My first race I

Last weekend i ran my first race, a 7km official run, an all female race Larian Jelita charity run to support the BersamaMu tv3. I did not worry about my timing as my only goal was to finish the race. The race was schedule to start at 7.30am, so i planned to move out from the house at 6am. Since this is my first race experience, better be there early (siot, dulu pun i tak pernah pergi class macam nih punyer awal, hehe) so that i have the time to check out the place and look out for familiar faces.

Arrived about an hour before the race, looking out for the reporting desk. Banyak khemah but i was not sure which 1 was for reporting. Asking around, the person said i should bring along a reporting card. Shit, that's the only thing that i didn't bring and i dah mula menggelabah. oh man, apsal bangang lupa nak bawak. i thought i prepared everything the day before, laid it all out on my bed. Asking 1 of the official, he asked for my number and gave me a ribbon. Phew... nothing can stop me now.

Honestly, i didn't know what to expect. I never run on the road in my training.. so this is really new to me and i was unfamiliar with the route. something that i'm sure of is that i remember azwar mentioned that it's a hilly route. So i have trained just for that before this and i hope i was really ready for anything.

Did a bit of stretching and aerobic at the Fitness First aerobic/warming up session before the race. And then, i took my place at the back of the pack at the Start. I would guess there were aroud 1000 or more runners on that day. The weather was great and i'm pretty happy with the familiar morning air. Feeling really lonely at that time. Evryone seems to have friends or relatives running with them or cheering them at the side. I pulak keep on saying "You can do it" repeatedly in my heart. I felt so motivated.

When the gun went off, everyone run as fast as they could (bad idea to dash off that fast in the beginning). I think i yang paling belakang kot. Heard few girls chuckled, saying they don't want to be paling belakang.. malu. Me, i just follow my pace. I know i did the right thing because after the first traffic light, lots of them begin to slow down and some begin to walk. I did'n t stop running for the first 2kms. Tried to get away from the rest of the pack and tried to keep up with the fast ones. When i could not run any further (always listen to your body) i tried to walk only 10 steps and continue running. Did this for the rest of the race.

The obvious difference running at the park and the road is that the road seems endless.. You never know how far you have run and the only thing that kept me motivated was to beat the person running in front of me. I stopped at all the the drink stands. Thank God for the 100plus. That kept me going for another miles. There were few embarassing moments, but then again, mind you, this is my first race. Don't want to mention it here, it was so embarassing .. hehe. i hope that officer don't remember my face :P I ran and i ran like i never run before in my life. And biller rasa bosan i hummed that 'Teman Tapi Mesra song by Ratu'. Most importantly, I just keep on running...

As I saw the finish line a couple hundred meters ahead of me I broke into a sprint and past several runners before I crossed the finish line. Get my number, my certificate and the finishing medal (for top 50 only) and headed straight to the 100 plus stand.

I didn't know what my timing was but i arrived at the finish line few minutes before 8.30, meaning it was less than an hour and i was ranked 44 out of 228 runners in my category. Overall I would say the pace today was much faster than my training. I'm not disappointed at all because it was my first race and I finished it and I didn't go slower than I really expected. I could've run faster. I'll do better in the next race.

So, my first race left me tired but i feel even more motivated because now, i know what to expect. i'm looking at May's schedule and considering to join 1 race. my main goal is to join at least 1 race every month. There's somethng about joining the race that you crave because it shows your achievement after all those hard training and the early rise each morning. It's all worth it.

Another exciting news is that i'm going to join a running club - pacesetters Malaysia (www.pacesetters.com.my). I hope to run better and faster after this... thank you all for the motivation and have a nice week.

Went to bed at 9pm, i slept with my tshirt and bib number the night before. I thought i was well prepared...

6.oo am : when i'm out of that door, there'll be no turning back. It's now or never.

6:15 am: gelap siot. no one was at the lrt station.

6. 22am : breakfast. Tak sempat kat rumah. Don't wanna be late. To all those who know me, hehe... this is a different Mary here, huh?

6:42 am : few school girls wearing the jelita t-shirt. I remember a friend mentioned that i don't have to wear the shirt. Kept my mind focus on the race on the entire journey.