Sengkang Babies

I completed my First Marathon.

25th Mar 2017 Sundown Marathon 42km dusted, I made it!

At the end point, you will feel soreness and numbness.
Every ounce of muscle straining for attention, I could not even sit down as my calves and thighs refused to coordinate ooops. Finally took off my socks and just lie down for a few minutes.

This is MY Moment, I just completed my FIRST Marathon!

I still could not comprehend how I ran jog walk and hobble 42.195km over the last 6 hours. My body is weak but yet I never felt so ALIVE!

=== Before flag off ===

When you signed up for a crazy run, that was the first step and it demanded courage. When you prepared your attire the night before, you felt excitement and nervousness. But 4 months of training had given me some conviction that 42.195km is doable.

I have blogged about my Marathon preparation here. The weeks and days leading up to race day, you get paranoid about falling sick or injured. You have train hard and long and do not wish to falter at the last phase.

You come up with running strategies Plan A, B, C etc for the race, example :
1) Glue to the 5.30HR pacers
2) Run steady and maintain constant heart rate
3) Make mental note of 10km, 20km, 30km and 40km markers and estimated time checkin (eg 10km at 1Hr 13min, 30km at 3Hr 40min)
4) Take note of Hydration, Nutrition and Banana markers, so you can adjust your own energy and water intake

Then you enter the Start Pen and realised that the pacers are two waves INFRONT!

You try to comfort yourself “Steady”, I will run my own pace and catch up with pacers later.

=== During the Race ===

Everyone else start overtaking you from the start!
You start to worry whether you are running too slow (my pace was 7.00)

3km, 5km, 7km later, where are the pacers’ balloons?
Meanwhile, another 500 runners had overtaken you.

Two weeks before, I followed a pacers (group Team Fatbird) lead-up run at comfortable pace 7.30min/Km (distance 25km). But on Race day, I found it incredible that many Sundown runners were dashing at 5+ pace!

I tried to run slower but my heart rate hovered at a constant 160 to 165. My plan (more plans duh) was to run at a comfortable 150 to 155.

I did catch up the 6Hr pacers at 8 or 9km mark, but my running pace had become erratic. An experienced runner would have been able to manage his expectation right from the start.

I allowed fellow runners’ adrenaline to adjust my pace and I ran too fast in the beginning.

Looking at my watch in the wee hours, 2am, 3am and 4am slowly tick as I got more tired.

I had already forgotten all my running strategies Plans A, B !

To pass time, I tried to calculate my “ideal” pace to complete the race but my mind refused to do Maths haha :p

Anyway, I was not confident that my body was willing to cooperate with my mind’s instruction.

18 to 19 km along East Coast Park (ECP).
More and more runners were affected by cramps, meanwhile Elite runners were already running back in the opposite direction! Clap Clap Clap!

20 and 30km markers are both in ECP, and the paths are never-ending!
Parkland Green, Marine Cove, East Coast Hawker Centre are all eerily quiet, and the camping tents look very cozy.

At this stage, I was actually brisk walking too much and struggled to increase my pace. You start being realistic and re-adjust your targets
( Actually your mind start finding excuses)

Ok, YOU are going to miss a sub-5 timing, sub-6 is DOUBTFUL too, why not just enjoy the run and Complete :p

=== Near the End ===

I kept asking myself why every KM marker seems “farther and farther” away. Every water point (spaced at 2Km intervals) was a welcome cold respite!

Do not start to count the Kilometres, claim them one by one.

Every so often, an enthusiastic volunteer would be shouting Best-Wishes to the runners. Thank you to all the wonderful volunteers! I always try to smile back at their encouragements.

30km onwards, Look left look right, everyone is grimacing by now. Tired, Sleepy, we just want to get it over!

A lot of Walkers (like 7 out of 10 participants), and it does influenced you to run slower or even walk!
If I had started walking, I really do not know whether I would want to run again.

So you scanned in front for a few regular figures who ran around your pace. We took turns to overtake each other, it was not choreographed, but some FUN “competition” does keep up your spirits.

Two of my unofficial pacers are a chap in yellow-tShirt printed “Why you keep chasing me?” and a gal in Orange sports bra (with fish net).
There was an Englishman (or European with orange hoversack) who was limping very badly from 30km onwards, I did not want to lose to him too.

Thank you fellow runners for the motivation!

I saw a few camera flashes infront, quicken my pace and tried to look presentable haha I-am-so-vain 🙂

=== End Point ===

Last 500 metres, but most of us already depleted our energy reserves.
Look at my watch, 6Hr 13Mins Gun time, and my Fitbit indicated 5Hr 58Mins, HOORAY under 6 hours 🙂

Whole torso stiff.
Calves and Thighs tensed.
Toes wringled.
Socks uncomfortable.
Shorts chaffed my inner thighs for last 10km.
Balls felt so confined.

I FELT so HAPPY and RELIVED, I have achieved my Dream!

Collected my Medal and Finisher T-shirt.
YES, I am now a Marathon Finisher 🙂

(My Fitbit clocked total 47km instead of 42km, so my end time should be 5Hr 59Min)

=== What have I learned from this race? ===

a) If you have trained at a specific pace, and ideally with pacers before, be CONFIDENT and maintain your pace. With or without the pacers, just maintain your composure and you will achieve your goal.

b) You can run with buddies during preparation, but come race day, you are on your own. Do anything which will motivate yourself. I only started my favourite music from 20km onwards and it helped to tune out negative thoughts (Plantronics Backbeat Fit review).

c) Keep your hands free. Holding on to phone or bottle will induce more perspiration and sweaty palms. You will have trouble opening your gel or bars. I got a mini waist pouch from Decathon which can hold x2 250ml bottle and x4 gel and my keys.

The beautiful serene night scene helped to distract me from the constant tarmac pounding too (hey why Singapore FLYER always so near yet so far!)

Before Osim Sundown Marathon, the furthest I ran was 25km. Thus I took every Kilometre from 26th onward as a bonus.

At this moment in life, I am at my fittest 🙂
This would not have happen if I did not actively pursue my own fitness.

I hope this would convince my kids that they can strive for their own dreams too, their Daddy just ran his First Marathon!

Set a target, go ACHIEVE it!

Mine was #Training42Sundown2017

I am a 42km Finisher (can brag already haha)

In case you are interested, my training programme helped me to clock my mileage and check whether I am improving month by month. It helped me to monitor whether I was running enough (161km, 135km and 166k for weeks 1-4, 5-8 and 9-12 respectively). I was falling short of “recommended” 40 to 50km per week.

And this was my IDEAL race plans :p

Beautiful Sunrise again, Sundown completed, another day begins.

If you are attempting for a running milestone yourself, we all start from somewhere. I hope my newbie experience would provide some confidence for you to achieve your own target too. (Marathon Preparation tips for new runners here)

Meanwhile, I will prepare for another Marathon only in 2018 🙂

ps.. try to find your photos at this Facebook link (Running Shots)