Writing process

My Overwhelming and Exciting First Half-marathon a Year of 2019 in Bali

I joined a half-marathon race for the first time in Bali in late 2019 and that became the most unforgettable moment for me. I trained for almost six months before the event was held. Most of the time back then, I went for my long run in GBK regularly. That was a minimum three times a week I had to do my long run schedule. I was struggling between my work shifts and also my training schedule. I had to beat up my laziness to be disciplined and reach my goal. I was so grateful for my best friend, who was also my running coach for that event. Fortunately, she is a passionate and dedicated runner, meanwhile, I was the recreational one. So, I had to take an extra mile to do my training and learnt a lot about marathon race. I was nervous but excited at the same time. Days passed by that felt like a finger snap. Finally, I went to Bali with a group of friends. I landed in Bali two days before the race day. On the first day I landed, I collected the race pack. The second day, my friends and I enjoyed Bali’s cuisine and beaches near our hotel to calm our nerves. Then, the race day came. I can still remember the ambience and the euphoria at that time. I woke up early at 1 a.m. to have a shower, put on my running outfit, grab a light breakfast, and do some easy warm-ups. After that, I met up with my friends in the lobby hotel to walk about 500 meters to the shuttle bus for all the registered runners. It took about 30 minutes to reach the race venue. It was in Gianyar. At the race venue, all of the runners should wait before the start line. When the bell rang, we all started to jog, then run at our targeted pace. It had to be under 3 hours to finish the half-marathon race to be classified as a finisher and get the medal. It was quite tense and overwhelming back then when I reached half of the route to see some runners were injured, got muscle cramps, or other situations that needed medical support. “I need to focus. Just step a step at a time!”, I said to myself. While I kept listening to my playlist songs, I could enjoy the green scenery, the windy breeze, some friendly cheering groups, and some interesting complementary stations. Finally, I finished the race strong and safely. I was so relieved and grateful for the chance and also the excitement I got from he event, while the medal was a bonus for me. That first race I did already took a special place in my heart.