2 debs yang comel are now a Marathoners!!!

I'm now a marathoner!! What????  Like seriously???? Pinch my cheeck *ouchhh*. I'm wide awake and definitely not dreaming :-)

Intro

SD42 Route Map

Running a marathon is not a small deal and there are not a single nano-second in my lifetime i imagined me running a 42.195km distance. Masa zaman sekolah, saya ialah school sprinter 'jaw dropped'  heeeypp masa tu saya sungguh fit yer hehe. Tapi i took up 100m and 200m ONLY!!! selain dari tu memang tak masuk sebab dah rasa jauh nak mampos.The longest distance i've ever  ran during my school years was 2.5km kot (pusing satu sekolah), itu pun sebab the pengetua tak nak bagi kami bangun tido lambat and made sunday morning run is compulsary to all. Takde sebab to escape else kena menjawab dengan warden 'sigh'. Kita kalau kat asrama nak mengadap dan bersoal jawab dengan warden ialah perkara terakhir yang kita akan lakukan kan? So lari jelah.. Oh yer tapi masa Uni years, ada jugak sign-up for Shape Run and even PJ Half Marathon (of courselah amik distance yg paling pendek) just for the sake of race kit lol.

If you have been religiously membaca my selalu-lambat-update blog, u guys tahu kan that i pick-up berlari (again) after Malakoff 2009.  This time it's not for the sake of goodie bags, memang nak berlari. Matlamat 2010 ialah untuk dapat 5 medal sahaja (tapi by the end of 2010 KPI melebihi sasaran). Our first so-called long distance race was at Putrajaya Night Marathon (7km) and for the first time kami dapat finisher medal *terlompat-lompat*. Then we slowly increased our mileage until we did our first Half Marathon together. Itu pun banyak drama haha Masa tu rasa 21km ialah distance terjauh yang akan dilarikan sampai bila-bila *poyokan?*.  Then again, when Sundown Marathon Singapore 2011 open its registration back in 2010, we registered ourself for Half Marathon. Come January, i participated in PACM Track Meet,had a little chat with Mawar and this is when she persuaded me to run Sd42 as the cut-off time for the race is 9-freaking-hrs. She even told me a makcik walked throughout the race and still made it within qualifying time.. yelah tu kan?After some deep thinking (with Miss E of course) i emailed the organizer for a race upgrade. Tak kuasalah kan nak register another category (mahal nak mams). Long story short, kami pun berjaya di-upgradekan *mimpi ngeri bermula*

Maka selepas berjaya di-registerkan, so i pun start google training plan for a marathon. Banyak bangat tapi end up i chose  training plan from Runner's World. Nampak macam doable jer training regime yang depa dok bagi. Things were smooth till hujung March. Training start kacau bilau when i have to work for two weeks dekat Johor. Balik-balik dah April and I'm far behind schedule. Jadinya hanya bergantung pada race sahaja untuk collect mileage. Lepas tu after ENR, kaki terasa amatlah sakit and the pain get even worse after Bidor Half Marathon. Jumpa doctor and was diagnosed with Cuboid Syndrome. Doctor advised me to rest from running but howlah am i supposed to do that when my major event were 1 month ahead. Mestilah tak dengar cakap doctor kan? Untuk mengurangkan stress kat kaki,  i rehat totally from my weekdays training and run only on weekend, tapi berapalah sangat mileage yang dapat. At least better dari takde lari langsung. Memang sangat seram sejuk!

Pre Race

Kami berangkat ke Singapore awal sikit untuk pick-up race kit and untuk jalan-jalan hehe. Race kit amik kat Athlete's Circle@ Boon Tat Street. Uish bukan satu, tapi 8 termasuk race kit  saya dan Miss E skali. 2 hari sebelum race, kami dua beradik ini berjalan-jalan bagai nak rak akibatnya kaki berasa sengal bila hari sabtu tiba keh keh. Ada jugak lumur dengan ice, tapi sebab masa dah suntuk macam takdelah kesannya sangat

banyaknya bag!

my first FM bib :)

Miss E got her bib too :)

Race Day

Petang sabtu, seawal pukul 6pm kami dah memulakan misi. Maklumlah hostel jauh dari MRT, jadi kenalah keluar awal. It was a smart move instead. Bayangkan 6pm kami keluar, almost 8.15pm jugak kami sampai tapak race. Rasanya kebanyakkan yang dalam bas tu masuk HM memang dah tak senang duduk. Confirm diorang start lambat. Fuh, nasib baik kami punya kategori start lambat sikit. Sampai je kat tapak race kami ada lebih kurang 1 jam 30 minit untuk bersiap-siap (bergambar etc) sebelum masuk kandang. Nerbes tahap satria baja hitam!

tolong amik gambar saya

gediks!

Muka masih boleh tahan haha

sementara tunggu Yim tapau roti

MRT Paya Lebar

Ramainya orang kat St MRT Expo

Beratur nak naik bas ke Starting Point

Dalam Bas

Ini antara aktiviti sebelum race start. Muka tengah tersengih-sengih lagi. Sapelah nak tahu, itu akan menjadi malam yang sangat panjang untuk kami si 2 beradik. Muka lepas race confirm dah tak tak boleh blah hek hek.

boria SD42 ;-)

smile Miss-Ngelat-Training

uish berdebar!

We were gunned off slightly over 10pm. Maka bermula pengembaraan "aiceceeh" kami berdua. Moto larian: "Susah Senang Bersama"  and we plan to do it just like how we did at PBIM. Slow and steady. Kami tak stop kat 2 water station yang pertama. Oh boy, malam itu sangat HUMID and there were no winds at all. Baru 6km baju dah basah jeruk.. Manalah nak tahan kan? Masuk km ke 6.. jeng jeng jeng wall no1, Mengantuks!!! Ya ampun, memang mengantuks tak terbendung. Mengantuks sampai tahap rasa loya dan nak tertutup-tutup mata. Lari lagi tahap slow. At water station 4, berhenti, makan 1/2 Gu Gel (share wif Miss E). Half je sebab tak dapat nak telan 1 packet *bluek*. Rehat kejap pastu trus lari perlahan-lahan. Lepas 10 mins, baru rasa segar sikit. Lega, dapat up pace sikit. We were doing just fine sampai km16. Miss E pulak start  kelaparan. Dok tunggu manalah pisang yang dijanjikan tapi tak kunjung tiba. Miss E has a thought of making a stop kat Mc'D tapi lepas memikirkan kesan terbongkang yang mungkin berlaku jika makan burger, maka niat berhenti terpaksa dilupakan. Tapi masa ni kami dah start jalan sikit-sikit. 8 water station dah jumpa tapi takde satu pun stesen yang ada ice. Dah start rasa tak sedap tekak. Lari lagi and finally, U-turn!!!! Tempat yang ditunggu2.. so berhenti amik gambar kejap :)

mana makanan ni?

Lepas puas bergambar (tak clear sebab gelap sangat), kami mula berlari balik errrkkk berjalan hahaha kumpul energy kejap then lepas 500m kami mula terkedek-kedek. Mission ialah untuk sampai km27. kenapa?? sebab nak berhenti minum Coke wif ice. Misi berjaya. Perasaan dapat minum  coke sejuk tu memang sangat Heaven!!! Teruskan berlari tiba-tiba ada supporters menjerit "frutas, frutas' , rupanya diorang offer buah and thought kami dari Filipina. ahahaa so Miss E yang kelaparan pun mengambil honeydew and grapes. Sungguh bertenaga Miss E selepas itu. Sambung balik lari and yes,  we made it to 30km. .  Ini memang distance yang digeruni semua pihak haha but wohooo, kami masih bertenaga lagi (rasanya lah). Berhenti kejap amik lagi gambar. Lepas puas bergambar tak lama lepas tu jumpa juga banana yang ditunggu-tunggu. Berhenti, refill water dan grab pisang. Brisk walk sambil makan. Alhamdulillah hilang lapar. Boleh sambung balik berlari. Ntah at pace berapa pun tak tahulah.. janji tak jalan lenggang kangkung ahaks. Kaki dah start rasa lenguh sikit, mungkin sebab lari atas simen sepanjang ECP *ouch*

30k babeh!!!

Berlari-lari sampai km 36. Suddenly kat sini my legs rasa sakit nak mampus. tapak, betis, ankle semua sakit giler. I can't barely landed my foot after every step. Saya terus berhenti kat tepi, urut-urut  sikit and ate one more Gu Gel. Dengan harapan, Gel tu akan membantu untuk move forward tapi takde apa-apapun. huwarghhhhh... i power walked 200m, and walked (dengkang dengkut) another 300m. Ya ampun, kenapalah panjang sangat stretch Changi Coast Road ni... sakit kaki tak boleh tahan!Bilalah nak sampai ni? huhuhu Senario yang menyedihkan ini berlarutan sampai km 39. Akhirnya bila masuk Aviation Park Road, tak tahu dari mana datangnya tenaga tetiba rasa semangat nak berlari. Sakit still tapi mungkin sebab semangat dah nak abis tu lain macam sikit kami gagahkan jugaklah, kalau tengok memang burukslah gaya larian itu haha... 40km....41km.... it's getting closer and YES  we saw the long awaited finishing gantry. From far i could see the timing ialah 7:58:00 and i turn to Miss E and said, "Qeen, belum 8 jam and i think if we speed up kita boleh dapat sub-8". Apalagi,  we ran like a maniac  and finally we crossed the last mat together and wohooooo we're officially a marathoners  *pat pat shoulder*. Misi Susah Senang Bersama telah berjaya :) Pheuwww for those who are wondering, we are still sister at the end of the race lol

we made it *terlompat-lompat*

precious medal

bergaya with Finisher Tee

The feeling of finishing our first marathon is indescribable. Teramat happy. While our official finishing time 7:58:50 isn’t anything impressive,  but  the fact that Miss E have only ran one half marathon distance prior to this race (itu pun kat BIM) and my longest LSD was 24.5km sudah cukup untuk membuat saya rasa begitu proud of ourselves.  Overall, the race was superbly-tough. If you ask me, i wouldn't recommend you to run SD42 as your first FM. The million dollar question – was it worth it?  Hell yes!  I ran a frickin’ marathon!  Mestilah berbaloi. Now I think I want to do ONE more 'someday' just so I can beat my piddly time.. tapi kenalah training lebih sikit "garu kepala".  till my next post. toodles!!!