NB 15k Run

did the new balance 15k run on sunday. since i'm planning on doing the penang marathon and have not run more than 10k this year (except for the tunnel run), i thought it might be a good idea to get some mileage in. so i took this as more of a training run with water stations (who am i kidding? they're all training runs since i'm not really racing, am i?).

the start was a bit sudden. here we were all just chatting away, when all of a sudden, the klaxons go off. we were a bit dazed and confused, but eventually figured out that the race had started when we saw the crowd moving down jalan parlimen.

so away we went. my weakness at the start of these types of events has always been starting off faster than i'm able to. you know, you get caught up in the moment and you see people running and you try to keep up with them even though they're going faster than what you can normally do. well, this time, i kept reminding myself to take it easy, don't kan-chong, relax. it's a long run.

so i settled into my pace and found that i was moving up through the pack without much effort. eventually caught up with edwin and the others from imcyclist.com, so ran with them for a bit. it's always fun to run with these guys because they never take anything seriously. they'd be laughing, yelling, heckling the other runners but it's all good clean fun. running with them is never boring.

by the time i'd got to double hill though, i had left them behind. at the end of double hill, i started getting the usual pain in my left knee. it wasn't so bad so i just kept on running. apart from the knee pain, i was actually enjoying the run.

at the 10k mark, i checked my watch, 58mins. i thought maybe i could meet my target of 1h 30m. however, the knee pain started acting up again. it gets worse on downhills so now i actually prefer running uphills. i had to slow down during the downhill parts and try to make up that time going uphill.

at the 2km to go mark, i was at 1h 28m so a 1:30 was out of the question. this was when the pain got really bad. all form was lost as i tried to make it to the finish line.

but somehow, as i approached the finish line, i got my second wind. with less than 300m to go, i picked up speed (had to look good for the finsh line mah).




eventually crossed the line in 1h41m02s. 11 minutes beyond my target but i was still pretty happy with the result. so what if i missed my target time, i ran the entire distance and only walked the water stations to drink, something i wasn't able to do 6 months ago. that, to me is an achievement in itself.

post-race, the knee is not as sore anymore so hopefully it'll be all good for this weekend: kenyir triathlon. i'll see y'all there.