6th Dec 2015 ; my 10th Marathon, Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon

My time, with the medal and commemorative booklet 

A real tough race to end a tough year for me. 

The Route this Year

      The year end Standard Chartered Marathon has become a ritual for me. I have run this 9 times since 2004 and add the first for the Penang Marathon in 2003, comes to a grand total of 10. In the years from 2003 to 2007, I ran the marathons 4 times and clocked 5 :20 (2003), 4 : 52 (2004), 4 : 59 (2005 - real drama at the finish line for me then) and 4 : 48 (2007). The last 5 years (2010 - 2015) I have completed it 6 times, with only 2 times below 6 hours and the rest just after 6 hours, the slowest being 6 hours 9 minutes. I have somehow managed to maintain my time these past 5 years ! 

                                   Spotted my name amongst the thousands taking part ! 

At the start point at 4 : 45 am 

with Timothy Lee and Ricky Ng

      Time and tide waits for no man, so with the passgage of time, our bodies age, some people age slower than others some manage to maintain a very healthy glow and dispostition till the last years of their lives. I have had a very eventful and stressful year having sold 2 major systems to the Government, and with the large orders come large expectations from customers demading fast and exacting responses. This is a breakthrough year for me, and I want us to break out out of the last 4 years of poor business with a massive gain in profit and cashflow. We are not there yet but WE WILL MAKE IT !!!! I AM 100 % SURE OF IT. 

    

Preparation for the race the night before ;

powergels, muscal spray, cloth, isotonic drinks, the Nathan running belt etc. 

The race started off promptly at 5am, I was there with 2 friends from Karate and social circles. Ricky was running his first marathon and Timothy was doing his 5th. The Standard Chartered race is by no means an easy one, as the weather can get very hot and humid, especially after 9 am. So it was on race day. My strategy was to run at 6 : 45 minutes / km pace for the first 21 km to maximise the cool morning air, and so I did. I was pushing and reached the 21 Km Mark in about 2 : 27. So far so good.

My Reason this Year ?  Go for it and Never Say Die 

There were some moments of anxiousness, when cramps were starting to set in, but I told myself to relax, and take my salt pills, which I did at the 9 KM mark as well as the 23 KM mark. In addition, I was strategising and took my first Power Gel BEFORE the run, with breakfast at 3.45am. Then during the Run, I took it at the following distances :

a) 8 KM

b) 17 KM

c) 23 KM

d) 28 KM

e) 33 KM

f) 37 KM

     Come to the 23 KM mark, I was sputtering as I had not trained in over 1 year for distances longer than 21 KM, so my body was lacking conditioning, in addition to aging 1 year since 2014.  After 23 KM, the challenge was trying to maintain a decent pace, I think I slowed to about 8 plus minutes per km, and stopping at every drinks station to top up, eat a banana, and pop in a power gel, such was the ritual that I was wasting precious minutes but there was no choice, I had only trained a total of 1 month for this, so I was physically not in condition to run a decent pace after 21 KM. 

     Once I reached 32 KM, it was at the 'urgh' start of the most open and heat bearing part of the race, the road leading to the Marina Bay Golf Course. This was 5 - 7 KM of sheer torture running through open road with little foliage and tree cover, it was like running in the desert. At that time, I had 4 : 15 hours under my belt and was mentally preparing to hit below 6 hours. It was wishful thinking on my part ! 

      The runners were  "hitting the wall" and walking. I was almost going to stop running but somehow willed myself to continue running even at a slow pace.  I was now running like an old man shuffling and probably hitting 9 minutes / km, but it was faster than I could walk. 

The weather was in one word, horrible. The heat and humidity was taking its toll on me, and I made sure I ran through all the hot areas (where there were no shade) as fast as I could so as not to tire myself further. 

      Finally, we hit the 36 - 37 - 38 Km mark. It was another horrid and dry spot beside the Gardens By the Bay boardwalk and then onto Sheares Avenue. I was tempted to jump into the lake such was the heat which was killing me. My towel was not wet enough, so I resorted to filling my water bottle with water and pouring water all over me whenever I reached th drinks station.

     It was at the 40 Km mark when I decided and yelled " Fxxx it, go for it !" and then on it was a slow plodding all the way to the finish line. I still contemplated finishing below 6 hours such was my resolution, but at 41. 8 Km, my heart started beating too fast and I was gasping for air, I was hyperventilating, so decided to walk about 100 m.  Finally round the bend at the St. Andrew's road, I picked up steam and ran all the way to the finish line.

     My time, a decent 6 : 01. Timothy who is 6 years younger than me clocked 6 : 07 and Ricky on his first attempt did a 7 : 11.

     Well done to all of us !   I must say I am full of good motivation to finish the year 2015 on a High Note !!.   GO FOR IT ! FOCUS AND PRESS ON ! 

     

Ricky with his hard earned medal.