My first 5km run!
About three weeks ago, I threw myself a personal challenge - to join the Kiwanis Fun Run which was going to be held with the Pacesetters New Balance 15km run.
I chose to join the fun run 'coz there won't be any pressure to run the entire 5km. The fun run idea is similar to the Terry Fox Run. Walking 5km is something I am sure I can manage without much difficulty, so my aim was to run the entire 5km.
I woke up bright and early, had some breakfast of cereal and mango and I was off to the venue. As I was approaching the venue, I could see the "serious" runners warming up and getting ready to do their 15km run. The run was to be flagged off at Padang Merbuk, and seeing there were lots of people walking from the Lake Garden, I felt safe enough to park there. It was still dark when I arrived at the venue. It was the first time Kiwanis organised the Fun Run, the Pacesetters marshal I approached wasn't sure of the registration place. To join the run, all one needed to do was to purchase a T-shirt. When I was there, there were only 3 T-shirts left and they were all XXL size! Runners needed to wear the T-shirt for running but how to wear XXL? Response for the fun run has been very good, which explained the shortage of T-shirts. Being the blur kaki I am, I didn't know the T-shirts could have been purchased earlier. The lady who was manning the Kiwanis tent was very helpful. She managed to get an L size T-shirt which fitted me better but still big lah. I had gone to the run by myself, so I was glad to see a couple of friends who had also joined the run.
I glanced over at the group of 15km runners. Toned, lean body in all sorts of running gear ready to start. There were runners from all over Malaysia and also from Singapore and Thailand. In Malaysia, one can never escape shopping. New Balance was there to promote and offer discounts to the runners. Nestle Finesse who was also a sponsor, had a tent to provide high fibre breakfast to runners. And I saw a couple of ladies stacking up containers after containers of nasi lemak and some other food, which I found out later was porridge. First thought that came to my mind "Run for 15km and come back to clog up the arteries with nasi lemak. Not very smart leh".
At 7am sharp, the 15km runners were flagged off on Jalan Parlimen. At 7.30am, the fun runners who came in all shapes and sizes and ages, were flagged off. Some had chosen to roller blade, there was one cyclist and most people treated the 5km fun run as a morning walk with their friends. As soon as the horn sounded, I ran or rather a fast jog. I wanted to run for as long as I can. I managed to run for about 1km before I thought I was going to hyperventilate, so I forced myself to take deeper breaths. Less than another km later, I half walked and half jogged for a bit. Then I noticed the 15km runners were passing by us fun runners. Sweat dripping down their shirt and shorts and outrunning the fun runners. There were several fun runners ahead of me and I was determined to finish in as little time as I can manage. I brought myself up to a jog again for as long as I can and walk again when I couldn't. I finally arrived at the finish line in 45 minutes! For someone who has lived 38 years of sedentary lifestyle, I'm pretty proud of myself.
I arrived about the same time as the first few 15km runners. That means they had finished the 15km race in just over an hour. Every runner was given food and drinks vouchers. First thing I did was head for the water tent. Some runners crossed the finish line and headed straight to the food tent. The choice was nasi lemak or porridge. There was also a tent with a mountain of bananas and also watermelon. How to eat straight after a run?
After the run, I felt I could have run more than what I did. Nevertheless, I'm still proud that I finished in 45 minutes. My next aim will be join the Terry Fox Run and run the entire way.
This is a photo of myself taken last December. I was sitting by the pool in my maternity swimsuit. My son was 3 1/2 years old when that photo was taken, so needless to say my self esteem was at an all time low.
So how did a reformed couch potato like me end up joining a 5km run? I am on a weight loss journey. No more wearing maternity swimsuits! I'm aiming to wear bikini and look good in them! My progress will be published every month in the Malaysian edition of Shape magazine which will be out in newsstands from end of May. Let's just say, I look very different now from the photo above.
I chose to join the fun run 'coz there won't be any pressure to run the entire 5km. The fun run idea is similar to the Terry Fox Run. Walking 5km is something I am sure I can manage without much difficulty, so my aim was to run the entire 5km.
I woke up bright and early, had some breakfast of cereal and mango and I was off to the venue. As I was approaching the venue, I could see the "serious" runners warming up and getting ready to do their 15km run. The run was to be flagged off at Padang Merbuk, and seeing there were lots of people walking from the Lake Garden, I felt safe enough to park there. It was still dark when I arrived at the venue. It was the first time Kiwanis organised the Fun Run, the Pacesetters marshal I approached wasn't sure of the registration place. To join the run, all one needed to do was to purchase a T-shirt. When I was there, there were only 3 T-shirts left and they were all XXL size! Runners needed to wear the T-shirt for running but how to wear XXL? Response for the fun run has been very good, which explained the shortage of T-shirts. Being the blur kaki I am, I didn't know the T-shirts could have been purchased earlier. The lady who was manning the Kiwanis tent was very helpful. She managed to get an L size T-shirt which fitted me better but still big lah. I had gone to the run by myself, so I was glad to see a couple of friends who had also joined the run.
I glanced over at the group of 15km runners. Toned, lean body in all sorts of running gear ready to start. There were runners from all over Malaysia and also from Singapore and Thailand. In Malaysia, one can never escape shopping. New Balance was there to promote and offer discounts to the runners. Nestle Finesse who was also a sponsor, had a tent to provide high fibre breakfast to runners. And I saw a couple of ladies stacking up containers after containers of nasi lemak and some other food, which I found out later was porridge. First thought that came to my mind "Run for 15km and come back to clog up the arteries with nasi lemak. Not very smart leh".
At 7am sharp, the 15km runners were flagged off on Jalan Parlimen. At 7.30am, the fun runners who came in all shapes and sizes and ages, were flagged off. Some had chosen to roller blade, there was one cyclist and most people treated the 5km fun run as a morning walk with their friends. As soon as the horn sounded, I ran or rather a fast jog. I wanted to run for as long as I can. I managed to run for about 1km before I thought I was going to hyperventilate, so I forced myself to take deeper breaths. Less than another km later, I half walked and half jogged for a bit. Then I noticed the 15km runners were passing by us fun runners. Sweat dripping down their shirt and shorts and outrunning the fun runners. There were several fun runners ahead of me and I was determined to finish in as little time as I can manage. I brought myself up to a jog again for as long as I can and walk again when I couldn't. I finally arrived at the finish line in 45 minutes! For someone who has lived 38 years of sedentary lifestyle, I'm pretty proud of myself.
I arrived about the same time as the first few 15km runners. That means they had finished the 15km race in just over an hour. Every runner was given food and drinks vouchers. First thing I did was head for the water tent. Some runners crossed the finish line and headed straight to the food tent. The choice was nasi lemak or porridge. There was also a tent with a mountain of bananas and also watermelon. How to eat straight after a run?
After the run, I felt I could have run more than what I did. Nevertheless, I'm still proud that I finished in 45 minutes. My next aim will be join the Terry Fox Run and run the entire way.
This is a photo of myself taken last December. I was sitting by the pool in my maternity swimsuit. My son was 3 1/2 years old when that photo was taken, so needless to say my self esteem was at an all time low.
So how did a reformed couch potato like me end up joining a 5km run? I am on a weight loss journey. No more wearing maternity swimsuits! I'm aiming to wear bikini and look good in them! My progress will be published every month in the Malaysian edition of Shape magazine which will be out in newsstands from end of May. Let's just say, I look very different now from the photo above.
Labels: self achievement
posted by Min Chan at
10:20 am
9 Comments
