Switch Your Head Gear On!

"On your mark... Set... Go!"

Those words signal us to go and make a new history for the first Energizer Night Marathon in the country held in Cyberjaya, Selangor. My third marathon to date and my second night marathon of the year.

I was so happy that my pre-run training help me alot to reach my goal. Though my friend Shai, who I always ask to jog with me didn't registered, I'm grateful that she supported me to this event. Together with some friends, Nog and Bea, and other runners and the crowd, the event became a success.

Again, Nog run on the same category as mine. We started together but since there are lots of runners and I think we both want to maintain our pace, we split our way. The first 2km of the run is really a struggle to me, my mind is not focused and I was worrying about my leg calves. I'm having a back pain early that day and my mind was not set properly about the event. Keeping my running pace is a problem too. Seeing those more fitted runners run as if its nothing to them felt very intimidating that you want to compete, you want to push your self, you want to sprint!

But the past experiences gave me lessons that pace and distance running has a step by step procedure that you need to keep in mind. You need to save your energy for the last kilometers of the run and best of all to keep the will to go through, keep running and keep motivated.

And so I keep going, checking my cellphone which I used as a stop-watch once I reached every drinking point stationed on every 2.5km mark (which I doubt since I only remember passing 3 drinking station points). I keep going and did not stop running until about 4km to walk and started to run-jog again after a minute of walk to rest. I continue the process for another 3km, walk for every up and running on down slopes.

Then I let my motivation push me to finish the last 3km of run. So what keeps me motivated? Those friends waiting and cheering for us on the finish line, those people who run for a cause (what ever reason might that be), and those people, despite of old age, challenge themselves to participate in the event.

And the sweetest moment of all came, the time I saw the finish mark, that huge ark that welcomes you, greeted you and somewhat whisper to me, saying, "Good Job".

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My un-official time based on my cellphone is 1:02:03:04.