Standard Chartered Half Marathon: Ladies

From : Catherine

Hi Edmund,

This is an achievement already ... many people have not even done more than 10 km .... the last 3 weeks before the run was bad for you because of your hectic work and business travel .... so ... 1 pat on your back for completing it !

As for me .... i was also very very nervous ... went to the toilet twice after leaving the carpark with Edwin. Left 1 packet of my Gu Energy Gel in the MRT toilet ... only realised it after we were quite a distance away from it ... and I didn't want to turn back to get it as was worried we would be late (but actually we were still quite early ....). I was thinking to myself ... hmmm bad sign .... planned to take 2 packs during the run but only left with 1 in my shorts' pocket.

Had butterflies in my stomach .... i was so worried that i wouldn't be able to complete.

Told Edwin to go ahead first when he seemed to be done with his stretching ... i wanted to stretch some more .... just didn't feel that i was ready to go .... then Edmund left to go to the toilet ... i decided to join the crowd ... weaved my way through .... continued to stretch when i had some space ... the mc announced ... 3 mins .. i continued stretching .... 1 min ... i continued to stretch ..... and the horn went off .... CS Chan's advice came to my mind .. start slow ... so i jogged very very slowly ... my left shoe's lace was tied too tight ... had to stop to loosen the lace .... then i carried on running ... less than 500m, still too tight ... stopped again to loosen it ... then i told myself .. since i only have 1 pack of the Gu Gel left, I have to stretch it. So I decided that I will eat half at the 10 km mark, and the rest after 15/16 km.

I stopped at every drinks station to grab a cup/2 cups ... 8 km had passed ... i was tempted to eat the gel ... (had originally planned to eat at the 7 km and 14 km mark - 1 pack each) .. i pressed on ... and took the first half pack after i passed the 10 km mark.

Somewhere near the Kallang Stadium MacDonalds, I saw Edwin on the other side ... i thought to myself .. hmm .. i hope the U-Turn is not that far from here ... but it turned out to be another 2+ km before I hit the U-Turn ! Finished the other half of the gel after i passed the 16 km mark.

As I didn't wear my watch, I had no idea how long I had run. At the 18 km mark, I was so tired .. decided to walk ( i stopped a few times before that too ... at most of the drinks station) ... was wondering if I should walk 1 km or just a few hundred metres ... after walking less than 50m, I started running again .. i told myself that since I've come so far already, I should push on .. so I started running again. And then I saw the 2 km to go sign ... the same distance that I usually run back home, 1 way (from the round about at Hillview back home). So I envisioned the route that I usually take and picked up speed. I probably clocked in around 10 mins for the last 2 km as I ran all the way to the finishing line ! The time was 2:28 ..... or was it 2:29 or 2:39? Can't see clearly .... never mind .. will check the results when it's out ....

I want to thank all of you for the encouragement, advice and the "count down" from HT ... 30 days to go .... XX days to go .... Edwin for running with me to clock my first 14 km 2 weeks ago (or was it 3 weeks ago?) .... Bok Hui for telling me about the gel and where to buy them. i only managed to buy the chocolate flavoured ones as the tangerine ones were out of stock island wide .... HC for always so encouraging and the last east coast run was great ! .... and Edmund for sharing your Real Run experience with me to get me mentally prepared ....

For now, my butt really hurts, and my thighs too ... walking down the stairs is such a pain ... but I'm so happy for myself .. for my first 21 km !

I wouldn't have been able to do this without all of you .... THANK YOU !

Warm regards,
Cat ....