Taking on Malaysian highways...

...and PJ half-marathon, my first race in Malaysia.

Running Bitoy :)

Ready to Rock It

I was in a racing drought for almost three months now before this race. During those times, all I could do was be engulf with the untolerable amount of envy I was feeling whenever my running friends from home post their new conquests. The Manila running scene is surely one thing that I miss a lot.

It was one boring day in Luanda (and no, Luanda is far from boring), when I signed up for three races--Petaling Jaya Half-marathon which happened today, CICM Run and Penang Bridge International Marathon, both of which are happening next month. So what does this mean? This just means I'm really, really back! And there's no way I'm backing down.

Stadium Petaling Jaya

Enough of the rhetorics. I was both excited and anxious of this race as this is my first in Malaysia and the first in 3 months. I didn't have enough training and I gained weight a bit. I made sure that I don't miss this race by waking up early and getting to the race area an hour before gunstart. After a warmup session led by two trainers from Fitness First, 21k runners positioned ourselves by the starting line. I was there for only a few minutes and without further ado, the gun was fired and off we scrambled like mice in a maze. 

Highway signs

Runing inside a dark tunnel

We started before the sun was fully up and it didn't take long before we could fill its unforgiving might. And mighty it really was. I remember having to content myself with walking on the bridge when it was really hot and there were no trees around to provide us some shade. The route was mainly flat with just the right combination of uphills and downhills. The uphills weren't that steep and were doable. And there's the nagging fear of being run over as the highways were not really closed for the event. So, the route was just fine. It was just the heat.

Highway Runners

And the hydration stations. I thought there were not enough and are spread out too far, I think every 4 kms. So there are only 4 stations for refreshments. Good thing though, they also have sponge stations for us to feel a bit relieved from the heat.

Almost there...

And the lack of training. At 17kms, I was already tired and tempted to just walk to the finish line.  But I still tried to run and running I did. I was gunning for a sub2 finish but that didn't happen. I settled for a 2:15 finish and ironically, I'm happy about it. I didn't have to beat myself for missing my target. There's another race. There are two actually. And just to be back and finished the race in good form is more than enough.

***

Special thanks to Annitah for the nice chat and the lift after the race. It was a pleasure meeting you.

And yes, I can still hear Stevie Nicks singing in my head. So far, I'm sailing through the changing ocean tides just fine.