Mizuno Wave Run 2012

Truly my last weekend was one that was full of things to do, I'm struggling to recover from the hectic schedule over the weekend. Nevertheless it was fun and to start the blogging off for the week, we have another running event!

[Mizuno Wave Run 2012!!!]

Coming in from my successful attempt to break my own personal record from my last run, I was coming in this one with a vengeance and better still, so was the rest of the people that was running with me this time. As per usual I manage to gather a battalion of  runners to come with this event and even they had their own agenda of their own!

Ash, who ran with me the first time around in the Putrajaya Night Run was determined to get things going from his last run, in which fatigue may have hindered him to perform better than he thought he could. This time, he was going to better that.

And Martin, my work colleague who ran with me during the Penang Bridge run wants to make the last couple of months before leaving back to Germany to count by making every running event as awesome as possible.

[Team Running TehTarik!]

Unfortunately this time around I didn't have my lady luck with me by my side so I was a little more nervous than usual but I kinda calmed myself down mentally preparing for the run itself.

Our journey there was not one without stories, of course. The Mizuno Wave Run this year was done at their usual location which is at the University Pertanian Malaysia (UPM) and to drive there was not easy especially navigating you way around in the middle of the morning. One of the biggest complaint that I have about the race was that no proper signs was actually given to the starting point of the race itself once you reach the university area and most people end up driving around the university, trying desperately to get to find where the starting point was. And the uni was huge....

Regardless, we got ourselves set up quite early so decided to take pictures and warm up.

[Last 20m of the race!]

[Race starting point!]

[Martin and Ash decided how they are going to finish the race today]

[Although mine turned out to be a bit... urm... puff]

[We all decided to bring our own stuff for the race. Ash brought this to warm up his legs...]

So preparation was done and we were waiting for the event to start around 7.10 in the morning. For this event, the organizers decided that they were going to flag off the girls to start first and then later the guys. Martin pointed out to me that this would be good because it then serves as a motivation for guys to run faster to catch up to and run with the girls. He has a point.

[O-hai!]

[photo courtesy of Runner Footprints]

At kilometer 1, I realized that despite the University not being one of the top in Malaysia, it does have really beautiful landscapes and greenery.

At kilometer 3, I caught up with a large number of the female runners, so I figured I must be doing well. Ankle problem was still not that visible yet.

At kilometer 5, we had a few pitstops and excellent people from Pacesetters Malaysia lending in their support to the runners. One thing I didn't really like was some really selfish people decided to take the whole can of drinks instead of just the paper glasses, which made it difficult for the organizers to fill in the glasses in time for the rest. Some people...

At kilometer 7, I had to endure more and more high inclination roads which is starting to hurt the ankles again. The ankle support that I was using was NOT HELPFUL at all and I was cursing on how much pain the stupid thing was cramping my foot.

At kilometer 9, I thought I was doing quite well since I have yet to stop apart from the pit stops and it was just another kilometer to the finishing line.

And then the surprise came.

Right in front of me was a hill road of at least 60 degrees angle and it was staring at me with all it's fury. I called it the "Mizuno Kilometer from Hell" was the one that took out so many runners, including myself. In the end, I thought I was just going to walk up this hill and sprint like hell for the last distance.

Which was what exactly I did. Took everything I had in me and summoned every last strand of strength I had left to sprint like a mad man to the finish line!

[Mizuno Wave Run 2012 - CONQUERED!]

 [Met with StormyReza's sister, Arina!]

So, my official time for this run was....

1:12:01.1

Slightly disappointed with my timing for this run, as I thought I could go faster than my Penang Bridge record. My fault to be honest for not putting more effort on training the last couple of months. More reason for me to hit the training harder then!

So, my first run of 2012 has been completed with ease and this is the start of many more running events to come. I vow that by the end of the year, I will be running full marathons rather than just 10km and by the looks of it, things are looking to be on track for that one! :D

 [Mizuno Wave Run 2012 - COMPLETE!]

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