Final LSD for SCSM'09 - Sunday, 08 November 2009

I have a confession - I am severely under-trained for SCSM'09 (what else is new).

I have heard about the Kiara - Jalan Duta route from many bloggers but never attempted any. So when Kash invited me to join her for the last long run before SCSM, I can't resist. I played my usual ritual for any long runs - cook my pasta, (force) eating them all, have an easy night, and hit the sack early. With some relatives at home for the kenduri at our house, I had to give lengthy explanation of whys and whats.

I started off from home at 6.10 a.m., after staring blankly at by supposedly breakfast. I grabbed a banana, and a cracker (mistake #1), and left the house and thanks to wonderful new DUKE highway, I reached Kiara by 6.25 a.m. Quick toilet break, I saw Kash pulling in when I got out. It will be just the 2 of us running today. We started off from Kiara carpark around 6.45 a.m., made a loop around (the lake?) before heading out towards the Kiara hills. O man those hills! We made good progress, and headed towards KLGCC.

On our way towards Hartamas, Kash pointed a great tip about pacing - and maintaining it throughout. And throughout the run, she maintained a good pace, and I gladly obliged. True enough, my breathing patterns becomes ore regular and legs strong.

We arrived at Petronas Hartamas for a quick sip where we met Azri from CAR. Soon after, more CARs were spotted making a pit stop at Petronas. We chatted for a while with a solo runner Jin who was making his 30km from Bukit Aman - Hartamas - Jln Duta - Hartamas - Bukit Aman (he did a 4:20 on SCKLM - drool lah!). I have to try that route one day. From there, we quickly made our way towards the Kompleks Kerajaan Jalan Duta, through Duta Tropika, Masjid Wilayah. Made a turn just before the Arkib Negara Jalan Duta, towards the Masjid again. On our way back towards Hartamas, we crossed Azri again on his way back, and then Sarah and few CAR runners, and spotted Haza waiving happily at us (she had a date with geng Ayam Dara doing Bkt Aman - Hartamas - Bkt Aman).

Somewhere near Duta Tropika, I stopped to put on some deep heat on my calves as cramps were on the onset, and moved on. Going uphills, I walked mostly as my left toes started curling up (cramps were near), and I struggled to find ORS in my pack to find none (mistake #2). I was determined to run mostly, and keep pacing Kash so I was mostly resorted to powerwalks on the inclines, but ran downhills. We reached Petronas Hartamas again to re-fuel, and slowly made our way back towards Kiara.

By now, it already was so bloody hot and the deep heat on my calves were burning. But as mental as it actually is, I was glad to have a good pacing partner, and that was a good drive for me. We went through KLGCC, and on our way to Kiara, I was running very close to the bamboo fence to keep my body under the shade. I looked at Kash behind me running strong, and kept running towards Bakti, and I was very happy to know that the end is near, and it is true what they say that it is all in our heads. I just need to keep running and finish strong - funny how the boost you'd get before coming to end of the race, huh.

According to Kash, our running time is 3:22 for 29.8km distance (alaa, patut lari lebih sikit kat park hahahah, 20 metres je). Was I surprised with the time? Well, I was. For a guy who did 6 hours for his full marathon, I could almost calculate the next full marathon will be less than that. For this run, we have maintained a 1:07 average per 10km. I went home too pleased to even sleep!

I suppose I have a lot more to rectify, and being an amateur, a lot of running fundamentals have to be tried and tested on my end. Takpa la, if running if for a lifetime, then hopefully I still have many rooms to improvise my runs. As for today, I went home refreshed, and recovery was so far OK. What I also found out, that today we burned approx. 1800 kcals (Kash's physical estimation) but I only consumed 2 bottles of 100+ and a power bar (total calories approx. 400 kcals) which was waaaaayyyyyyy under-nourished (mistake #3). I suppose those contributes to my cramp onsets, and lack of energy. Thankfully I found out now, so I could do something about it.

Longest run out of the way, next week will include some speedworks, hopefully some hills, and Saturday will be a Kiara 10km trail run, and another long run on Sunday. Tapering period has an intimidating way to remind that the actual marathon is near... but no time to lose now.