KLIM 2005

Days leading up to the race

The pacemakers and friends were suitably excited about KLIM 2005. Some were running the 10k, most ran the 21k, and some the full 42k. E-mails and chat-boxes were filled with excitement on the (then upcoming) race and grouses on the organization of the race- including the issue of collection of the bibs at Concorde Hotel (too central and well known for traffic jams) and general incompetence of the organizers.

Was I race ready? Well I wasn’t too confident- although I had spent the months of January and February logging in some substantial mileage, about 12 days before KLIM 2005, I was felled first by a cold, and then a fever some 3 days later. The fever slowed the recovery of my cold, which incidentally I still had on race day itself. I tried some track work on Tuesday (1/3/2005) with Kenny Tan and the session was cut short because I had difficulty breathing. After a day’s rest on Wednesday, I felt much better and set out to do a final “hard” workout of long intervals at Max VO2 pace- a diet of 1 x 5000m, 1 x 4000m, 1 x 3000, 1 x 2000m, and 1 x 1000m. I succeeded! The times for each were as follows: 22:06; 17:12; 12:54; 8:10 and 3:58. On Friday, I did some wind-sprints on the track- a continuous workout of 100 meters (95% effort sprints), with another 100 meters recovery, for about 15 minutes. With my improved health, I felt more confident. On Saturday morning I did a final workout of wind-sprints (100m fast, 100m recovery) for 10 minutes, before taking a short nap and heading to Mid Valley to meet the fellow runners who were taking part in KLIM. Jamie, Rohaizad, Kwok Foo, Sim, Newton, Sukaimi, David and others were there, and everyone were in relaxed mood, looking forward to the race. It is always nice to meet up with the group of runners. We always have a good time. Later Kenny Tan, Ketam Batu and Becholi turned up, although they were there for a short while. After dispersing, I had to meet pm1 to collect my bib and chip time. When I reached home, I continued to nap, trying to get some rest because I was quite sure that I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night.

As it turned out I did manage to sleep- all in all I must have slept close to 11 hours, if you include my morning and afternoon nap. Which brings us on to race day.

Race Day

I set the alarm for 4:45am, feeling extremely fresh, in the knowledge that I had an extremely good, restful sleep and knowing that in 15 minutes time, the marathoners would have started their race. Went downstairs, and the first thing I did was to down almost 1 litre of water- not an easy feat when you’ve just woken up. I had 2 slices of toast with honey, put on my running clothes, and by 5:10 was out of the door.

Along the Federal Highway past Mid Valley- I saw the marathoners, and slowed down to watch them. What a sight. Truly inspiring. I saw Jamie, and immediately shouted out to him “GO JAMIE!!!” He was so focused on the race. Another inspiring moment.

I arrived by 5:40am, put on my shoes in the car and walked slowly to Dataran Merdeka, but not before making 2 pit stops along the way. By then it was almost 6:00. At about 6:10, I went into the pit, close to the front, and started my stretching. I saw Khoo Yit Kiat there. When I asked how his training went, to which he answered “What training?”. After my stretching and warm-up I was loose and ready. Ronnie and Azwar are nowhere to be seen. After a countdown of 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, the race started at 6:30am.

First 10.5k

I started out very conservatively. By the Dayabumi point, Ronnie had caught up with me with his greeting “Eh, T___ N___ S___!” and I then paced with him. We were both running together until around the 2k mark into Kampung Attap, when he had to make a pit stop in the bushes. I was actually feeling it too, wanting to pee. But I continued. I didn’t see Ronnie again after that, until the end of the race.

Passed Kampung Attap and onto the Federal Highway, I was very comfortable. My legs were fine, and I was breathing comfortably. At the Kuen Cheng School point, Azwar appeared. When I asked him how the pace was, he answered “Dunno lah, kelentong saja la…” and promptly increased the pace until he was some 200 metres ahead of me.

Past Mid Valley and onto the Sungai Besi highway, I expected a long arduous climb, but I negotiated the long incline with ease. Still, one thing bordered me- I really needed to pee. Stopping was not an option for me so I decided to just let go in my shorts. It was difficult initially because when I wanted to pee, I couldn’t- maybe the subconscious of peeing in public in my shorts “halted the pipes”. After trying for a good minute, I finally managed to loosen my bladder and just let go. Aaaah, what relief! My bladder finally empty and feeling good, I increased my speed. On the old airport road, I began overtaking a few tiring runners.

Final 10.5k

Past the left turn from the old airport road, I increased my leg turnover. Within minutes, I was on the flyover, and onto the Dewan Bahasa Pustaka road. The 10k runners and schoolboys and girls were on the road too, so there was some weaving in and out to do. I just kept pressing on, and felt extremely comfortable. Past Pudu Jail, then onto Jalan Bukit Bintang, and onto Jalan Sultan Ismail (past the Nike “air mist” which was located in front of Shangri-La Hotel), I was cruising. When I arrived Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, I decided then that I would really press the pace. I was ready to begin my long drive towards the end, to get into an anaerobic state. Towards the end of Jalan TAR we were directed to make another round and although I was starting to tire, I pushed on relentlessly. At the Pertama Complex point, I took a pink ribbon from the official and made the final turn, back onto Jalan TAR. From then on I was anaerobic land. Past the end of Jalan TAR and onto Dataran, I ran as hard as I could, grimacing and finishing in 1:35.04. I didn’t know what position I was in. Next I saw Khoo Yit Kiat, then Azwar, and Ronnie. Kenny Tan was the first to greet me, congratulating me on the race.

Post race

After downing cups of water, I walked slowly back to the car and changed. I went back to Dataran to cheer on my other friends. Met the rest- Newton, Kenneth, Ronnie, Azwar, pm21, Rohaizad, the Kampung Pandan gang who completed their races with varying degrees of success (or failure, depending on the runner). A few photos were taken with the gang. Ronnie, Kenneth, Azwar, Rohaizad and I were sitting on the roadside, cheering on the runners. Many of us were waiting for one person- namely Jamie Pang- to see if he was going to set a new PR for the 42k. And he did!!! As he reached the final 200 meters, we were there to cheer him on. With a time of 4:41 he has shaved around 30 minutes (more or less) from his previous best. Well done Jamie!!!


Conclusion

Many runners completed their races with varying degrees of success. Some were competing in their first ever race; some were doing their first marathon, and so forth. With KLIM 2005 under our belts, I think we all have learnt a thing or to about the distances we competed in, and we will only be wiser by the experience.

Overall I enjoyed the race, and it generally well organized. On my part at least, traffic was very well managed with frequent water stations. What was missing was the kilometer markers. There’s still room for improvement, but this is already one of the better organized races in Malaysia. Barring injury/disasters, I will definitely be back next year.

Watching Jamie complete the marathon in record time was inspiring. So inspiring that I’m seriously considering running a marathon. I dunno. Marathon is a race to be respected. Just because you have completed a half in good time doesn’t necessarily ensure that you will finish with a good time in the full. After reading so many articles and books on the marathon, a former marathon great, Bill Rodgers’s words stick in my mind- “The marathon can always humble you”. And I believe that!

We’ll see- I don’t think I will compete in one as yet. There is however a very remote possibility that I will try the full in Singapore this year. One thing is for sure- my first marathon will be attempted in one of the 2 venues- Singapore or KL.

My next race will be in Nilai- but I will take it really easy. My next focus will be on the Pacesetters 15k.