STANDARD CHARTERED MARATHON 07-DEC-2008

SUCCESS !! WE DID IT !!!

PRELIMINARY RESULTS (Gun Time) :
42.195km FULL Marathon
Poh HC approx. 5hr 24min
Chan CS slightly less than 5 hr

21.1km Half Martahon
Gan HC 2hr 28min (first timer)
Kuan ST 2hr 55min (first timer)

10km Quarter Marathon
Ng HT 68 min
HT junior 65 min (first timer)
Hong SC 67 min
Hong Alena 65 min
LJ Lim 51 min (first timer)

Total 50,000 participants this year, a new record.
The 42km full marathon started at 5:30am. My half marathon race started at 6:30am.

Woke up at 4:45am. Drank a cup of coffee and ate 2 bananas and a energy bar biscuit. Kuan drove to my house and we left together in my car for High Street Centre carpark (along North Bridge Rd) at 5:30am. Went to the toilet about 15 minutes before the race start. Put a pack of energy gel in my small pocket and plan to take it at 12km mark. Have to hand-carry my car key and some dollar notes during the run.


0km - START POINT

There were about 12,500 people doing the half marathon race. It was very crowded on the Esplanade Bridge. Kuan and myself continue to walk and inch forward to get closer to the front. We were somewhere between 100 to 200m away from the Start point. The atmosphere was great. Brought along my Garmin heart rate, speed and distance monitoring watch to track my running information.

0km to 10km
Was monitoring my running speed from my Garmin watch. Was trying to keep my running speed between 10 to 11 km/hr for the first 10km. Was able to maintain above 10km/hr speed reasonably well. This speed will help me clear the first 10km faster and save me sometime to complete the full 21km later. And my body can take 10km/hr speed reasonably well for first 10km.
With advice from my colleage Pete Laute, I grabbed a cup of drink at each of the drinking stations along the way to stay hydrated.
At 8km mark, felt the socks rubbing against the small toes. Was thinking of stopping to adjust the socks but decided not to so as not to waste time.
Completed the first 10km around 52min and 43sec.

10km to 14km
Cleared the first 12km quite comfortably and decided not to take the energy gel to save time. Another reason is I have never taken energy gel before and not sure how the bodywill react.
Once I crossed the 14km mark, started to feel tire and more difficult to run.

14km to 17km
Continue to try to keep at 10km /hr speed. Not thirsty as I stop at almost each of the drink stations. Cardio ok but the leg getting to feel tired. Stop time at the drink station also getting longer.

17 to 21km
At 17km mark started to feel a bit of leg cramps !! Oh my goodness, am I able to complete the full 21km now ? Stopped to walk for a while before running again.
Switched my watch to monitor heart rate instead of speed and trying to keep my heart rate within Zone 4( 80% to 90% of max heart rate). Continue to take deep breath during the run hoping to get more oxygen to the muscles to help the leg cramp situation. Continued to focus on pulling the legs up (pose method). It helps as I begin to feel lighter to lift the legs.
After 17km mark, my lower back started to feel some pains. So started combination of run, walk and run. Cardio was perfectly ok. Only problem is with leg cramp and lower back pain.
At the final 400m, felt really good and continue to pick up speed a little but keep heart rate at Zone 4.
When crossing the END point, felt extremely good that I managed to complete the 21km half marathon race. It reminded me of what CS Chan told me before that "Completing any marathon event is a GLORY".

After The Marathon Race
Collected the beautiful medal for completing the half marathon race.
Waited at meeting point C and managed to meet up with Kuan, Hong, Alena, HT and his son. Drank a bottle of water and 2 bottles of 100-Plus. Took the energy gel that I have been carrying during the race. It tasted terrible, very thick and sweet.
We walked to Lau Pah Sat hawker centre and ate breakfast there.
While walking back to the carpark around 11:30am, saw a big group of full marathon runners still steaming in towards the finishing line. They have been running for more than 6 hours !! We stopped there and cheered for them for about 10 minutes. Noticed people of all shapes and sizes, different ages and genders, nationilities and color, etc. It was amazing to see such diversity. Really respect them for their strong endurance. I told Kuan and myself that we must join next year Standard Chartered December FULL MARATHON RACE.

After Reaching Home
Took off my shoes and saw swollen "water bag" on the small toes of both my legs. Pink color on right small toe and skin color on left small toe. Need to wear proper socks in future for running. Was wearing wrong socks (tennis), too thick.
The nail of my right foot centre toe looked like it is going to drop off.
Left foot ankle terrible pain. Lower back feeling tired and slight pain.
Left arm pit reddish due to abrasion with the running t-shirt.

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Run for Health, Run for Fun, Run for Life.