From A Small Town Girl.

Kak June dah buat dah entry pasal running a marathon. Diket pun dah gebang.
So aku rasa tak salah jugak aku nak tumpang eksited kat korang yang nak buat marathon SCKLM ni.

Ramai gak dok mai kat aku tanya aku buat full ke. Yang lebih cemerlang tanya aku, " Hang lari marathon berapa K?". Heh heh. Apapun jawapannya sama ja : Aku terjebak dalam half je. Tadek masa training la. Nak-nak bila anak-anak aku dah mula sekolah.

Tapi tu tak mematahkan kegigihan aku nak tulis entry ni untuk korang.  Diket dah bagi tip cara dia. Bes jugak tip-tips dia bagi. So aku pun nak nyebok jugak la bagi tips

But what I'm conveying is more to my personal experience la. Ceh, pengalaman konon. Baru lari 2 marathon. Ptuii..

Anyway, this is all I can offer, small town -style.

Tapir
That's taper to the rest of you. I guess by now, you've done all your training, your LSDs, your speedwork and what nots. It's time to tapir. Jangan nak gatal lari tiap-tiap hari this week. It won't make you faster, it wont make it easier. Take it easy, ideally today should be your last run before the race. Do not try new exercise routines this week. Kot la, kat gym nun, diorang ajar the latest way to zumba ke, give it a polite pass Try to stiff the urge to increase the weights in your strength training. This week is a bad time for an new injury. Next week can la.
And on race day eve, please try to refrain yourself from walking too much at a shopping mall ke, expo ke, dll. Actually, this one's for me. Heh.


Carboloading
Makan nasik je! Nak cari pasta bagai. Kalau orang rumah tak reti masak spageti, satu hal la pulak  nak perabih RM18.80 untuk makan spinggan spageti ciput kat kedai. Take it from us, rice is enough. Nak-nak kalau dapat nasi ayam. Pergh. Murah pun murah. Sedap pun sedap. FYI, one of Lance Armstrong's favorite carbo loading meal is rice and eggs. Okay, so he's not a runner but still..
But skip la on those sambals, tomyams and masak pedas. Angin yang keluar ikut belakang semasa berlari tidak boleh dianggap sebagai daya tujahan ke depan ok.

 Race Day Attire
Basically to me, you can wear anything you're comfortable with. There's no rule saying you're obliged to wear the official running vest or shirt. Kami penah tanya masa jadi newbie at a race, " wajib ke pakai Race T ni?" Akak organizer tu cakap, " kalau kami cakap wajib, kang berdosa lak kalau tak pakai." Ok, noted.

There's also no rule saying you have to really wear those state of the art technical shirt or short/pants to be faster or to get your PB easier. All that needs proper, well planned training. If you've trained well, you can wear anything to get your PB
Don't save a recently purchased shirt or pants to try out at your marathon. A marathon is no place to start trying something new. Anything bad that can happen will happen. Who knows, maybe that sleek looking running tights might cause a major blister to God-knows-where. Or maybe that cute sports bra can graze the skin of your you-know-what.
And no, I've yet to find a dry fit tudung and anak tudung.So to all those tudung clad ladies, wear any tudung that fits you best and you're used to in your training runs. Tak kira la cap Wardina ke, Aryna ke. Aku pakai tudung cotton, tak pun bawal je. Tudung manik-manik labuchi simpan untuk makan kenduri.

Race Day
Arrive early to get a good parking place. Keep your I/C and some money wrapped in a clear plastic bag in your pocket. Don't leave anything valuable in your car. Kawaq-kawaq la ni dah pandai. Pi acara lari sambil pecah masuk keta orang. Memang tahap ungka.
If you have to do a no.1 or no2, or have the slightest feeling, do go. Especially when the lines aren't long.
Do whatever rituals you do prior a race. Kalau takde prerace ritual, toksah dok start skarang.
Make sure you have evrything in your pockets. If you don't have pockets, make sure you got everything fastened on your hydration belt ke, tucked in your sports bra ke, apa-apa je lah yang korang biasa buat taim LSD dulu.

If you're used to running with a bottle, I personally think it's better to do that in a marathon. Save you a lot of time from stopping at  water stations. Lagipun, bila nak gulp je, you can gulp and not exhaust yourself wondering where the next water station is. Bila air habis, refill je kat water station or grab another bottle. Tapi kalau tak biasa, toksah dok start skarang.
Same goes with whatever energy gels or bar you're used to. Kalau selama ni telan satu brand gel ni taim LSD, jangan tetiba plak rasa nak tukar selera try gel brand lain taim marathon tu jugak. Ye la kan, takut perut tak serasi. Taim tu plak rasa cam nak terberi.
Personally I don't like gels. Or bars. They taste weird and chemical-ly. Unfortunately I never train myself to anything else pulak. I read before that Scott Jurek refuels with bean burritos during his long runs. Wah, alangkah syoknya kalau sambil lari refuel dengan karipap ke, ais krim ke. Wah, bestnya. Tapi mungkinkah makcik-makcik kepoh kat kampung akan mengadu kat mak aku mengatakan aku tidak senonoh semasa berlari. Dan, sekiranya ini terjadi, maka akan bertambah modallah mak ku untuk memperbaharui permohonannya untuk cucu ke 3.

Try to practice good racing ethics throughout the race. Smile whenever you can. Greet people if you feel up to it. If you feel great bu the 35th K, try not to annoy the walking zombies by rubbing it in their faces. Rather, give words of encouragement. "Looking good!" Just might do the trick. If they flash looks of daggers at you, try to hasten your pace. LARI!
To me, it's not a good idea to challenge somebody in a fast footrace in  the early part of the marathon unless you're sure you can keep that pace throughout the whole race. Nanti pancit buat malu je. Beria potong orang tu, last-last kat KM 30 dia potong balik. Kalau hang potong sorang, ingat ada la 500 orang depan hang. Bukan nak menang pun. Not that I'm saying, it's not cool to pass other runners. You pass who you can pass. But do it with grace.

Again, end your race with grace. Don't be kiasu and try to block other passing runners 100m to the end of the line. Don't stop abruply. Don't swerve suddenly. What you do can  affect another person's stride. Tak best la, syok-syok lari the whole distance, nak dekat habis kena sumpah seranah.
End your race with finesse. Smile at the cameras even if you feel horrible. Post race bila orang tengok gambar, depa bukan tau pun korang penat ke, cramp ke, nak pengsan ke apa. Janji nampak enjoy. Haha. And if you have a sudden surge of overwhelming emotions, do cry. Be in the moment. Bawl you eyes out. Be melodramatic. Feel lucky you felt this.
Me, I never had those feelings. I never had that meaningful finishing moment. Ake lebih sebak tengok TBL punya contestant finishing a marathon distance ride on a stationary bike. Serius air mata berderai tengok episod tu. At the end of my 2 marathons, the only feeling I had was relief. Sebab aku penat.
And I wonder why is this. Didn't I try hard enough? Didn't I give my best? Or is my heart calloused due to work related stress?

Apapun peeps especially FMVs, enjoy your first marathon. Anthing you achieve will be a glorious PB. Don't be surprised to see me clapping/ patting your back during the race if I happen to see you. I give you,  full marathoners, my full support. You are truly super.

See you guys in SCKLM. I'm trying to convince my calloused heart to wear something in a girly color for a change.

Then again, maybe not.


***Oh yes, Good luck to all the Sundown 100K runners, Yim, Kak Kash ( I'm not sure if she even read blogs anymore), Ray, Zacky, Pui San and last but not least Zul ( who I'm not sure is running or not) All the best! ***