Better* - Boyzone

It had all the signs of being a disaster!!!!

My plan was to travel up to Ipoh on Saturday morning and have plenty of time to get my bib etc. Then i found out on Friday tt i was 'on duty' on Saturday!!!!

As i was rushing up the highway to Ipoh, i realised that unless my Wira can transform into a F-22 like Starscream, i'll never make it on time!!!!!

Then, i couldn't find any sort of confirmation tt i have indeed signed up for the race!!! No e-mails. no confirmations, no reminders. Oh dear... did i even sign up for it? If i do not have any confirmation, how will they give me a number???

When i finally got my bib, it was D 354. My fren was saying that it was missing a '5' at the front (only those who understand cantonese will understand!!!).

I was still feeling very tired from my trip to Vietnam earlier this week. No running since last Sunday for the KL one.

I tried to sleep early on Saturday nite. I was totally tired. Slumber should come easily. But it eluded me. All night!!!!! It was very warm - but that wasn't the reason why i couldn't sleep. The road outside suddenly seemed very busy. Each time a vehicle pass by, i could hear it loud and clear. And if the came from the junction opposite the room, the headlights will shine into my room. But that wasn't the reason.

I had an iced mocha earlier that night - but c'mon. Even the extra strong coffee at Vietnam have no effect on me.

So i tossed and turned. It was an uncomfortable night. When i managed to doze off, i dreamt of Transformers and the music video to Michael Jackson's Black or White!!!!

At around 2 sumthing, my tummy din feel too good and i had to go to the toilet.

My alarm was set at 5.10 am. At 5.09 am, i turned off the alarm. But something else alarmed me. What was that i am hearing? Rain drops? I turned off the fan and listened. Yes, it really was. Louder and louder, more and more and then the heavens just opened up and it poured like mad!!!!!!

My tummy stil din feel too good. I decided to just go back to sleep. Sleeping while it's pouring outside. That would be lovely. Surely they are not expecting us to go and register at 5 am under these sort of conditions!!!! And will Raja Nazrin brave the rain and flag us off? Under a yellow umbrella?

But things worked out well. Thank God for wonderful Joseph who agreed to relieve me of my duty on Saturday afternoon.

A fren at Ipoh kindly went to collect my bib on my behalf. Even tho she din have any confirmation of mine, she managed to get my bib and t-shirt!

I din dare eat anything before the race - nightmare from my Penang run last year still lingers. But i felt hungry during the race and decided that i would have McDonald's breakfast after the race!!!

And yes, i braved the rain!!!! It was total madness. Pouring like crazy. It was so so cold. I was soaked to the skin and my white running vest was so obscene!!!! But it was worse for the ladies who were running in white t-shirts. It was like a wet t-shirt competition!!! The spectators must have had quite a spectacle - esp the police and army volunteers! Me? I ran without me specs so i couldn't really see much! ;-P

The registration was just them tying a plastic 'string' around our wrist!

It was quite an experience running in such heavy rain. I thanked God that i kept my old running shoes in my car boot and i used them instead of my newer one. It was amusing seeing some run carrying umbrellas, some running in raincoats or ponchos!!! The funniest part to me was when we ran past the sponge table!!!! It was pouring with rain, we were all drenched and soaked - why do we still need wet sponges??? But in typical Malaysian kiasu attitude, many runners took the sponges - some took 2 or more!!!!

It felt quite bad for me initially. I sprinted from my car to the stadium thinking that i may have missed the start of the race. That really threw me off and got me tired b4 the race even started!

My ankles started to hurt early in the race and i told meself tt i'll stop and walk after a mere 20 minutes. But i was glad i managed to overcome a 'mini wall' and pushed meself. In fact, i achieved a mini runners' high after a while and i started to really enjoy the run! New sights, cool weather, good feeling! :-)

I was reminded why i enjoyed running like this so much last year. After this run, i immediately signed up for another one. Well, i tried to sign up for the Siemens Run too but that was closed.

So all things worked out. I even started to play 'Smooth Criminal' in my head just for fun (see previous post) and i must say that this time round, it sounded pretty good, not like the slowed down broken record version last week!

And the best thing about it all is that i managed to shave off 15 minutes from last Sunday's KL run. It still wasn't good but a great improvement! I did better. And i'm happy. :-)

*Their cover (do they do anything else???) of Tom Baxter's song which i first heard in the movie, Run Fatboy Run.