My First 10km at KLSCM

After sooo long i abaikan this blog, here i am again for another of my running journey story. Because running is the only exciting thing happens to my life nowadays! In April, I signed up for 10km run at KLSCM (the biggest marathon event in Malaysia) and after balloting i managed to get an entry. Got overconfident and signed up for cruise run, cut off time is 90mins, means i have to run at least pace 9 to complete on time. Never ran 10km before, at that time the farthes i ran was 5km. I thought nevermind lah, the event in September, i still got about 5 months to train.

So i increase my running mileage to 6-7km. My pacing gradually decreased as i ran. Then comes fasting month. 1 month plus of not running. After raya i started running, omg my pace dah jadi above 10! Gila kann, orang muda jalan lagi laju kot! I got scared, and try to run 3 times per week with one long run of at least 90mins. In 90mins pun i boleh cover 8km je! Then how la to complete 10km under 90mins kan!

Dah nak dekat race day, haze season melanda. Lagi lah kurang berlari. That time i pikir lantak lah, lari jela mana mampu. 10% dok doa gak supaya KLSCM cancel due to haze. But haze slowly gone towards race day...it is ON guysssssss...omg nervous!

On race day, 29th September 2019. My 10km flag off is at 7am. Bangun pukul 4am, had light breakfast and by 5am husband hantar ke nearest MRT (all mrt/lrt rides to the event is complimentary). Dalam MRT tu penuh dengan peserta je, all clad in blue KLSCM tee. It was a feel good feeling bila ramai-ramai berkumpul untuk pergi tempat sama, lari sama-sama.

During flag off time, hari dah terang. It was a beautiful route along KL city. Awal-awal lari tu i realized i was running faster than usual. Managed to keep below 9 pace along the 2km. After 2km dah start letih so mula slow sikit lari. As i said, the route was nice and lots of stuff to see, so tak rasa sangat lama berlari untill we turned into Perdana Botanical Garden (i think it was last 4km). Kat sana naik bukit dia jauh la pulak..dok tunggu bila la nak turun bukit balik ni!! Most of the journey kat situ memang jalan je.

I started to speed up again when i sighted Dataran Merdeka, i think it was last 2km. I ran even faster when i saw the finish line. Pasal dah terlalu letih sangat, time 200m towards finish line tu betis dah rasa cramp and rasa nak muntah. Terpaksalah slow down lari, takut nanti malu pulak jatuh kat depan finish line tu, dah la ramai orang tengok hahahaha!

My official finish time is 1hr 34mins. It was 4mins above my 90mins target time. Thank god i still get my finisher medal! Eventhough i did not finished below 90mins, it was still a good run. I never before run at this time above 5km.

I am going to accept this as an achievement for me. Good run and great experience. I do it all alone, train alone, run also alone. That day i went back home with pride. Sore legs, exhausted, busuk masam, headache, but i was happy. I did not run for a week after that. My sore calf lasted for 3 days. And this is only 10km! My target is to enter half marathon 21km when i am 40, which is another year. Year 2021, i will run 21km! Wish me luck!

 

Running Got Into Me

Remember my last post i talked about me being high spirited about running/jogging. Well..i still am! I been constantly running 2-3 time per week and i loooovveeeee it so much! I got so much better now. From only 500m run non-stop before i collapse out of breath, to 4km run non-stop. Amazing right!! I am so proud of myself. Yes i know it is nothing for you all fit people. But me being heavy and zero exercise before this, run 4km non stop is a great achievement for me. My pace is still slow, 8-10pace/km. Which makes running 4km ended in 38-40mins. Now my goal is to improve my pace to 6-7 pace, or finishes my 5km in 40mins.

Running is easy girrlllsss! All you need are time and discipline. You can do it alone, inexpensive (only a good RM200++ running shoes) and you can set your own time and pace, no pressure whatsoever and the best thing is you become healthier!! Running is good cardio for your heart and improves your blood circulations. I run alone and it has become my personal time away from my responsibilities. With music in my ears and wind against my face, it is such a good feeling. When you have passed the semput nak mati phase, running become easier and you will definitely enjoy it. Kalau i tak jogging more than 3 days, hati dah tak keruan..i need my endorphins! Now i understands how my bapak feels when he eagerly wants to jogging tak kira tempat.

Okla...you all mesti bosan kan i dok cerita pasal jogging ni. Just to motivate you ladies to start jogging, i did lose some weight. I start losing weight when i started to control my eating as well. Because to run at faster pace, i got to be lighter. After few weeks of controlling my diet, i manage to lost 5kgs. Tak diet teruk pun. I take breakfast as usual, i take heavy lunch with lots of green and portion control on rice+lauk (green vegetable is a fat burner), make sure drinks lotssss of water and have a small dinner:  protein wraps/sandwich / nestum+kurma / makan lauk je / sayur is wajib. Like i said, nothing hardcore about my diet. Because i exercise 3 times a week to increase my metabolism, diet lightly je pun dah ok kann.At my weight, i can burn up to 300 calories when i run for 30mins. Best kannn...300 calories macam makan sepeket megi la..hahaha!

Enough running talk...but this is not the end of this topic. I might blabber about it again in next post! Maybe about my participation in marathon. My aim is to join 5km marathon by January next year. Now i really need to improve my pace first. Jom...who wants to join me run for healthier life???

To a healthier & active life

My bapak is an avid jogger and he just loves to walk. He started active jogging in his 30's and frequently joined marathon. I still remember our annual visit to Penang during Penang Bridge Marathon. Till now at 65, he still actively jogs up to 10km. Walk 3km pegi balik?? No problem for him, he enjoys it..even under the hot sun. We use to complain when he always like to park his car so far away, tak larat aih nak jalan! His children all 3 girls memang tak ikut pun perangai dia tu. Even arwah Danial (our little brother), although being active in sports, he was not a runner. 

Bapak said, the reason he took up jogging as hobby is because he wants a hobby that benefits him till old and doesn't cost money. Well..his other hobby is reading, which is also good but it does cost him money to buy books. When i heard his reasons i was quite ashamed myself. Yela..hidup dah lama still takde hobby yang boleh beneficial untuk diri sendiri sampai tua. Maybe i was too busy with kids & house chores. But i know the truth that it is just a reason not to do anything. Even nowadays i hardly reads. Beli je buku banyak-banyak (i can't resist a good book), baca nye tak.

I memang kagum dengan determinations of people who active in sports. Since i am not good in any sports, i can't take any as hobby. So i secretly wish i can jogs like my bapak. To have not be out of breath so fast when i run. Nak, teringin, memang senang kan...nak mula dan buatnya masyaAllah susah betul. Banyak alasan. Alasan pertama, when i was younger i malu lari in public pasal dok rasa orang gemok berlari adalah kelakar (betul tak?). Now dah tua sikit i can't be bother of what people thinks as long tak kacau orang and i wear appropriately. Alasan kedua, takde geng dan support from anybody to pursue  it. Ala..ngade kan, nak buat benda elok nak support pulak, which is now i think is ridiculous. Alasan ketiga, which is still my strong alasan till now is other's perceptions. I kan gemok, being overweight all my life. Jadi bila if people know i started to jog and still badan macam tu gak i find it annoying that people will membawang and perlekehkan my effort when i actually i start jogging to be healthy, active and built up my stamina. Kurus tu bonus la kan, pasal makan kalau tak kurang susah la nak impi badan idaman. For the longest time i already accept my body as it is and be positive about it...takde dah nak berangan kurus. I accept it as long i am healthy. But others relentlessly remind me about it macam sakit sangat mata tengok i gemok kan. Hahahaha, but tak semua la, no hard feeling dah, like i said, i am body positive regardless what i weigh.

Ok panjang pulak bercerita. The reason for this post is that i decided to be active. Since i started my weekly zumba/aerobic lesson, my stamina becomes better. So i try to jog at nearby park. Suprisingly i can run 3 rounds, usually 1 round dah tercungap mintak nyawa. That makes me feels better. I enjoy it. Not sure whether it is the endorphins released during exercise, but i am happy everytime i finished my aerobic or run. I pray that this is not hangat-hangat taik ayam. I really need this in my life. Like my bapak said, must have a good hobby that benefited us sampai tua. Semoga semangat ku tidakla setengah jalan sahaja. At least sampai cukup stamina nak join half marathon. To a healthier and active life!! Doakan ye...amiiinnnn.