December 11, 2010 post SCM2010
time for a post-race report! but firstly, i’d like to thank 100 Plus, especially Keith, Gina & Clarrie. Mark too! for their support, help & everything along the way. it’s really been a wonderful journey & really all 4 of us will tell stories of this memorable marathon for years to come.
rewinding back to race day, woke up about 245am. washed up & packed my stuff. as i was checking my Garmin, i was so stunned to see Battery Low on the screen. panic mode set in & i quickly plugged it to my Mac to charge it. this meant that i had to bring my Mac to race site, but there was no other way. munching on my Kit Kat & Nature Valley, washing them down with a huge 1.5 bottle of 100 Plus, my awesome daddy drove me down to Wheelock.
met up with Keith, Clarrie & Mark and we started snapping photos. really kudos to them for arriving there about 330 and having to walk all the way down to Padang later for the finishing line shots and even carrying our baggage for us! soon after, Sanny & Vanessa came too, after a couple more shots, Ghim arrived! and boy were we all happy to see him after his unfortunate start to the day. in between, daddy drove back once more to pass me my bag which had my still-charging Garmin, I’m so thankful for his help.
once the shots were done, Ghim & I made our way to the start line. it was pretty much an adventure in itself as we had to sneak past stubborn security guards, climb over fences and weave our way around barriers and people. but eventually we made it to the start line, dripping with perspiration. one memorable conversation i had with Ghim was:
B:”Ghim! how come you dont wear a watch?”
G:”I’m used to not wearing it, i just run by feeling“
honestly, there & then it struck me as to how reliant i still am on my watch, despite me saying that I’m not. and it was then i decided to not use GPS on my watch, purely use it as a stopwatch, so i wouldn’t know what pace i was going and distance, it’d be me & how i felt
as the countdown began, the crowd swelled up, seeing familiar faces around really did help to loosen the tension. within my head, i was telling myself to really take it easy, my ITBs were still recovering & it is definitely not wise to further injure them. my motto for the day, “Take it easy”. and honestly, this would be the first time in my races that i’d actually be taking it easy.
BANG! the horn went, off we went! running under the lights of Orchard, the familiar roads where I only drove on, it was a different feeling, but this feeling did not last as my mind tuned to my running. many people were ahead of me, overtaking me & the old me would have sped up and tried to keep up. as i passed the 1km mark, i looked at my watch, it was 4:12. it’s a really fast pace for a marathon & honestly it was far from my targeted 4:50 pace i wanted to keep. told myself to slow down, take it really easy and run my own race.
the route took me from Orchard, down towards Dhoby, Clarke Quay, Chinatown & then Raffles Place. once there, it was familiar racing grounds once more. as the crowd around me dispersed, i was able to enjoy the comfort of space & more breathing room. i honestly dislike racing with someone tagging along my back or my side, it’s really distracting and disrupting, so usually i’d either slow down or just speed up a lil to get away.
before i knew it, ECP was just ahead. 10km had passed and i was feeling pretty fresh & relaxed. a couple of my NUS Cross teammates invited me to run along with them as they were aiming for 3:30 as well but i had to reject their kind offer as i really wanted to do this race alone. entering ECP, it was still pretty dark. it has been awhile since i’ve ran here so it wasn’t as boring as last year where I dreaded ECP so much it affected me psychologically.
watching as the big front pack of Kenyans gallop past in the opposite direction, i felt a slight tinge of sadness. it was 1:21 already and i was way off my previous years’ race pace. putting that aside, i continued maintaining my current pace & taking it easy. soon it was my turn to U-turn. and honestly i think it was one of the happiest moments of most people’s race. halfway thru, 21km more & we’re home. just about 500m past the U-turn, i saw Sanny! and she was looking really strong!
running back towards Fort Road, watching the huge sea of runners in the opposite direction, it really helped to distract me & not push myself. it was around the Bedok Jetty area when something really bad happened. this is something I really want to share, and it is nothing nice. while i was turning along the route, i caught up with this small group of runners, one of them being a foreigner probably German or French by his accent. and i was just in front of him, he said something in his own language in a somewhat angry tone, and the next sentence was “Boy, you’ve got no more speed”. with that, he began to overtake me. i have never had such a bad experience with runners before, not only was it rude, condescending, but it was totally uncalled for! holding my back anger, i picked up my pace and overtook him within 30s, as i passed him i resisted the urge to look or say anything, it wouldn’t have made things better anyway.
as i continued my run out of ECP, many familiar faces came up, and thanks to all who cheered for me, friends and even strangers! that’s the way running should be. fun & friendly. exiting ECP, it was up into Marina Barrage. that was when my ITBs gave in, it felt really tight and caused my thighs to cramp up. i was compensating with more energy from my calves and within the next 2km, my calves begun to cramp. at that point, i really wanted to start walking, but somehow i did not. for people who know me, recently I’ve been giving up easily during races, once i felt cramps or pain, i simply gave up and walked. it’s a horrendous feeling to be walking during a race and somehow i still did. but not this time.
pushing hard, grimacing through the pain, trying to enjoy the view of Marina Barrage, the golf course, the turns in the route, the new scenery. keeping it safe and slowing down to a jogging pace really helped. heading into the last 6km, it was back on roads once more. the urge to walk kept coming up & when i faced the upslope of ECP, i simply smiled at how great a test it would have been if i had been racing at full pace and i had to climb this slope just before the finishing 2km.
i slowly made my way up, even taking a short walk, before Thomas (from TeamRunfanatics) came up alongside and pulled me to run. it was the last 2km to the finish, and as i crossed Esplanade, up the flyover and towards Padang, i felt happy. not because my timing was good, as a matter of fact it was far from good in my personal standards, i was happy because I kept my promise to myself, I took it easy and stayed injury free for this race.
headed to the 100Plus tentage where Ghim was already cooling down. spent the time chatting and talking, reflecting about how we did probably one of the worst races in our lives, but we were glad it was over. photo-taking, stretching & many hilarious shots followed. a huge CONGRATS TO SANNY & VANESSA, YOU GIRLS DID AWESOME! really so happy that not only they hit their targets but their new PBs are amazing. who knows how much faster they’ll get!
here’s a really adorable baby who was sitting beside me & Ghim.
Daddy came to pick me up, he’s really my hero. supporting me through all my races, and caring for me all the time.
at the end of the day, i’d just want to ask him “Do i make you proud?”
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