Running In The Shadow Of The Famous Twin Towers

Petronas Twin Towers at 7 a.m. KL time. Photo taken with a Nokia N82.

If you’ve been following my tweets on Twitter (or reading my updates through the widget on the sidebar…there, on the right side, just under ‘About Me’), you probably know by now that I’ve signed up for the KL Marathon. Not for the marathon or the half-marathon, but for the 5 km fun run. (I never thought I’d see the day when ‘5 km’ and ‘fun’ can go together in the same sentence in perfect harmony.)

I’ve never been a runner in the right sense of the word. All I’ve been on is the treadmill at home, which tends to gather dust every now and test, in testimony of the frequency — or the reverse — of its usage. But lately, I’ve been putting the treadmill to good use again, following the Samsung MiCoach‘s preset programmes. It’s been a long, slow struggle but I felt my stamina has vastly improved from its former sedentary shame — a mere 15 minutes used to be my limit. Now, I can continue for up to an hour comfortably.

I’m painfully aware, of course, that running on a treadmill is nowhere near ‘real running’. With a treadmill, the rotary belt moves you and all you have to do is keep up. Out there, you have to do all the moving — all {weight-goes-here} kg of you. But with my grueling work-kids-travel routine, it’s treadmill or nothing.

So today, eager to test how I’d do ‘out there’, I went to KLCC Park at 7 am and ran/walked/panted along the 1.2 km track that goes around the park. I finished 2 rounds (2.4 km) in 21 minutes and 42 seconds, then did a third (mostly walking round), bringing my total mileage to 3.6 km within 33 minutes and 53 seconds. Nothing to shout about. But, hey, I gotta start somewhere, right?

The 1.2-km jogging track in KLCC Park.

Therefore, theoretically (and a huge emphasis on the theory part), if I keep up with my treadmill training (with occasional visits to KLCC Park), maybe… just maybe… I can finish the 5 km fun run within 40 minutes.

So Kak Haza, the treadmill is not that bad, at least for building up stamina. See you at the KL Marathon on 28th June!