The 2nd marathon done and dusted!
Yet another medal added to the collection!
Not so nice as Stand Chart
But hey, who cares?
This is funny
The full marathon starts at 1000pm
We got 8hour and 30mins till we see the sunrise at 630am earliest
Route march also got time leh!
(just walk a bit faster lah!)
I finished this race in 5hrs 38mins and 30seconds
Now to do some maths!
5hrs 38mins and 30sec convert to mins is 338.5mins
Divide by 42km
I get 8.06 min/km (3sf)
Compare to my Stand Chart of 6hr 15min and 16sec
Convert to mins is 375.27mins
Divide by 42km
I get 8.935 min/km
I FREAKING CUT DOWN 1 MIN PER KM!
THAT IS CRAZY TRAINING PAYING OFF BIG TIME!
First 5km is 36mins
Hit 10km at 1h 14mins (consistent considering you multiple by 2)
Halfway point at 2h 38min (slow by around 10mins)
Final quarter 30km at 4h 10min (damn slow already.....)
And closing in for the kill of 42km at 5h 38min (that is fast!)
I think for my 2nd stretch
Super on form!
No cramp no hungry feeling
No dehydration (ok at the end I checked I was dehydrated again)
But hit the wall around 35km
The start/stop running pattern is hurting the body
Losing a lot of my momentum going into the final 7km
Really feel like giving up the last 3km
But hey, its 3km only!
Giving up is like letting myself down big time
"33% of finishers ahead"
Finally! Finished in the top half!
Singapore top 35% ok?
LOL!
Same for male finishers
And nearly the top quarter for my division of male aged between 20-24
26%
Nice!
Compare to Stand Chart
I'm like 57%
That is like more than half way behind the entire field of ppl
Almost the same results for all 3 categories
Stand Chart is max cuiz for my virgin experience
They say you become better with experience hur
True stuff!
:)
Alright enough with the showboating
(actually also not the best results in the world)
Time for the photos!
This time
Finishing strong
Knowing that a bunch of photographers is waiting for us
Cue poses please!
If I never run a marathon again
I think these would be my nicest photos!
:)
Sorry but the guy in yellow behind
Walking through wont make the nicest photo ya?
=p
Virgin boy Joel and me
Super tensed up before the race
And late for the flag off
What else can you expect from the virgin boy?
LOL!
My marathon buddy for Sundown
Both of us didnt train for Stand Chart
Learnt a huge lesson from that
Came back better for Sundown
Oh well
Aik Nen hit the wall at 16km
Walked a bit and needed the super Tiger Balm cream
And we walked for 1 min
Ran for 7 min
Then he requested to walk for another min
If not 2 min to apply cream
And we continued this until 28km
Thus explaining the lag in the timing
Actually I could have gone for 5hours
Or under 5 if really push damn hard
If I pangseh him at the 28km mark
But the subconscious mind tells me that I made him sign up this
So should accompany him all the way
Despite him telling me to go on ahead without him
He was like doing real bad
And I was like the survivor float to him
I cannot imagine him walking the rest of the 26km without encouragement
And so we began the journey of running and walking
And then stretching
And apply the Tiger Balm cream
This carried on till the 35km like that
Where.I.Hit.My.Wall....
Doomsday started then
Mentality was off
Attitude was off
Fighting spirit was off
Legs shut down
Brain shut down
Body started shutting down
Couldnt really be concern about hitting the 5h30min mark at all
Until
Until
I see one Caucasian
He was this flabby dude
He was half naked
He was limping
He was cramping
But what the hell he was still moving forward
And I saw this girl
I can still remember
Holding a towel and having a ponytail
She was holding same pace as us for the first 10km
Then we pass her after that
And what the hell she was still with us at 35km
And there were plenty of other people all cramping up
All struggling
Lying by the road side
Some stretching
Some resting
Damn!
What the hell was wrong at that point?
Totally demoralising at that point in time
I could have swore I wanted to walk all the way
Thanks to Aik Nen and his encouragement
Got pushed all the way till 38km
Saw the "38km" mark and it was around 3am
At that point of time
I prayed for some strength to pull me through
Because "38" is my NSF unit and all the tough things that happened there
Its just the Army experience coming back all at once
And at that point of time
Some power came back to my legs
But it was a tough 800m up-slope
So we just used little landmarks along the way
The 5th lamp post we are going to pass
The signboard in front
The water point ahead
1 min rest
2 min brisk walk
Carry on running
Looking behind to see if anybody we know would catch up
And so on and so forth
Until there was like a 90 degrees bend
And it was home sweet home
The final 200m stretch
Whereby I wanted to walk my way through
Finish victorious with fist pumped and hands held up high
But then Aik Nen say we need to RUN through
And so we ran through
Screaming our heads off
Pointing to all the flashing cameras
Triumphant and all
That moment........... is damn freaking "P-R-I-C-E-L-E-S-S"
You cant buy this
And you can never understand the feeling
Unless you do the marathon itself
In a positive spirit that is
You cant go over the finishing line
Cursing and swearing
Never do that
Because it just shows how bad you treated the whole experience
:)
Me and Adrian
Still can answer my phone call along the way
UPS!
Me and Jesslyn
I thought I saw her boyfriend before the race
Thus text her and check about it
But then the race started and I didnt want to go back to get my baggage and stuff
So it was a pleasant surprise to see her text message congratulating me when I finish
That is encouragement
And that is something that I think you cant buy too
It is something which to others, may seem unimportant
But to me, is something I think that is very touching
:)
We went about destroying the 100 plus float
It was like we just go back 20 years
And behave like 2 years old
Seeing a fire-truck, motorcycle, machine gun, or racing cars toys
LOL!
How to crush a can drink 3 times bigger than you?
Like me
Maybe you need 2 days to do it?
=p
My legs nearly cramped while holding the pose
=/
Joel
Showing how to drink a mega-size 100 plus
Honestly
My middle name is called "Pluscios"
Aka "God of 100 Plus"
HAHAHAHAHA!
Rocks!
=D
Behind the scene of making "Pluscios"
Eugene was helping me hold up the float
LOL!
Gotcha!
Went home to a good hot bath and sleep
And waking up for lunch
Ah!
Relax!
Feeling good without cramps!
Best marathon and race thus far!
:)
I don't know if I have say this before
" Running is the best metaphor for life
Because you get out of it what you put into it "
Life to me
Is like a marathon
It is long
It is tough
Everybody starts off from the same starting line
And everybody will do the same 42km
No matter if you are fat or thin
Rich or poor
Fit or flab
Long or short
Dark or fair
Straight or curly
Furry or hairy
There will be people who would take short cuts
They would turn around halfway
Cut across to the other side
And carry on the 2nd part of the race
They often can get away with it
But deep down, they wont get their bib timings
And they will always carry the guilt and shame of taking the shortcut
And they would always be embarrassed to talk about it in front of others
These people to me
They can get away from the race itself
But they can never live up to themselves
They can never see the mirror with the same look
And say that they have done their best
There will be people who have doubts along the way
They will stop
They will think
And they will come to the conclusion of giving up
These people always choose the easy out in life
There will be people who would start walking at the 5km mark
They will rest
They will drink water
They will run abit
But they will walk the majority of the race
These people are the unprepared ones in life
There will also be people who try their best
Drawing inspirations from others runners*
*
Like people who have prosthetic legs and still do this marathon
Whereby their metal blade who overheat
And they have to remove their prosthetic legs to cool it
Yes he is the local famous "Blade Runner"
He is so mentally tough
And inspiration to many unfortunate others out there
*
There are also the ones who have lost their arms
They still do the marathon
Despite knowing them arm swing is so important in running
*
There are also the supporters
Like Punngol Runners who were at ECP distributing drinks
Watermelons and lots of encouragement to cheer us out of ECP
The monster stretch there
*
There are also the Singaporeans
Who were having picnic in ECP
They specially come out of their tents
Stop their BBQ
Form up lines
Bring their families
Kids and adults
Inside prams with the infant sleeping inside
They looked at you
Pushed their specs up to prevent it from slipping down
Clapped their hands
Nodded their heads in approval
Giving you gestures like fist pumps and waves
Asking for morale boosting High-5s
These people
Are invisible yet visible
Physically and mentally supportive
These people
To me
They give me so much so much so much so much inspiration
The fighting spirit
The mental strength
The will not to give up
And adds steel to my determination
Removing the kryptonite from the Superman
Allowing Superman to stay strong
Yes
Running
Something which I hated a few years back
Changed drastically when I entered NS
And now
Running is something I do regularly
Not because it burns fat
Not because it needs a good pair of running shoes and attire
And maybe not because there are also pretty girls who do running
But running
Seriously
Is a way of life
Because how much you put into it
Is how much you can get out it
You cant expect to finish a run without putting in effort
But you can always stop halfway
And go home
And know that you are a loser in every aspect
If not
You always do 100%
And throw in your bravest effort
Because effort counts for everything
Despite the results we chased so hard for
Timings ain't important
Completion is more so
:)
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