2014 Concluded....without its proper conclusion

So I have officially concluded my competitive races for 2014. Without its proper conclusion.

I had signed up for Cyberjaya Twincity Marathon almost immediately after my SCKLM FM debut. Two reasons mainly: I had failed my KPI target of 2 FMs for 2015, and I did not have a good FM debut. My 10km and my halfs debut has always been good. More than I had expected and knew I was capable. I did not suffer during the runs. So I knew I had to avenge my FM experience. The same way why doing the MBA was so personal for me, so that I can avenge my failure for my undergraduate study. So the second FM was so big, important and meaningful for me. I have another reason why Twincity's FM participation is even more important. I would like to officially announce that I am...

Yupp..the news is out in the open here. I have officially and fully aware am since right after the International Ipoh Run. I was 5 weeks pregnant when I had it. In total, I had done 3 HMs during the the 5 weeks span and within the first 2 months of my pregnancy. So why would the FM is even more important? 

• I knew well I will not be able to do any more FMs until I have delivered which is in July.
• After delivered, I would definitely need some time to train. A race in the October is totally out of question. That will leave SCKLM 2015 off the table for me.
• It will help me gauge whether I'll be able to run a full for MWM 2015. I knew this is way too ambitious. Even a HM is ambitious. But who knows.
• I would need a much longer time to add the FM into my track record.

Sigh...

Allah is great. He knows better. The moment I knew about my pregnancy, I knew that He has better plans for me. I was not at my most fittest self even, the days leading to the race day. I knew from the IIR, that pace, timing, good race experience will not be on my side given my injury. The hamstring still troubles me, my endurance depleted due to the inability to train as much. But somehow it has improved unexpectedly for the NMGRR. One of my most memorable HMs thus far (oo, I'll get to quick race reports on that one). So I felt a twinge of confidence. It didn't go too well for my PJ Half but it's understandable. So I was hoping for a decent marathon with Twincity. But of course, just like my pregnancy, Allah is the best planner of all. Who knows I will suffer more than I thought possible post race. I did suffer badly with SCKLM, why shouldn't I be this time. With the pregnancy, more is at the expense. And Allah has saved me from the self inflicted torture cause He knows better, and I wouldn't stop on my own, unless I am forced. 

Weapons of choice, all lined up. Only to be diassembled

Talking about force, it was indeed a force. I am pregnant, still I planned on going on with it. I didn't have a good long run, just before the taper and still I was hopeful that it can be any different come race day, with 3 times further distance. The hamstring still showed a sign of concern, I though KT taping would make it any better. Had gotten some salt tablet to hope that it can help make a difference. On race week, the football fever was in the air, since Malaysia got to the final. I scraped any thoughts of watching at the stadium for not wanting to leave the kids and to have a fully rested marathon night. But the hubs had to get a free VIP ticket which no one else can go, and there's not much excuse for me not to go. So I succumbed and I got doomed. It was a simple stumble, right before the match, but enough to tear the pants, sprained both feet, scraped the knee and sored the calf. I managed to walk afterwards. Felt slight pain during the match. Felt that it didn't get any better after the match. Then I started to get worried. I was quiet the rest of the night. Quickly put the cold perskindol and bandaged the feet. Hoping that it would get better in the morning. But of course it didn't. The first step was already painful. Tried to star jump, run and the pain is there and I don't think I could endure 42 km in that. I may be able to start at the start line, but I will definitely need to pull over soon after. 

It was a tough decision. I spent a good half an hour to 45 minutes just trying to decide whether I should go on. I cried with that decision. I cried again whenever I thought about it within the day. I finally came to terms with it after accepting the fact that this is Allah's will and His beautiful way of saving me from a disastrous, body damaging race. He has given me so much, this is just 1 small, petty thing that He doesn't, all for my own good. The supposed to be physical unbecoming, has become a very spiritual one. Talking about unbecoming, I had 2 unbecomings this year alone. Gosh. I must have a bad jinx with marathons. Hope this is not true. Running is important for my sanity and marathon is a big reward at that.

So that's it. The big news is out in the open. The 2014 year is now completed. I will just share a brief recap for the previous 2 races.

NMGRR 4th series

It was a good race. 1 week gap post IIR. This is definitely my success recipe. 2 races within 3 weeks. Enough for you to recover, short enough for you to maintain the fitness level. As for the race, I was following the bodily cue well. Cruised throughout. Slight, unnoticeable push only after 10km mark. Even then, it shouldn't be a push, but a conscious higher pace effort with still 1/3 if effort level to spare. Ignored how others are doing, what's more important how you are doing. And it served good, and I have finally improved my PR at that. I had overtaken a lot of runners which I thought was doing better than me along the course, except for the last few. And that has given a tremendous mental boost. The quads were quite sore during the race, very much towards the end. That was something new. I knew it must be due to the higher pace exerted on them. I've never been on that pace for such distance and duration before. Must strengthen the legs more.

I had also gone against the pregnancy don'ts on caffeine. I wasn't ready on letting go the caffeine yet. And I had 1 more 2nd surge to spare. I hope it did not do the baby much harm. The caffeine was channeled to my vigorous activity, at least that's what I thought. And we can consume anything lesser than 200mg. 2nd surge is 100mg. Caution: this is not a best practice, this is just how I'm justifying my refusal to avoid caffeine altogether.

13th placing. Seems to be my best position so far in running

Officially my Half Marathon PR now (the watch was autopaused at stops, hence the slight difference with official time

PJ Half Marathon 2015

All I can say is that, I got greedy, and that is always the recipe for failure. It was an unintentional greed. I was hoping to at least maintain my NMGRR record. I knew that it would be quite tough, cos I know now that I can't win both with 2 back to back races. The race condition was also partly to blame. The road for runners were narrow. We had to weave among runners within the narrow space. Traffic was not properly managed. Of course, Federal Highway is everyone's staple so even at wee morning, traffic was already quite busy. It was quite dangerous at times. The narrow space even made it more humid than it should. There was no plain water until the last water station, which has given me the much needed boost. Energy drink throughout is definitely not advisable under the extreme humidity. The more than supposed to pace at the start has caused my legs to be troubled more than it should. Another lesson is learnt. Never try to push yourself at the start, no matter how little and how exhilarating it can be at the start. The second half was very torturous. But come to think of it now, BSN PNM HM 2013 is the most torturous one, if not the Cyberjaya Firefighter half. And the reason is all the same. I got too greedy. Too greedy to secure a decent pace too early on. On another note, this is one of the race that I had to think hard about the prayer. Had surveyed the route so much pre-race. I brought the telekung along, hence the Reebok pouch. But then the race got delayed for almost 20 minutes. Kind of blessing in disguise. I had simply solat just around the stadium. Many did that as well, but no ladies were seen doing the same thing I did. The race result, as expected was not too great. No longer in top 20. But there were a lot of kwailos participating. So I take the result. 

All in all, I was definitely more than happy for being able to bring my kids along to the race. Thanks to the hubs for manning after them.

Just 2 minutes difference, but look how different the pace is.

So, that's it for competitive race in 2014. 2015 will not be a good running year definitely. But let's look forward for another challenge in pregnancy running and have a good recovery and come back.

Owh, and if somehow, any of you here is a friend in real life, or any social media of mine, do keep the baby news a hush. I have not officially announced the news yet. Not even to family members. I have so many physical activities planned, hence is not ready to accept any skepticism yet. I know I can count on you :).