Adidas King of the Road

so the melodious tune of Simpsons from my handphone ripped through the silence at 5.30am this morning. funny how i felt as though i was already semi conscious at that point. i felt pretty much awake despite the fact that i slept after 1 am last night. yet i felt obliged to stay in bed for another 5 minutes, just for the warmth of my blanket's sake.

breakfast is always a chore to me when i have a run. i'm personally not a breakfast person. i usually attend college on an empty stomach and ikat perut till lunch break. but i need the energy during runs, so i often force myself to down a powerbar or some biscuits or bread. however the particular powerbar i found this morning has expired...hehe...so i figured i'd take it after the race as not to risk spoiling my tummy. didn't want to waste it...Uncle Toby's was pretty satisfying...i had 2 bars of it.

skipping to the race. i honestly thought i did not do so well. 7 minutes into the race i was kinda panting despite the fact that i warmed up a good 15 minutes before race start. there was an old man who was huffing and puffing so loudly that i feared he might just collapse in front of me any second. i silently prayed he hung on till i was at least 100 m ahead of him. but i was slow this morning. my own heart seemed to ache if i tried to push myself harder. i ended up trailing behind Mr Huff'n'Puff. after about 18 minutes into the race, only then did my pulse seem to slow a little. i felt a bit lighter and was able to go a bit faster. time to take down Mr Huff'n'Puff. i have to say, it took me a while. it was as thought Mr Huff'n'Puff was out to kill himself for this race! haha

the route was the exact same one as last year. yet i don't recall doing so many uphills! i swear it felt like the hills grew higher over the year. like one big hill disintegrated into many little hills and i had to take them on one by one. i was darn tired. once again i felt like i was doing below par. what the hell's wrong with me? i resigned to the fact that my timing would be a little off this time.

i think that my hero, or rather my spirit, came in the form of a middle aged Indian man, whom i can only identify as C331. haha...all he did was say to me "you're doing well, keep it up!" and i felt somewhat rejuvenated. That little gesture of his gave me a little boost of energy and my determination back. i was ready to do some PB!

feeling like i owed it to him, i decided to spread the good will. the next walking person i overtook, i told him "hey keep it up!". The guy looked a lot like kevin teoh from behind. except that he was far more skinny and frail. nontheless, he has a unique pan-asian look. i heard him trotting up next to me the moment i overtook him. next thing i knew he was ahead of me by about 30 m. note to self: give encouragement without expecting to beat the guy or u'll end up feeling challenged.

throughout the race, kevin-teoh-clone stopped several times, only resuming his run when little ol' me come zooming by. typical!

oh before i forget, right before i hit the hills, 2 women from my category overtook me out of nowehere. one was in a tight Nike Drifit running suit and the other wore a Songkhla International Marathon vest. i thought to myself that chances of taking down Ms Nike would be higher. Ms Songkhla seemed tough! hehe what did i know....when the hills came, Ms Nike was right ahead of me while Ms Songkhla lagged behind. I was utterly jealous of Ms Nike, coz not only did she just beat me, she looked good doing it too! she had the figure to die for i'm telling you. grrr....

it only took a couple of minutes before i saw Ms Nike for the last time as she vanished from my sight. Ms Songkhla was gaining on me and when we hit the downhills, she sped off ahead of me. To chase or not to chase? hehe...nahhh....she remained in sight for a good 3 km or so though. Towards the finishing she beat me to it.

i sprinted to the finish line like i always do, for the thrill of it. in other words, syok sendiri. nobody was in front nor behind me that would give me a run for my position. i reached the officer. i press Stop on my watch. to my pleasant surprise i saw:

this for 10.7km! hahah...the official gave me card...24th place! whoopee! collect medal!! Isaiah was already done. Got me a Sprite Ice. *Thanks buddy!* Waited around for my dad. Met loads of people.

Oh...then Kevin-teoh-clone came up to me with a friend. Hand outstretched he said "Thanks for your encouragement just now". *smiles* He does resemble Kevin quite a lot. Introduction. His name's Fendi, his friend's Neil, both studying in Sunway College. hehe...now you know why i keep joining runs? it's a social event! u meet new people everytime!

Before leaving, we got someone to take a pic of us. Found out that he was Mr Loh, former teacher of SMKSJ, also husband of Mdm Teh (gimrama coach). Small small world i tell you...

still struggling with my Ukraine business. sigh...why can't i run forever....