sunday morning, i woke up at 4.30 am, a bit tossed and turned during the night. i was afraid that i would wake up late and didn't make it to the running event. (if so, i would feel totally miserable.) at 4.50 a.m. i woke up everyone to get ready and leave the house. we also dug phun out of his bed and carried him in the car with us. i had to be there before 6 am and lucky that i was there 15 mins in advance, so i had some spare time to warm up. most mini-marathoners were gathering at the start line and i went there standing mute among. it was okay for me to run alone among other fellow runners so i just looked around listening to their converstaion. as my nervousness has quietly gone, i stood there looking for some runners at the same age rank as me. as far as i saw there were few of them and all of them looked fit and firm. however, i wasn't so anxious as i didn't intend to win a trophy. i just wanted to have another experiece of running a mini-marathon and to step out of my comfort zone..
at 6 am, other runners and i were released from the start line. i didn't understand why they had to speed up right after they were released as it was just the first few meters of our 10.5k run. nevertheless, i speeded up after them. until the front shins started to get sore and painful, i slowed down. it was the first sign telling me that if i didn't take it easy, i would not finish this run. so i started to run at a slower pace for a while. until the pain had gone, i speeded up again. i kept passing other runners who outran me before. i started to go faster little by little. it was not bad at all when the shins were not sore. i could speed up as i wished. i think it was due to the weight that i lifted and the hills that i ran that kept me go on without not feeling too tired. while other runners started to slow down, i managed to speed up and ran faster. passing half way thru the u-turn point, i felt joyful that i still had plenty of energy left. i just had to make sure that i didn't dehydrate myself. so i stopped every water point to sip water and go on.
at one point after pushing through half way, i managed to keep up with a 50ish female runner who had outran me many minutes ago. she seemed fit and fast. her energy hadn't dropped since she was released, while i was puffing hard like a buffalow running a race beside her. we took turns pushing front until i didn't want to complete with her anymore, i speeded up faster and left her on the back. nearing to the finish line, i speeded up a bit more and finished my 10.5k run at 1.03.32 hrs. i couldn't believe the clock i saw. it was too fast than i expected. but if it was correct, i am quite fast if compared to my previous record.. it felt a sense of joy and pride.. it felt so incredibly awesome that i decided to step out of my comfort zone.. and do the hard thing..
we arrived home earlier than expected as we received a phone call from one of our uncles saying that dad had fainted. so we rushed back home after the run. reaching home and seeing dad's pale face, i phoned the clinic checking if they opened on sunday. they did so i booked him the first queue. my sis and mom drove him to the clinic and found out that he had vertical sickness.
after settling with dad, i got back home with phun and pae, took a shower and retreated to my bedroom to have a long nap. i slept like i didn't sleep the night before. my legs was terribly sore. the whole body was exhausted and i felt like i needed a day in bed.
there are 3 more running events held by different faculties in PSU. i think i will join all of them. i think i am hooked now!
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