Triple Ten !

The climate determine my health or so I believe. The past 10 days was difficult to cope. The weather was hot and hazy with not a drop of rain for more than a week. And I had been hit by a bout of migraine almost every other day. If that wasn't bad enough - my eyes got itchy and inflammed followed by a return of running nose last Sunday. I guess it may be due to the accumulation of medication. I don't know. But on Thursday, the long heavy downpour actually helped clear the haze. Perhaps it's psychological but I felt so much better now.

Adidas King Of The Road 22.7 km
Many races took place this morning : Hatyai Nature Run, Penang Malakoff 26km, Ekideen Relay at Putrajaya, Avon Walk and Adidas KOTR Shah Alam. Looking at the crowd in Shah Alam this morning, I believe this race received very good response. John and I had chosen to run here because it's 22.7km and the race course is more challenging. Met Adam at the race site and he reminded me that '2 young lady runners' will be targetting on me! I felt honoured but at the same time, pressured. With that in mind, I was determined to do well.

Being a slow starter of any race - I was overtaken by all my fellow runners : KK Onn, Carmen, Ngae and a host of others. Later, I found myself pacing with a lady from Ipoh. We were trying to outpace each other for awhile. This made running quite strenuous for me, and for her too, I guess. It was until the 1st Sponging Station that I met KK Onn and he advised me to increase my speed and break away from this lady. In fact, he helped me and eventually, I managed to break away - what a relief!

After that, I decided to maintain my pace and slowly I overtook Yaziz, Carmen, Tomatoman, Khoo Yit Kiat and a few others. But the race course was really like a roller-coaster with neverending uphills and numerous roundabouts (about 10, if I'm not mistaken)! There were no distance markers except the last 500m. Therefore, you just keep running, turning and attacking the hills without the slightest idea of how much you've covered! Initially it was rather fun but then later, it was tiring and torturing.

An unfortunate thing happened to me at the 2nd Water Station after a sip of 100 Plus - my body suddenly broke down, exhausted. I felt like I just lost all my energy and succumbed to fatique. This is not my first experience with 100 Plus in a competiton. I always try to avoid 100 Plus but in this case, I had no choice as no plain water was available and I was beginning to dehydrate. I slowed down and as expected Carmen passed me followed by Dr Raymond and Khoo Yit Kiat. Whatever it was - I told myself to hang on and must not allow the '2 young lady runners' to overtake me. I stayed focus and in my heart, I sang an updated of my own version of 'My Favourite Things' which I borrowed from Julie Andrews Sound Of Music. Hey, it uplifted my spirit so that my legs could still carry me slightly faster and further.

Towards the last 200 metres, both Tomatoman and KK Onn did their last sprint and overtook me. My performance of 1hr 58mins was somewhat below par but I did the best I could.

Upon finishing, I was surprised that I got 10th placing! Then John further surprised me when he announced that he got 10th placing too!
It was a happy day for me and I don't know why. The weather was very kind this morning with little sunlight and cool breeze throughout. After the prize presentation, both John and I sat outside Secret Recipe at Shah Alam enjoying a cuppa with the wind still blowing on our side.


10th August : 10th Position Men Veteran (John) - 10th Position Women Veteran (WMun)