The One Year Jubilee of My Running Chronicle

I started running officially and got my first medal on 5th of June 2010 at the Setia Eco Run.

Time flies. It has been a year since my first 4.5km fun run at the Setia Eco Run. 12 months, two 10km runs, two 11 km runs, four 12km runs and three 21km runs later, I am still loving running. *Scorpion's Still Loving You playing in the background*

There is no better way  to commemorate and celebrate my one year's jubilee of running than by way of....running itself. Hence, a week after the Sundown Half Marathon, I signed up at the very last minute for the New Balance Pacesetter 15km at Putrajaya.

It would be the first run the FF - Jo, Noor, Yam, James and I run together again since 2XU. Hence, despite the the fact that the official running vest (in teal) which made me look fatter than I already am, I wore it nonetheless for the sake of unity and compliance with FF's dress code for the run. Nine of us - John Chuah, Shearling, Yvonne, Siew Peng, Yam, James, Noor, Jo and I assembled as early as 4.30 a.m at Uncle John's house and set off in a convoy of two cars. We were amongst the first to arrive at the starting line. Some lightnings appeared near the skyline and we were expecting nice cold rain to wash away the heat. While we were doing our warm up exercise on the pavement, a 69 years old uncle from Malacca clad in 2XU calves guard started a conversation with Jo asking her about her compression pants. The next thing we knew, the uncle was 'molesting' Jo by touching and caressing the compression pants to have a 'feel' of the garment's texture. We had a good laugh over the incident after that. Kudos to the uncle who is still running at this age!! I wish I could still be as fit as him when I am 69 (if I am still alive).

Full quorum of FF

The run was flagged off at 6.30 a.m. Yam was fidgeting before the flag off as this would be the longest distance she ever run. As soon as the run was flagged off, Mr. Delta-Kiasu James Fong sprinted ahead of us like a gush of wind. Of course, the kiasu couple was also nowhere to be seen. I started with a moderate pace and I was expecting flat route all the way. However, to my surprise, there were many uphill (up bridge actually) route. I saw Uncle John Chuah at the opposite direction of the road at the first U turn of the route. He was not far away and I was determined that I could catch up soon. After all, I may not be a fast runner but I could last (tongue sticking out). Soon at the bridge, I managed to overtake Uncle John Chuah. There were 3 water stations positioned at 4km, 8km and 12km respectively. It was more of a recovery run for me and I was rather relaxed as I knew I could stop at KM 15 instead of going further for another 6km to make it a half marathon. I clocked in 1:43:14 whilst the timing for other FF members are: James (1:34:24), Noor (1:36:26), Jo (1:42:05) and Yam (2:08:50). I am happy with my timing and I think my groove has came back after the injury-induced-lack-of-stamina.

The limelight of this run would be when Yam crossed the finish line. I am so proud of her for making it to the finish line. From running barely 2 rounds at DPC she is now proudly a 15km finisher and is going to do a half marathon at PBIM 2011. Nevertheless, despite my enthusiasm waiting for her 100 meter before the finish line and ended up running barefoot with her to the finish line with one hand carrying my hand towel and another carrying my flip flop, she said after crossing the finish line "I hate running". To this I am going to say this to her with a broad smile on my face "Yam, it always start with hatred....before it turns into love, and before you knew it, you couldn't stop running".

In conjunction with James' oncoming birthday , my jubilee celebration and most importantly for the sake of love for food simply, we went to Zipangu at Shangri-la for Japanese buffet. We call this - carbo reloading.

Shameless run junkies showing off medals at Zipangu