I ran for Life Church's 6for600 event today and it was pretty cool. For one thing, i ran alongside Ching, Lily's friend whom I've come to know and hear that she was a very good runner. And I guess the competitor in me kicked in even though i didn't want it to. She was a nice girl, and I really just wanted to see how good was good, and where do I stand against "good". So I ran with her today and the people who raved about her were right. Ching was FAST. She was probably clocking a 5 minute pace and I could feel it. I kinda semi knew if I kept up with her I was gonna wind up burning out at some stage. But I also wanted to see if I could keep up. And for the record, I did! For half the way I was stride for stride in sync with her, and though I felt the burn in my lungs, I also felt the confidence that my recent training has given me. I thought, I could do this. Just FOCUS.
And it all went well. Until we came to this MASSIVE monstrous inclination they call a "hill". And I had my iPod plugged in on max volume, and Ching was gesturing something to me, which I just nodded and smiled and showed her thumbs up signs. I assumed she just meant to say "take it easy, we can do this!". So we made it up the hill. She was steady. I noticed she took small quick steps. I tried doing the same but my pace wasn't as fast as hers so I was forced to take larger steps to keep up. At the very top, right before the very peak, I gave in. My heart was banging against my chest and I just couldn't breathe anymore. I think I let out a growl. And Ching and this other girl went on ahead. Needless to say I so wanted to kick myself in the butt.
And then...the organizer had a sense of humour! We had to that uphill loop another time! on my own, with no pressure to up the pace or anything, I told myself to make it all the way without stopping. So I took small steps at a not so fast pace. But even then, at the very top, probably just 2 steps further than the previous time, I stopped to catch my breath. It was embarrassing! I was so angry at myself.
Frustrated, I kept on going with my newly aquainted pace. I knew I was running way ahead of time, but when I saw the arch looming ahead and my watch showing about 1 hour 12 minutes, I was honestly quite surprised. I came in at 1 hour 14 minutes in the end. A quick calculation would say that is a sub 5 minute pace! But I knew it was too good to be true.
I came home and mapped the route out and found it was only 14.4km. So it was a 5:11 pace on average. Not too shabby I guess.
I saw Ching and she said that she didn't do the second loop because the marshall had directed her the other way. Like a true runner, she didn't look too pleased about that. haha I completely understand her. She also said I am probably the first female 15k runner to come in! WOohoo~! But then again, i think if Ching did the second loop she would still be ahead of me. =)
Running ranting aside, this event was really awesome. Lily and her friends all had different pledges to their sponsors. They also raised a collective amount of a few thousand dollars which is nothing short of admirable. So they each carried out their pledges today. Lily ran in her pj's. Min ran in a garbage bag. Jaime shaved her head bald! Chow ran 10km blindfolded! I really am very impressed by their dedication. Makes me feel a little silly for not doing more to raise funds.
I am now inspired to do something for when I run back at home. Either run in my pj's, or blindfolded or even shave my head. I think it will be pretty cool. And I think i know of some friends out there who would pay to see me do any of the above. haha...Great event, peeps. Hope you've managed to raise enough funds!
So ego! Run your own race lah!
ReplyDeleteBut 5:11 is a pretty good pace, well done!
haha memang ego...=)
ReplyDeletethanks...cant wait to run in KL la. dont know when I will be able to run KL hills again...=)