It's a long preparation toward this marathon. But the preparation crashed at the last phase which i was sick 3 times for consecutive 3 weeks. Nevertheless, need to keep up with my plan of trying for the sub-3:15 and don't stop. My weak body created a dark cloud but my pace have improved over the past 3 months.

 

 

Keep my legs fresh was the first priority before the race. The race pack collection was a disppointing one this year. I didn't manage to collect it as Dear has helped me out on the collection. I was not really worried whether i could get my number tag. The fever effect on Tuesday was more worrying factor for me. Dear was wondering why i didn't even take a look at the race pack and prepared as usual for the race. "Don't worry, we have trained so far ... the rest is up to the actual day performance" .. i told her. In fact, i had not build up to 35 km long endurance training this season. I was busy tackling the illness that comes along.

 

Sister-in-law, Jac, picked us up at 3.50 am and drove us to City Hall. It was really kind of her to do that as she was not involved in the race. The road blocks were a bit different this year, probably due to the changes of the route. Wong, Ricci & Peter were already there as well as the SCSM08 pacesetters, mostly from MF Safra. Without delay, i did my warm-up and was feeling good.

 

At 5.00 am sharp, i led a small group into the starting area.

 

 

Ricci wished me good luck before the start. I told him 'i am not going to stop this time'. It was easy to say, the actual fact never reflect the reality. I started as easy as possible but i think i was relatively fast. I passed by Teck Hou, Ben, Ricci and went ahead. I checked my pace and it was even slower than my training pace. I was satisfied with my tempo. Then i come across Itsuko, a Japanese strong lady runner, accompanied by 2 big-sized Ang Mok at the 2 km mark. She was the lady if i could remember which i tried to keep with her pace last year. This time round, i was going to try to keep pace  with her. Our pace was quite even matched. 4 of us ran together pushing upfront. In fact, i was feeling comfortable and did not even bother about the water points for the first 10 km. The first 10 km was easy and i clocked 43 min 19 sec, the fastest 10 km i had done for a marathon race. It was not my plan to run that fast.

 

Soon, we turned into East Coast and i was quite surprised by our positions. I could see Ernest Wong and some of the top local runners among the running pack. So excited, feeling strong and hopeful for a sub 3. At 18 km, a sudden increase of pace from the Japanese lady brought me down to earth. She led in front and i have to increase my strikes to keep pace with her. It was a downfall from that point onward. 1 hr 29 min for a 20 km run, still the fastest 20 km from a marathon. I was in a PB pace.

 

At the u-turn, Teck Hou overtook me and i was gradually reducing my pace. I clocked my half marathon with 1 hr 34 min. After that, it was all disasters - a sudden giddiness hit me, my pace was down and suddenly everything was going to shut down. I took my own drink at 27.5 km, it was nice of the MF support group to be there. At one shot, i finished my rebina. I knew i could not continue on the run. I was struggling and one by one passed me ... Ricci, Small Chua, Melvin and some of the Tampines runners. I basically walked for the rest of the race. I was giddy, fill with negative thoughts, feeling lousy. It never happened to me during training. At 30 km, it was 2 hr 31 min, the worst timing for the past 2 years. The PB timings and worst records all happened in this marathon. What can i do now? No use to push hard for the finish, it will only get myself into trouble.

 

The situation got worse when our route was mixed with the 21 km race and 10 km race. Those 21 km runners and 10 km runners cowded all the water points. I have to skip some of the stations. It was suffering as i have to try hard to squeeze through the crowd.

 

 

The finishing line was always the desired thing in your mind after suffering for the past 42 km. I finished with a time of 3 hr 55 min, it was the worst timing for the past 2 years. I basically sacfriced everything for the sub-3 timing, running an incredible pace at the front but killed the race. It was a good try with no regret.

 

Come to the training, i feel that maintaining the body condition in tip top condition is the thing i failed to do so for past marathons. Like the Chinese saying, you need a good internal strength in order to master the highest level of skill. This is what i lack of.

 

7th December 2008. Distance: 42.195 km. Time: 3 hr 55 min