I stood at the starting line with mixed feelings. Because I did not train for the marathon and haven’t been doing much running, I was not sure if I should go out there to finish the whole thing. The day before I was still contemplating which part of the race I could stop at. Furthermore, I was still recovering from my flu, with running nose and all. It was even kind of a last minute decision to go there. Keeping in mind what HJ said, I kept telling myself to go and run for as long as I can, according to how I feel and whatever beyond 21km would be a bonus.
Perhaps what gave me the courage to be there in the first place was my experiences with 21km and one week ago I could still manage a one hour at a pretty fast pace. That's all! WHEW!
As I proceed to the starting line, I passed by many many runners stretching and getting ready for the race. I felt exhilarated and really looked forward to running beside them. How encouraging it would be to run together with so many people with the same goal!
The first part of the race brought us to marina south. It was still dark and chilly since we started the race at 530am. Amidst the darkness, there were many people running and chatting away. Soft noises to loud laughters from attention-seeking people. =) A few kilometers into the race I was feeling a little scared. I was quite worried that I could not even last half the distance because felt a little difficulty in my breathing due to the running nose. Still stuck at marina south, we saw the first elite runner in the race on his way back to esplanade area, followed by a few others trailing behind. How unreal it is to be in their position!
I kept missing the distance markers till about 8km; I was feeling quite unconfident about the marathon so I really had to check the distance with respect to the timing. 9km took us just a few minutes over an hour. The conservative pace and still feeling comfortable in the pacing cheered me on. Not very familiar with marina south, I was quite puzzled how come it took so long to go back to esplanade area.
Finally we came back to the all so familiar CBD as dawn was breaking. Half marathoners started passing by with amazing speed. It felt like the marathon crowd was walking as the lead runners whiz past us. There was a runner who even shouted to along his way through the crowd. Doesn’t he have a lot of energy! Finally, we came back to
13km into the race.
We kept at a very good pacing. It was about one and a half hours, which would result in 2 hours 2o plus minute’s half marathon. As we thread through the city area, I was still bothered by my nose and was certainly starting to feel a little tired. It was pretty interesting and funny to read the encouraging words people wrote on their tags pinned behind, be it how cliché it was. =) The two that made me remember the best was "****, ****, **** tricked me here" and another was much later into the race where a couple wrote "we would finish the race together" on the boyfriend's tag while it says “he said we would finish together" on the girlfriend's. How sweet!
Embarking on the journey to ECP was pretty monotonous and trying to save energy for later parts of the race. After coming this far in the race, there are amazingly still many people running beside me. Perhaps that was what 'going with the flow' meant to me at that point in time. I was rather thrilled with the distance I was going despite the lack of training for the past few months.
The sun starting rising higher as we reached east coast, but that did not bother me too much. On the other side of the path, we saw 32km, the distance we would probably more than an hour later. Soon, I saw myself closing to 21km. It was probably the distance marker that I noticed from the furthest position! After that spells the longest distance I would ever take in a race!
This was when I know I was bound for the full marathon and there was no way I would give up in this race. =) I kept telling myself: runners don’t quit, quitters don’t run! And I MUST finish what I started on.
Due to a lack of training, the impending fate of muscle soreness soon set in. Each step became harder to take. Fortunately there was the Muscle Rub! The first time I applied inadequately, it didn’t help much. On the second time, I took much more from them and it proved to be useful to remove the sensations of tiredness. After that was scrambling for Muscle Rub whenever I do see them giving out. =)
The heat was starting to affect me a little as the distance increases. There were increasingly number of people walking as I ran past. However, this really reminds me that everyone is just as tired and I have to hang in there. 26km saw the turning of the race at the end of
I kept looking out for the 32km marker which I saw when we first reached ECP; it took really long to come. I kept reminding myself after that would be just 10km left, I would have already done 3/4 of the race. Along the way, the sun was already high up, the heat immensely upon all the runners. It was very lively; there were a lot of supporters along the BBQ areas and even some bands making loud noises. =) I also met a few friends who were marshalling and a few others who came down specially to support their friends.
32km into the race.
3hours 50min.
It was where I saw great possibility of finishing the race at around 5hours. That certainly cheered me on. I had come thus far and I just have to keep going on and soon it will be destination. But the exit from the east coast was really tough. I was feeling really tired and strides felt harder as the distance progresses, so I walked for a long while, for nearly 1 km.
The last 8 km was probably the slowest in my life. Tried very hard to run for more than a kilometer before I walk and had to push myself to run as soon as possible. I was quite confused by the distance markers provided by Adidas and Standard Chartered for they tell me different distance, I would see 35 km again some 400m away after one. It was really frustrating, for the body was too tired to be trusted to tell the distance already.
Walking and running through the last 6km was probably the most mentally challenging. In the heat and exhaustion, despite still many people around me, no one was really chatting. I was too tired to talk as well, so I just went on, telling myself to be willing and have the will to continue running.
After much anticipation, I finally see the 40km mark approaching. That was when I had to run all the way back. I call it a test of strength and perseverance. I ran past many who were probably planning to walk till the very last part of the race. I felt like I suddenly had much more energy at the last kilometer and so I opened my strides; they felt lighter. As usual, it took a few turns before I could see the finishing line 200m ahead, with a huge congregation of supporters alongside. I ran faster and faster till I reached the finishing line, revealing a smile filled with satisfaction and relief.