The problem is that would only qualify as a wishful thinking for a snail pace runner who did not manage to run a single LSD exceeding 16km for a period of 3 months (I did 2 run which may qualify to be categorized as minimal LSD training for ½ marathon during that period). But the other bigger problem is, as far as I am concerned, almost all hills along the route were of “ammah” and “appah” standard. True, no kidding! And that is the essence of what I have experienced in the Newton Challenge (not race ok).
That Sunday I reached the venue around 5.30 am. I went straight to the mosque and met Tok Ketua Poco-poco Shuk. Actually it is very convenient for muslim runners if the race venue is near a mosque. Rayzeef and Zaki arrived at the mosque not long after that. Later I met Nik, Det and Bahri (Putrajaya Ramadhan Friday Night riding gang) inside the mosque and bumped into Syah, Ijam and KA at the starting point.
As planned I decided to run with a snail aka lenggang kangkung pace with Zaki’s company. Ijam has decided with his alter ego Ronald McIjam left at home, he could do the ‘rempit’ pace, leaving me and Zaki behind :D At the early stage the pace was Ok for me in tackling the hills and the funny thing is once I saw a hill which looked quite menacing, I would say “yeah, this is the “ammah” hill. The problem is I kept telling myself the same thing EACH time I reached ANY hills. And what is termed as “ammah” by Yim was actually “appah” standard for me hahahaha.
So to cut the story short, I lost steam as early as at KM10 and though I asked Zaki to ‘tarik’ me, I just could not maintain the same pace unless I wanted to bonk early. So after that point and starting from KM11, I mostly walked uphill and jogged downhill under the “ammah” heat. Mentally and physically I felt lethargic. I saw other RBUs, Ian, Syah, Ijam, Yim, Deo, Shuk, KA, Nik and Zaki all running strong at the other side of the road and “me?... is just a singer in a long haired rock and roll band” (ehh, apa hal lirik lagu Bon Jovi muncul kat sini??).
My target of finishing within 3 ½ hour was slipping by each KMs after KM20. As far as I was concerned I just aiming to finish the run and could not care less about the timing. Legs felt heavy like timber logs and the calves felt stiff under the compression socks. I just could not run anymore after KM21 save for a brief 100 meter jog to the finishing line.
Did I regret participating in this Newton Challenge? Not a single beat! I think I had done quite a number of races that I would no longer sulked for being slow or missing my personal target (though this is the first time I did not manage to finish within the given qualifying time). Injury wise, I could say that I did not suffer any ‘real injury’ during and after the run save for some soreness at my SCKLM’s injured right knee (running with my knee guard did help keeping the issue at bay).
Looking forward, the Newton Challenge 25km 2010 was the kick start that I was seeking for my next 3 primary challenges, Genting Trail Blazer, the Sprint category of Powerman 2010 and Singapore Standard Chartered 2010 full marathon.
Lets rock and roll guys!
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