Bad Romance

I'll try my best not to include too much drama in this entry, as I don't have the luxury of time to do so. In fact, this is the first I'm writing an entry on the bus, on my way back from KL to JB. I know my upcoming working week is going to be another bustling busy one.

Well, if you read my previous entry, I was targeting to attempt running from Kiara Park to Bukit Aman, and make a turnaround there. The total distance would be around 30km-ish.

Having arrived quite late on Friday night from JB, I didn't really get a good sleep prior to Saturday morning. My first alarm went off and I snoozed it. Not until the second alarm went off that I realized I was already slightly late from my intended wake up time. Anyway, by 6.30am I made myself available at Kiara Park.

I wanted to start the run at 6.30am sharp, but had to cancel that intention as few minutes have to be spent in the loo, doing some 'transactions'. Next, had to spend another few minutes plastering up blister prone areas on my both feet as once again, I'm going to run sock-less.

I started my stop watch at 6.50am heading out from Kiara Park with two bottles around my waist on my Fuel Belt, filled with Gatorade. It was still dark and not so many runners around. Just after two minutes running, I knew it would be a tough day for me as I didn't really feel fit for the 31km run. Perhaps the lack of sleep before that played the main reason for me feeling as such.

My journey from Kiara Park to Hartamas felt just like any other LSD I did before, drama-less. I didn't even stop at Petronas Hartamas, and headed directly towards Plaza Damas, and then straight away until the government building complex.

In order to sustain my hydration, I set my timer to beep at every 10 minutes to remind me to take some little sip of Gatorade as I continued running. I was just hoping that my Fuel Belt has sufficient of supply until I reach the next water refill station, which was going to be another 10km away, plus minus.

As it was on Saturday, not so many runners could be seen around the quiet Taman Tunku and Jalan Tun Ismail. I started to feel some degree of fatigue in the whole body system. Everything felt a bit weak, I can't push any harder. Being able to maintain my slow pace was already good enough.

After 1hr36m running, I finally arrived at Bukit Aman parking area. The first thing that came to my mind was, ”Hey, where's my car? I want to drive home now”. I really wished my car was there. I started to doubt that I can run back to Kiara Park from Bukit Aman.

I took a short break and refilled my bottles with two cans of 100plus from the food stall at the car park area. Not so good choice really, because as I started to run again and as my Fuel Belt shakes, the gaseous 100plus burst and the contents were reduced to half. I should have bought another type of drinks next time, non-gaseous type is a must.

I braved the journey back, applying some forced walk breaks strategy at every 10minutes, while re-hydrating. Upon reaching 2hours of running, I downed one PowerBar Gel, and added another plaster at the heel of my left foot. It felt chafed. My pace had reduced considerably and I started walking. I kept telling myself not to walk, not until when the time is due, which is at every 10minutes intervals. It started to feel tough.

The sun has also started to show itself, adding up another challenge into my LSD run. I was running while day dreaming of the icy cool Gatorade which I will down furiously as I arrived Petronas Hartamas later. It was getting harder to keep on running. I was controlling on my re-hydration with the very limited 100plus left. I just wanted to get to that petrol station as fast as I could. I needed to drink and cool down my body so badly.

I didn't waste any seconds once I arrived at that Petronas station, quickly went to grab myself two bottles of Gatorade. Refilled my Fuel Belt, and finished up the balance in split seconds. After 5 minutes, I went to take 'shower' by the tap water before continuing my run. I hoped no one was looking as it surely looked weird to see a man taking a shower by the petrol station, with his cap, and shirts, and shorts, and shoes on.

”Time for my home run”, I told myself. The day was getting hotter and my body and legs were getting weaker with every step I made. Speed or pace was not anymore my target during that moment, I just wanted to finish the grueling run. One step at a time, I continued running. I was always looking forward for the every 10minutes timer beeps where I can slow down to walking, and fueling up with another sips of drinks.

Finally, I reached Kiara Park with a very satisfied feeling that I've made it back. It was tough no doubt, especially because I was not feeling the best for the run. I just had to clock that final long LSD before starting my tapering process (yeay!).

And that was my longest solo LSD run ever. EVER!

31km, in 3hr 20min. It was a sock-less, MP3-less, drama-less, and blister-less (alhamdulillah) run. I was just glad I attempted it.

And if you ask me what was I thinking while running alone for more than 3 hours under the morning sun, my answer would be ”Bad Romance”.

Yeah, the song Bad Romance by Lady Gaga kept on blasting in my head throughout the whole run. Hmm, I wonder why.