Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon 2005
Yes,this will be about the running event of the year.
After months of training for the half marathon,the day finally came.The injuries,the distance breakthroughs and the disappointments all in the back of my mind,I was already planning my run the moment i woke up at the unearthly hour of 3.45am.That's usually the time i wake up to watch my beloved Man Utd play the Champions League.
A breakfast of 2 Snickers bars and a hot cup of Milo wasn't really the perfect way to start the day.I'd rather be having my Casuarina roti prata.A short walk to the Bishan Stadium for my bus ride to the Padang was peppered with my terrible singing to perk myself up.And it was a bummer to discover that Haojie was late and i had to stand on the bus while everyone else had a seat.
And when the bus reached the Padang,i decided to wait for Haojie outside the Adelphi carpark.with absolutely no form of entertainment whatsoever (apart from the occasional chiobu),i did my warm-up outside the carpark.And it's surprising that so many people actually love torturing themselves by running themselves to the ground.21,000 of them today.Even kids leh.
And so the serial latecomer finally arrived and so we made our way to the baggage deposit tent.Little did we know we would be experiencing Hell after the run at this very spot.But that's another story altogether.After another round of warm-up,we made our way into the starting pens.
Ang mohs,old men,young and fit men(me included),middle-aged balding men with their beer bellies,housewives who look fitter than the young men,ladies in their designer sports togs.Everyone was there.So i spent the next 10 minutes people-watching(or rather looking for pretty faces to while away the time).
"3.....2......1......GO!"
And the horses charge out of their stables and head for the finishing line.Neigh.
The first 2 km were along the Esplanade Bridge and Raffles Quay, and this reminded me of how me and my army buddies fooled around here during the Army Half Marathon last year.Weaving through the crowd was quite fun but proved inefficient and deadly.So hj and me jogged at a comfortable pace without any plans to overtake anyone.Saw some Hwachong canoeing girls(dunno which batch).Brought me back to the good old days when the guys team were training together.
After turning into Marina Bay,the other runners were still in good form so we didn't make much progress through the crowd.There was a lady in a red singlet who was running quite well,and i thought why not make her a running target and try not to lag behind her.And so my battle with her began.
And it ended rather soon.At around the 8 km mark,she started to pull ahead as my legs began to ache a bit.My stride was shortened and i cursed at myself as she went out of sight.By the 11 km mark,hj was ahead of me by about 10m but i thought it was ok and just maintained a good pace so as not to lose him.
The Shenton way stretch proved to be my Waterloo, as the morning sun beat down on all our shoulders and when i saw volunteers handing out bananas to the runners in the opposite lane,i went bananas.I was desperate for some fuel yet it was 6km away.I was losing my mental battle.
I could see hj in front but he was pulling away.As i struggled to keep up with him,he didn't show any signs of fatigue and so disappeared in the sea of runners.So i was left to run my own race, and it didn't affect me a little bit.I was used to running alone anyway.
Turning into Nicole Highway was like turning into the Highway to Hell.The slight ascent nearly killed me,and the temptation to walk was immense as there were many of the runners ahead doing so.I grit my teeth and hung on,until my legs could take me no further.After 15km,I had to walk.
Now at this point,i was let down by my lack of stamina and endurance.Although the furthest i ran in training was 12km,my goal was not to stop during the course of the half-marathon.And it was dashed.
So i walked alongside some runners,and was opening up my strides so that i could overtake some of them.Nearing the U-turn point,i saw hj running by.it wasn't so much of a morale-killer but knowing that your running partner is in front of you by almost 400m isn't very encouraging to someone whose hamstrings and calves are threatening to cramp.
The decision to adopt the run-walk approach brought me a little closer to the finishing line,but i was walking more than i liked.the muscles were tightening up and i had no choice but to walk to the side and stretch them before continuing.After about 10 minutes(i lost all concept of time and this should be inaccurate),i saw hj walking in front of me.he had a bad cramp.
brother-in-arms help each other and we walked till we saw the banana station.i took one bite of the banana.
"Wah,zhe ge banana hen hao chi leh."
Indeed, it was the best banana i've tasted.there wasn't any label on it but i think it was del monte,because it's the only brand i know.
we were 1 km from the finishing point and was doing the walk-run-cramp method when hj couldn't even walk before we turned into Anderson Bridge.Medics came and asked about his condition.At that instance i wanted to say, "I can't carry it for you,but i can carry you!"(think sam and frodo).but my legs protested and threatened to cramp up if i did so,so i shut my trap.
We walked up towards the Supreme court,and with 200 or so meters to go,hj said "We'll sprint after the traffic light."And my simple reply was "Anything lor."
So I ran like i never ran before,like the final leg of a 2.4km and as i turned back to see where hj was he was grimacing in pain but still running behind me.I grabbed his hand and pulled him alongside me and we crossed the finishing line,looking like a blind runner and his guide.
I would very much like to collapse in front of the finishing line,but the prospects of encountering a stampede of homosapiens were as good as me being hauled over the barricades by Security.So we went to a corner and sat down,panting like dogs.
2 H2Os,half a bottle of mineral water later,we returned our Championchip and received our medal of completion.When i got mine,it was like getting the One Ring.so precious.
After having a good cooldown(totally forgot about the massage,which i found out on my way to City Hall Mrt that there were hot volunteers doing it),we queued up for our bags.Imagine half the length of the Padang.Yes,that was how horribly long the queue was.And it was 10am.Now imagine the late morning sun shooting arrows at you.that was how bad the heat was.but it was a moment i couldn't miss to tan.
And you'd never expect that the baggage retrieval system was the lousiest part of the whole event.the volunteers were shouting out numbers of the baggage tags for the runners to collect.I had no idea what i was queueing for.but knowing that rushing up to wait for my bag would spark off a frenzy,no choice la,wait lor.
This little lady behind me screamed "HEEEERREEEE!!!!" when she heard her number and scared the hell out of me.it was worse than someone tapping your shoulder in an empty room.
"777!!!!777!!!!"
"Here!!!!!"(notice that mine was softer.)
got my bag and left,waiting for hj to collect his.
The legs were tight by then,but what little energy i had left was meant to get to the mrt and to eat my lunch,so the 2nd stretching had to be done at home.
Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon 2005.You made my knees hurt and my legs wobbly,my backs ache and my mind a blank.But you made me a man with a new experience.
I shall decide whether or not to join next year.
Enjoy your run people,life doesn't get much better than this,and i believe, sex.
Jensen.
After months of training for the half marathon,the day finally came.The injuries,the distance breakthroughs and the disappointments all in the back of my mind,I was already planning my run the moment i woke up at the unearthly hour of 3.45am.That's usually the time i wake up to watch my beloved Man Utd play the Champions League.
A breakfast of 2 Snickers bars and a hot cup of Milo wasn't really the perfect way to start the day.I'd rather be having my Casuarina roti prata.A short walk to the Bishan Stadium for my bus ride to the Padang was peppered with my terrible singing to perk myself up.And it was a bummer to discover that Haojie was late and i had to stand on the bus while everyone else had a seat.
And when the bus reached the Padang,i decided to wait for Haojie outside the Adelphi carpark.with absolutely no form of entertainment whatsoever (apart from the occasional chiobu),i did my warm-up outside the carpark.And it's surprising that so many people actually love torturing themselves by running themselves to the ground.21,000 of them today.Even kids leh.
And so the serial latecomer finally arrived and so we made our way to the baggage deposit tent.Little did we know we would be experiencing Hell after the run at this very spot.But that's another story altogether.After another round of warm-up,we made our way into the starting pens.
Ang mohs,old men,young and fit men(me included),middle-aged balding men with their beer bellies,housewives who look fitter than the young men,ladies in their designer sports togs.Everyone was there.So i spent the next 10 minutes people-watching(or rather looking for pretty faces to while away the time).
"3.....2......1......GO!"
And the horses charge out of their stables and head for the finishing line.Neigh.
The first 2 km were along the Esplanade Bridge and Raffles Quay, and this reminded me of how me and my army buddies fooled around here during the Army Half Marathon last year.Weaving through the crowd was quite fun but proved inefficient and deadly.So hj and me jogged at a comfortable pace without any plans to overtake anyone.Saw some Hwachong canoeing girls(dunno which batch).Brought me back to the good old days when the guys team were training together.
After turning into Marina Bay,the other runners were still in good form so we didn't make much progress through the crowd.There was a lady in a red singlet who was running quite well,and i thought why not make her a running target and try not to lag behind her.And so my battle with her began.
And it ended rather soon.At around the 8 km mark,she started to pull ahead as my legs began to ache a bit.My stride was shortened and i cursed at myself as she went out of sight.By the 11 km mark,hj was ahead of me by about 10m but i thought it was ok and just maintained a good pace so as not to lose him.
The Shenton way stretch proved to be my Waterloo, as the morning sun beat down on all our shoulders and when i saw volunteers handing out bananas to the runners in the opposite lane,i went bananas.I was desperate for some fuel yet it was 6km away.I was losing my mental battle.
I could see hj in front but he was pulling away.As i struggled to keep up with him,he didn't show any signs of fatigue and so disappeared in the sea of runners.So i was left to run my own race, and it didn't affect me a little bit.I was used to running alone anyway.
Turning into Nicole Highway was like turning into the Highway to Hell.The slight ascent nearly killed me,and the temptation to walk was immense as there were many of the runners ahead doing so.I grit my teeth and hung on,until my legs could take me no further.After 15km,I had to walk.
Now at this point,i was let down by my lack of stamina and endurance.Although the furthest i ran in training was 12km,my goal was not to stop during the course of the half-marathon.And it was dashed.
So i walked alongside some runners,and was opening up my strides so that i could overtake some of them.Nearing the U-turn point,i saw hj running by.it wasn't so much of a morale-killer but knowing that your running partner is in front of you by almost 400m isn't very encouraging to someone whose hamstrings and calves are threatening to cramp.
The decision to adopt the run-walk approach brought me a little closer to the finishing line,but i was walking more than i liked.the muscles were tightening up and i had no choice but to walk to the side and stretch them before continuing.After about 10 minutes(i lost all concept of time and this should be inaccurate),i saw hj walking in front of me.he had a bad cramp.
brother-in-arms help each other and we walked till we saw the banana station.i took one bite of the banana.
"Wah,zhe ge banana hen hao chi leh."
Indeed, it was the best banana i've tasted.there wasn't any label on it but i think it was del monte,because it's the only brand i know.
we were 1 km from the finishing point and was doing the walk-run-cramp method when hj couldn't even walk before we turned into Anderson Bridge.Medics came and asked about his condition.At that instance i wanted to say, "I can't carry it for you,but i can carry you!"(think sam and frodo).but my legs protested and threatened to cramp up if i did so,so i shut my trap.
We walked up towards the Supreme court,and with 200 or so meters to go,hj said "We'll sprint after the traffic light."And my simple reply was "Anything lor."
So I ran like i never ran before,like the final leg of a 2.4km and as i turned back to see where hj was he was grimacing in pain but still running behind me.I grabbed his hand and pulled him alongside me and we crossed the finishing line,looking like a blind runner and his guide.
I would very much like to collapse in front of the finishing line,but the prospects of encountering a stampede of homosapiens were as good as me being hauled over the barricades by Security.So we went to a corner and sat down,panting like dogs.
2 H2Os,half a bottle of mineral water later,we returned our Championchip and received our medal of completion.When i got mine,it was like getting the One Ring.so precious.
After having a good cooldown(totally forgot about the massage,which i found out on my way to City Hall Mrt that there were hot volunteers doing it),we queued up for our bags.Imagine half the length of the Padang.Yes,that was how horribly long the queue was.And it was 10am.Now imagine the late morning sun shooting arrows at you.that was how bad the heat was.but it was a moment i couldn't miss to tan.
And you'd never expect that the baggage retrieval system was the lousiest part of the whole event.the volunteers were shouting out numbers of the baggage tags for the runners to collect.I had no idea what i was queueing for.but knowing that rushing up to wait for my bag would spark off a frenzy,no choice la,wait lor.
This little lady behind me screamed "HEEEERREEEE!!!!" when she heard her number and scared the hell out of me.it was worse than someone tapping your shoulder in an empty room.
"777!!!!777!!!!"
"Here!!!!!"(notice that mine was softer.)
got my bag and left,waiting for hj to collect his.
The legs were tight by then,but what little energy i had left was meant to get to the mrt and to eat my lunch,so the 2nd stretching had to be done at home.
Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon 2005.You made my knees hurt and my legs wobbly,my backs ache and my mind a blank.But you made me a man with a new experience.
I shall decide whether or not to join next year.
Enjoy your run people,life doesn't get much better than this,and i believe, sex.
Jensen.
posted by jensen @ 5:41 PM
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