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Tuesday, July 12, 2011

5k RUN!

finish
Hello,

i am only writing this post for the sake of keeping this blog alive. no more no less. in this entry, i would like to share about my experience today that's revolve around Party With Purpose Hoboken 2011 5K Run. Nothing serious about this entry; and do not expect this entry to be like athletic experience of well-trained Marathon Olympians in his 26 miles marathon. i only write this so that we can ponder upon good values and lessons.

so it starts about yesterday (even though i just told you that this is my experience today) when i felt mild muscle pain in my calf. maybe i was walking, or running, too much prior to this 5k Run-day. i tried my best to get a very decent rest; yet, strangely, my action contradicted my wish as i walked cumulatively more than (approximately) 15Km. hmm..maybe i lack self-control.

and today, up to now, i have eaten terribly big amount of food. dinner-sized breakfast at 5.38am, donuts and banana at noon, nasi himpit Ammar at 2.30pm and pretty big lunch at 3.04pm. as a result, i ended up sleeping at 4.38pm. seriously i sound like a fat person. well, this is not something that i usually do though.

the race was supposed to start at 7.00pm. well, sun was still up in Hoboken. hehe..if it were in Malaysia maybe this is the time when your parents start to yell calling you home.

remember, i was sleeping. right? i woke up at 6.50pm. i was like whaaaatt?? am i gonna have 5K sleep or what? so i also realized that i haven't performed my 'Asr prayer yet. huhu.. i wanna go to that race so freaking bad, man. honestly, i felt like running to the race spot; but, who am i kidding though. my very own fresh experience told me that it is going to take 30 minutes to get there walking (which is 1.4 miles away from my place). i made a simple calculation while i was heading to the bathroom; well it might take less than 20 minutes for me to get there but as soon as i got there, the race would have already started and i would have been super exhausted - without taking part in the race.

it's ok. i would pray first and ask Allah for help. i said "God, help me to get there before the race started." it seemed impossible for me to get there as the clock showed 6.54pm. i grabbed everything that i was supposed to carry such as number slip (that sheet of durable paper to be attached on your shirt showing your number), pins, ankle brace, home key and 20 USD bill. i went down my apartment. i was still deciding whether or not should i go to the race. i have already gotten the running shirt; for me, it would be humiliating to wear that shirt in the future if i do not participate in the race. i thought it would be impossible for me to get there as it was already 6.59pm. how can i get there in one minute?? to go 1.4 mile in one minute, i have to run as fast as 84 mile per hour or 134 km per hour. hahaha..

but i believe, God will help me. i haven't given up yet that time, right? so the help from Allah came when i got in a cab that coincidentally crossed Madison Street. yeay! yet, i was still nervous. it is 7.03pm. i prepared myself in that cab - i put the shoe tag and the number slip, tied up the shoe laces and made a prayer (supplication or du'a) :D

deep inside, i told myself " if the race has already started, i will surely go back with the same cab even though i have to pay double the amount of fare to go the same place i originally board on." hehe..wouldn't it be funny? it would be like me taking an evening ride with a cab from Madison Apartment to Pier A and go back at the same exact starting spot in relatively short time.

but again, my prayer was answered! alhamdulillah :D

i still saw enormous crowd gathering at that starting point of race. they were the racers! yeay, the race did not yet started. it was 7.07pm. so i ran for two blocks (instead of 20 blocks if i had run from Madison) to be in the crowd. they just finished singing their national anthem. i was there but my heart was still pounding like *insert bad word here*.

no warm up. no stretching. nothing. few seconds after i got there, the race started. wallaa.... i was like " am i doing the right thing now?" arghh...

so i ran and ran. at one point i got so damn exhausted. hargh..i keep saying to myself that i can do this! it is only 5Km. (yeah right..equivalent to 12 laps of official running track) haha..i do not wish to get the 1st place. man, i did not prepare sufficiently to enter this race. i am careful of what i wish for. verily, men are rewarded based on their efforts. i hold fast onto this philosophy. the only thing that i wish for is that i can finish this race under 27 minutes without having anything that can potentially stop me from running. i truly regret to eat so bizarrely much and sleep irregularly.

for me this race is not about me racing other contestants. it is all about me winning over my invisible-internal-bad-lazy-weak me. i push myself as i could see the end point. my ankle, ribs and shoulder were terribly sore. argh, *insert another familiar bad word here* that!

as a result, i managed to finish the race in 25minutes 3 seconds. that means my pace is like 8 minutes per mile. let's play some mathematics, on average, i can go one mile in 8 minutes. so my average velocity is 12.5 mph or 20km/h. yeay, i made it. alhamdulillah.

even though it is not a decent achievement that can be proud of, but i am quite happy. the racing itself is not the whole point of the story. it is the lessons behind that we can learn. for me, this 5k Run experience is nothing but an elaborated description of this following saying:

"it is good to have God in your life; you can ask whatever you want and He will surely grant it - as long as you have faith in Him and please Him the way He wants it to be." -Encik Redzuan -

p/s: i am only a humble servant of Allah. i do a lot of mistake. please feel free to point out my mistake, if there is any, in an acceptable manner. i welcome critics and comments. this is a reminder for me and you just in case we forgot

3 comments:

  1. finally! a new post from u. haih iwe2.. busy ngat ea dok sane. hehe

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  2. Leen: hehe..bukan busy. kalau tgk post yg before post ni, faham la kot kenapa tak post2 dari dlu.

    matper the blogger master: hehe..fit gapo dio..aku ranking ratus2 kot..orang yang menang tu buat dlm 14 minutes something je. gile betul. kalau nak duk top 100 kena dapat bawah 22 minutes.

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