My Other Half ( SCKLM 2011)

I'm really glad almost everyone enjoyed their SCKLM 2011 experience.
I hate to be a stick in the mud but it was horrible for me.
It's all about  bad choices, bad timing and a big large dose of padan muka.

Oh, and I forgot to tell you the most important advice in a series of so-called-advices in my last post.
Listen to your body.
That's the one I failed to follow.

See, I had this terrible cough since a week and a half ago. Dah telan dah Bena Expectorant, Ubat Batuk Cap Ibu dan Anak, KK's Dephenhydramine Expectorant, macam-macam lah. I even tried a friend's petua of drinking really chilled coke- bad, bad advice.
I even had short bouts of chills and fatigue during the last week which I dismissed instantly cause I thought it was due to the sudden change of temperature from freaking cold in my clinic to scorching hot outside.
And by race eve, the cough was still there but I told myself it will get better and downed a few cups of hot tea.

WW also had a fever 2 days before the race. He was still on anti pyretics on Saturday and was contemplating on crashing the 10K run. Instead he got sucked into my dumbness and decided to run the half marathon anyway. Sayang duit punya pasal.

The weather that morning was superhot. Gile. Pukul 6 pagi pun humid sungguh.  And it got worser when WW pulled me to the middle of the pack. Macam sardin. Belum start race pun ada bau -bau yang kurang best dari kiri dan kanan.
Then we were gunned off like cattles in a herd. And it felt like running in a sauna.Worser yet, in the first 3 K of the race, you have to weave in and out to avoid being sucked into the crowd.
By this time my nightmare started. I started coughing. Again and again. Every 5 minutes, I'd start hacking. You know the phenomenon when one starts coughing, others in the same crowd will start coughing too. Well, I could hear echoes of coughs after I started but when it all died  down, I was still coughing.
And it hurt. My tummy ached. And I was in fear that something  would get herniated.
My breathing got erratic. So was my pace. Kunun nak try to stick to a 9:30 min/mile pace- huh, hancuss.
Berangan saje la , labu.

I felt so tired, my legs felt jiggly, perut senak, peluh dingin.and it was only 5Kin the race. Orang lain nampak cam enjoy, aku muka cam nak terkucil.
As early as 7k in the race, I felt like giving up. I felt like, " Screw this."  But I felt llike I was letting WW down. He was so eager running in front to get me to follow him. So I promised myself that I will not quit, not this early. And it's also only a half. Lagipun kalo berenti, pastu nak hala ke mana? Mampuih sesat. Heh Heh.

So I went on shuffling for it seemed like ages, only to come up to a distance marker showing 10.5K.
Argh. Gile frust.
And then my legs felt like they were on fire. Not in a good way. My calves and feet felt like they were burning up and every step I took was a hard stomp on the tarmac. Then, I got side stitches.
Heran betul, tak penah-penah time race kena side stitch.

Whatever I did to ease the coughing, got it worse. Pandang atas, terbatuk. Pandang bawah sangat terbatuk.
Minum, terbatuk. Lap sponge kat badan pun batuk-batuk.
 There's this one time I thought I saw somebody I knew pass by and I called out his name but it only came out as ," Uhuk uhuk uhuk"
Tensen, beb.

The only time I smiled was when we saw Ian and his client and said hi, then everything went really downhill. For real.
The inclines of Bukit Bintang killed me. I was weak to the max. I remember running this route last year and I felt really energetic and good that time. This year, rasa cam nak quit pastu usha barang kat Low Yatt je.
And when the route went downhill, I thought I was in my element. I love downhills. But it didn't do me good. My pace was still erratic. My calves were still burning.

Nak jadi ceritakan, 1 mile to the end of the race,I felt so tired and hot, I couldn't go on running anymore.  In fact, it go so hot, I began to see coloured flecks and spots. Right in front of Globe ( according to WW la- I don't remember this), I began to sway like I was on the verge of losing my balance. So WW asked me to stop and walk. Usually I would protest, but I was glad this time.
WW had to hold me to get me to walk upright. Bila dia lepas je, I would swerve involuntarily ke tempat lain.
Nampak cam lovey-dovey but seriously he was keeping me upright to avoid me collapsing onto the street.

Dia pujuk, lagi 500m je lagi. Aku sumpah seranah, bodo la diorang ni buat finishing chute jauh-jauh. Hehe.
Sampai je finishing line, WW called out , step on the mat, press the stop button on your Garmin. But I was in confusion, I saw lots of mats. I tired to run again, but was attacked by a sudden cramp on my right leg. Sakitnya yang amat.
Terpaksa berhenti . Kena sumpah seranah mamat ni. Best betul nasihat makan diri sendiri. Heh heh.  Tapi sakit daaa, kalau ko cramp teruk cam tu ko pun berenti la, mangkuk.

I don't really remember the details as I crossed the line. Sedar-sedar je aku dah duduk atas kerusi. Aku ingat aku ada sembang ngan minah sorang ni. But I remember the conversation in bits and pieces. Then  first aid volunteer came to me looking concerned. I remember she was very pretty. She took the trouble to get me a can of 100 plus and water.
I know by that time I looked like a mess. People passed by looking at me with concerned faces. To tell you the truth, I didn't have a clue what was happening. I was dizzy and every time I attempted to stand, I not only felt woozy and nauseous, but I also felt cramps creeping in both my legs. Then, my stomach acted out too. Cramp jugak.
So I went to lie down. Lantak la org nak tengok pun. The volunteers told me to put up my legs. Some other people came and asked if I was alright. I told them I was good, with a smile but I was really disoriented. When I sat up, I looked at my arms and they seem extraordinarily long. Then when I loosened my tudung, aku jadi lupa macamana nak lipat balik tudung and pasang balik kerongsang. I took off my specs and they seem really small. I looked at WW's hands and I thought I saw 4 fingers je on them.
" What?" he said, " What's wrong?"
And I couldn't answer. Instead I looked at my extra long ape arms and fiddled a few times with my tudung trying to figure out how to fasten the brooch.
Gile kelakar when I think about it now tapi at that time I was scared to death.

When I finally got a wee bit better to walk across the field and back to our parking in padang Merbok, I really hoped I didn't meet up with anyone. Mana la tau, kot-kot tengah sembang  , aku sembang merapu ke, aku termuntah atas korang ke. So WW, who was now having chills from his unrecovered fever led the way. I wasn't really sure where exactly we were at the time.
On the way back, my feet kena cramps and buckled a couple of times. Then kami balik, mandi and tidor. Not before me downing 1 bottle of rootbeer and 1 bottle of Spritzer Pop.

I guess I got dehydrated. All the signs were there. Ingatkan WW je asyik kena. Heh Heh.
And I guess the batuk made it worse. Or was it the other way round.
Ntah la.
Anyhow I  made it in 2:19 which I'm really thankful about.
But this is just luck. Next time, I'll listen to my body.

Tak best oo jadi bengong tak reti kelepet tudung sendiri.