Rachel Runs

Rachel...Doesnt Run
than my time in the summer just after my PB at the KL marathon, so I was feeling confident and ready to put in a great performance in the inaugural Yangon marathon. The Yangon marathon fell on a weekend when the kids were off school on the Thursday and Monday and the flights were a bargain so we decided to make a long weekend of it. After a couple of days in Bago we headed to Yangon the day before the race. I was really excited by this point, the culmination of all my efforts, I was ready to view this city in my favourite way, whilst running, enjoy a brand new event in a rapidly changing country and maybe even improve my best time to boot, not to mention the medal, T-shirt and goodie bag which I think I must be addicted to. We went to the hotel where the bib collection was taking place to get my race pack and bumped into lots of other runners from Malaysia! We had spent quite a bit of time in Yangon before so had seen all the sights. We decided to go out to Inya lake which we hadnt visited before and just have a chilled day. The kids played and me and my better half read and chatted. After dinner we went to the guest house for an early night. I laid out all my kit for the morning and was thrilled to drop off about 8pm with no pre-race jitters. Sadly, I woke up an hour later with an urge and then spent the rest of the night in the smallest room. I sent my husband out about 1am to get Imodium but everything was closed and he said, really, even with Imodium, it might be unwise to run. I got back to sleep around 2 and had my alarm set for 4. Got up feeling ok... until I stood up. I had to admit that it was not going to be possible to run and went back to bed. I was obviously massively disappointed after all the training but Im over it now, there are worse things. The problem Im facing now is that Im already training for my next marathon, and without having had that moment of elation from competing in an event and passing the finish line, it just feels like I have been training FOREVER! But, onwards and upwards. As they say, plain sailing never made a good travel story.

After the Angkor Wat half in December, I had one more running event ahead of my January marathon. This was called Enjoy Green Challenge, and was billed as a Walk-Run-Climb-See-Enjoy 15km at Bukit Gasing in PJ. It sounded like fun and I didnt really give it much thought. It started at a very relaxed 7am at Dataran MBPJ opposite Amcorp Mall. This felt like a lie in after all the early training runs. I arrived a little early and was able to park on the road. There were fireworks going on but the participant number was pretty low, Id guess under 500. We were a coherent group as the race numbers were printed on the bibs so wearing them was obligatory. I told my husband Id probably be home before 10am, as it was only 15km. How I underestimated the terrain! I have walked my dog on Bukit Gasing for the last few years but these were not the trails we used. We set out from the padang, through a big arch and straight onto the road. I train in this area so I knew how far we were from the hill. I decided to go out fast as I know I am faster on road than on trail. Im pleased I did as this was all the running I did until we met the road again at the end of the course! I had taken a hand held water bottle which was a total mistake, I didnt really go fast enough to require a drink and I really needed both my hands! As soon as we got onto the hill it was slow going for me. The terrain was passable but, as I ended up near the back and it had been torrential rain the previous night, it was boggy, claggy and slippy. A lot of it I had to do by just sliding down on my backside. It was a challenge, it was fun, it was something very different. The cut off time was after three and a half hours which I failed to achieve! The shame! When we got back on to the road there was 2 or 3km back to the finish line. It was hot by now but I raced back just to prove Im not hopeless, although by the time I got there, no one cared. After this I spent 3 weeks in a very cold Northumberland where I forced myself to keep training, even though the wind was whispering, noooooo. I got in from a long run to find I had ice on my gloves. I had to wear a running skirt over running tights just to keep my cheeks warm! On the plus side, I didnt put on the usual Christmas stone, I didnt have to carry half my body weight in water on my long runs and I got to see some gorgeous scenery. I ran along the beach on Christmas day, I ran past full boozers and thought, people shouldnt be out drinking, they should be home with their families... which forced me to take a long hard look at myself. For Christmas, I got a bright yellow running hat, some running shorts and 5 books about running, Im so hard to buy for! My run time between my Mums and Dads houses was 4 minutes quicker

Upcoming runs: Malaysian Womens Marathon 7th April, iCity, Shah Alam. This looks like a really cool event with some high profile runners joining and an interesting pre race programme. Have a go! There are shorter distances available. Island Ocean Marathon 21st April, Langkawi. From the organisers of the River Jungle Marathon, I imagine this will be a similarly challenging, enjoyable and well organised event. Borneo International Marathon 5th May. A lovely way to see KK! Sundown Marathon 31st May, Singapore. KL Marathon 30th June. You have to run, its in KL! Sign up before it sells out, always a popular event

by Rachel Joseph