Ahoy!!!! Ahaaa....

It's over & done.... finally & peacefully...
Everybody has their own running stories to tell during the Kuala Lumpur International Marathon 2007.
Mine is just about the same... the start, the agony, the finishing of the 42.195km run. Most importantly, I've completed my marathon run this time with full of good feelings..... hhmmm...

Thursday morning, 15 March..
Received a long-distance call from my mother. Her soft & weak voice over the phone made my heart beating faster & I was so worried. By noon, I reached OCM Hall & searched for Mr Syamsulbani FTAAA who kept my bib & vest separately in his office. Once collected, I went back to Taiping by TransNasional to see my beloved mommy. Not driving as I wanted to rest my legs for Sunday's race. Reached Taiping by nite & I knew my mom was waiting for me since daytime. She's been having her fever & cough for almost 1 month now. I've taken her for a full medical check-up at D'sara Specialist last month & the doc has advised me on something & I'm in the midst of doing it.

Friday morning, 16 March..
Mak & I, went to visit my father's "new home" near Tekah Mosque, where he was laid to rest since last July. My heart broke, yet in control, when I saw Mak was in tears while reciting Yaasin to Abah. We both missed Abah so much.... Then we went to the wet & dry market to do some shopping as my brother will also be coming back on Saturday. We (me & my 7 sibblings) always come back home to check on Mak as often as we could. She's very lonely as all her children are staying & working in KL. Mak cooked my favourite dishes before I left to KL on Friday nite. On my way back to KL, I felt so relieved not only because Mak was feeling better & doing fine but also b'cos I got the chance to visit Abah. Reached KL by midnite & felt like 'a fully recharged battery'...

Saturday morning, 17 March..
Did a 2km easy run, real easy, in the morning rain... The whole day, I just rested my legs & fed myself with lots of water & food...

Sunday, morning, 18 March...
D Day!!! Arrived Dataran Merdeka by 3.30am. Took my sweet time munching the PowerBar Caramel & did some warm-up exercises plus stretching. Wandered around & chat with Emilia Jamil, Rosliza, Mr AJ, Stupe, Bac & frenz & the Pacemakers geng.. The race started off well, sharp 4.30am & no delay, with all the foreign runners i.e. Thailand, Singapore, Great Britain, Kenya, Phillipine etc. etc. at the front line. I started on an easy pace. Looked around me & saw all the familiar faces during marathon races & everybody were saying "Hi" & advised me to go easy..

At 2km, Ironman Zebralini passed by with his usual "smoking fast" strides. I said, "Azwar, lari laju!!" & the Zebra shouted, "Hey, good luck to u". At the Federal Highway, Mr Chan Chee Seng cycled happily checking on his team & of course his son, Eugene. I called him "Hi Mr Chan, good morning!!" and he reply, "Hey you, good morning, let me know if you need help, or if you need more powergels". So kind of him & he still remembered me. Shortly after, Mr AJ & his buddy passed by & saw me smiling in the dark, I said "Hi Mr AJ" & he said, "Hi, keep on running ok. See u later."

At 3km, Ccube & the Pacesetters gang passed by. Ccube said, "Hey, good luck". I said, "I'm soooo sayaaaaaang of my Phoenix 2 Saucony & I'm enjoying the cushioning.. I don't want to step on her too hard!!". Ccube said, "Hey don't do that, just keep on running... hahahahahaha..." I said again, "OK Mr Tauke Saucony, see u at the finishing line!!"

At 8km, catched up with Fook, then Bacin... we paced for another 2km & we were a bit traumatized when we passed by the SMART tunnel signage. Later they left me as I slowed down right after the 10km mark...

At 15km, the roads were busier with heavy traffic. I ran & stopped at every water & sponging station to refresh & fuel up. Saw many runners stopping by the roadside, some were having cramps, some had blisters, some were walking. Saw one tough guy walking lamely & I slowed down my strides to check if he's OK. "Bang, OK ke?" He said, "Cramp la kaki nie". "Stop kejap bang, jgn lari, urut kaki tu sket pastu jalan pelan2. Sket lagi kat depan tu ada sponging station, nanti mintak ice, letak kat tempat sakit tu." He said, "OK dik, timakasih." Left him & moved on towards the 21km mark.

At 22km, met Hasnee, the famous Malaysian artist, who also run & cycle in races... Paced with him for 2km till Sheraton Imperial when he surrendered & told me to go ahead. Saw Justin speeding but raised his hand when I shouted, Justin!!

Along Jln TAR, Haris & Zul came from behind, on their way for a short trip round the Pertama Complex, to finish up their last dash towards the finishing line. Said to myself, how nice if I'm also towards finishing. Saw Awe Shahrom sitting by the roadside, smiling & showing his half-marathon finisher's medal to me. Also saw Mariana, Stephanie Chok & Juliana who waved their hands when they saw me, they're finishing fast & steadily. Reaching the EPF building, my old injury at the ankle showed signs of more pain coming. The Pacesetters twin brothers helped me to fix my leg by the roadside. I continued running slowly, real slowly, towards Kg Baru. In my head, I was in between whether to ignore the ankle pain & just run like nobody's business or give a little attention & tender-loving-care towards the ankle pain & run accordingly. At that moment, Abu Sofian passed by saying that he couldn't wait any longer to reach the 30km mark. He amazed me, I left him far behind at the 10km mark & he was able to catch up with me again struggling with his fever & running nose. That's a real running spirit. Right before the 30km mark, the PowerBar people, Dino & Misbah were busy doing their stunts distributing the PowerGel. Misbah was kind enough to spare me 2 PowerGels. Ah Thiam, as usual, smiling sweetly at the bus stop, while Mr Rahimi took a photo of me & Misbah in action.

At 30km, gladly & happily stepped on the ChampionChip mat and in my heart, I said, "12km more to go, can I do it???" My body, mind & spirit gave signs that I have all the abilities to proceed. I decided not to give too much pressure on my ankle as I don't want to suffer later, therefore, I ran & jog & jive & stride real slow as long as I could to keep on moving. I ran & ran & ran & reached the 35km mark with the so 'lega' feeling. Saw Bacin on the other side of the road. In my head, Thank God, I didn't get any cramps at all like I had terribly last year.

At 35km, catched up with Fook again, this time he was walking. I stopped & walked a while next to Fook, he said he's having cramps on his thigh. Persuaded him to brisk-walking & run slowly. We did & managed to pass the last 40km mark. At the last hill, I said to Fook, "We've got 1km more to go, let's run down the hill towards our finishing", and Fook agreed. We finally reached Bank Negara. Near the Supreme Court buildings, saw Mr AJ again & he waved to me saying, "Go girl, u're about to reach!!". 500km before the finishing line, saw Haris & Ronnie with their cameras, taking pictures of Fook & me. And finally, I dashed towards the finishing line & stepped on the last ChampionChip timing mat.... and YAYYYYY!!! My 4th marathon, I finally did it.... in 5:48:38hrs!!!!

Yes, last year I completed the run earlier by 30 minutes & with cramps on both legs, but this time I really give all out to finish up the race despite the agony of my ankle pain. But this time, I've pushed to my limit & really hit the wall!!!

After the finishing line, collected the goodie bag containing medal, foodstuff & finisher's t-shirt. Thanked Fook for pacing with me. While walking towards Dataran Merdeka to collect my stuff, met the twin PowerBar Ironmans - Zebralini & Ku'Zar again, collecting their RM20 refund of the ChampionChip thing. Later joined Bacin & frenz under the recovery tent, dipping our tired legs into the iced-water. Jaja, Mary & Farrah came later to take pictures. Haris came over too. And later Stupe came, in his sponsored running attire, from top-to-toe, complete with the running gadgets, making all of us so jealous. Looked around for Emilia, Haza, Zek al-Haj & Wendy but couldn't find them.

Right after, headed back home to have cold shower, to feed my stomach again after losing 2kg on the road, thinking that I must get back into my 50kg again. Slept till Asar & woke up to dip myself into the swimming pool till Maghrib. Later, after dinner, slept soundly like a baby.

Monday, 19 March...
At 4.00am, I woke up & felt so uneasy, my head was so heavy, I was sweating and my body temperature was high. I wondered why & swallowed Uphamol650. At 5.00am, I woke up again feeling nausea. Still feeling dizzy, I suddenly vomitted out totally water from my stomach... yuckssss.... felt so flaccid... That moment, I knew that I need more rest for the day... At 6.00am, I decided not to go to work & sms-ed the HR personnel that I'm taking a day off. So, I rested the whole day...

Courtesy pictures from Jaja, Haris, Ronnie & Tey... on your right...
Thank you guys!!!

That's my long marathon story. I've got more to tell later. Time being, feeling glad that KLIM'07 is over & am thinking about the Penang Bridge Marathon in June 2007... should I??

:)