Monday, October 31, 2011

Running a half marathon isn't quite like ABC anymore.

I ran the PJ Half marathon yesterday morning, and I did it in 2 hours 5 minutes. That is about 10 minutes or more slower than my best half marathon time. So I've finally accepted that I am no longer that good a runner. No more excuses, no more "I didn't eat well the night before" bull sh*t. I'm just going to admit it. As a long distance runner of more than a decade of experience, I now kinda suck. Maybe at age 25, after running for 12 years, I've gone past the peak, and am now in the downhill phase. Stink.

The weather was extremely hot though, and even though I thought I could handle that sort of heat pretty well, I think my 3 years in Auckland has made me a bit less tolerant of the tropical rainforest climate, especially during physical exertion. Or maybe that's just another excuse. hahaha...I ran probably the first 12km with relative ease, and then the heat just got the better of me, so I kinda ran-walked the remaining 9kms - the walking became more frequent towards the last few kms. I was feeling extremely warm, and I was drying up like a prune. Even 12 hours post race, my face was still radiating heat. That was how baked I got.

But whatever I lacked in drive yesterday, I made up in style :D I ran the half marathon with my devil horns like I did last year in Auckland, because it's Halloween. And because I'm in typical Malaysia, I was the only person to dress up, and thus, got plenty of attention...which is always kinda nice, even if it is not for the reasons I hoped for. I even got my face in today's The Star! So not too bad la, I was quite happy about the race despite it being one of my worst times ever.

Hopefully I'll do a bit better for Powerman and Penang Bridge. =)

1 comment:

Annie Yee said...

My dear friend, don't worry about the timing. As you did great. Running is just like the life, up and down. So whatever is it, keep on running!I believe you will get better and reach the higher peak again!! jiayoU!