42.195

4.30 am: Phone rings, my wake up call. Get ready in a daze and stumble out to meet the uncle. This time we drive down, instead of the usual taxi. Roads are deserted apart frm other marathoners...

5.05 am: we take a leisurely stroll down to the baggage deposit area; after all, we have lots of time. Flag off is only supposed to be at 5.30

5.20am: to my shock the queue for baggage stretches for miles. wtf! make emergency plans and i have to run back to the car with my bag, cos there's no way i can deposit my bag and reach the start line on time.

5.30am: after a mad dash i reach the bloody finish line all sweaty already. flag off, and it takes me 15 minutes just to reach the start point cos of the massive crowd.

10 km: relatively smooth sailing. The weather is lovely, and i stop at every drinks stop to drink water and 100 plus. Marina at this time has an otherwordly quality, enhanced by the predawn sky. Runners all around in good spirits. I also consume my first powergel, while there's still water around.

14km: around this point i start getting persistent urges to pass motion n urinate. Every toilet i get i go, but somehow it keeps recurring. Momentum broken, and i start getting annoyed. Still is relatively good shape, but ankles start grumbling

20km: by now the diarrhoea is in full swing. 2 toilets in a row i stop, and both times its watery. still running continuously, but its getting harder with the frequent breaks. I tell myself can alternate run/walking at 25, and improvement over last year.

22km: i hit the wall. I need to alternate run walk, and i do my best not to pass anymore motion cos I'm worried abt dehydration. morale starts ebbing as i realise i'm only halfway thru, tho a lot less than half my energy seems to be remaining

24-25km: probably the hardest part of the race, mentally. I'm completely unable to run, cos of the urge to pass motion, and there's no way i can walk almost 20km. To add insult to injury, I can see a large body of runners on the opposite side of ECP, having made the journey to the end and now returning. I also encounter mong and joanna at a toilet, tho we only make contact briefly.

26 km: i decide enough is enough, and finish off everything at one toilet. Finally am able to run again (lungs aren't even tired) and i start making up for lost time.

27-31km: making good time, and feeling good too. new reserves of energy appear from nowhere, and a good timing seems possible once more! Around 31 km, i encounter mong and joanna again, and we start a game of cat and mouse which lasts up till almost 39km. The sun is now out, tho there's a blessed wind that keeps us cool.

32-38km: i can still run walk, but its getting progressively harder. legs feel like lead, and lungs are a little tired. Once or twice i feel twinges as muscles threaten to give way, but thankfully they do not follow thru on that threat. Now the sun is out in full force, and there's no wind to mitigate it. From this point, every drinks station gives 2 cups of water; 1 to drink and 1 to pour over head. Near the end of this stretch, mong and joanna move on ahead, cos I have to sit down before my legs collapse. I do not see them again.

39-41km: the worst part of the race, physically. legs are absolutely frozen over, barely able to go thru the running motion, and there's more pain than my brain can localise to any one spot. Every kilometre stretches unbearably, and the finish line seems impossibly far away. I start getting angry; at my weakness, at having delayed so long, at myself for signing up in the first place. these are only transient tho

41 onwards: nothing else to say, just slog on and on. Familiar territory now (its the same as last year's run up to the finish). I remember how last year all the meddies gathered under the underpass to cheer on the runners at the finish, and I somehow gain one little burst of speed. The sprint in is terrible, for I feel cramps forming in both legs, shooting all the way. Somehow manage to stagger over the line without collapsing. And i see the banner: see you next year on december 7th 2008! the word i have in mind starts with f and rhymes with duck.

All in all, this year was harder than last, because this time I knew exactly wat was coming. Few other things cause this level of pain, both physical and mental. i think the constant lack of rest also played a part (got really worried when i started feeling sleepy in the middle part of the race). Still as always, once its over I'm not in the least sorry i did. One last one next year, and this time I shall train properly!! haha. Yeah right.

Replies:
angie: haha. No need to study??! i wish la :(
xinyi: so how, wanna buy tickets? haha. I promise u won't regret it!

"You have to forget your last marathon before you try another. Your mind can't know what's coming."

-Frank Shorter

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