Uphill All The Way

Hills. Definitely not for me. At best, they are to be tolerated, a part of running that you sometimes have to do to be gooooooood (drag the word out for emphasis). At worse..., ok let's not go there. So if they already so hostile when part of a run, why the hell am I doing running a race that is all hill??? That's question I was trying to answer while taking part in the annual race up Penang Hill organised by Kwong Wah Jit Poh, amidst curses and gritted teeth.

The answer was none too obvious during that self-prescribed torture session, my body simply refusing to devote more energy to cogitating. Frankly speaking I don't blame it, I have long had a love hate relationship of epic proportions with hiking and hills in general. Normally, I avoid them like the plague, but for 1 special day each year, the planets align, the feng shui energies are at full blast, and I cast aside my hill aversion to enter this event. And just as sure that I would take part, I will regret that decision, usually at the point where I just made it up the first crest looking like a wreck.

This year was no different. To boot, I had done ZERO hiking in the run up to the event. Regardless, annual rituals are to be respected, and besides I am technically a member of a hiking team, so what the heck, crashing and burning can still be kinda fun, I hope. I started out quite well, but then the beginning is a run of about more than 2k, so there was not much consolation there. Things began to look grim as I was getting passed by runners I have no problem beating in my sleep. Come on! We haven't even left the ground yet!

My body soon clicked into normal hiking mode soon after the flat part ended. Long buried curses were dredged up and flowed easily. The long forgotten feeling of burning calfs only hiking could give started to introduce itself. Long story short, it was an uphill battle, pun intended. To stave off the grim outlook, I resorted to pumping in reinforcements. In my near catatonic state, the best I could muster were stuff like, "Pain is temporary, glory is forever" and "No guts, no glory". Creative huh.

Thankfully, I did get stronger in the 1 year since the last edition of this hike, and my pain was felt for a shorter time. About 3 minutes less in fact for a time of 53.39 mins, good enough for 7th place if I am not mistaken. Ah well, considering the circumstances, I don't have much to complain about. Most of the complainin' was done on the way up anyway. Would I WANT to try again next year? I doubt it. Would I actually try it again next year? Yea, pretty much.

I can't help it, go blame Penang Hill.

Rainbow after the rain

It was an intense battle. The outcome wasn't immediately certain as the smoke and dust from the almighty battle settled. As I finally catch a well deserved easy breath of air, I surveyed the effects of that battle, prepared for dismay. But a glance at the tag bestowed unto me told all that I needed to know. I had made it. I had finally stepped into the promised land with 2 spots to spare.

In bluer collar language, I finally managed to get among the money winning places in a race. The destination was Ipoh, a very unfamiliar place to me, before this race, I have only made passing visits there, but now it has a special place in my heart. In one fell swoop, I lopped off nearly 10 minutes off my personal best for a time of 1.27:35, good enough for 18th place. While this is a moment to savour, it is the culmination of hours of hard work.

The weight has finally been lifted, it's about time I start writing my story as a runner.

New Life, New Place, New Race

I spent the past week holed up with about 2100 fellow newbie undergrads at the sprawling USM campus. While initially filled with trepidation, the huge and intimidating grounds gradually shrunk and felt more like home. Of course, getting lost is still part of the daily itinerary, but in a perverse way, it's kinda fun too. I bet even the seniors don't fully know the ins and outs of the place 100%, so I guess for us freshies it's forgivable. The grounds might be impressive and the facilities more than adequate, but the best part about getting into university is meeting new people. No joke. There are seriously some colourful characters even in my hostel. As for the girls, I am still thanking the heavens for the sheer number of attractive young females present. Who said a guy/girl ratio of 30/70 is a bad thing?

Of course this is already the weekend, and I was among the fortunate few who reside in Penang, which means I get to go home fairly often. For this weekend however, there will not be much homely respite. I will be leaving for Ipoh tomorrow. It will be my first time taking running in the Ipoh International Run, and the interruption to training because of my orientation week is definitely a concern for me in tackling the 21ks. Regardless, these are exciting times, and hopefully this buoyant feeling I have now will be an adequate substitute for the loss of training. Of course, I cannot fail, since my big mouth told quite a few people about this trip. So for my ego among my uni mates, and for my own self belief, let's hope I achieve a breakthrough.

Anyway, whatever happens, this has been a week for many firsts.