My 3rd Marathon : SC KL Marathon 2010

Date : 27 June 2010
Time : 5.00am
Place : Dataran Merdeka
Course : Around KL
Terrain : Hilly, tougher than last year's
Finish time : 4:29:13

The build up to this year's home marathon could be called mild with very minimal conditioning. Over the course of the 2 months, I only did only 3 runs, which could be considered LSDs, with the longest at 30km.

Comparing the mileage logged when I prepared for my 1st marathon exactly 1 year ago, I was definitely cutting corners, with only half the mileage compared to last year.

With a botched long run 2 weeks ago, it did not help my confidence either.

However, with the experience of 2 marathons under my belt, I believed pacing for the intial 30k was key, before the tackling the 'Wall' and cramps.

I went through my gear the night before but couldn't get any shut eye. Seemed this was a condition endemic to pre marathon nights. Haven't learn't any new ways to get around that...

Up by 3.15am, pre marathon meal remained light with 1 cup of coffee, more for 'discharge' purposes, rather than anything else.

I arrived at the starting line 15 minutes before the start time, with a sense of deja vu. As with last year, we started the race in the rain, and all of us were soaked even before the race started.

The first 5km was started taken at a steady pace, with the rain keeping the temperatures pretty cool. It kept falling for the first hour or so. I guess everybody benefited from that. I personally felt reasonably fresh after finishing the first 10k.

The 2nd thing was the abundance of water and sponging stations, which were available at every 2km. Obviously, the organizer took extra measures to avoid the disastrous situation like last year.

As we looped back to town after passing the Sungai Besi airport, traffic began to become heavier.

Moving from Cheras to Pudu, the tingling toe situation had already begun to surface. Normally it was a precursor of calf cramps coming on. Due to the lack of mileage, I took 5 Gu Gel packs and popped the first one at 15k. The tingling came and went throughout the following 10k, before the cramps started to kick in.

KM 25-30 was the 'transition' stage where the tiredness begun to sink in. By KM32, the cramps were spreading from the left calf to the right, then creeping to the inner quads and hamstring.

From then on, it was a matter of intelligent manaagement, lest I falter and had to stop at periods. It was walk run strategy from then on.

I wasn't hell bent to meet any target time, but I had been going at a reasonable pace. I did the first 30k in less than 3 hours. Worst case, I may need to take about 5 hours to finish. At best, a 4:20 was still possible.

As I ran down Jalan Kuching, the cramps were getting worse, and not letting up much. My time fell to a 8min+/km pace.

Finally I reached Longgak Tunku and I braced myself for the climb up Bukit Tunku. Surprisingly, the lack of traffic, lots of shade and green surrounding was really a good boost. The cramps situation surprisingly improved. As we reached the peak, I was actually picking up my pace and managed a few 6min/km. As we turned into TAR road, I was definitely sensing completion in a reasonable time in hand. My wife accompanied me on the last km and this really gave me a boost for a last sprint to the finish line, if you could call it that.

I thorughly enjoyed this race as it was much better managed than last year's, with more show of supporters throughout the course. Hopefully I'll be able to find a good race for the end of this year and prepare for a sub 4.