Today I ran

...the Kuala Lumpur International Marathon.

Well I didn't do the marathon of course, since I figured anything more than 42 km would probably be best for me if done by car, but I did enter the 10k race and placed 141 out of a few hundred female runners. I'm hoping there were several hundred, like maybe 50 hundred female runners, so I'd feel especially gratified at placing 141, but I highly doubt there were 50 hundred runners in the 10k of any gender, so finishing the race is plenty gratifying in and of itself.

I'm almostalmostalmost at my goal of running 10k in 70 minutes. I was shy 26 seconds yesterday. I'm thinking I should get someone to pace me. Do hares actually run really fast? I'm not sure I want a human pacer, I'd probably kick him off the bike if he tried to tell me to go faster or run harder. The hare would probably wait at a tree or take a nap if I was going too slow, plus I can imagine hares would be more environmentally friendly.

It used to be unnerving when little kids and old men and women ran past me. It still is, actually. I mean, it can get a bit demoralizing when you run with people who look like they jog to work and school on a daily basis. But on a personal level I'm overtly smug when I finish a run knowing I'm probably in the best shape I've been in in a long time.

And no one can take that away from me.

P.S. Sometimes you gotta pat your own back when no one else will do it for you.