To Stanchart or Not to Stanchart

The Singapore Standard Chartered Marathon 2008 is open for registration once more. Friend A has been bugging me to enter with him. Apparently his kaki for last year decided the marathon was too short a distance for him. Thus he decided to go two further by adding two events on top of the gruelling 42.195km. He's taking part in an Ironman, which unfortunately for Friend A, happens to be on the same day as Standard Chartered Marathon (SCM) 2008. As of this moment, I believe I am the one of the few friends who is capable of keeping up with Friend A for a portion of the distance. Therefore he has approached me to participate once more in the event.

But to Stanchart or not to Stanchart? That is the question. It would be nice to try and complete one more marathon, and hopefully with a better timing. The temptation is there. Furthermore, for my last marathon at Gold Coast, the perennial question of "Why am I doing this again?" did not once pop into my head during that 4 hours 43 minutes. Perhaps it is the appeal of being in a foreign place running a marathon. Or perhaps I am simply looking forward to the fun things I would be doing after the suffering. I'm not sure. But that question did not pop up. So I ask myself, do I really want to continue to run marathons for a lifetime? To this question, the answer for now is I don't know.

Another interesting thought just pop into my head. Why the hell did I participate in such events anyway? The first marathon I believe I took part was in SCM 2003. That marathon, I had the company of 3 friends from Army. I guess the reason I took part in that was to achieve something. I've been pretty slack in much of my life in the 6 years or so preceding my National Service. Perhaps it is a way of redeeming myself or a proof to myself that I can complete something daunting. Nowadays, I join marathons as a means to keeping fit. I believe that if you have a target, such as running that dreaded 42.195km, you will have more reason to train and you would have to find the time to train.

So whilst there seems be a lot of compelling reasons to participate once more in a marathon, the opinion of my better half still matters and I do take her opinion into serious consideration. It was due to her opinion that I should stop running marathon, at least for a year, that is why I did not run the SCM 2007. I can understand her fears and concerns. She's worried about the impact the constant pounding of my feet would have on my feet, joints and other stuff. I know where she is coming from particularly as I have had problems with my knees and ankles before my National Service. But thus far, she has been very supportive of the two marathons that I have participated this year. Will she be supportive of SCM 2008? The answer is still an unknown.

Again, to stanchart or not to stanchart? As of now, it seems more likely than not that I will join SCM 2008 with Friend A. I would say 70% likely. But it's not a confirmation yet! :P

The Good Stuff of GCM

Another day Another article on GCM. Well it should be apparent how much I enjoyed the trip Down Under. Did I enjoy the marathon? Come to think of it, probably one of my more enjoyable ones. I didn't mind the first half of the marathon or so. Not much pain and I was running at a pretty comfortable pace. The second half was challenging but nonetheless an experience I still enjoyed. Now I'll just have a brief write up on the good stuff of GCM and what our marathons back here can learn from.

There were a few things that appealed to me in the marathon. Firstly, we got to put our names down on our bib numbers. I thought that was an excellent idea. People who were cheering the runners could finally call out their names instead of their numbers. Ever experience running then someone shouts to you, "Comeon 2379! You can do it!" It's quite obvious he's cheering you on. He's staring at you and you have eye contact with the guy. Who else could he be cheering for? But nonetheless, How many people actually remember their numbers? I, for one, don't. I'll still have a peek at my bib and oh! That's me he's referring to. At GCM, there wasn't the issue of that. People called me by my name and it feels so much better. You can even put your nickname or something. One of my friends put his alias and it sort of humoured the cheerers who cheered him on.

Another thing I liked was the numerous timing mats. There was a timing mat for every 5km, and at the halfway point. I think it's really nice and it provides you a breakdown of your marathon. This would particularly be useful if you are a really serious runner, or if you are like me, just curious.

The isotonic drinks during the marathon is also worth mentioning. Perhaps to some it may be too diluted. It has a lot of water mixed with probably half the required syrup. But I felt this was a really good mix. Normally for isotonic drinks, it tends to be too sweet and it makes you want to drink water, at least I do. After drinking the isotonic, you need to drink a bit of water to dilute the sweetness and to wet your throat. The isotonic at GCM was diluted, as mentioned, but it was just right. I felt that I could just take a cuppa isotonic and that's it. This helped reduced the bloatedness and I felt that was really nice.

The last thing I would like to talk about would be at the finishing line. I was really really appreciative of the team of people at the finishing line whose sole task was to assist you in taking out your championchip tag. These nice folks would ask if you require assistance and they would squat, so that you needn't have to squat yourself, to take off that double knot you tied. At the end of a tiring run, that is such a god sent. Thanks nice folks who took off my championchip tag.

Well yeap. That's the main stuff I liked about the GCM apart from the wonderful scenery and amazing people. So hopefully the organizers of our marathons learn something from this. :P

Gold Coast Marathon

The Gold Coast Marathon was held on 6th July 2008. The date quite nice ah.. 06.07.08. Well anyway, it was obviously held in Gold Coast Queensland and on that fateful day, 3 friends and myself embarked on another 5 hours of torture whilst another lady friend embarked on her own race of 10km.

Our morning began at like I think it was 5am Aussie time. Through the night, I keep waking up. Some how I slept pretty lightly that night. And through the night, you could hear the howling of the winds and if you bothered to get on your feet to look out the window you could see the dark clouds and the wet streets. What an excellent day for sleeping in! Why the hell am I waking up to run in such conditions! Crap!

Sadly, a friend (not Friend A) came in to wake us up. He's a morning person. Dang.. I was half hoping that everyone forget to wake up although I was already awake and still enjoying the comforts of my bed. So anyway, I woke up reluctantly and got dressed whilst at the same time cursing the weather. Haha.. We had our little breakfast and prepared ourselves for the race. So by about 6am, we left our lovely, comfortable, WARM apartment to put ourselves through pain once more.

We reached the designated carpark with time to spare. So all of us decided to visit the little boy's room. The moment we got out of the car, we felt the wind! oh my gosh.. Freaking cold. It is those kind of wind that chills you, even into your bone. Argh.. So a quick run to the toilet. And a quick run back to the relatively warmer car and under my wind breaker. Why oh Why am I doing this again! Sigh..

Sadly, time passed really quickly when you are comfortable. Soon we had to leave the car and head to the starting line. Time is about 0640. The marathon starts in 10 min. The thing is, we parked in a shopping centre. And we have no idea where the exit is. So we spent like 5 min trying to figure out just how to get out of the building! Haha.. Then we panicked. 5 min left and we had some way to go to the starting point. So we started jogging to the start point. Thankfully, we reached the start point like a minute before the flag off. Just nice. So within that time, we jumped over the barrier and found ourselves within the 3.00 to 3.30 timing runners. Oh what the hell. We moved a little forward and then the horn sounded! Gold Coast Marathon has begun!

Two of my friends are much better runners than myself. So they were like 10 metres or so ahead in front of me. Friend A was very kind to run along side me. I know that he could have run ahead of me but he decided to be a good friend that he has always been. Haha.. What blatant sucking up this is.. Friend A and myself ran together for the marathon. It's a very interesting experience running the Gold Coast Marathon. For one, it's an Australian marathon so most people around you are Westerners. It's way different from the Singapore Marathon where you are the majority. In Gold Coast Marathon (GCM) you are sort of the minority, well sort of. So besides these Westerners, or Ang Mohs, there were quite a lot of Japanese. Apparently, GCM has always been popular with the Japanese folks.

Friend A and I ran at a pretty comfortable pace of slightly less than 6 minutes per km. I think that's quite okay a pace. But the wind in the morning is a killer. Woo.. When it blows, you really feel it. But run on we did. Soon 5km came along and we get to run pass the red timing mat. Cool! So they will have my 5km timing. Soon 10km came and they had the timing mat once again. Very impressed!!! Soon after the 10km mark, we saw our first friend! The bugger had already turned at the 13km or so turnaround and was on his way back to the starting line. Well that guy is a born runner or something. Running seems to come so easily for him. Dang.. So proud of him when he ran passed us cos he was quite near the top people. Another few minutes, our second friend ran past us. All the quick buggers. Haha.. Soon, it was our turn to make our turn around. So glad to have done so and through this time, my good friend, Friend A, was running alongside for much of the time. We continued on and on. However, since the 2km or so mark, my stomach has been playing punk with me. It was like gurgling for a very long time and making it unpleasant to run with. After 18km, I decided I better deal with this stomach problem if not it will be a terrible 3 hours or so more. Sucks. Once I saw a toilet, I decided to bid Friend A adieu and I queued up for the toilet.

Sad to say, after like 5 minutes of queuing, embarrassingly, it was all blanks. Haha. So nothing fruitful nor anything unpleasant came out of this event. So off I continued. Run run run. I told myself during this time that it would really be nice to catch up with Friend A. So after the toilet break, I ran slightly quicker than normal. However, at the 21km mark, I was feeling the muscle fatigue already. If I persisted, I was worried that I would not be able to last the whole race without cramping up. So I decided to go ahead with a walk 1 minute and run the rest of the kilometre tactic. Well the tactic worked all the way till about 29km mark and by this time, we have already passed the starting point. Now we had to head like another 7 km or so before we turned around for the final leg. Anyway, by the 29 km mark, the muscle fatigue was pretty bad. So more rest was required. By like the 32 km or so, I was resting as much as I was running. That is so not good. Note to self: I have to train up on my muscle endurance.

The second turnaround happened at about 34.5km. My constant mental calculation told me about 8km left. So on and on I went. Half walking, half jogging. Terrible way to pass a Sunday if you ask me. But I was there now. In the event now. The scenery thus far has been wonderful. From the beaches with the beautiful crashing waves to the expensive houses with big boats. As a first time there, it was really an eye opening experience. So much beauty and wealth. Amazing.. Well in countless blinks of my eyes, the home stretch could and should have come sooner but finally come it did. There were more and more people and they were all cheering. Perhaps it's psychological but the people seemed more friendly and supportive. Finally, at 4.43, I crossed the Finish Line with a funny looking pose. Finally..

Well obviously, all my friends came in before me. I don't think I shall reveal their timings just yet. Too much embarassment for myself. Haha.. The youngest yet the slowest according to another "friend" of mine. Oh what the hell.. Finished I did and that's what counts. Haha.. :)

Build up to Gold Coast Marathon

Just two Sundays ago, a couple of friends and myself completed the Gold Coast Marathon. I will recap the events preceding the event itself such as the gruesome training and my thoughts on the marathon itself.

In all honesty, I didn't train much for the Gold Coast Marathon. Yeah months before that we did train. We did quite a few half marathons at East Coast Park. Then there was a period of time where we totally stopped training. At least I stopped training. I finished school, went for holidays with family and loved ones. As a result, I stopped running and neglected training. For a period of like 4 weeks I hardly ran more than 15km.

Following this very enjoyable 4 weeks of my life, Sundown Marathon happened. Was I prepared? Probably not as much as I wanted. So midnight the horn sounded and I told myself 5 hours of suffering began. And true enough, 5 hours and 2 min of suffering and I crossed the finish line. Glad I finished but disappointed at my timing. Oh well..

Sundown ended on 1 June 2008. Gold Coast Marathon was on the 6 July 2008. A good 36 or so days of training. You would think after the disappointment in Sundown I would kick myself in my butt, pull up my low ankle socks and train even harder! Well so did I. But I didn't. Can't really remember what I did. I spent a lot of time at home. Doing stuff myself for myself. And my good friend whom I always blog about went overseas. No training kaki!!! Best! The lazy part of me was like cheering. No more running. Life was good!!!

Unfortunately my friend came back and sadly reality came back with him. He coaxed us back to running. So I ran with him like 3 or 4 times. Monday was like a 15 - 16km long run. Wednesday 18km long run. Friday was East Coast once again, about 21km. So altogether that made up to about 50 - 55km covered in a week. I don't think I ever did that in my preparation for a marathon. Haha. Amazing.. Then the Monday before Gold Coast, he coaxed me into a "short" run. We came back 1 hour 8 min. Dang.. Was upset during the run cos I was cheated. Short to me means 20min of running or maybe like 4 - 5km. Not 1 hour 8 min. But I get where he's coming from and at the end of the day, I appreciate it. Thanks friend. I should give him a name. Hmm.. From now on I name thee Friend A.

Wednesday soon came and on the 3rd of July, a couple of friends ( including Friend A) flew of to Gold Coast, Queensland Australia.

Sundown Marathon Summary

5:02am. That concluded my 42.195km of suffering. Come to think of it, I felt it is not as good a timing as I have hoped. Sighs. Slower than my personal best even though I have trained pretty hard for it. Today I will recount the painful events of the inaugural Sundown Marathon. :P

The event started at 12 midnight and there wasn't that many participants as that of Standard Chartered Marathons. So that was good. My friends and I managed to squeeze ourselves into the 3:30 to 4:00 hours starting block. For those who have never participated in a marathon before, there are blocks with timings to allocate runners based on their abilities. Well, we managed to squeeze into that block and Boy I have never felt so out of placed! Haha.

The start of the race was alright. Plenty of room and I managed to start running from the Starting Line. Everything was okay. Perhaps I started slightly faster than I normally would have. I think this could be due to race anxiety. Did this affect my race? I'm not so sure but I doubt so.

Next, we ran through Coastal Road. Surprisingly, Coastal Road was not as boring as I thought it would have been. Yes it was slightly monotonous with never-ending lights but I had the luxury of having company in the form of my friend's dad. He sort of accompanied me for like half of Coastal Road. That helped in keeping the monotony manageable.

Moving on, it was the lovely East Coast. The 3 half marathon runs really helped and East Coast seemed to have passed pretty quickly. At the 20km mark, I was running slightly less than 2 hours. If I am not wrong, it is going to be one of my best half marathon timings ever!

East Coast ended at the 22km mark. Next up is the park connector to Bedok Reservoir. This particular area I felt was terrible. There were overhead bridges and the distance between distance markers seemed never ending. In addition, there were areas which were not lit. This made running quite unpleasant. Slightly after the 24km mark, I could feel terrible things happening to my legs. I was feeling the treat of cramps! Crap! So around 25 to 26km, I had to start walking. Crap.

Anyway, ever since then, everything went downhill. Not literally but everything looked bleak. I kept with the tactic of walking for two lamp posts and running for 6 to 10 lamp posts. Somehow each time I tried to run more than 10 lamp posts, my legs take over and I will feel a slight twang in one of the muscles. Then I have to walk. It's pretty demoralizing. And it is always at this moment in time I ask myself why do i put myself through such torture. I tell myself that this is the last marathon ever. Then I recall that I have signed up for the Gold Coast Marathon. Crap! Not the last marathon yet. Sighs.

Well Bedok Reservoir came and went. The next landmark to look forward to was Down Town East which meant that it's slightly more than 6km left. Down Town East took almost forever to come and when it did, my muscles was giving up on me. Right then, more and more people were overtaking me. What a rubbish race. So much pain then.

Loyang Avenue soon came. This was followed by the memorable Hendon Camp and the lovely Netheravon Road. Much as I tried, the muscles kept cramping up. It feels like someone is grabbing my calves and my thighs. What a terrible feeling. Soon, we came near the jetty and that meant less than 200m more to go. I really did try to complete running but I think I walked much quicker than when I ran. Haha. Well, 5:02am. Race ended. I collected my medal and the t-shirt. It always feel good to have the medal and the t-shirt. Well done to myself and my friends. All of them finished ahead of me. Including my friend's dad. Well done friends. I just hope that the Gold Coast Marathon would be much better than this. Fingers Crossed!

Events Events Events

Currently, I am training for one event - the Sundown Marathon. It's a marathon that will last through the night. From my understanding, I believe the marathon will begin at 12am! Well there's another major event for that day. That is the Ultra-Marathon! 2 Marathons in a row! 84km! Madness! Who exactly in the right mind will put themselves through such torturous pain?

Hey but then again, when my dad was doing all his half-marathons and I haven't entered into National Service, I also thought those people who ran marathons are mad! Why pay money to suffer? Haha.. Well maybe one day you will see me participating in this distance. :P Well to my one and only er.. friend participating in this distance, all the best! :)

Well apart from Sundown Marathon, there are other events coming up. Lion City Marathon and Passion Run are two which are coming up quite soon. Right now, I'm not sure if I'll take part in that. Would make a lot of sense to be training for these events as well. But time will tell. And also if the better half of me gives me her blessings. :P

My anonymous friend has been "persuading" me to join him in an overseas marathon. He's looking at going to Australia for the Gold Coast Marathon. The marathon's on the 6th of July and it's really really tempting. But for now, it's still under consideration. Till then, will keep you updated on the events coming up.