Post Half Marathon

I know it's been close to a week since I ran the half marathon, but I've been busy with work and more importantly, nursing my bruised feet :)  For some reasons, my Saucony Kinvara, while light weight and comfortable, didn't provide enough cushion during my run. Consequently, in addition to having somewhat agitated knees, my feet hurt like hell.  Even now, my right foot still complains each time I put weight on it, especially on the outer side.  And the pain spreads upwards to my calf.  Maybe it's because I didn't warm down properly.  

Enough about my feet.  Now about the run.  To be frank, I almost didn't go.  First, I slept at 1 am, which to my credit, wasn't because I didn't try to sleep early.  I did, as my wife would testify, but I just couldn't do it.  Maybe it was because it was too early since I rarely hit the sack at 11ish on a Saturday night.  Or perhaps I was excited about the run, which I had written about, especially since I wanted to best my previous timing.  So as it turned out, I woke up at 5.15 am and left the house only at 6.15 am.  I half expected to miss the flag off since the one for half marathon was at 6.30 am.  By the time I parked at Vivocity, it was 6.45 am and I had to run to the starting line.  Along the way, race officials gave those of us who came 'late' the evil eye.  By the time I stepped over the line to begin my 21 km run, it was almost 7 am.

The bad thing about starting late is that it was discouraging since you knew from the small number of runners that most people were up front.  But it meant dispensing with the initial human jam, especially as the run was at Sentosa for the first 10 km or so.  For those who've been to Sentosa, the roads are anything but wide.  When I first ran the half marathon 2 years ago, I was walking the first half an hour or so.  Hmmm, maybe that was why my timing was so bad - hahaha.  Anyways, I ran slowly initially as I wanted to conserve energy as there was a long way to go.  In fact, the first 2 km was not easy and the initial sprint to the starting line had caused my hamstrings to tighten up somewhat.  What crossed my mind was "surely I was not gonna run out of steam so early on in the run. God forbid!"  

But after the initial hump, I got into a momentum and my legs started to move more fluidly.  After that, the next 6 to 7 km wasn't that bad.  I won't say it was a breeze but it was definitely easier than when I began my run.  When I crossed the bridge from Sentosa, that was when my knees felt a tad sore.  I continued with my mid-foot strike stance and maintained a straight posture as I pressed on.  Things got better for a while and I even ran into Eliza during the run.  I had just crossed the mid-point mark and had turned around while she was heading to where I was.  I waved to her and she exclaimed my name in return.  I guessed we were both quite tired by then and a simple acknowledgement was more than enough.

The next 10 plus km was much harder.  First, we had to run up the ramp to the ECP, which by then, most of us were ill equipped to do.  Then, of course, quite a few of us had lost our wind and were running on sheer willpower.  In fact, one of the many signs along the way said that "when your body gives up, your mind takes over".  Boy, was that true for me and I'm sure for a lot of other running compatriots too.  For those who've tried long distance running, which could be 10 km or more, you'll know what I'm talking about.  There's a point during a run when you just will your feet to move, one step at a time, without thinking how long you can keep it up.  There will be times when you stop and walk, and I did that a few times on the ECP.  But I tried to continue running, or more like jogging or walking at a brisk pace.  

Eventually, I made it down the ECP to reach my last 2 km of run.  It was invigorating to know that I've completed 19 km and was heading to the finishing line.  But it wasn't easy to keep running despite knowing that it'd be over in less than 15 mins.  In fact, there was still some walking but I believed I ran more than I walked.  So when I passed by the floating platform where many NDPs had taken place, I musted every iota of willpower to run to the finishing line at the Padang.  This was easier during the last 500 m of so, as there was lots of people cheering us on.  I'm not sure if we felt encouraged to press on or our egos made it hard for us to walk or stop running.  I suspect the latter was the more potent motivator.  Oh, anyways, I completed the run in 2 hrs and 49 mins :)   

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Being A Dad in My Fifties

After many years of trying, both naturally or through artificial means, we finally welcomed our boy in January 2023.  It had been a tough journey, spanning more than a decade, both physically for my wife and emotionally for both of us.  We almost became parents in 2017 and 2020 but it was not to be then.  The anguish of our loss still lingers within our hearts and looms over us whenever we think of them.        While we were elated with joy when we found out that my wife was pregnant last May, there were trepidations because we have had 2 unsuccessful pregnancies previously.  However, with much prayers and perseverence, we managed to have a somewhat uneventful pregnancy.  Perhaps "uneventful" is an overstatement as we did have a scare in the first trimester that had caused much consternation and concern.  But by God's grace, the baby developed well and each visit to the gynaecologist watered our hope.    Our boy made his entrance into the world via a planned caesarean sec
Read more

Who Are They Trying to Fool?

I've been driving since 2005 and have owned 2 cars since, the latest being an Audi A4 which is a delight to drive.  Truth be told, I do love to drive and sometimes I resent the fact that Singapore is so small.  It really doesn't take very long to drive anywhere for anything in this island state.  Still, I managed to chalk up 30 over thousand km since my wife and I bought the car in October 2012.  I guess the fact that we drive everywhere to find good food has something to do with it.  When I got my first car, a Ford Focus, I was a newly minted driver eager to taste the thrills of driving.  And I did drive somewhat recklessly with little regard for my passengers.  I remember an ex-colleague from MINDEF telling me that I drive much better now.  She was being nice as it was a tactful comment on my less than nice rides in the past.  Over the years, I've learnt to be more considerate and to consider the comfort of others when they're in the car.  But I still succumbed to t
Read more

Writing Again

It’s been a while since my last blog entry in late 2014.  Since then, I’ve changed jobs and things have been rather hectic at work.   But it’s also because I seem to be losing momentum in recent years.   I can’t quite pin it down, but it could be that I’m getting old or lazy, or both.   Murakami said that while some writers seem to have an endless well of ideas to draw upon, it’s not the case for him.   To him, writing is something that he has to work on, and it can be tough depending on whether the creative juices flow.   I’ve read his first few and later novels, and I never felt that he had to labor over his work.   Somehow, he has a way of putting across his ideas in simple but impactful ways.   True, his earlier works can seem plotless but he more than made up for it through his punchy writing.   And some of his work are very complicated and hard to understand, such as Kafka on the Shore which I didn’t quite grasp.   I’m not comparing myself to accomplished writers like Murakami.  
Read more