Sundown Marathon 2012

There were two first’s in this race. Firstly, it was my first night marathon. Secondly, never before it rained during my official race. And since it was a night marathon I was expecting an easy finish now that I am better trained than my first marathon. But it turned out to be tougher than what I anticipated.

I had finished a half marathon less than a month ago and did couple of 20’s after that, which gave me pretty good confidence. I tried to increase the distance to 30’s but it was difficult because of the absence of good hydration. Nevertheless I expected half marathon to be a reasonable gauge for my full marathon. When I trained for my first full marathon the maximum I did was around 25 KM. So 21 should be good enough I thought. It proved OK physically but mentally was very tough to say the least.

I clocked 10k in 58 min. 20k in 1 hour 59 minutes. It seemed like a breeze. At 23 mark though I was not physically tired, mentally it proved challenging to run at that time. My mind was in the dormant mode ready to enter sleep mode as soon as possible. With much difficulty I pushed myself till 27^th KM mark when it started pouring not drizzling or raining. In Singapore it is unspoken norm not to walk in the open spaces when it rains. So following the norm I took shelter under a roof. To my surprise everyone seemed unperturbed by the rain. I then continued and as the wet drops splashed my face the endorphins suddenly multiplied out of nowhere. But the rain soaked my shoes so much that it became difficult to lift my leg. Gingerly I continued running, avoiding the puddles. At the 33^rd Km my right calf muscle gave up as usual and my mileage further dropped. I wanted to beat my previous best of 4 hour 48 min. But things went from bad to worse and in the end I just kissed the 5hour mark.

Marathon is like a 5 set Tennis match and 10 or half marathon, a 3 setter. You might do well till 21K but beyond that is the real test. If you can overcome the 21 to 35 mark then the marathon is a breeze. Probably my last marathon in Singapore. But one day I would finish the marathon under 4.5 hour mark if not 4 hour. 

My first full-Marathon

I am a finisher of 42.195 KM in 4 hours 48 minutes. Yikes. My month long preparation culminates into an amazing run. It was not perfect per se. Nevertheless, I feel I did really well for the training I went through.

As I reported here I continued my training till Nov 30^th. Unlike my training in 2009 this training was shorter and less painful. There were no swollen shins and blackened toe nails, probably because of the shorter duration. If it were for a 3 month duration I am sure I would have cracked the 4.30 mark.

The marathon started at 5am. Never before had I run at that time of the day and it was refreshing and pulsating to run with a sea of fellow marathoners. I finished the first 10km by 57 min and the next 10km by 1 hr 57 min. Impressed by my performance I continued with much more determination and reached the 30K mark by 3 hours 10min. Realizing that the sun is not yet out I smiled for myself. Suddenly 42 K in 4 hr 30 min seems very much possible. Then as I continued to take strides my very old problem resurfaced ( This and this ). I am still not sure why exactly this problem is happening. The only trouble I face during a long distance run is the calf muscle cramp: my right calf muscle. The only answer can be lack of training. For this and this my calf muscle gave up at about 18km. Fortunately, for the full marathon it gave up after 30 probably because of the better training. And having my lessons learnt during those two runs I immediately stopped and stretched whenever I felt the cramp in my calf muscle. But eventually with some muscle rub I crossed the finish line with a big grin on my face. I can’t wait for my next marathon in May.

Marathon Training

I finally started my first marathon training for the Singapore Marathon in December. Things got really hectic and following a rigorous training schedule is anything but easy. So had to prioritize my activities and delay my training. And I had a super run after a long hiatus. Had a strange feeling when I touched the finish line. Sometimes simple little things really do matter (blame the endorphin). My ultimate goal is to finish a marathon in 4hours. But with the current situation a 4 hour marathon would only be wishful thinking. I would be happy if I can see it off in 4.5 hours. I hope I can continue my training provided my leg will hold on till I finish the main race. Can't wait to run my first marathon. Super Exited.

PassionRun 25Km

My finishing timing in the marathons is going from bad to worse as years are passing by. The reason is because of the inadequate training. The first time I ran I practised rigorously sticking to the schedule without any breaks. Rain or shine my run would not be missed. But during the subsequent marathons I was busy and could not make any schedule and practice runs. And the result: awful finishing times.

This is the longest run I participated so far. 25Km. The tract is flat not having the flyovers like the Singapore marathon. In spite of that I could not finish within the target time. I finished in around 2H: 55M. I didn't train much for this event. But I wanted to finish in 2H: 30M which was reasonable target for my preparation. Everything was on target till I reached the 17km run. The inadequate training had its affect. Cramps started to develop similar to the one I had in SCSM in 2010. But because of the prior experience I some how managed this time and reached the finishing line.

The moral of the story: Train hard if you have some unrealistic target

Singapore Marathon 2010

The much awaited half marathon is finally over and with a disappointing result. Finished the race in 2hr 20 min approx. But it was a hard fought finish that I didn't expect to happen in the first place.

Unlike for last year, this year I didn't train much. My weekend long runs are the only ones I did. Those runs gave the enough confidence to face this year’s marathon. But that proved to be little. My target this year was the same as last year; to finish the race below 2hrs. And the weekend long runs consistently proved that 2hrs is within my reach. And except for a few minor injuries I felt relatively fit.

Started the marathon at about 6.30 am and the climate is already too humid. My knee started to show signs of trouble when it started paining after 2km but the pain was not too intimidating. I reached the 11k mark after 1 hr 3 min which is satisfying I thought. So the 2hrs target is still on. After sometime legs didn't hurt but the stomach started growling. I was sapped of my energy and the hunger coupled with the thirst made me feel dizzy. My energy levels almost dropped to near zero.

And then the final blow came @ around the 18k mark. My calf muscle became so stiff that I couldn't even lift my leg and place it down. It was swollen and drove me nuts .Both the calf muscles started to hurt and I applied the pain relief and started my stride again when suddenly the pain became excruciating. I never had this condition before and I didn't know how to get rid of this. So I tried to relax my muscle little by folding my leg. Someone just hit a nail on my head or I felt so. The pain was unbearable and thus effectively ended my 2 hrs target. I started telling myself to just finish the race. I stretched the leg little and began to walk, limping. Tried to cheat my leg by running after sometime but then it didn't fall for it. Pain was consistent. So kept walking the last 3km and to save my dignity started running the last 200 mts thus ending a gruesome fight with my leg.

One thing I didn't like this year is the water station positions. They were well 5 km apart and the sun is blazing to say the least. Also the promised banana station was missing at the 13.8km mark. Overall the race was kind of a lesson on what not to do and what I should have done in those circumstances. I should have had better running shoes. And next time I better know exact water station locations. Hopefully can register for a full marathon next time. Lots of training should be done for that. And I shall overcome.