GE30k

running up hill at Plaza damas (courtesy of bro Tey) look fat eh....

the moment of truth has arrived.... have not ran more than 24k before and will attempt to do a very daunting 30k (double hill + hartamas route... which is no joke if you have attempted the distance)

was not feeling well for the past few days due to mild stomache and some ache in my left knee.. (due to my stupidity of racing down hill with another runner at Kiara)... forced myself to rest the whole day on Saturday which is difficult as weekends are normally for sports...



woke up at 4.30am sharp and manage to watch some of Fedrerer vs Tipsarevic (Serbian guy0 which lasted for 5 sets... didnt know who won at that time though... had 2 bananas and a Muesli bar with Nescafe... feeling fresh throughout and did my business twice before leaving the house...



reached the boat house at about 530am... manage to chat with Bacin, Adrian wishing them luck before starting the race..... race started sharp at 6am... the first 1km was quite good at an easy pace... but after that start to feel a slight pain in my left knee... OMG this may not be good... luckily went away rather quickly....



manage to complete the double hill 10km at a easy 1:03... shit there goes my plan to do sub 3hr... but thought that it should be more than 10km... but felt good all the way.... hopefully i didnt have to walk... fatigue started to set in at the crossing of the highway.... but still presevered as i didnt want to walk that early in the race....



reached Petronas in 1:50 which is rather suprising.... but the loop around it was really long (as our normal pratice run was at the station only)... there was when i met Raymond who just did 4:30 at SIM.... told him to go ahead as i knew i am not in the position to match his pace.... the Powergel given by Francis was god send... didnt feel the urge to walk at all.... but of course my mind was going..."good, good, but dont go so fast its only the first time ur doing 30k ... keep to the plan"....



finally reached the Bank Negara junction and last slope towards Lake Garden.... didnt push that much as was still reserving some energy for the final dash... kept on looking at my watch and sub 3hr is still doable.... with 400m left in sight... started to pick up the pace and finished in a remarkable 2:53.... i was stunned.... what a wonderful race.... the thought of going for full 42k marathon is finally getting real...



the race was really well organised with ample water / powerbar endurance stations... body was really hydrated hence the good race... after collecting the medal bumped into Azwar which promised to do 3:30 before that... he finished less than 1 minute behind me... but how to compare ironman who has just done a fast 120km ride the day before... all the best to him... should target sub 12hr at Langkawi 2008...



till then... KLIM 2008 beckons...