Brooks Half Marathon: Monkey Disappointed

My first run of the year. Actually, I won't be doing much running this year. It is a very busy year for me and I also plan to start swimming (I suck at swimming). Anyway, i managed to register for Brooks after much persuasion from friends. I only did 10km though.

This time around, I wasn't very much prepared. In fact I was at my heaviest this year coming into the run, slightly above 80kg. (I really had a feast last month. Well, it was my birthday month). I wasn't at 100% anyway, since I only recently recovered from fever. So I know that getting close to the one hour mark was out the window. 

This time around Teh Tarik Drinker was not around. He decided to skip the event. I came to the event with a group of first time runners (Suddenly i felt like a seasoned runner. I've only been running for a year): Virgil, Aima, and Merilyn. We also caught up with a friend of theirs, Marie and her friend whom I forgot his name (sorry... ). They flew in all the way from Sabah just for the run.

[With Virgil and Merilyn... this year is so orangy]

[Aimz and Merilyn trying to calm the nerves perhaps... or maybe it's just them]

[Virgil, Merilyn and Aimz... first time runners]

This year's event was below expectation. After running Brooks last year, this year was nowhere close to being as good as last year. Those who ran last year would agree. The most disappointing part for me was not being able to run in the stadium. Last year, the run started and ended inside the stadium. We ran on the track. This year, the starting line and finishing line was outside and it didn't look that grand either. I guess I was disappointing that I forgot to take photos. 

The route for 10km is almost the same as last year, except that the first 5km this year was the last 5km last year, which made it easier for some as the big hills were in the early part of the run. 

My race didn't go well. First kilometre, I did just under 7 minutes and I thought it would be a good run. But towards the end of the 2nd kilomtere I started to feel pain in the legs. Something I've never had before, cramps in the early part of the race. From then on after the 2nd km, my race was just about run and walk, run and walk.Only in the last 1.5km did I manage to run nonstop overtaking everone in my path. 

I suffered the consequences later though as my right heel started to feel pain and I can barely walk. This was definitely something new for me. I would usually be fine with no cramps at all after a 10km run. But this pain lasted a long time (in fact I am still feeling it now).

[Pain or no pain... I had to do the pose "TO DI WORLD"]

[... and i managed to get the girls to do the pose too....]

[This time around it was a mini trophy instead of a medal]

Actually this was one of the reason that I decided to join Brooks Half Marathon, a mini trophy. Something different than usual. But the whole event was a disappointment for me. What was a great event last year, seemed to be downgraded this year. Hopefully Brooks will make it better again next year.

[Us posing with our mini trophies...]