On 29th September 2013,I ran Standard Chartered Kuala Lumpur Marathon(SCKLM) in full marathon Men's Open category. My aim for this event was to finish in 3 hours 10 minutes. However, I had experienced a cramp at Km27, but I still not give up and run slowly. I was looking a SALONPAS spray to reduce my pain. Only after I passed two water station, I got it. After the spraying by a young lady which was volunteer, I forced myself to run approximately about 5min pace so that I can catch up.
At KM 32, I hit the wall. Both my leg exprienced severe cramp and I cant even stand. I was lying down on the route and luckily my friend, Karsten Korbel from Germany stop and helped me. He pushed my leg and asked me to let my muscle relax. I tried to relax but cant. After a few minutes, I told him to let me go and continue his run. A volunteer reached, gave me a spray. I sat on the roadside because I couldnt stand anyway. By looking at the watch, I told myself to just walk rather than take ambulance back to finishing line. At last I did 4hours 15minutes and 13seconds.
my timing and split.
4 days after the run, I started my recovery but sadly I finished my 3km by dragging my leg. The side effect of the severe cramp is still there. A lot of my friends advised me to take a rest. Hence, I decided to take a rest until it recovered and I gave up some of the running events to let my leg rest.
I put my shoes aside and rested about 2 weeks and half and now Im fully recovered. As conclusion, the best thing to cure our injury is to let our body rest. A runner or an athlete must always remember that resting is also part of training program. If we train 7 days a week,we might not achieve our target or improvement. Perhaps 6 days in a week of training, might help us because we give our body especially muscle to relax and replenish.
