As I type this, my thighs and my core are aching. If I hadn't gone for a massage yesterday, my back would have been aching too. And all I can think about is curling up in bed... Yesterday Kath and I took part in The Run that was organized by Pusat Ehsan Al-Ameerah Al-Hajjah Maryam. Pusat Ehsan is a non-government, non-profit organisation committed to provide quality education and rehabilitation services for physically and intellectually challenged individuals. I had wanted to register for The Run because I felt I needed another target before the Penang Bridge International Marathon this November.
In terms of training, I had bought Kath and I a book on running by Matt Roberts (I will do an official book review one day!) and Kath started following the programme for the 21km marathon. By right, I only need to do the programme for the 10km marathon but since I didn't want to work out alone, I decided to follow Kath's programme. So she would call me in the mornings to wake me up, pick me up from my house and then we would either run outside or run at the gym with some resistance training.
The training must have paid off... somehow! Yesterday's run was not the usual 10km but it was 12km instead which must have been determined by the route they had chosen. We had to run up Mabohai hills which Kath and I consider a killer because running uphill can't possibly ever be pleasant. We were successul in running up half way but had to walk the other half because Kath had a pain in her knee. Then as we turned on to the road that was running past Immigration & Labour Department, we never realized how hilly the road was after running there several times as part of our practice! Fortunately it was flat all the way after that except for the uneven road surface which we had to be mindful of.
I had wanted my brain to kick into auto-pilot mode which I'm sure it did half way through because I could feel my legs starting to fail me but I didn't want to stop running. I was afraid that I would lose my momentum. Kath and I reminded ourselves that it doesn't matter how slow you go so long as you do not stop (a Confucious quote). We joked how we should have had that quote printed on the back of our shirts so that we could motivate other runners behind us. So I kept running.
Kath and I even designed our own shirts for this run. We had the Company logo printed on the back with our names. Justin who was running 21km ran past me but managed to put his arm around my shoulder to say Hi. That was a pleasant surprise! And there were a few others as well who knew us and took the time to say Hello!
Kath and I agreed that it was important to finish strong. As we were approaching the finishing line and being encouraged by the other runners, we started running faster and stronger! We held hands as we both ran across the finishing line. This being my 3rd marathon, it was a finish I was proud of and I hope that the same feeling can be replicated in the next marathon.
I didn't have a lot of time to rest in the afternoon so I was thankful for the rest when my head finally hit the pillow last night.
What made this run memorable was having Kath beside me all the way. We gave each other encouragement and support. We may not have ran it in a time which we could say we're totally proud of but that didn't matter because we didn't stop and just kept on going until we finished it.
From zero marathons to my third marathon - I believe I am making incredible progress.
The photo below (courtesy of ranoadidas.com) captures the start of our run, our specially made shirts and our sexy behinds. I can't wait for Penang!
