a place like this.
Relax & Enjoy

Despite the heavy workload which turns life upside down, life is still colourful no matter what. And yes I mean it, all the time. Isn't that great?

"What could be better than doing the things you enjoy most?"

I just wanna share a bit about my first half-marathon run which took place last Sunday. Really thank God for the run. It was just awesome! To describe how I felt during the run was wonderful, beautiful...... I felt so happy and enjoyed every single moment during the race. It's like one of the happiest thing that happened.

I decided to have more quality sleep few days before the race. I know assignments are all around, so what!? I went down to Bukut Jalil Stadium with Ning Khang to collect my racing stuff the day before. Back in the evening, continue to do some work and off early to rest.

Later at night I was preparing myself, having good meals and rest. Race starts at 5.30am, need to reach at 4.30am and which means have to be up at 3am. Haha! I was so excited that night I guess that I couldn't sleep. Anyways, it's a normal thing. Most importantly is having good quality sleep days before.

Getting ready everything I need.

Lights off at 11pm and I eyes were still wide open at 1am. LOL! Forget about sleeping but I did sleep a little while before alarm rings. And I'm all up energetic, ate some stuff, waited for Ning Khang to pick me up and GO!

We reached there slightly late though and the place is packed with people. Few thousand people I guess, all pumped up, having high spirit. The situation was just so ALIVE, gave me more confidence. Well, never did a 21km before. Imagine running with thousands of people together. Man... The street is yours!

Now is the time, proceed to the starting line. Count from 10, 9... 3, 2, 1. Boom! The fun begins. I was really a happy boy at that time. Running early in the morning, enjoying the cool air. Feels totally different. Forget about all the assignments, I AM FOCUSING ON MY RACE!!! Get that!? Who cares about work?

Heh! Traffic police were everywhere for traffic control. You don't wanna see someone dead or injured. We actually blocked the traffic and all the cars were honking like mad. LOL! Our run, our road! But yeah, this race is tough because many hills and slope. Killer!

I just ran and ran, focusing on my breathing and managed to catch my after 10 mins. Awesome! Interesting thing is while most of us a still going, some African dudes are already on their way back. They are like x2 or x3 faster than us. Those guys are great. I maintained smoothly until I nicely cleared 15km after 1:20 hours. Water stations were really helpful though.

Then, problem starts. Breathing started to get out of rhythm, which means fatigue starts to come in. The last 6km was tough, tried to catch my pace but just couldn't maintain it for long. My speed obviously slowed down but trying hard to focus and push. I was expecting a water station nearby but life doesn't seems to be kind enough. Struggling hard until reached one. Final 2km, I encounter a slope again. Now this is mad. At the most critical part, I just need to push through this last slope. Real tough.

Soon I see the finish line ahead, getting closer and closer. Speeding up and cross! Haha! I've made it! It is done! Accomplish! The feeling was just perfect, satisfied. I finish 332th out of few thousand, clocking a time of 2:02 hours. My target was below 2 hours though but nevermind, more will come in the future. I checked the finishing time, if I could finish within 1:50-ish, I could be top 150! So near yet so far.