KLIM 2007 - 21km Race Report

This year's KLIM 2007 race is my first half marathon for this year and also my 2nd attempt at a half-marathon, the first attempt at last year's KLIM 2006, which I fared terribly despite qualifying under the 3 hrs time, I was severely dehydrated due to the water stations runnning out for I think 2-3 of the stations in the middle sector. This year, the best bonus was that this mistake was not repeated by the sponsors and there was ample water (and even 100plus!) at all refreshment stations as well as even sponging stations.

At the starting line...
We arrived at the venue around 5:30am. Along the way, it was sad to hear one of our friends had forgotten to collect her chip and number on Saturday due to a very stressful day at work, and her attempt to plead with the organisers by going early was to no avail, so she left disappointed. She had been one of our stronger runners, one of the few girls who had trained for the race and a marathoner.

At the starting line, I realised that there were lots of people in the orange we were wearing, but as it turns out, it was easy to spot us once you see a bunch of at least 5 orange clad folks! (See earlier posting on pics). I had asked one of my colleagues to be the photographer of the day and he obliged by coming at 530am! What a sport for a debut photographer...!

Clock strikes 6...
... And we were away ...! And so it was a pretty quiet and lonely track in the dark, up to almost Sg Besi near 10km when there was a bit more light in the sky. In fact, I was told that some people had mistaken the flag off time to be 630am (boo-boo from organisers - 630 was written on the reporting card, but there was announcement on website on the changed times).

A fun race at a steady pace
It was really a more fun race this year for me - I started the race at an easy pace and almost ran 100% of the first 10km then slowed down my pace and ran about 90% of the second 11km remaining. Taking in fluids and slowing down to enjoy the refreshments at the drinks station was a good approach to manage the previous feelings of dehydration and drained of energy.

My 1000+50 approach also helped. I would run 1000 steps and walk 50 steps. Except that when I managed to reach 1000 steps at one point, I was almost 100m away from a refreshment station, so the 50 did not matter! On another occasion, I kept losing track of the counting before I reached 500 and almost restarted a few times!

Finishing in pride
Yes, I could indeed claim that I finished with pride - this time, I managed my pace, my hydration and also timing to not hit the "drained" state before the end. So much that I could even afford to sprint the last 50m to the finishing line. Timing was not great, but maybe just slightly better than last year.

Post Mortem - have I sustained an injury?
During the race, for the first time, I felt a creaking sound on my right leg. Initially for a good 2km I thought it was the guy in front of me, until when he ran off and I heard it from my own leg. I have still no idea what it is, but I took this almost throughout the race. I feel it is related to the ligament and joints of the sole to the lower parts - I may need to check up to find out what it is. Luckily there is no pain. Hopefully it is just an anomaly.