Larian Integrasi 2011

For the second time now. Very the early they held this year. Nope. I think about the same time as last year, first/second month, same day as PNM2010. I was still in denial whether to participate or not but I was definitely shaking the beds for my kids to rise & shine for their runs.

OK, I just brought my shoes and left it in the car, just in case the legs starts to shiver. Wore the most decent apparel I can get from the wardrobe. Pretty much difficult to get a clean cotton tee beneath those tonnes of drifits. NO running vest! Definitely NO to compression wears OK! No 5" Adidas short! Luckily found a Billabong cotton tee and a three quarter Muller short. Phew. Overdressing for a school run is too much.

After my kids left with the school van, wifey & me went for roti canai first. Still in denial, and at the same time pray the roti won't come out at the first kilometer if I decided to run. Upon reaching the school compound I was surprised to see lots of parents, especially fathers, in their most exclusive sports attire. Wallawey! Jitters started creeping in. 50-50 now becomes 70-30.

Tidur kejap

Kids got assembled for their lengthy briefings and stretching. Almost fell back to sleep waiting. Then they paraded onto to the football field for their start by age. Pergh! Now I'm excited already. The frequent announcement from the Dee Jay booth had me, "Kepada ibu bapa yang ingin mengambil bahagian, sila mendaftar di pondok urusetia. Bayaran hanya RM3." No further thoughts, I signed up. Second surprise, they have veteran category! 40 above somemore! Sign!

After the kids left the field, I terhegeh-hegeh went back to the car for the shoes. Hurriedly ran back to the field and kinda missed the so called briefing by the teacher. I only get the idea that all adults will be flagged off together. Horn blown away, and me without any warm up, just plodded along with the rest of the parents. We also have a few teenagers trying their luck in the Men's Open Cat. Definitely can't beat them.

No strategy, I just ran. Keeping a constant pace, eyeing the front runners. Not many of us actually. Barely 30 I think, so we were scattered just after 500 meters into the run. I just ran, only thinking that I want to survive the 6km at a decent pace. With the sudden start and barely last minute decision, I had to miss the hydration part. Suddenly felt so thirsty meh?! Mouth drying rapidly. Aiyo! OK no need to panic lah. Only 6km can just finish it up and drink later.

Det couldn't join. Only Rozaimi around, so I followed him 200 meters away. Overtook a few guys before the U-turn and saw one indian boy running with a smile on the face confirming his victory in the Men's Open though still another halfway to go. I smiled back and pushed on maintaining whatever left inside these legs. Rozaimi held back after the u-turn and left me for the final leg. Chances are high that I could win the veteran category, I slowed my pace not wanting to push further incurring any injury.

Saw the finish line and a teacher held out a small card but held back in confuse upon seeing the gold ribbon I hold in my hand (veteran had to bring the ribbon to separate from the Open Cat).

"Alamak! Encik kategori veteran ke? Placing dah habis!" he said.

"Huh?!" I replied.

"Ni mesti encik ikut salah jalan. Terikut jalan lelaki terbuka." he kinda confirmed with the statement.

"Ye ke?! Alamak! Takde orang kat simpang bagitau saya pun?" frustration in my voice and hopes crumbling.

I presumed that I missed the earlier briefing about the route and admitted in silence of my mistake. But, still pray that the sweat and thirst could be paid off with the least token. With face like Puss In Boots from Shrek, the teacher handed me small card No. 4 from the Men's Open Cat. Alhamdullillah. Rules are made to be broken? No idea for this case. Hehe. More like flexibility I guess. And so I claimed my first running medal for 2011 but still with a tiny frustration of being careless. Wifey left me a note before bed "It's normal a veteran to forgot that he's old already." Lol.

Yasmin placed 40th while Amir 32nd. They don't even bother about it though I placed high hopes they could secure medals. No worries. At least they enjoyed trips to the ice cream seller.