Trail running day 42

Lata Medang, Kuala Kubu Baru, around 1hour 15 minutes from Kuala Lumpur offers a fair deal of challenge for trail runners. The distance from the car park to Lata Medang is not that far, only 6km. So if you run to and from the car park its only 12km. So how did the apps in my iPhone shows that I have covered 20.3km?

The night before Monday the 24th of April I slept quite late. I got up around 5.30am. I barely had around 4 hours of sleep. After a quick shower and some last minute preparation, I make a move around 6.30am. I barely knew this place and how to get there. I just keep the pieces that I read from the internet together. I arrived around 8am and was surprise that there is a barrier that blocking the road going towards the car park. You need to pay RM1 to the attendant before you can pass. I paid one RM50 note to the attendant with a semi guilty face. Luckily they have some changes, all 49 notes of RM1.

I am quite surprise that the car park is almost fully occupied. Making a mental note that the next trip need to be earlier. You can see a glorious river flowing not far from the car park. I pack up my running gear and headed to the starting point just before a bridge. 10 minutes stretch and I started to run; an obvious mistake. In my eagerness to start the run, I did not perform my stretching routine and paid the price later. 

The muddy surface at the 1/3 of the tracks prove to be energy sapping, and these are suppose to be the easiest part. Thrice that I fell on my butt due to the slippery conditions. Something that I can avoid if I just make small steps. 

The next 2/3 are hilly tracks and this is the most punishing parts. Running up hill is not my strengths so I decided to just hike on hilly tracks and start to run again on "normal" tracks to make up for lost time. 

I arrived at Lata Medang quite early but my ignorance make me went up further uphill. If only I just read the map correctly, this will not happen. Maybe I should invest on watch with GPS...hmmm...wait until I got some budget for that (should start to save from now :p )

I double back down hill and luckily I saw others at the route and they said "This is Lata Medang!"

Looking at the waterfalls cured all the pain and cured your tired legs and body. The view is just awesome. I just take of my running shoes and socks and retire my legs in the coolness of the river water while eating my sneakers chocolates. I finish off the remaining 350ml of redbull at one of my front water bladder. I still have another 350ml of redbull in my another water bladder and 1.5 litre of plain water in my water reservoir. So in terms of rations, I'm still over supply.

After some photo shoots (I can't imagine not to. The scenery is too awesome to be ignored), I started to run down hill. Sneakers helps to regain my energy and the tracks are all downhill..so its time to attack, making up for loss time. 

I learned few things after this trip;

1. Don't pour cold water into the water bladder/reservoir. It makes your running bag wet and heavy. 
2. Sleep early so I can get up early the next morning fresh.
3. Warm up! Warm up!
4. It's redbull for me. Gatorade isn't quick enough to boost my energy.
5. Sneakers is okay but I should try the gel to see if can have better impact.
6. Small steps all the way especially on muddy surface unless you want to have free mud spa.
7. Learn and study about the trail as much as you can. There is no short cut from studying.

Due to volumes of people, Lata Medang waterfalls is hardly a place that can offer you the sense of emptiness. Take the opportunity to make friends with those happens to be there. They are there for the same reason; to enjoy the nature. So enjoy the view, enjoy the adventure. 

To time your run is important but life is not about how fast that you reach the destination, its about enjoying the journey. 

Live your life to the fullest!

#livefreerunningwild