My first Marathon report

* drum rollssssssssssssssss* First off, gotta thank those who donated to Handicaps Welfare Association! Thanks for making the world a better place :)

And drum rollss, we have.... Wong, Jiehong, Robin, Peifen and lots more.........

After 4 months of training, finally it's race day. Didnt really sleep well the night before as I was too anxious about the whole run. I had carbo load 3 days before eating 4-5 meals a day that are high in carbo.

Pre-race day, Saturday. Met up with my good friends Robin and Deihai for lunch and movies. Tried not to do much walking as I want to conserve my glycogen store. Ate 2 meals in the span of 3 hours, 1 rice 1 noodles.

Got back home around 4+ and took a short nap. Well, my good buddies decided to wake up early sun morning to support me and carry my bag. hehe THANKS ROBIN AND DEIHAI!

Met up with Robin and Deihai at the Padang around 5:10am. Did some light stretching and had 2 bananas. Woot, took a look around and decided to do quick pee. Gave Peifen a morning call and mine she was still in bed when her run is at 7:30am

Off I went to the start line, I found a place in the sub 5 pen. Really excited. First time racing a marathon. The mcee was cheering us to shout. He think this one 10km big walk. 42km, we better conserve my energy for the home run.

First 10km
Off the flag went, it took me about 1 min plus to get to the starting chute. Not bad, soon runners were overtaking me. But I decided to take it slow keeping to a 5.5min/km pace. At the 5km mark, my left knee starts to hurt. Thought to myself, shouldn't be a problem. Just havent wake up niah.

First 10km pace was a good 55 min. Not bad considering my target was 1 hr 05 mins

10km to 20km

Off we made the u-turn to head back to the CBD. Now it's my right knee that starting to hurt. Oh no, not again. My strategy for this marathon was to walk through the drinks station. For this, I look forward to the drinks station so I can take my walking break. Ran along Robinson Road and saw a few lone supporters. Some wifey waiting for their hubbys to run past, some children cheering their Daddy on. Showed a thumbs up sign to some of them. Way to go for waking up so early. ;) Took some bananas at the 15km mark.

20km to 30km
At Mountbatten Road, saw my NS PC. Mark, he was running and had a quick chat with him. No time to lose, so off I went. Looked on the other side of the road and saw that the Kranji Turfclub black horses were on their way back. sibei fast.

Soon, I hit the ECP. Going good. Still havent hit the wall.

30km to 40km.
Ran past 32km, going good. Taking more walking breaks now. Guess I am hitting the wall soon. Soon, i exited ECP and saw a PaceSetter reading 4:00. One Ang Moh was saying, "Hey 4 hours! Let's follow him!"

I think the bugger also losing steam as he gestured to his friend he cant make it sub 4 already. Looking at my watch, it is less than 3 hours and I am at Fort Road. Hrmm maybe I can hit sub -4?

At the stretch along Fort Road, cramp seize both my legs. It cramped all the way from my ankles to my ass. I stood still in the middle of the road, unable to move. I tried to inched 1 step but the cramped got worst. I teared, and thought to myself. Maybe I overestimated myself.

Limped forward and tried to run the cramp off, approached the next aid station for more deep heat. Getting tougher as I was practically walking during the mountbatten road stretch. Maybe I ran for 7 mins and walk for 3 mins.

It was tough, mind games. As I ran along Kallang Ave, a woman in the bus gestured the thumbs up to me. That gave me the motivation to soldier on. I was running with a limp now, but heck. A bit more.

I saw the marker it read 38M, did they forget the K? 38m? Am I dreaming? As I ran nearer it read 38km, guess my body's energy is really running low.

50% of the time, I was running, the other 50% walking at this stage. Really tough, as I ran along the Marina Park. It was extremely quiet. Even though there were lots of runners around me, it was extremely quiet. Each one of us was doing a mental battle over our body. We were focused. I ran past a motivation poster. It read "Finish what you started" tio leh. finish what I started. But off I walk again. :)

Lotsa ang moh standing by the road side cheering us on. Too shag, should have more pom pom girls man.

40km to End Point.

Saw the Esplande. The end is near. Reach the second last water point and splash water on my face to cool off. Off I ran, ran past loads of supporters, saw Deihai and Robin sitting by the stretch after the underpass. Gestured to them, end point!!!!!!!

100ms to the finishing chute. Another cramp got me. Limped and ran. Ran into the finishing chute and raised my hands. Did I get a good photo? Guess not. TOO SHAG LAH!

Unofficial time on my watch read 4 hrs 21 mins. My pace was a good 6km/min. Not bad considering I target 4 hrs 45 mins.

And THANKS DEIHAI AND ROBIN FOR COMING TO SUPPORT ME! I didnt wanna you'll to wait so long so I ran a little faster.

And my official results:

Entrant		LIM KAH KIAT
Event		Full Marathon
Date		Sunday 3 December, 2006
Division / Race Number		M2024 / 5063
Gun Time / Chip Time		4h:22m:22s / 4h:21m:16s

864th place with 6348 finishers behind. About 12% of finishers ahead.