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.
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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….
Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon ’09
Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon ’09, originally uploaded by wantet.
Learning from my mistake on my previous run last month, I woke up as early as 4:15am to prepare for the half marathon run(21.1Km) which was going to start at 6:45am. I took shower and had a quick light breakfast.
Being early for the run certainly has a lot benefits. I arrived in the venue by 6am and still had enough time to leave my stuff at the baggage counter and warm-up. Most importantly, I was not too far behind from the starting line. At exactly 6:45am the half marathon race started. The race route was going to take us from Esplanade Drive to the following roads: Raffles Quay-Shenton Way-Prince Edward Rd-Marina Station Rd-East Coast Parkway-Rochor Rd-Temasek Avenue-Nicoll Highway-Mountbatten Rd-Stadium Rd-Nicoll Highway-Republic Avenue-Esplanade Drive-St Andrew’s Rd.
The first 6km went pretty well but after that I was starting to feel tired and realized I have a long way to go. I haven’t even reached the half-way mark of the 21.1Km run. Thinking that I might have ran too fast than my regular pace I decided not to push myself too much so I have enough energy to finish the run. I decided to mix running and a bit of walking and I have to admit it did take away some of my rhythm. After every few kilometers of running I would stop and walk. Reaching the half-way mark was quite a relief . At 16km mark I was already feeling pain on my feet and legs. The stop and walk became more frequent. I checked my time and I was trying to tell myself that I need to finish under 3 hrs. Reaching 18km I started to gain some life and ran from Nicoll Highway to Republic Avenue but when I was reaching near the F1 pit stop I was feeling very tired and had to walk again. I didn’t run until I was in Raffles Avenue going to Esplanade Drive. After reaching Fullerton I walked again and just before reaching St. Andrews Rd I ran again until the Finish line.
After 2:49:38 hrs I finished the 21.1km Half Marathon Run. I was super tired but quite happy to have finished the run under 3 hrs. After every race I always say to myself that I need to train harder and prepare better for the next race but always come up short. Anyway, I still enjoyed the run which is the most important thing. Till the next run again.