(18/3/07-Sunday-No sleep before KLIM Marathon and race report)

The day before

Went to Petronas Philharmonic Ochestra at KLCC . Free tickets were given out to watch this Irish guy perfom on organ .
My parking ticket for 2 1/2 hours was only RM 1! coz parked at K-Avenue and walked across to KLCC via the tunnel .

Had tea at 3 pm at Cold Storage , (modesto pizza ) and at 4.30 pm ( Masala Thosai and and some goreng pisang stuffs)

Evening :Suddenly bro called and we were off for a steamboat buffet at Sunway ( RM21) per head .

Accidentally took tea

At the dinner , tea was served and I acidentally drank it , I was not suppose to drink tea at nite or won't be able to sleep . It was after dinner that my wife remembered I shouldn't drink tea at nite . Too late . Drank already .

By the time I got home : 11.30 pm

Can't sleep

I put my alarm for 3.20 am . Got to bed at 12 midnite but was tossing and turning . Woke up briefly to see the time and it showed 1.48 am but still no real sleep . Got up again 2.45 am , still no sleep . After a short semi sleep , the alarm rang at 3.20 am and time to wake up ! In theory , I didn't have a real sleep all nite , just a rest on the bed !!

The starting

After having my breakfast of 2 slices bread and peanut butter , 12 pieces dates and warm glucose . Drove to Padang Merbuk , not many cars there. Then jogged to starting point . Did my stretching before going into kandang .
The plan was to get approx 53 min per 10 km .

There was no atmosphere like S'pore Marathon but i was glad I'm running here this time , if I remembered correctly , last year I was in the half marathon and was seeing the Matathoners took off . There was this traditional drum beat at the start and i was hoping next time I could be among this runners of the marathon . At last , my first marathon in KL , 1st marathon was actually in S'pore , so this is my second official marathon .

After running about 4 km , Saiful came to my side from the back and said he wants to pace with me . I said OK, we will try sub -4 coz in S'pore he was just behind me by 1 min .

Knee pain 15 km mark

After running 15 km , I told him to go ahead coz I'm getting some medicine at the refreshment counter . He went ahead while I put some deep heat at the knee . After awhile it got better , I ran alone and overtook Lee Chin and Girl .

Saw Saiful again

Saw Saiful again at about the 23 km mark and he told me he was going slower .But again as I ran , the knee hurt again and at some stations I asked for deep heat rub by myself . Saiful then went ahead .

Saw Girl

Approaching the last 30 km , I saw Girl which I overtook earlier , I told her she is doing well . She said she wants to overtake the girl in front which I think is 1 km away coz I didn't see her anymore .She said may be she can't overtake I told Girl she can do it . Never say never and got her to pace with me . The pacing was fast and the 3rd 10 km time approaching 30 km was about 49 min ! I saw Saiful again at the water station before 30 km and had a drink and Girl then continued and overtake us all . I paced with Saiful again but my legs were tired and he disappeared again .

Hit the wall

The last 10 km was a struggle , every step hurt especially at the thigh area . It was further aggravated by the knee pain in which by now I can't lift the knee a certain angle or it will hurt . My running technic changed because of this , to cushion the impact on the knee . I just couldn't wait for the run to end and kept thinking when can i get to finish line The marker showed 9 more km to go and I was suffering all the way .

ENDING

The last 5 km also felt long and I couldn't wait for the finish , Leg hurting . With another 2 km to go I was in a semi jog state and was grateful for the downhill to Dataran Merdeka . As i ran , there was pain and the knee also felt bad if I accidentally changed my running stance . As I was near the finishing line , there was no fast finish and it fact 2 people ran past me . In the end ,I'm glad its finished , finished with a slow jog to the finishing line at 3: 56:51 ,a P .R for me .

I was happy to break my P.R which in S'pore was 4 min 9 . Sad that I didn't achive my target of 3:45 coz of the pain at the knee and thigh . Next time will have to do more 30 km runs .

Distance :42.195 km
Duration of work out : 3 hour 56 min 51 sec
Location :KL
# of times used Asthmatic inhaler and remarks : 1 times used inhaler used before race , breathing OK

TOTAL MILEAGE FOR THIS WEEK : 59 KM