Race Report; Pacesetters 30km Back To Basic Run... Awesome Rolling Hills!!!

Salam Aidil Adha 1433H... Raya, raya gak, training berlari kena buat gak... Huhuu...

Helo there my fellow followers, this will be my 2nd entry... I guess it is not too late for me to wish all of you, Selamat Hari Raya Eiduladha 1433H. I`m sure many of you had a blast makan-makan time with your beloved ones, be it family members, spouses or even best friends. 

The magnificent Shah Alam Grand Mosque... Awesome...

I would love to share and chronicle my recent Pacesetters 30km Back To Basic Run, which was held on 28th October 2012 in Padang Merbuk, Kuala Lumpur. It was my first longest and furthest LSD cum recce cum running event I`ve ever made so far. A day before the event, i went to Padang Merbuk for the racekit collection. I was given an energy bar and a running bib with my friend`s lucky number on it. Not my favourite number though. Hehee... Felt a bit of super jittery feeling already. Met with Super Ultri Yim at the racekit collection venue. Ambik restu sat and said his.. Hehee... Planned to do a sweet timing of 3 hours and 30 minutes for my 30km... It seemed doable but you will never know what will happen on D-day, right?

My running bib... Number 222... Just like Jalan 222 in PJ... LOL!

My must do pose after run... No pre-run picture as I was already late to start.... huhu...

On the D-day itself, as usual, I woke up around 4.30 am, took  a shower and prep myself up for the event. I took off from my house around 4.55am, drove to KL was a breeze although i had to speed off coz I don wanna be late, as the flag off was on 5.30am... Managed to make some stretching and a light jog towards Padang Merbuk and I could hear the siren to take off already. I started at the end of the crowd. Gosh, super jittery coz I`ll be running my 30km solo with no running buddies from We Are Runners (WARs). 

From Padang Merbuk we were directed towards Bukit Tunku, the elevation was awesomely nice for a start with sooo many rolling hills in between. it was still dark around that time so I couldn't see inclines very well. Suddenly my right thigh and calf felt this sharp excruciating hot burning pain due to an OD of deep heating rub lotion I applied earlier on. I could only try to run as fast as I could as walking would not making it any better. My thigh felt so numb. I was looking for water to pour down on my legs to cool it off. Still not helping.

Look at me, I`m a Purr-plelicious Kitty Kat... Photo courtesy of Vivien Tay... Thanx alot! =D

Around 9km, I ran in front of the Masjid Wilayah KL to perform my Subuh prayer. There were a few sejadah (praying mat) and telekung being provided for the Muslim runners to perform the Subuh prayer behind the water station. I was given a big mineral water bottle for my ablution and took the opportunity to wash off my hot burning lotion as well. After that, I felt so relieved and free from the excruciating burning sensation on my legs and tried to run fast to catch up. I clocked in 1:10:46 with 6'50'' pace for my first 10k. 

The overall route, pretty amazing with all those rolling hills, especially around Bukit Tunku... But still, I had a blast!!

I ran uphill along Jalan Dutamas, I think, and passed through this huge shopping mall I never knew it exists before Solaris Dutamas... hehe... Maklumlah, x biasa pergi shopping kawasan elit2 ini la katakan.. huhuu... After that, I was running towards MATRADE Tower and Lembaga Hasil building when I saw such a picturesque sun rising view at the back of KLCC... Subhnallah, what an amazing view. I felt like I was running a recce run along this route for this coming weekend run, my LiveGreat 12km. Definitely a good start run for November. 

Then I tried to reach 15km, a half way point, it was an uphill route again, not that steep though but still a very pyscho mentally challenging hill. I managed to clock in 1:46:24 with 7'53'' pace. Not bad, considered it was pretty tough route at this point. And the good (bad) news was we have to do the second loop all over again... (T..T) I  could not believe it at first but the fight must go on, still. Here we go again. Uwaaa....

I reached my 20km mark with a shabby timing of 2:27:07 with 6'31" pace. Once I have passed my 21km, the furthest I have reached so far, my pace dropped drastically. And to top it off, suddenly I had a stomach ache and desperately need to do no. 1 too. So, both businesses must be done asap, I think... So since this was just a LSD running event, there was no portaloo being provided along the route. Runners must look for the available toilet themselves. For me,  I had to do my no 1 and 2 business in an abandoned house somewhere around Bukit Tunku... What to do, nature calls... Urghh... Hantam sajala Labu...

Afterwards, another 9km felt like an eternity to complete the run. I started to have chaffing issues at my usual spots, but luckily I tried to maintain my pace and make sure my tight won`t get soggy too. It was around 8.30 am where the sun started to shine bright and hot. Thank goodness I wore my Salomon cap. Or else, i`ll be prety much demotivated by the blaring morning sun. Hehe...

Me and my trusted Salomon cap... Very handy indeed, especially during the hot and sunny morning run... =D

Finally I`ve reached the finishing line with the time of 3:50:21 and 7'32'' pace, way beyond my targetted time of 3:30... Good enough for a Sub 4 hours. I took my finisher medal, which was quite cool design and a finisher tee, which I really deserved it so much with all the hard work and sweats and almost tears.. *drama mode activated. I was soo thirsty that I drank  a lot iced cold and mineral water along with slices of watermelon coz I was so hungry and tired. The yummy taufufah was finished already by the time I arrived.. 

I`ve survived pounding the 30km LSD Run... Yippie yayyy yayy....

My precious 30km finisher metal.... Another collection of medals... =)

My 30km finisher tee design... Very humble and down to earth one... Luv it!!!

Overall, the hilly route was pretty tough and awesome totally. Saw many runners did ther morning LSD run along the way. It felt so great to see so many people prepping themselves up for this coming event, be it PBIM or SCSM. Now I know how does it felt like doing a very long tormenting strenuous 30km LSD. I should do another 25km LSD run before my FMV attempt this coming November, alongside my tempo and speedwork trainings. Must always always respect the distance, that`s my mantra... hehee....

Post run photo session with #GengKakiLari runners (From left: Razinah, Faiz and yours truly) Good job guys for completing this mad hilly route in one piece, injury free =D

Me and a marathoner, Faiz... Awesome finishing timing despite having cramps here and there  after 20km, Faiz.. Woot2!!!

For now I have to rest for 2 days due to having some dehydration issues. I`ve been sweating while I was sleeping, over heated internal body system I guess... I could not do my recovery run coz I`m not well enough.. So I took a lot of air badak and get ready to face LiveGreat Run this 4th November 2012. Wish me luck to persevere this 12km run full with obstacles and lots of fun k guys!!! =D

RUN ERHU RUN!!!