What do you do, when someone gives to you a mission impossible? You take it, change the “IMPOSSIBLE and make it “POSSIBLE”! It has been 2 years since I last ran a half marathon due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. This was the my first half marathon after 2 years, with ZERO training.
When I woke up this morning at 2.00am, it was raining cats and dogs in Seremban, so I woke my “Sole” my mate, my hubby with the hopes, he will tell me, ok let’s carry on sleeping but NOooooo…..with his sleepy voice he said,”Ai yahhhhh, only Seremban raining la, CyberJaya, No rain”!
So I dragged myself out of bed and I didn’t think I would run a half marathon, but that’s exactly what happened. This write-up is not about patting myself on the back, but rather sharing the inspiration that compelled me to do something like this in the hopes that you too will be inspired to push yourself beyond your comfort zone.
Race day morning was incredibly nerve-wrecking. I was up way earlier that I needed to be. I forced some peanut butter sandwich and coffee down, while my stomach felt like it was flipping over. But it’s time to nut up or shut up and off we go!
We arrived early, parked at a safe parking area. Adrenaline was flowing, nervous butterflies were dancing around in my belly. Hubby kissed me and said “see you at the finish line” and off we went to the start off area. Standing at the starting line was an overwhelming experience. Sharp 5.30am, 3……2…….1, we were flagged off! Oh Crap! I moved slowly like pushing a stalled car, praying that it will start. It was a perfect day, light breeze, just after the rain.
All my thoughts were positive and geared towards moving this machine of a body forward. It was a smooth flag off with plenty of room to manoeuvre.
It felt so fantastic, I just love the energy of races, it is so special and I love to see running bring so many people together to share such a positive common goal.
Eventually, I got into a steady pace and managed to keep going, the route we did for the 21KM half marathon was exactly the same as the previous years but blamed it on age or something, it had long gradual climb and long long long straight roads ahead. My energy was high and I was gleefully floating along the miles. The legs talked and I listened.
THE JOURNEY:-
5 km – Fly like a butterfly, sting like a bee. Bring it on!
10 km – speed seems right, people around me are nice, the weather is nice – all is right in the world. Heart rate is a bit high, but I can’t drop the pace just yet.
14 km – breakie time, food station. Picked up a banana and an isotonic drink. ‘Dropped’ the pace a bit just to stay on the safe side
17 km – oops, seems like a long long straight path ahead.
18 km – oh god, still climbing, walking,crawling
21 km – half-marathon – muscles still seem to function well
Along the way, there were sufficient water stations filled with fun-tastic and awesome volunteers. Cones and course markers, directions and so many traffic police and marshals were on duty and directions were extremely clear and organised and traffic control was excellent. The runners safety were their utmost top priority and I thanked the organisers for keeping us safe!
The route was a challenge in the second half of the race but I was able to negotiate those pretty okie. That is when I had to have the inner pep talk to keep it going! I stopped and walked a bit at every water station. Mostly so I could drink. I tried to pretend that I was a professional runner, with two cups in my hands and ran through and drank but I almost died due to drowning, so I accepted that I lacked a certain coordination and just walked through the rest and of course tried to smile at every photographers, a special thank you to all the photographers for capturing the moment and the memories of the TWINCITY MARATHON 2022.
There were times throughout the race when I wanted to cry just because I was so happy! I’m not saying that the whole 21KM was such a breeze that I was on cloud nine the whole time. What I am saying is that there- I was doing it! really doing it! Running 21 KM- A half marathon!
After the 18km hydration station, I tried to remind myself I only had 3KM left to do. I was already super tired and my feet hurt. But I still kept at it. At about 19KM, I gave in and walked some more, I walked about 1 KM maybe more. I wanted to be able to run to the finish so I was trying to preserve some energy and then I saw it, in the distance…the end……It took SO. FAR. AWAY. I can do this! Then I heard, “Sprint on in”! Just a few more meters! SPRINT ON IT! YOU CAN DO IT! Cheers and shouts along the sidelines in my directions. Sprint it on? Were they trying to kill me? I wasn’t sure at that point I could crawl. Blinking the sweat and tears in my eyes, I somehow sprinted to the finish line, turned my head and saw my hubby waving at me, I smiled for the camera, got my medal and my finisher T-shirt.
And at the 21KM, take off. Give it EVERYTHING you’ve got! And put that smile on your face because cameras are ready. Don’t just blow through the finish line. Throw your arms wide, jump, do something awesome because that is the moment you are going to want to remember for the REST of your life! You just ran a HALF MARATHON! A HALF MARATHON! YOU ARE AMAZING! YOU ARE INCREDIBLE! Wear your medal with pride, grab your goodies, eat that banana, take photos. Do that happy dance!
chrisywong.com 