Less than 8 hours

I woke up this morning after a very weird dream. I dreamt that I was near the starting point with 10 minutes to the start of the marathon and I didn't have my shoes on! So I dreamt that I had to rush home get the shoes then start the marathon like probably half an hour later than the rest of the pack! Crap! Well I was woken up by my sibling. Breakfast was here! :)

Well, now it's past 3pm. 8 more hours to the start of the marathon. 6 more hours to the double marathon. Good Luck Friend! :P Anyway, yesterday I checked my equipment. Running Top! Checked! Shorts with zipper at the bum! Checked! Hard-wired tag! Checked! and Band to put the Hard-wired tag! Checked! I guess I am pretty prepared for the marathon. Except for my shoes and socks, everything else is more or less done. Oh and my gels. Well that one prepare later.

So here's my plan later for the run. With fingers crossed, I would like to complete the marathon running, ie, not stopping to walk at all. But then again, based on my performance for the 21km on last Friday, I think that is wishful thinking. Nonetheless, I will try to run as much as I can and make decisions on the way as usual. Impromptu decisions have always worked for me. :P I guess I will decide how I will complete the marathon when all the pains set in.

I mentioned that I bought two PowerBar Gel and one PowerBar. I'm going to eat the PowerBar after my lunch and I am going to bring the two PowerBar Gels for my run. One of them, hopefully, I can squeeze it into the zipper pocket at my bum in my shorts and the second one I will hold it in my hands. The plan is to eat one after Coastal Road just before a water point. I believe it's the 12km mark. Following that, I will eat my second one at the end of East Coast Park, near the overhead bridge at Victoria Junior College. I believe that is the 22km mark. Lastly, I hope they give PowerBar Gel at near the 30km mark and I will eat that at the 30km mark. Each time I eat, I would like to eat just before the water point so that I can wash the extremely sweet taste off the mouth.

Well, wish me luck. All the best to all my friends running. Run your own race and see you at the finish line! Cheers

Power...

I bought 2 products from Powerbar the other day - Powerbar itself and 2 Powergels. What exactly are they?

PowerBar Performance is an energy bar that provides an optimal amount of carbohydrates to your muscles. At least this is what the webbie says. For the layman like myself, it means it gives you more energy. More energy means you can last longer during the race. I think this is particularly important if you participate in long distance and endurance races. In my previous article, I mentioned something about depleting the energy from the carbohydrates stored in the muscles. I believe that PowerBar Performance basically helps you store more carbs in your muscles.

Well anyway, I bought one bar. Normally, I would have bought the Cookies and Cream flavour. I think that flavour's pretty good. The thing about eating such stuff is that it is very sticky and it is very sweet. And sometimes, taste-wise, it may not be the most appetising treat. However, Cookies and Cream gets my thumb up. The other flavour I have tried was Chocolate. Oh dang that one. Firstly, the colour is like really dark brown and for me it doesn't taste that good at all. In fact, I didn't even finish the bar. I couldn't take it! Haha.. But Cookies and Cream again gets my thumbs up as I said. This time around, I got Vanilla Crisp. I so hope it's as good an experience as the Cookies and Cream. Fingers crossed!

The second product which I bought is PowerBar Gel. I bought two actually. They are satchets of 41g each of different flavours. They are a paste-like substance which again is very sweet. In essence, they are instant energy. You eat them and very quickly some energy is replenished in your muscles again. PowerBar Gel is usually used during race days. For Standard Chartered Marathons, they have been giving this out for a few years now. For Sundown Marathon, they are also giving this out, alongside some bananas. It's pretty okay and I have tried a couple of flavours. Flavours I do not mind are Strawberry Banana and Green Apple. So with regard to PowerBar Gel, they also get my thumbs up. One thing to note though when eating both PowerBar Performance and PowerBar Gel, it is very very sweet. So my recommendation is to have water ready at hand when consuming it. The sweetness is fuah! It's really sweet. So remember, water at hand.

You may say this is an advertising campaign or something. How I wish I am paid for this. Haha. But I sincerely believe that these products have helped me during my races. Perhaps it will be helpful to you. :) Cheers. Three more days. Crap