The thing is that I was over hungry. A soccer club committee meeting had gone over time and lunch had been on the light side so that by 18:30, I was starving. Perhaps if I hadn’t eaten quite so many chips, I’d have been fine. Anyway, it turned out to be far too big an ask to digest oodles of starch deep-fried in oil while simultaneously trying to sleep before arising at 5:20 for my last WAMC event of 2015. They say that the hard work is in getting to the start line. Well for this even that certainly was the case! This morning, as I nibbled on my pre-race toasted muffin, feeling strangely unhungry, and listened to the rumblings of a tummy that had been audible all night throughout strange dreams including the usual can’t find the start line/my shoes/both race panic dream, I knew I wasn’t going to see any start line or finish line today. It was a shame because I knew the route – 8km between City Beach and Floreat- by heart as it’s one of my regular training routes. Still, an hour after I should have crossed the finish line, I can still hear chips gurgling through my system so je ne regrette pas returning to bed instead of lacing up my shoes. I do however regret eating two tonnes of starch and lard last night. And missing the race. Lesson learned. Enjoy the sunset without the fries. Hopefully there’s always next year to run the City Beach 8km race – and stick to pre-race pasta.
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So now that all the hooha has died down over the change of date and re-change of date for the SCKL Marathon, the countdown to the race has begun. Only four weeks to go! Coincidentally I am going to be in KL with a friend that weekend as it’s school holidays and our respective spouses are taking our six children camping and we would rather pull our teeth out than sleep in a tent that doesn’t have ensuite facilities. In fact what we’d really rather do is stay at a five star hotel with ensuite facilities, and toilets where there are no snakes or deadly spiders lurking, and staff that open doors, and pour coffee, and carry your bags. We’d also rather have much-needed pedicures, and eyebrow threading, do no cooking or cleaning – well you get the picture. We’re going to KL for a taste of the good life and now it turns out, I’m going to race.
Don’t let the blue sky fool you – it was cold at race registration!
Last week, I was offered a media bib at SCKLM and it took me exactly zero seconds to say ‘yes please’ and only another few seconds to allow sense to prevail and choose the 10km race. Given the temperature and humidity, trying to race any further could be a disaster. Even when I lived and trained in Malaysia, the heat and humidity ruined many a race attempt so 10km on Oct 4th will be more than plenty thank you very much. I cannot tell you how excited I am to be returning to my old stomping ground, the place where I first fell in love with running, and to hopefully get to see many familiar, friendly faces in the KL running community.
So, this morning, in preparation for this tropical race which is no big deal, no big deal at all, I ran a local 10km race here in Perth. When I say in preparation I mean mental prep rather than physical. Bar running while wrapped in cling film and a heated body suit, there is little I can do to prepare for the conditions in KL. But I need to train my brain to push though the 5-6km mark slump and stay strong to the finish line, so this morning’s race was a stab at cognitive therapy if you like.
It was the West Australian Marathon Club (WAMC) Lake Gwelup 10km. It was 7ºC when I left the house and only a few degrees warmer at the start line. So, it was totally unlike any start line in Malaysia ever! It also turned out to be a multi-terrain course which was more challenging than I had expected but at least it wasn’t as hilly as last weekend’s City to Surf 12km for which my legs are still not thanking me.
I think I was the 9th female across the line which was very pleasing as the standard is really high here and I’m pretty old. Yes, I am. The winner of the 5km race this morning is 12 years old.12! Not even a teenager! She ran the course in sub-20. To be fair, she has probably been running longer than I have but I don’t think that’s the reason she’s so much faster! Bar placing little rockets in my shoes, I will never attain the racing speed of a fast teenager. Oh, that’s a bit depressing. Still, I should be grateful to be able to run at all I suppose, and I am! And I’m even more grateful to be able to return to KL, have an affordable pedicure, and run there. (Though perhaps I should run, then have the pedi?).
Now, I wonder where I can bulk buy cling film and find a heated body suit…
If you liked this post, please share it with your friends:
The thing is that I was over hungry. A soccer club committee meeting had gone over time and lunch had been on the light side so that by 18:30, I was starving. Perhaps if I hadn’t eaten quite so many chips, I’d have been fine. Anyway, it turned out to be far too big an ask to digest oodles of starch deep-fried in oil while simultaneously trying to sleep before arising at 5:20 for my last WAMC event of 2015. They say that the hard work is in getting to the start line. Well for this even that certainly was the case! This morning, as I nibbled on my pre-race toasted muffin, feeling strangely unhungry, and listened to the rumblings of a tummy that had been audible all night throughout strange dreams including the usual can’t find the start line/my shoes/both race panic dream, I knew I wasn’t going to see any start line or finish line today. It was a shame because I knew the route – 8km between City Beach and Floreat- by heart as it’s one of my regular training routes. Still, an hour after I should have crossed the finish line, I can still hear chips gurgling through my system so je ne regrette pas returning to bed instead of lacing up my shoes. I do however regret eating two tonnes of starch and lard last night. And missing the race. Lesson learned. Enjoy the sunset without the fries. Hopefully there’s always next year to run the City Beach 8km race – and stick to pre-race pasta.
