Yet another boring run

The original plan for today was to get to Youth Park at about 7.30 am to do some training and sign up for the KL International Marathon. Unfortunately, my computer had other plans and stuck itself to my face until about 4 am, so that basically put paid to Plan A. The next option would naturally be Plan B, which is to get to Youth Park at 8.30 am, since the registration drive would be going on until 9.30 am.

Having missed my earlier wake up call, there was some regret in me while I was running to the park. The sun was simply shining too hot, seriously. It was still about 8.45 or so, but it felt like 9 something sunshine (yes, there is a difference). Upon reaching the park, I kind of expected to see a crowd of people for the registration, or at least a few dozen , ok at least, at least a dozen, since the KLIM is quite a big event. Turns out that my expectations were a bit high, since the number of personnel available was about the same as the number of banners there, a handful. Nevertheless, I proceeded to hand over the RM 25 and signed up for the half marathon, which was quite worth it. In comparison, we had to pay RM 50 for the same category in last year's Penang Bridge Marathon in return for crappy organisation and smelly air. And oh yeah, the distance was kinda iffy, and the timing system was straight out of the 60s. For the KLIM, at least there will be a chip timing system and the distance is certified. As for the organisation, all reports from runners say it's more professionally done, but I will wait until I have run the race before I judge.

After signing up, I had a short talk with the personnel there. Turns out that including me, a total of 17 people signed up for the half, with about a dozen others for other distances. That being said, whoever is in the competition doesn't really matter, as a runner I only have control over what I run. Thinking about that made my kiasu-ness kick in. With the sun shining brightly, I proceeded to start my run, rolled up A4 sized receipt in hand and all. I headed for the nearby Botanical Gardens to do some loops and reminded myself to keep this run in the relaxed range.

I did run relaxed, for about the 6 minutes it took for me to run to the gates of the Botanical Gardens, until I saw another pro looking runner passing by just when I was about to start my loop. Next thing I know, the kiasu-ness stepped up a notch. Besides he doesn't seem to be going that fast upon closer examination, an I did not feel like I was expending that much energy to overtake him. The watch however told a different story. So much for pace discipline. At least, I am not feeling the strain at a pace where I would be working hard to keep up a year ago.

3 laps in, the other runner finished his run, so I was left to run alone. On the next loop, I got a better look at this mystery runner. Turns out that he was one of the regulars in local races, which kind of puts things in perspective, with him being a few years younger and never really posing a challenge in those races. After doing 8k or so, I ended the workout. With that out of the way, I took the opportunity to catch up with some news about my old teammates since he's training with them and I am a bit out of the loop.

Apparently, my self training have not gone down well with a few of them. I am taking all this with a pinch of salt, but this does provide an added impetus for me to train harder. The list of people I have something to prove to just increased. Training-wise, my decision to strike out on my own was somewhat validated by what I heard. The kind of training done by my ex-teammates would probably be too strenuous for my bones to take. Anyway, the only way to prove this is in direct competition with them, so I really hope to meet some of them in whatever upcoming races.