Tofu legs

Oh My God....

I cannot even begin to describe what my legs are feeling now.

But before i jump to the horrors, i'll begin from the start.

3.30am - Awake and quickly get ready. I wisely set out everything the night before so i didnt have to bumble about too much in the dark. Dilemma over which underwear to wear because dad had bad experience before where all the friction cut the skin and he bled. =/

4.00am - Head down to RST guardhouse to wait for Bing Hwang's pickup.

4.15am - Park at Sg. Dua and walk down to the registration area, SK Sg. Gelugor. For the next hour and 45minutes waited enclosed with hundreds of females. Imagine what prison must be like.

5.40am - Crowd gets super restless, after watching the men start their half marathon, we are more than ready to go. Gather in front of gate. Hundreds/thousands of females above the age of 16.

5.50am - Gates open, INWARD. Stupidest thing in the world. People all pressed up against the gate and its a battle for the officials to force the gate open and the participents to force their way out. I just moved along with the wave of people. Scary sh*t. Literally had no control over my own body.

5.55am - At the starting line, super excited. Saw Samy Vellu there and never knew he was so fat.

6.00am - *Bang!* And we're off!

Kept telling myself, keep up a steady pace and i'll be fine. And thankfully, i managed to make it to the other side of the bridge without stopping, jogged all the way. Woo hoo!

Here are some things about Penang bridge that i never realised :
Its darn freakin long
Its so darn freakin long and
Its so so darn freakin long!

Since it was so early, it was still dark and the stars were twinkling above me. It was good cause i couldn't see exactly how far away the other end of the bridge was, and in this case ignorance was bliss. However, once morning crept in- Butterworth was like way off in East Malaysia or something. But as i was jogging, i had the beautiful view of Bukit Mertajam (i think) in the distance, with clouds around it, all different shades of blues and pinks.

Another torture of the bridge, the middle part is actually very, very steep and seems to go on for miles and miles. Killer for the thighs.

I had to walk most of the way back, cause by then my feet were really, really killing me, and my knees were starting to hurt. After the return peak, going downhill my right leg got cramp...Super bloody agonizingly painful! It even looked freaky, cause the calve muscle was inward and made it look distorted. Stop and stretch it out....Then about 2minutes later, my left leg cramps.. Wah-lau eh !

This marathon was really a test of the body, mind and spirit.
My body was getting a beating.
My mind was telling me i wasn't gonna make it.
But my spirit was telling my to go on, that i could do it.

The last quarter i knew i wasn't gonna make the 3hour cut, cause i asked someone the time and there was only 20minutes left. But by then it was about finishing. Completing it by myself and not getting on the bus to be driven back. I promised my mom i would.

So there i was, staggering along. Down round the ramp, and onto the main road. I could hear the loudspeaker and could see the USM fields just around the corner. And guess what- my legs cramped up again. Gah! This time, since i was so close to the finishing line, i just jogged through the pain. As i reached, and hobbled past the marker i was shocked when they handed me a cert and medal...

I MADE IT ! ! ! !






Totally worn out






















My poor aching legs

My thankfully blister-less foot

YAHOO!


















My "prize"









I never explained the whole reason why i joined this marathon. I've never joined one before, and its not something that i've been planning on doing. This decision was mostly for sentimental reasons... Twenty years ago, my mom ran the same marathon. Growing up i've always looked at the photo's of her pushing me along in my pram and thought- wow! The past few years the marathon has actually been canceled, and revived only now. I had to do it incase they cancel it again next year and i lose my opportunity. So....

This is for my mom