Who says running isn't fun...

It was time again for the KL Marathon, the yrly event in which I do a pilgramage to KL, meet up with friends, gossip all night long with the girls, buy lotsa PowerGels (they need to sponsor me by now), sleep only 2-3 hours before the marathon.... and run. This year's marathon was hosted by StanChart Bank as one of their new races in the Greatest Race on Earth league (Singapore another one of the races). So no more Ambank, welcome StanChart..

OK, background on training first... haven't done much traning for this marathon as currently having a bad Left ITB problem. So, mileage down... and took the last few months off training to relax and do other stuff in life.. In short.. this was gonna be an exciting race. so with no PB in mind.. Here goes.....

Friday:
Went down to KL. Met up with Alan and Ivy. Passed them some Rotiboy. Ran at some Bukit Jalil Park for 30mins. Went back to Puchong and had teh tarik, durian (lotsa durians) and instant noodles for dinner. Met up with Fipink. Had tau foo fa for supper. Slept late at 1-2 am

Saturday:
Woke up around 9-10 am. Slacked around Ivy's place. Breakfast at 10+am at nearby mamak.. Went back to Ivy's place. Registered for IMWA.. sob sob.. money fly away again. Went to REPC at 1pm on train.Makan-ed lunch with Ivy. Ivy left. Headed to KL Sentral. Waited for BK while having Starbucks Mint Tea (my new fave). Met up with BK at 5.30pm. Had dinner with BK at Secret Recipe. Checked in AnCasa Hotel (the one at the opposite end of PuduRaya) nice....

The goodies...

Realised Newtons too dead to run in.. Went out to MidValley to hunt for shoes. Bought Nike shoes : Zoom Start and Free 5.0. Went second dinner (BK, not me) at DOME. Krispy Kreme.
BK had air mata kucing. Back to hotel. Surfed the net for one hour. Slept at 12+

KKreme from MDVL

Sunday:Race day. Woke up at 3.45am... groggy. Curse myself for not sleeping more a few times. Contemplated to skip the race to go back to sleep. Looked at BK.. ok.. no.. will go for race. Wore InJinJi's and new Nike Zoom Starts shoes (for convenience sake, I usu wear what I'm racing in to sleep... so tat I dun need to pack too many clothes).
My new shoes

Ate half a donut. All ready.. ran slowly to Dataran (race start).

Took about 10 minutes to arrive. Slight drizzle. Looked around, can't find anyone I know. nevermind. Head to start point. No balloon Pacers (FM lied) Bang. Race start. Slow jog. Met Mohan taking pics (he flashed me and I flashed back).We laughed, chatted. He left.

At the race start

All throughout the race, BK and I chatted omos nonstop (except when he went to Portaloos and when we collected water) When the sky was bright enough, started to take pics of Landmark esp the Standard Charted Building - hint hint for sponsorship :p.

Standard Chartered building at the back

Ran ran ran.. met Unker from Taiping who sang MJ songs. Chatted with him as well. Halfway through met Kenyan who got lost (half marathoner who ended up in the full marathon route). Continued to run run run...

In front of Mahathir's Bakery

BK doing the VISA dance

Left knee started to hurt .. uh oh. Walked bit and stretched. Last 2km, knee bad.. walked to the end. Saw spiderman. Five hundred metres more, BK bought Teh Tarik ice from some mamak shop.

Met Ben who asked me to hurry up.. but I was lazy. Saw Callie cheering me on. Plotted the grand finale about 5 metres from the finishing line for about .... 30 seconds. Photogs wondering what we were doing. Saw Kian Yaw. Dropped to floor. Crawled to finishing line.. hehehe.. Jumped over fence. Got camera from BK. BK ran across finishing drinking teh tarik.. yay!!! We finished the marathon!!!

After race.. took pics here and there. Almost forgot to collect medal and finisher's tshirt when about to leave for hotel.

Finisher medal and oversized T'

Reached hotel. Me showered. Called to request for chkout extension. Chked email. Msg-ed Kenny for lunch. Slept. Someone called and woke me up. Smiled. Went back to sleep...zzzzz....

Called again for chkout extension. zzzz again.

Woke up. Packed. Chked out. Cabbed to KLCC. Makan-ed. Walked around. Starbucks for drinks and seats. BK left for KLIA. Called someone to wish him Good Luck!!!. :) Almost dozed off there. Waited waited waited for bus. Took bus. On the bus now...

Well, short and simple. This has got to be the fun-nest marathon ever. Though came in late about 5 hours, we took our time to have fun during the race.

At the restaurant

After all, some races are meant to be enjoyed while keeping in mind that when it comes to the key races, performance should be of priority :). It helps to keep running as an enjoyable and light hearted sport as it should be. To end it all - To Callie, Ivy and Kenny, congrats on your 10K. I hope you enjoyed the race as much as I did. And to BK, my running partner for so long.. TQVM!!!! It's been fun, and I hope to do more fun races with you in the future!!! Liiiike.... The Trailblazers in Nov...

Trudge on... and Don't Ever Stop Enjoying Life (and Running too...)