Finished my 3rd Full Marathon overall and my 2nd for the year in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia at the Standard Chartered KL Marathon 2011 held last June 26, 2011.
Archive for Running
My First Full Marathon Experience – Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore 2010
I’ve always wondered how it feels like to finish a full marathon (42.195Km) . I’ve finished 5K, 10K, 12K, 15K, 21.1K and 25K races but I have never joined a full marathon until last December 5, 2010.
After finishing my first half-marathon in December 2009 and finishing a 25Km last May 2010, I was motivated to try the full marathon for the Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore. Initially I had doubts but I did went ahead and signed up for the full marathon anyway.
A few days before race day I wasn’t feeling well. I started to have sore throat, headache, muscle and back pain. I became worried it may get worst and develop into a flu. In my previous races I was never really worried as I always felt confident I can finish the race despite the lack of training. It was totally different story for my first full marathon. Two nights before race I was having trouble sleeping that I ended up only having 3 hours of sleep and the night before the race, I only had a couple of hours sleep. I was excited at the same time worried if I can finish the marathon or if I’ll I finish it at a decent time.
Race Day:
The night before the race I slept early around 9pm however I woke up 2 hours after. I was lying on my bed trying to close my eyes however I couldn’t put myself back to sleep. My mind was wandering what will happen during the marathon.
At about 2am I got a text message from my friend Blue-B who was also running the marathon asking me if I’m already ready. After I received his text message I decided to get out of bed to take a shower and prepare for the marathon as there was less than 3 hrs to go before the start of the marathon. Afterwards, I had a light breakfast consisting of bread and banana before leaving the flat.
I took a cab from my flat in Choa Chu Kang to Orchard where the start of the full marathon was set. I arrived in Orchard a few minutes after 4am and realized that there was already a long queue for the baggage deposit. Before I queued for the baggage deposit, I decided to put on my race bib first to ensure I was not forgetting anything and I deposit the stuff that I don’t need for the marathon. By the time I finished, more and more people were queuing. The counter where I was queuing was moving at a slow pace. I was getting worried as I had not gone to the toilet yet and it looked like I do not have any time anymore to even do a warm-up. I waited for almost an hour just to deposit my baggage and by then the race had already started.
I rushed to find the nearest toilet and I was I was quite relieved to find one inside Wheelock’s Place and there was no queue. I had to start running towards the starting line which was still a few hundred meters away. I could see that there were still a lot of people who have not started the marathon which made me feel a little better. By the time I started, I already had a delay of about 21 minutes.
To be continued….
Salomon X-Trail Run 2010
Yesterday I participated in the Salomon X-Trail Run 2010 which was held in MacRichie Reservoir. It was the 2nd time that I joined the Salomon X-Trail Run. I like the race route this year compared to the first one I joined in 2008 which was held in Tampines Bike Park.
Flag-off time for the Women’s Open was 7:35am. I had trouble waking up as I slept a bit late the night before the run. I had to take a taxi from my flat in Choa Chu Kang to MacRitchie Reservoir to make sure I was not going to be late for the run.
I arrived in MacRitchie about 30 minutes before the scheduled flag-off time. It was kinda drizzling when I got off the taxi and I was already thinking it was going to be a wet and muddy run in the trail. While I was trying to find the baggage deposit someone came to me. I was completely embarrassed as he knew me but I didn’t had any idea who he was until he introduced himself as Melvin, my fellow USC-Mountaineer. We are friends in Facebook but I’ve never met him personally until that day. After hearing we were speaking in Cebuano, a Filipina girl from CDO came to join us . It was a runner that Melvin met during the Mizuno Run last October 10.
I deposited my bag and ate my banana which was the only food that I took before the run as I had no time time to eat breakfast. Melvin headed to the starting line first as the Men’s Open had a flag-off time of 7:30am.
Not too long after the Men’s open participants were called to gather in the starting line, the Women’s open participants were asked to head to the starting line as well. We waited in the starting line until the Men’s open participants were released. There was a slight delay of about 5 minutes but off we went.
As we headed to the MacRitchie trail I already knew it was not going to be an easy run knowing the uphill route ahead. The trail is narrow so runners had to be in a single file. I kept reminding myself to stick to my own pace and not to feel too pressured from the runners trailing behind me who were probably eager to overtake me.
I’m so familiar with the MacRitchie trail that before the run I was already imagining the sections in the race route that I was dreading. The uphill sections were tiring but quite surprisingly I did just fine during the first 7 or 8Km of the trail run. I remember looking at my Nike+ Sportsband and my time was still under 50 minutes.
As soon as we got out of the trail and were running back to the main park the heat was just scorching and I felt like all my energy was sucked out of me. Running under the hot sun is something I don’t enjoy. I forced myself to keep running so I can get out of the open road and back to the covered trail. By the time I was on the trail again I was tired and exhausted. I didn’t want to walk but I thought if I push myself too much I might even jeopardize my chances of finishing the race itself so I decided to walk and run at this stage.
From the covered trail we exited to the main highway of Lornie Road where the blistering heat was waiting for us again. This last stretch of the race was definitely a physical and mental challenge for me. When the marshals shouted that the finish line was only 800m away I decided to run all the way knowing that the end was near.
I finished the 12Km run with an official time of 1:39:06. Finishing at 105 out 258 in the Women’s Open. It would have felt nicer if I was within the 1st 100 but anyway it was still a good run for me. Running in the trail is something that I always enjoyed.
Up next for me is the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon. I will be running the full marathon (42.195Km) for the first time. Let’s see how this race goes.
| 1:38:48 |