Those are the 2 words that carried me through 21km.
I registered for full marathon but got cancelled
due to late payment and when I tried to register again, the 3,000 slots were
all taken up. I was kinda disappointed because I won’t have a chance to compete
a full marathon in my home town so I’ve decided to skip the marathon this year.
I didn’t wanna do a half marathon because I wanted something more challenging.
1 week before PBIM, my emails and FaceBook are bombarded with tones of PBIM newsletter,
information updates and ‘Are you ready?’ posts and it made me feel left out. Haha!
I thought to myself, this is already the last wan, what the heck, just join la.
I texted Soong’s on Wednesday asking are there any
runners, who registered but are not running, don’t care what distance lah, FM,
HM or 10k also ok. I was desperate! On the same day, I got good news that I have
a slot for a HM. I was like wohoo! This is good news but I’ve not run since
June so I don’t really know what to expect. Yet I was excited, I won’t miss out
the last PBIM. I was really not prepared at all. I don’t have any PowerGel, I
don’t an iPhone armcase and I did not train.
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| My ever faithful race partner =) |
Soong’s and friend took a bus down on Saturday
night and they stayed over at my place. I told Soong’s I’m going natural on
race day, no power gel or whatsoever energy booster. The only PowerBar in my
house left was one which should be consumed before June, so it was 5months “expired”.
I didn’t really bother le since it’s gonna be a fun run for me. Definitely not gonna
set any sub2 time target to achieve.
We slept around 11pm. The plan was to wake up at 2am
and leave the house by 2.15am. But as usual, we were late again! We woke up
2.10am, no proper breakfast as we were rushing to get ready. Mentally I wasn’t
prepared and this is bad, I told Soong’s I don’t wanna run d, thinking of the
journey already scared me, let me just drop you guys there. He was like, NOOOO!
You have to run. Reluctantly I abide to it.
We reached and parked opposite Sg.Nibong bus
terminal at 2.45am. Holy molly, we started to jog and walk to the starting
line. It was about 1.5 - 2km from the bus stop. When we reach the
starting line, in less than 2minutes, we were release by the VIPs. Oh man, I
was still tired from my warm up run. The weather was hot and humid, I can
hardly breathe and I was melting already. As usual, slow traffic at the first
5km of the race due to the bottleneck roads. As soon as we hit the bridge, I
was able
able to breathe better and it was less crowded and
then I STOPPED running. I stood by the side of the road and pretended to tie by
shoe lace. I checked my watch <30minutes a="a" ago="ago" already="already" and="and" at="at" bad="bad" before.="before." between.="between." blog="blog" blues="blues" chill="chill" drink="drink" every="every" from="from" get="get" gonna="gonna" good="good" higher="higher" hit="hit" i="i" in="in" incorporates="incorporates" intensity="intensity" is="is" it="it" kinda="kinda" know="know" lil.="lil." low="low" m="m" never="never" not="not" of="of" on="on" out="out" p="p" plus="plus" read="read" really="really" recalled="recalled" running="running" so="so" station="station" stations="stations" stopped="stopped" strategy="strategy" that="that" the="the" this="this" timing.="timing." to="to" top="top" tried="tried" ve="ve" walked="walked" walks="walks" wall.="wall." was="was" water="water" which="which" work="work" years="years">
My strategy was to run fast for every 100 counts
and walk for 10 counts. If I can keep the intensity up, I would run to 200
counts. Oh ma ma mia, works! I was pacing this guy in front of me and till the
17km check point, I was still right behind him. The U-turn at the 17km
checkpoint is the killer! Not physically but mentally. Because before the U-turn,
there was 100plus water station, after the U-turn which was probably 20meters
later, another 100plus water station. At this point, I gave up. I sat down at
the side of the road and sip 4cups of 100plus. For those who know me, I will
NEVER do such a thing but I just wasn’t mentally prepared for it. After
2minutes of so, I stood up and told myself, I gotta be serious and let’s bring
it home. Let’s finish this! Semangat! After 100 meters, I stopped again. I can’t,
I really can’t. So I did the 100counts plus 10count thing again. Till the end,
I keep telling myself, ‘Let’s bring it home’.
I could feel the surge of energy when I reached
the last 1Km, I went all out as fast as I could and finish my last running race
for the year at 2 hours 10minutes and 52 seconds. Not bad considering the
circumstances above.
I have not achieved a sub-2 since my knee surgery
and since I started cycling. I’m not sure which plays a bigger role. I don’t
feel the speed in my legs and I really feel heavy. The damage wasn’t that bad; I
could walk and still train after the marathon. I guess this technique works for
me, just need to refine it more. I hope I can continue training more on my
runs. Knowing this is the last PBIM, it was really an emotional run for me,
besides the running I was also reflecting on the past PBIM I had, there was one
year I ran in Lin Ken’s shoe which was 1 size smaller, how much I’ve change in
my sports attire, in the past I was running with the Miracle Miler, I used ear
phones and I don’t wear knee guards. All that start flowing in my mind making
me emotional and now I don’t feel like ending this post because once I click ‘Post’,
there won’t be any more memories to recreate in the future. As I mature in the
area of sports, I’ve learn many things which are applicable in life. Last but
not least, I wanna take this opportunity to thank God for always being there
with me!
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| Yours truly |
