On the Siemens Run 2010

Woke up at 0530 yesterday morning to head down to Dataran Merdeka for another run. Runner friend and I registered for the run about a month ago, but we were both quite lazy yesterday morning, partly because he just arrived from his hometown at 0400 and that I was down with a bad case of laryngitis where I couldn't even talk at all!

But alas, we found ourselves at the venue, to be welcomed by a much smaller scale of running event as compared to the Standard Chartered KL Marathon 3 weeks back. Probably because back then, it was a 'full blown' marathon event with a 42km category, while that of Siemens Run, the men's open category run 10km the furthest.

We parked our car just next to the venue, which saved us some walking time. Not a good thing I suppose, because there wasn't enough warming up walking before the start of the race.

And it proved to be right when I started to experience cramping on both my calves even before the 5km mark. It could probably be due to the uphill route, as we ran across the hilly part of Bukit Tunku. Lots of really great houses around.

So I took some time off walking. Quite a big stretch that was too. Ran for a bit, walked for a bit. As we ran pass those signage, with the remaining kilometers lessening over a period of time, it was at "7km left" when I started to have the quitting ideation.

But I suppose I am damn glad I didn't quit halfway because after the 5km mark, the route went down the ramp towards the main road along Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman, which is a flat road. It was so much easier!

BUT... the BIG "BUT"... I started to experience the urge to purge at the 7th km. There was no portable toilets around, and I felt as though the external sphincter could not hold them watery feces any longer. I ran passed a few Indian-Muslim restaurants before finally gave in and ran into one of the shops. Purged and farted and cleared the bladder at the same time. And I finished the remaining 1km of the race.

The last 500metres into the finishing line, cheerleaders and music makers alike were standing along the road and continued to cheer for the runners. Very motivating indeed!

But alas, I crossed the finishing line in 1 hour 10 minutes, the same as the last run that I attended. Too bad though, I wasn't amongst the top 350 earliest runners to reach the finishing line, had to be satisfied with just the certificate of participation. Later on I heard that the medals for the men's open category got snatched up even before the 50th minute! Seems like it's a run for the professionals, this one. LOL.

Now that's the 2nd is down, am looking for the next one 3 months later before the half marathon all the way up north! Weeee~