10km run on my bday

i never really was a birthday type of person. never did like big dinners or surprise party where im the center of attraction. makes me feel awkward. as long as my closest of friends and loved ones remember it and and im able to have a small simple dinner with them, im pretty happy. to me the perfect birthday is to sleep in till noon and then have a heavy hearty breakfast in bed and then go right back to sleep without any interruption.

i know....i sound like an old uncle.

so this year for my 29th birthday, i dont know what the hell i was thinking when i signed up for a 10km run when i have not ran the 10k since i was 17. i've started running again lately but the most i ran was 8km. i dont know why i did it. maybe it was due to the urging from a close friend. maybe i've gone nuts from the boredom in Song. maybe i wanted to see if i could still do it.

whatever it was, i was regretting it the night before the run. my friends had a birthday cake cutting for me the night before the run. before i blew out the candles, i did not wish for a million dollars or a threesome with sexy screaming Japanese twins or a PS3 + HDTV. i just wished to god that there will be a thunder storm in sibu the next morning so that i can sleep in.

when the alarm rang at 530am, there was no thunder or spliter splater sound of falling rain accompanying it. just the cockadoodledoo of a very irritatingly punctual and hard working rooster from my friend's neighbour's house. i was cursing myself for watching Thor at 11 pm and only sleeping at 230am.

managed to dragged myself out of bed and went through my toilet routine which consist of face washing, teeth brushing, butt scratching and chocolate making. put on my shorts and singlet with my bib number A224 and i was off to the run with 2 other friends.

we were told to be there by 645am for the registration. we reached there at 630am only to find out that "YOU DON'T NEED TO REGISTER" and the run only starts at 845am. so was banging balls for 2 hours.

finally at 840am, the organiser called for the 10km run participants to gather at the starting line. the next thing i know, everybody suddenly started running. there was no "on your marks, get set, go" or blaring of a horn gun. they just started running....must be Singaporeans running also.

since this was my first 10km run in years, i started off slowly. wanted to pace myself. so i was pretty much last in the initial stages of the run.

the running route was through a plantation road. once you reached 5km, you turn back and head back towards the starting line.when i was at the 3-4km mark, the leading pack (some army dudes) was already at the 6km mark. wat caught my eyes was a 60+ year old apek was among them. about 20 mins before this race, he ran and won the 7km category in 30 mins.

my ego when "pfffeeeeetttt..."

anyhow, i trudge along anyway at my own pace. slowly but surely, i was catching up with the rest of the crowd in front of me. the last 3km was difficult. it was more of a mental rather than physical challenge. gotta admit, that apek kind of inspired me to finished the race.

i eventually did finished the race at 31st (out of 60-70 ppl) placing with a time of just under 1 hour. i was surprised with the time. i thought i would finish at around 1hour 10mins. so in the end i was pretty happy with the race.

but next year, im still going back to sleeping and breakfast in bed....hopefully with sexy screaming Japanese twins.