There’s a reason why I’m known as Dugong Gila. Few months back, a friend of mine contacted me asked me to sign up for this run. Because she wanted to surprise her hubby, and try to get a few of us to sing him happy birthday once he reaches the finishing line. So I said ok, and went ahead and signed up for it. So I was suppose to do 6KM but accidentally signed up for 12KM instead. Being the Dugong Gila that I am, I said bring it on because I was in good form back then.
Fast forward to tonight, I haven’t run in about a month and I’ve gain another 4 kilos in the span of 4 weeks. So I thought it should be fine, but little did I know boy was it a mistake. So before we started there was a warm up session and my friend asked me to join them to warm up. So I thought ok, maybe it’s a good idea so I went and met up with them. In less than 10 minutes, my bottom left calf started to cramp. And I was like, I’m gonna die before I even started. So I tried to stretch myself to relieve the pain, and it was ok for now. So once that was done, we headed to the starting line.
So I only had 1 job, and that was to follow her hubby and make sure I finish the same time with him. So there I was trying to keep up with him. The first 2KM was ok, and I could say I’m doing ok with this pace. Then things got complicated after 2.5KM where both my legs started to cramp. And that was when I lost him, so I ended up walking and jogging until I got to the 4.5 KM mark that’s where I totally lost it. I began to have difficulty in breathing, and the leg cramps weren’t helping either. That’s when I decided to do a detour and follow the 6KM route. That was where I met Michelle, and asked him where Mat is. She told me that she went ahead already, and we pretty much walk on from then. By the time we got to Jalan Sekama, he gave me a call asking me where I was about 2KM off the finishing line. He offered to use his bike to pick me up instead if I can’t continue. I told him I’m fine, and continued walking with Michelle where I told here I will be making another detour to 7-11 to get rehydrated (as I missed out on the 2 water station) and got her to proceed on from there.
So about 15 minutes later, I was about to reach the finishing line. Because I ended up with the 6KM route, I thought I’ll just finish there instead. But I got redirected to the 12KM due to the bib I was wearing, and crossed the finishing line. So as I approached the finishing line, I got the medal and they gave me a number tag and asked me to go to the side and register. The other crew member noticed I didn’t had the check point tag, and I told her that I had to detour but she said never mind just continue to the registration table. Dugong Gila maybe crazy, but will not go take things that does not belongs to him. So as I was about to throw the tag number away, another crew member approached me and asked me for my bib confirmation. And he said, there was a mistake because mine was printed wrongly so he needed to take the tag back. I said ok, no problem and continued walking to look for both Mat and Michelle who apparently was glad to see me making it alive.
Anyhow after Mat got me a drink to freshen up, I told them I need to go and meet up with the birthday boy who apparently was still running. As both of them left to fetch their kids, I contacted my friend to see where they are. Apparently I got the location and ended up walking up some else. The other group also came late due to traffic jam, and birthday boy got there first before all of us did. Never the less, they decided to go celebrate else where and as for me, I wanted to go home. Traffic was bad on the way home, and I was pretty much reflecting on what had transpired tonight.
For starters, that extra 4 kilos really got me bad. And if I didn’t do what I was suppose to do, I would had pretty much be in a situation I could not imagine. So I told myself, I seriously got to take care of my health more and need to control whatever I eat from today onwards. And probably I will stop joining runs like this for now, and probably wait until till I’m in a better shape. As runs such as this, I tend to feel pressured due to the cut off time. Never the less, maybe it’s a wake up call and I think I did well despite running only 8.6KM. Ah well, life’s good and I shall see you guys soon.