So, I finally did it. After sticking to HM for 4 damn years, I finally did something that I thought I could or would never do. I really thought running for 21KM was already crazy enough so I thought I would never go crazier by doubling that distance and saying to myself that I’m ready to do it.
Somehow after doing 21KMs for quite so many times, I suddenly felt like the thrill was no longer there. You know, it’s like you already know that you can do it so the excitement of doing it again has almost if not completely disappeared. When that happened to me, I knew I had to for a longer distance or else I’d end up getting bored and hanging my shoes for good. I needed a bigger challenge to keep the excitement going.
The plan was to do it next year, but then I already had a lot of things in mind set for next year. There’s this new craze called mount-climbing that’s been growing in me for the past few months so if I wanted to do it (the run), I gotta do it this year. As the saying goes, it’s now or never. As my Sabahan fellows would say it, kalau bukan sekarang bila lagi? Ini kali lah ! Heh
That was when I decided to join the Penang Bridge International Marathon 2012. To tell the truth, unlike most other people I didn’t really give a damn whether it was going to be the last run on the old bridge as they call it since PBIM would begin to take place on the new bridge starting next year. I just wanted to do a full marathon and Penang seemed to be a good place to do it.
Most people would say that the ideal time period to do the training pending a full marathon is 6 months. I knew I didn’t have that much time but I put my trust in all the preparatory trainings that I did for my HMs. The time intervals between those HMs were not that long anyway especially this year when I ran almost every month right from March till September. Now that was what I call crazy but running a full marathon itself was far more crazy.
So fast forward, it felt weird to be coming down to the race collection centre and heading straight down to the collection counter for Full Marathon. I mean, I used to admire at people who were there to collect the race kit for the FM and now that I was there lining up among them, I wondered if any of those at the HM counter was actually admiring me. Heh.
I thought I would be nervous, I mean, I was supposed to right? But no. I waited that to happen but it never did. In fact it was an excitement that kept growing in me as I waited for the flag-off time to come. When it finally did, I joined the crowd to move forward and I ran, all the 42 damn kilometers of it.
The biggest challenge of all was certainly the mind. Getting to the half-distance was actually fun and I kept smiling at myself thinking how well I was actually going. The longest that I had ever run on a single distance was 26KM so the excitement was intensifying when I finally made it past the mark.
Problems began to really show themselves up when I ran past the 30 KM mark. That was one of those times when one KM seems like 5KM or something. Everybody has a weak point when running for too long and mine was at my both ankles. The aches were holding me down but of course I knew I had to finish what I had started.
5 KM to go and I knew I could do it. And I did. In fact, I remember running quite in an excitement as I wanted to get it over with and at the same time I wanted to savor every moment of it.
The timing was not something to be bragged about especially among FM runners but then, it really is not about the timing but more to the distance. In fact the biggest accomplishment was to get on the starting line. It was bigger than finishing the run itself.
I would really suggest that my HM friends take it to another level by joining an FM. The experience is different and so is the satisfaction. You can see it clearly on their faces when they hit the finishing line. In couldn’t help but getting emo a bit when I saw an FM runner burst into tears when she made it to the finishing line. The run must have really meant a lot to her.
So – 4 years from the time I started running back in 2009, I finally managed to bring it to a new milestone by joining FM. I used to call myself a marathoner until somebody asked me to respect the word ‘Marathon’. She was right, a marathon is meant for 42KM and not 21KM. Sadly though, calling myself a ‘half-marathoner’ wouldn’t sound quite right. In fact, it almost sounds pathetic. (kidding).
The one that rules 'em all ^_^
After doing PBIM2012, I’m glad that I can finally call myself a marathoner. A real one. But then, somebody has just told me the other day that running for a single marathon wouldn’t make me a real marathoner.
DAMN.
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