KL Rat Race 2010

pre-race ramblings is here.


Tuesday, 3rd August 2010.

i was worried about doing a good time as i was pushed back into the crowd the minute the gun went off. my mouth was dry and i didn't like it, as it made it difficult to breathe comfortably. (strangely, this is not the first time! i must have dehydrated while waiting under the sun!)

i hit my target for the 1st 1.2km at 6mins (the junction of Jalan Raja Chulan and Jalan Sultan Ismail), and then i caught with a few of my colleagues including NR, during the 2nd 1.3km. shortly after, i began suffering from a sudden cramp on the right side of my back. (2nd time this has happened) it was so hard to run with my right knuckle trying to ease the pain in the back, AND then i developed a slight stitch on my left side at the front. gawd. i didn't know what to do - stop running or just continue with my right arm on my back and my left arm placed in front below my ribs?

there was a water station and i gladly grabbed a bottle of water but it is SUCH a waste. i left the bottle at the bus stop on Jalan Ampang after a few sips as it isn't easy to run with a bottle in your hand, ok.

that's when i caught up with my teammate, who kept stopping and then she stopped just before we reached Concorde Hotel on Jalan Sultan Ismail. (i'm the girl way behind in the picture)

trudging along now, i focused breathing normally and hoped the pain would disappear. thankfully, it did. so i continued moving my legs along, overtaking a runner one by one. it's always very amusing to overtake a guy and have him shooting you dirty looks. i am going at my comfortable pace, mind you!

anyway, upon reaching the Junction of Jalan Sultan Ismail and Jalan P.Ramlee, i checked my time and couldn't figure out whether i was on target or not. 18-19mins? at that point i just decided to just continue moving along and made sure i conquered that freaking incline at Shangri-la Hotel. saw a few girls ahead and thought to myself, "gawddammit, they're fast!"

i overtook them just as we reached AmBank Building and checked my time. 20.5mins. oh gawd. now it's the final push until the end. just 5 more minutes, i kept telling myself and pushed forward.

the minute i reached the Shell station, the last 600m or so, i forced myelf to speed up a little and made myself overtake the girl in blue ahead of me just before we reached the foot of the hill of Bukit Kewangan, where the incline is just crazy. and i prayed like mad that she didn't catch up and overtake me at the finish line!

haha, who knows? anything is possible! we watched the video playback of the finish and we did see some guys overtaking others just at the finish line!

(that's the lady i overtook at Shell.)

but ok, no one else overtook me at such a late stage, that's good. guys don't count. =P

and once again, i'm sure there are awful photos of me soon to float around. the ex-CIMB guy showed everyone the pics taken and mine was bad. =S

i'll never look good while running, ok. so which one to choose, to be a runner or to look good while running? hmmmm.