Appreciating Life's Blessings: A Reminder for All of Us

During my morning run, I met Mr. Takalah Tan. I had not known him before today, but he shared with me his experience of a traffic accident that could have ended his life. The aftermath of the accident resulted in half of his brain being damaged, and he lost sight in one eye. Despite this, he demonstrated his will to live and fighting spirit by obtaining two additional academic degrees and completing the recently organized Standard Chartered Half Marathon.

This is yet another wake-up call to remind all of us to cherish what we have in our daily lives. If he can do it, what excuse do we have for not doing what we need to do?

For more info, you can read them here:

https://saltandlight.sg/christmas/an-accident-so-horrific-he-lost-half-his-brain/

https://saltandlight.sg/christmas/disfigured-broken-and-brain-damaged-but-he-still-says-it-happened-for-a-good-purpose/

Happy 2023! It's gonna be higher registration fees for running events in Singapore

Happy New Year! I wish you good health and many personal bests for the year to come.

Recently, Sundown Marathon Signapore announced that registration for their marathons has begun. If you're interested in participating, you can register on their official website.

Initially, I was interested in participating in the 21 km category, but after seeing the price, I think I will skip this event and look for cheaper races. Oh, I emailed Sundown on December 18th to inquire about this event, but they ignored me. I guess it's normal for event organizers to ignore such emails, though.

Anyway, I've compiled the prices for three recent running events for your quick comparison before you sign up for any. It's worth noting that registration fees for running events have consistently increased, possibly due to inflation and the GST hike. 

With higher registration prices, we should be more selective when choosing the races we want to participate in.

For your information:

There are only two marathon distances in Singapore: the Standard Chartered Marathon and Sundown Marathon. The former is a morning marathon, and the latter is a night marathon.

If I recall correctly, the cost for running events prior to the pandemic was around this range:

42 km - $2+ per km

21 km - $3+ per km

10 km - $4+ per km"

Regards

Recap: Salomon Rail Forest Run 25km run

I participated in the Salomon Rail Forest Run on November 5th, 2020 as a lead-up training to better prepare myself for the Singapore Marathon, which will be held on the first Sunday of December 2022. I underestimated the run, as the weather and terrain were tough, especially since I had not logged enough running mileage in the past few months. Additionally, I was unfamiliar with the route as it was the first time I had ever run on the entire rail corridor. Despite these challenges, I managed to complete the 25km run, although I had an embarrassing positioning of 80 percentile (188 out of 237 participants, and 148 out of 185 males).

I have to give a shout out to the volunteers who were very supportive and helpful throughout the run! When I spoke to some of them, they had been there as early as 3:30am and their spirits were not broken by the weather! Ultimately, this run did prepare me better for the Singapore Marathon in 2022, rain or shine. 

You can watch the video to get a feel for my running experience on that day (pun intended).

References:

http://railforestrun.com/

https://time.raceya.fit/leaderboard/salomonrailforestrun2/25km-Challenge

Signing Up for Singpaore Marathon 2022

After 2.5 years of pandemic, the Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore (also know as the Singapore Marathon 2022) is finally back. This will be the first marathon to be held locally and I have already signed up for the marathon event.

With less than 6 months to the event, it is probably time to recover from the persistent C+ cough and then put on my training gears and start to warm up my rusty engine for this event.  I hope I can be present for the event and complete the entire race on 4 Dec 2022. Targeting a 6 hours completion time should be decent since I have not be running such long distance for many years.

Stay tune for more updates on my preparations and training for SCMS.  

Source : https://singaporemarathon.com/

Improving Fitness during Endemic 2022

It has been more than two years that I had live a more sedentary life. This was largely due to the change in work environment and also trying to be extremely safe during the recent pandemic. 

For the first year, I was able to maintain a not-too-bad fitness. Instead of taking part in actual races, I turned to virtual race events to maintain my fitness. My fitness for the second year was much of a struggle as my lifestyle has been confined to my work station. Also, I am no longer excited in virtual races and stopped participating in them.

2022 will be the year whereby the pandemic would become endemic and we would be expected to return back to normalcy. At this moment, there is still no sign of any physical races to be organized in the near future. So my focus for now is to clear my annual fitness test first. 

Also, I discovered that I have gained much weigh and my fitness level is not as good as I used to be. I aim to clear my fitness test by mid Jun. I plan to concentrate on physical training for the next 2 months. I am targeting to obtain minimally 85 points - i.e. 47 push up (24 points), 47 sit up (24 points) and 12:30min run  (37 points).  Importantly, I need to remind myself that I am not younger anymore and i cant afford to get myself injured until I have cleared my test.

So I wish myself all the best.  

p/s - this website has a good wallet size score card according to your age group. Else, you can refer to the official website for the actual scorings. 

Finisher of 100 Miles Challenge Race (Virtual Edition) 2020

I may not be the Fastest, Talented, or Fittest, but I think I may be one of the more determined sane nuts to participate in this 100 Miles Challenge 2020 (Virtual Edition)

The journey began on 12 Oct 2020 and the participants were given 35 days to complete this challenge. Some powerhouses completed their distances within a go, but the majority completed or will be completing it by installments. I belonged to the second category.

My principal consideration for this challenge is that my participation must not impact my working hour, family time or event the time that I need to perform any other essential tasks. And it would seem that only time that I could afford to sacrifice is ......... my non-sleeping hours.

And here I go, carried out with my plan as if it is a military operation order, waking up at the wee hour every morning (about 4 am+) and attempted to clock back-to-back 10 km+ runs for 2 weeks or more.

Doing Back-to-Backs runs are very psychically exhausting, on Day 11, I noticed that I could no longer carry on with this regime and had to take that morning off for a quick active recovery session. Thankfully, I was about to recover quick enough to clock more mileages on the same evening and the remaining days. 

Everyday, I ran by feel, adapted myself to the runs and ran further. For a good 13 days since 12 Oct, I have accumulated enough mileages to be qualified as a finisher. On 24 Oct, the 100 miles challenge Race Director emailed to inform that he had verified my running logs and Congratulated me for a job well done. I am so proud that I was able to complete this event. 

SOME REFLECTIONS

Succeed to Plan, and Plan to Succeed, Adjustment to the Plan is a Continuous Process 

My original plan was to complete this challenge within 16 days (i.e. running ~10 km daily). Subsequently, I decided to stretch it and try to complete the event within 2 weeks (i.e. 11.5km or more mileages on the weekends. This would means that I would need to cock an additional 10 kms on the weekends to accumulate 80 km weekly mileages.

Establishing Self-Awareness and Self-Discipline

Running back-to-back daily is no simple affair for the average Joe as it is rather demanding physically and mentally. This was made worst as I did not train as much as previous years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Slowly down is also and important step in order to preserve energy to the new few runs too. On days that I think i can run faster, I kept reminded myself to slow down as any foolish now will jeopardise my mission. 

Also, I took really good care of myself for the weeks leading to the event. This was in hope that I will not fall sick before or during the event. Some of the care include (1) sleeping earlier than usual in order to wake up on time for runs, (2) slow down to a comfortable pace in order to sustain for my subsequent runs, (2) took multi-vitamins and anti-inflammatory supplements (such as Omega-3) as a form of precautionary measures.

Remember to Draw Inspiration from Social Media during this COVID-19 Pandemic

Without seeing and communicating with real participants, this event became a fairly boring and quiet challenge. I missed the cheering from the volunteers at the aid stations and the passions from the fellow ultra-runners. Now, the only place that kept me going is the Strava "100 Miles Challenge Group" that was created to track the participants' progress. And seeing these crazy elites completing 100 miles in a go (or 2) truly amazed me, it also inspired me to continue to persist on no doubt that I am just the average "Simon".

CONCLUSION

Participating in this challenge was demanding physiologically, but I thought that I had enjoyed it as it has been a fun and challenging journey. Let's hope COVID-19 pandemic will be over soon and we can take part in real runs in the near future.

I hope that  Running Guide will resume that 101 km Craze Ultra in 2021. 

For now, I hope you guys will stay safe and take care of yourself. See you again when we can start running together!

 

Participating in the 100 Miles Challenge 2020 (Organised by Running Guild)

References
100 Miles Challenge Website: https://www.crazeultra.com/p/virtual-edition.html

Craze Ultra on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CrazeUltra/

Craze Ultra 2020 took a virtual twist this year. 

Instead of organising an ultra-marathon event during COVID-19 pandemic, a 100mile challenge (Virtual Edition) will be organised from 12 Oct to 15 Nov 2020. There are 2 ways to compete this event - Participants could either complete 100 Miles within 32hr or we could accumulate 100 Miles over multiple activities during the 35 days. 

Completion Strategy 

With my limited training due to COVID-19 and other personnel/work commitment, it would be too physical demanding for me to run anything longer than 10km at a go nor could I run 10km on consecutive days without feeling burnt-out.

As such, my strategy is simply jog for lesser than 10km on most of the days in order to achieve the required mileage. I will also need to put my Pride and Ego aside and ensure that I can run consistently for the entire durations.

Attending Webinars

As part of this virtual event, I have attended 2 webinars on 1 Oct (Q&A with Race Director) and 8 Oct (Nutrition and Race Tips). There will be one more webinar (Past Runner Legacy Session) in End Oct 2020. In my opinion,  the Q&A session with RD Ben Swee and Steffan was rather fun and interesting . You may consider watching this  ~30min re-run too.

Webinar 1 - Questions and Answers with Ben Swee

Free trial  products were sent to participants

I received these products 2 weeks ago, but I have not tried these jelly yet. I have also enquired on the consumption methods for these strange products as there would not english instructions on the packaging. After attending the webinar 2 (not available online), I understand that the "multi-energy" jelly should be consumed 30 min before any activity and the "refresh charge" jelly should be consumed during every 90 min intervals.  

I will try these ~$3 per packet jelly during the 100 mile challenge.

 

Please stay tune for more updates :)

----

Extracts of Email Sent by Race Director

Briefing Notes for 100 Miles Challenge 2020

Dear 100 Miles Challenge 2020 Participants,

We hope you're getting excited for the 100 Miles Challenge 2020 :)

Just before the 100 Miles Challenge starts, here are some points to keep in mind, some based on the questions i've received:

Event Period

• Your activities can be done any day/time within the period from 12 Oct 2020 0000hrs (12am) till 15 Nov 2020 2359hrs(11.59pm) based on your country's time zone.  
• It is not necessary to start on the 1st day.  
• The final activity must be completed by 15 Nov 2020 2359hrs (11.59pm).  Any activity that starts and/or ends after this date/time will not be counted.

Types of Qualifying Activities

• Only outdoor runs/walks/hikes with route maps shown in your Strava activities will be counted.
• Activities done indoor/sheltered areas such as gym, home, office multi-storey car park, basement car park, mall, buildings, etc, WILL NOT be counted.
• Random checks will be done on your activities to verify if they are valid.  Activities without route maps/unbelievable pace/done indoor/manually entered/aided by vehicles or mobility devices such as bicycle, tricycle, trishaw, skateboard, scooter, e-scooter, motorcycle, bus, car, lorry, truck, etc, will not be counted.  If I have any doubts, I may or may not seek clarification from you.

Required Distance

• The minimum total distance required is 100 Miles, which is 160.934km.  To be safe, go for at least 161km :)
• You can do 100 Miles in 1 go or accumulate 100 Miles over multiple activities within the event period.

Strava Club/Group

• Invitations to join a Strava Club/Group have been sent out to those who 'follow' me in Strava. Please open your Strava notifications (located on the top right corner of your Strava app/website) and check if you have received an invite.
• If you have not received an invite, please 'follow' me in Strava at https://www.strava.com/athletes/15096947 so that I can send an invite to you.  After the event, you can 'unfollow' me.
• Currently, there are 5 different Strava Clubs/Groups.  You'll be invited to join 1 of the groups.  The groups are not set up based on your running prowess.
• For the period of the event, please set your privacy control for your activities in Strava to allow 'Everyone' to see your activities.  You can set it back to your preference after the event period is over.  Thank you for your understanding.
• For those who selected their activities as Hike/Walk, your activities will not appear on the Strava Club's Leaderboard as the Club's primary activity has been set as running.  You do not have to worry about this as you can let me know once you have completed 100 miles and I can go to your Strava account to view your activities.
• At the end of the event, the Strava Club/Group will be deleted.
• NOTE: For those who have not tried out their Strava app, please test it & ensure it works (example, it syncs with your GPS watch or you can use the Strava app to record your activity) before you start the Challenge.

Sub-32 Hours 100 Miles Finisher/Hall of Fame

For those who are aiming to qualify for the Sub-32 Hours 100 Miles Finisher Hall of Fame, please note the following:

• The 32 hours qualifying period is a single continuous period.  For example, if you start at 7am on Saturday 24 Oct 2020, you must finish by 2.59pm on Sunday 25 Oct 2020.  
• You will not qualify as a Sub-32 Hours Finisher if all your activities are spread over several days or beyond the 32 hours single continuous period, even if the accumulated distance of those activities is 100 Miles and the total time taken is less than 32 hours.
• The cut off time to qualify as a Sub-32 Hour 100 Miles Finisher is 31 hours 59 minutes 59 seconds.  Any finishing time from 32 hours 00 min 00 sec & longer will not qualify you as a Sub-32 Hours Finisher.
• The 32 hour period is the total elapsed time of your activity, inclusive of your moving time (run/walk/hike) & all pauses/stops (such as rest, meal, drink, restroom, charging of your watch/phone/device, shower, sleep, bad weather, etc).
• Please inform Ben (via WhatsApp +6596332436 or Facebook messenger (https://www.facebook.com/ben.swee.5/) or email runningguild@gmail.com) when you're just about to start your Sub-32 Hours attempt.  And when you finish 100 miles (regardless of time) OR decide to stop midway, please inform Ben immediately too.  You may send a photo of yourself to Ben :) 
• You can do multiple activities accumulating to 100 miles, as long as it is still within the 32 hours continuous period. 
• There is no limit on the number of attempts to finish 100 Miles below 32 hours as long as the attempts are still within the qualifying period.  For example, you can keep trying every weekend if you are up to it :)
• If you are unable to finish 100 Miles below 32 hours, the distance that you've covered in that attempt can still be added to subsequent activities and accumulated to reach 100 Miles, as long as it's within the qualifying period.

Upon Finishing 100 Miles

• Please inform me as soon as you have completed 100 Miles (whether you did it all in 1 go or accumulated over multiple activities) so i can verify your activities and email the e-certificate to you.

Finisher T-Shirt & Medal  

• The Finisher T-Shirt & Medal will be posted out to the address you provided, hopefully by the end of Nov 2020, depending on whether there's any delay in printing/shipment of the items from the vendors due to the COVID-19 situation.

Safety/Health

• Please ensure you are in good health before you start the activity.  Do not do the activity if you're feeling unwell that day.  Save it for another day.
• Have a good rest before you start your activity.
• Do the activity together with someone if it is permitted & possible.  If you're heading out alone, ensure you have informed someone about your route, how long you expect to take & what time you expect to finish.
• Bring along your mobile phone during the activity which will come in handy for any emergency.
• Hydrate & Fuel well before, during and after the activity.  Plan your fueling and hydration strategy.
• Stay alert & beware of danger along the route, e.g. pedestrians, vehicles, potholes, dangerous animals/insects/plants, etc.
• Bring along lighting if necessary e.g. headlamp/rear blinker light especially for dark areas/to alert others of your presence.
• Bring along any first aid/medication for any emergency.  Go to the nearest hospital/clinic if necessary.
• Be prepared for severe/bad weather/lightning.  You may wish to bring along a rain jacket/poncho.
• Have a good recovery after the activity, e.g. recovery drink/meal, massage, foam rolling, stretching, etc.  

If you have any other questions, do let me know.

May I wish all of you the best & may you have a crazy & nutty time challenging yourself over 100 Miles of Running/Walking/Hiking 😁

Visit to Sembawang Hotspring on 6 Sep 2020

Re-visiting One of the only Two Hotsrping in Singapore during CB Phase 2.

Covid-19 is not deterring people from visiting this place. :)

Powerpuff Power! The X-Bionic Venus Run 2014, Singapore

The X-Bionic Venus Run 2014 was my second all-women run. The first being Great Eastern Women's Run 2013 (in November 2013) - my first ever race! 

An all-women run is very unlike any normal races. Competitive runners aside, you'll see more leisure runners and walkers. While some hardcore runners may shy away, many of us still love the fun and glee in such events!  

Why not? Let me list down just few perks of such all-women events :

• rewarding race packs (most of the time)
• exciting (you should compare the different number of activity booths between a normal race event and an all-women event!)
• run for good cause (for fellow women)
• fun (most people ran with a great smile, happiness is contagious!)
• run with friends; make new friends (you hardly see any loner)
• less stressful (what PB?)
• a good start (many women start running from all-women events and progress to other races)

For me, the biggest perk in this X-Bionic Venus Run has to be my husband being there for me! He had to re-schedule his own weekend training to be there. He had to be my driver. He had to be my porter during the race. He had to be my event photographer. He was my human vending machine when I was feeling thirsty. He's my unofficial 'coach'. He's the man!

On this International Women's Day, it was meaningful to have him to be there to celebrate with me, really.

The man behind Power Rachel!

Although there were few mis-communications during the registration and race-pack collection process, I must say that the organiser Singapore Athletic Association (SAA) did a fantastic job! The best being able to secure X-Bionic as the event title sponsor, benefitting all women participants with the best ever race pack (including compression top, pants and socks)! 

To add on to the already "most generous race pack", X-Bionics was giving runners a pair of socks of their choice by turing up in race attire!  

This event was definitely a bonding time for sisters in the family! 4 of us signed up together. From registration to race day, we'd done it together! This day was especially meaningful for Magdalene as it was her maiden run. We were happy to be there for her and looking forward to see her join us in more running events.

The Sisters-in-Law Happy in Pink!

The flag off time for the run was supposedly 5 p.m. Many turned up as early as 2.30 p.m. to enjoy the fringe activities at the race site. There were free health screening, photo booth, sporting sales and even mobile photo-session with hunks! The most patronised had to be the X-Rewards redemption booth whereby participants could get their pair of free socks. Many ladies changed into the new X-Bionic socks immediately. How cool looking!

Battling the Scorching Heat with thousands of Powerpuff Girls!

The scorching heat on Saturday afternoon was our only complaint to the event. We were already perspiring way before the run. Perhaps, there's the reason to start at this hour? To let us sweat and then "turn sweat into energy"? A slight adjustment on the event run time would definitely be appreciated. 

Otherwise, everything else was fantastic! The music was good, the emcee was entertaining, the ladies were responsive and happy moods afloat. Being a one year breast cancer survivor myself, I was really happy to see fellow survivors leading the mass Zumba during the warm-up session. These ladies simply looked great! I wish I could join them some day!

Zumba-ing with our Breast Cancer Survivors! You'll only see such mass warm-up in an all-women race!

Arrival of Guest-of-Honour : Mdm. Halimah Yacob. Women's Pride!

The flag-off took place as soon as the Guest-of-Honor, Mdm. Halimah Yacob (Speaker of Parliament) arrived. No time wasted. Everything swift and orderly. Beaming faces took off from the start line. There was no turning back! The ladies were moving forward in powerpuff power! 

Not forgetting to thank the men behind us!  Thanks for being there for us!

The Generous Title-Sponsor : X-Bionic "Turn Sweat into Energy". Good Job! We Remember You! Simon asked if the guys can have them too? Photo taken by him when the ladies were running.

The Finisher Medal 

Medals waiting to be claimed at the Finish Line.

Enjoying my run despite the heat and haze. Thanks to my loving husband for patiently waiting and identifying me amongst the sea of pink ladies!

Simon was there again! Waiting for me to cross the Finish Line!

The happy sisters re-united after the race. Doris (Simon's sister) a seasoned runner, and I happy to be there for Magdalene (wife of Simon's Brother) at her maiden run. Running is contagious! 

Running is Contagious! Happy to be Contagious! Wonderful to have a photo-booth on site.  The ladies loved it!

As this was a short 5 km run, there's not much I could mention about the en route scenery.   I finished my run in a slow 44 minutes as I did not want to push myself in the heat, haze and my bruised purple toe nails. Thanks to the sponsor for being so generous with drinks at the finish point! We thank the lovely volunteers too! 

My observation was that - every woman looked happy. Be it the super fast athlete, the slow-walking grandma, the young student, the pretty lady, the tired auntie, the excited kid or the sick girl that was being wheel-chaired, the energy was positive! And that made us beautiful!  

A Personal Account on Her First Half-Marathon : 2XU Compression Run 2014, Singapore

I was in dilemma! To run or not to run? See what I had in addition to the pulled thigh muscle last week?

Photo of blisters taken
before we set off from home.

Yes! I had blood blisters on both my feet before the run! Simon advised me to give up as he did not want me to jeopardise my other runs with further injuries. 

I listened. I deliberated. I decided. 

I wanted to run this first half-marathon of my life. Whilst I had thousand-and-one doubts in my brain, my heart didn't want to give up. Not without giving it a try! Somehow, this run meant a great deal to me - consciously or sub-consciously - it signified an important yardstick on my road to recovery from my cancer. 

We had to wake up at 2.00 a.m. due to the early gun time (4.45 a.m.). I always like early gun time. This would allow most runners to cover a substantial part of their race routes before sunrise. 

Simon boiled some potatoes to load his carb. Never a fan of potatoes, I seek comfort in sandwiches and chocolate milk for fuel. By 3.00 a.m., we were ready to leave home. God knew the butterflies in my stomach!

A couple shot before we left home. All geared up!

We arrived at 3.45 a.m. The organisers had chosen a good starting/finishing venue. Accessible by buses, taxis and situated just next to a MRT station. For us drivers, there were ample parking lots in the nearby commercial buildings. We thought we were early, but realised many runners were already there! Had they ever slept at all? 

The brilliant Billboard!

Simon would agree with me that the lighted billboards instructing check-in times for respective categories were brilliant!  Straight forward. No confusion. At exactly 4 a.m., the first wave were allowed into the start pen by the security guards. Dark as it might be, kudos to these guys for scrutinising the bib of every participant before granting access into the pen. 

As it would be another 45 minutes before gun-time, many early birds chose to sit around. Few hardworking ones were already starting to warm-up. Needless to say, Simon forced me to do some exercises too. I was reluctant and chose to take shots with my iPhone after doing some simple stretching to appease him.  

By 4.30 a.m., the starting pen was looking full for the first wave. The emcee started to cheer the crowd on with his humour and encouragements. It would be better if his voice was more powerful. It would wake us up in the early morning! The atmosphere was a tad too serious due to the lack of music.

Runners waiting for gun-time

Simon posing

The crowd's in!

I can assure you that time passes really fast when you hope for it to stop/drag. Before I knew, the race had started and the crowd was fast moving forward. I reckoned it was 4.45 a.m. sharp. 

My oh my! These people ran fast! Within few seconds, I lost sight of Simon too. He disappeared into the sea of yellows and blacks. I was the lonely fighter again. Fortunately, the weather was good and there was wind chill at this hour. I managed to run 1 full km before starting to brisk walk. My first km took about 7 min. Never had I done this speed. That's a stretch for my fitness level! I knew I could not sustain if I were to continue at this pace. Simon's reminder kept creeping back to the back of my mind "Complete. NOT Compete! My dear!". Yeah! I was not there to compete! My objective was to reach the finish line in one piece, and before the 4-hour cut-off time! With this realisation, I re-adjusted my pace and averaged 8 min 30 sec for the subsequent few km. 

All went well until after the loop, on our way back to the new sports hub (probably 4 km mark for half-marathoners?) when I heard a loud siren and saw a rushing ambulance. Runners had to give way to the ambulance. My heart sank as it would only mean mishap. True enough, we heard about the bad news soon. Fellow runner, Mr. Martynn Koh, 45, died in race day tragedy. Being a one-year cancer survivor, I had delayed death in a way. I really feel for the family. My deepest condolences...

Without knowing the real situation, I continued with my run/walk. On the way, I religiously chanted in my heart "Complete. Not Compete"..."Complete. Not Compete". Before the race, Simon shared with me the importance to have 'my own song' during my run to keep my momentum and maintain my pace. So, ~~I want to break free~~ accompanied me silently all the way! It was amazing that I sustained and performed better than my normal training days with this song.

I checked my watch again at 6.50 a.m. and knew that Simon would have finished his race already. The sun had not risen. I was not in a hurry. Let him wait. He couldn't go home without me! 

Few people at the end point when Simon finished his race.

I enjoyed the route for the half-marathon. Spacious and minimum chokage. There were sufficient water points and supplies to keep us well hydrated. The volunteers were cheerful and helpful. What more could I ask for? 

Before long, I was already into the 19 km mark at the Helix Bridge. It would be ideal if we could avoid climbing the stairs. Many had to slow down to make their way up. By then, most runners along my pace were already walking. Me too! 

Walking...Shagged

Beautiful sunrise (after Helix Bridge)

Did I mention that my blisters were triumphing their way during my run/walk? The pain had become almost unbearable. My toe nail turned purple too! Ouch! I had no choice but to slow down significantly after 10 km. Never settle for wrong sized shoes like I did! Mine was half a size too small and I had to pay with endless blisters and pain.

How elated was I when I finally saw the finishing point! By then, my feet couldn't carry me through the finishing line in a run anymore. I walked through my first 21.1 km line. What an un-glam finishing! 

It was really congested at the end point. Many runners were back from all 3 categories (full/half-marathon, 10 km). Whoever thought of giving us an ice-cold towel after the race has to be a genius! That's really a treat! I didn't mind the long queue for the drink/banana/medal/finishing-tee collection because of this treat. 

Long queue at the end point.

Feisty mood after the race.

Simon changed into his Finisher-Tee

My hard-earned medal

Our possessions. Finisher-Tees + Medals

We love the jerseys as well as the medals. All nicely designed. We stayed for a while to soak in the happy ambience before leaving for home.  

I finished my race! I did my embarrassing personal best at 5 km (41 min), 10 km (1 hr 27 min), 21.1 km (3 hr 21 min 05 sec). Ahead of Simon's prediction of 4 hr. He thought that I would barely make it just before the cut-off time. I hope he's happy for me. I abide to his "Complete. Not Compete" motto! 

I have nothing to shout about my finishing time. It is nowhere near a decent timing. But hey! Not too bad considering I was still having my chemo treatments in my bald head this time last year. And that I had never run in my life until 4 months ago! 

The race left me feeling freaking painful on both feet. But, I am happy! Overall, this was a well organised race that had boost my confidence for more runs in future. A fruitful morning. Time well spent!