On the Run

Len is proud of us I hear, so he gave our "achievements" (effort?) some airing.



And that's me being too cheapo to pay for the images (at 30 odd bucks...no way!), so these will have to do.
yikes I can't believe I've become one of those ppl who post pics of themselves running on their blog.

I do look back on the past 3 months of training fondly.
As gruelling as those sat morning runs can be, I'd surely come to miss them 'cos it gave us a very good excuse to bond and to have a common goal to work towards. And I like being part of the team.
For that reason, I look forward to us all returning for next year's marathon. And that includes you Ans. Start charting your comeback if u wanna kick my (now sore) ass and give me a run for my money (no pun intended)!

Wee was right abt not being able to get much sleep the night before, but that's not 'cos I was excited like he said I wld be. Rather I was simply restless. Having to wake up at unearthly times have this effect on me. But it's just as well, 'cos I realise I tend to be more active subsequently when I'm up and running (again, no pun intended). At least for the first couple of hours, that is.
Which might explain my exceptional form yesterday morning.
For the first 30k, I felt like I cld run forever. And so there was hope of finishing below a very respectable 4 hours. But then came the 33km mark and suddenly my legs just completely ran out of energy. Every step became ten times harder and each km seemed a looong looong way. The only thoughts that kept me limping on were that of not wanting to sarbotage my entire efforts in the first 30k (and that's alot to forsake) and to not malu myself in front of a whole pack of supporters by walking when I come in. haha
So much for pride.

Will bear in mind though in future if and when I train for marathons, to up my distance to 40k and not just leave it at 32 which according to most ppl, is abt enough. The last 10k is NOT loose change, that much I can assure you!

One thing I can't stress enough to those who spoke to me after the run asking who among us won, is that running a marathon isn't so much abt who is faster or has a better time, but what each individual set out to accomplish. Some want to make a certain cut, some aim to beat their previous timing and then there are others who just wish to complete the full distance without dying. So victory in that sense really depends only on whether or not you achieve your target.

wk's point on the messages written on some of the runners' bibs brought to mind one that I found particularly amusing -
"Have you checked the petrol prices lately"

For me as well, that was a good distraction. Not to mention a valid justification as to why I'm putting myself through this. haha

Which brings me to an article ST ran the day before the marathon...

The marathoner: Pain crazy or plain crazy? By Rohit Brijnath YOU'LL hear them tomorrow, even before you see them, the slap of rubber sole on concrete, the ragged chorus of painful breath. Then they'll come into view, this marathon army, all washed in sweat, some faces impassive, some grimacing. It's when you might ask: What's wrong with these people? Non-marathoners and marathoners arrive from separate solar systems. Non-marathoners crave calories; marathoners count them suspiciously. Non-marathoners gel their hair; marathoners eat gel. Marathoners think 12K is a dozen kilometres; non-marathoners think it means two six-packs of Kronenbourg lager. Forty-two is an impressive waistline, a fine golf score on the front nine, and the age of the delightful Diane Lane. It is not a wise distance to run. If you've ever limped your way to 2km on the treadmill, remember this: To complete the marathon, you need to run more than 20 times that distance. With no air-conditioning. It's a thought so depressing that non-marathoners need a steak just to calm down. It's not that non-marathoners don't exercise, for we are known to bend to pick up our golf ball from the rough. It's just that we would not run 42.195km even to receive the last cold beer on earth on a sweltering day from the aforementioned Ms Lane dressed in nothing but... okay, okay, you get the picture. Marathoners are scary. Haile Gebrselassie recently ran the distance in a world record 2hr 4min 26sec, and one might ask, how fast is that? Let us say this: Could you run the 100 metres in 17.69 seconds? Probably. Could you run 42 consecutive 100m at 17.69sec? Probably not. So imagine this: Gebrselassie ran the equivalent of 422 100m races at 17.69sec. The very beginnings of the marathon are seen as inauspicious by non-marathoners. Legend has it that a fellow called Pheidippides ran this distance, bearing news of the Greeks' victory over the Persians at the Battle of Marathon in 490BC. When Pheidippides reached Athens, he yelled 'we are victorious'. It is a fine story, except this fellow then collapsed and died. From ancient times, men have understandably required a stiff drink to even contemplate running the marathon. According to The Complete Book of the Olympics, Spiridon Louis, the winner of the 1896 Olympic marathon, was reportedly fed two beers before the start, followed during the race with red wine, an Easter egg and more wine. He was even delivered a brandy, but refused it. Perhaps he did not like cognac. The race is so demanding that Bill Sherring, the 1906 Olympic winner, started the marathon weighing 51kg and finished at 44.5kg. Still, people run, jog, walk, crawl, limp through the marathon. Still, about 12,000 people tomorrow will be driven to conquer this distance and themselves. You have to wonder, what is it about this race that beckons people? So I call Rob de Castella, who set a world record in the marathon in 1981 and won the marathon at the 1983 World Athletics Championships. He is the perfect man to ask: Are marathoners crazy? 'Maybe we are a bit,' he chuckled. 'But then you have to be crazy to do anything brilliantly, to push yourself to the edge.' It's like Sam Snead, who won golf Majors in the 1940s and '50s, practising till his hands bled. Ah yes, bleeding. De Castella explains that nipples can chafe and bleed. He explains there are blisters, born both of friction and constant pounding, and that these bleed too. Furthermore, feet go numb with the pounding and, just to illustrate the point, he says it's a bit like 'hitting your finger repeatedly with a hammer'. But de Castella says this is, gulp, only 'superficial pain', that you can run through the blisters and chafing, but what tests the runner some days is an 'overwhelming feeling of weariness, an exhaustion deep within your bones'. Not every marathon is a trial. For there are some days, he says, when 'you're running fast and feeling as if you can run forever, and it is an incredibly exhilarating experience, like finding the sweet spot and hitting a perfect shot in golf'. But, on bad days, it's hard to stay positive, to keep going, as part of the mind pleads stop, and the lungs scream, and the glycogen in a weeping body is depleted, till the last 5km can resemble 'hell on earth'. But right here, perhaps, is where we excavate the heroism of the marathoner, we unearth the essence of this grand, relentless race. Because what the marathoner does is he endures. He breaks through invisible walls of exhaustion. He goes forward, somehow, even though his right leg cramps while running and left leg cramps while walking. He finds a way to finish what he started. There will be one champion tomorrow, yet many winners. For the runner competes with himself, answers his own challenge, pushes the envelope of his own possibility. Sohn Kee Chung, winner of the 1936 Olympic marathon, once said: 'The human body can do so much, then the heart and spirit must take over.' The marathon will never be a spectator sport because its battles, and its pleasures, lie within, beyond our gaze. Still, de Castella says, look at the faces of the people who finish after 31/2 hours, after four hours, and you might see a reflection of the accomplishment they feel inside. 'Pain', he says, 'is outweighed by a deep sense of pride and satisfaction and achievement. The only reason we do it is that the enjoyment significantly outweighs the pain.' So perhaps this is what we, the non-marathoners, should do tomorrow. Wake up before dawn. Skip the treadmill. Drive to the East Coast Parkway or the Padang. And when the runners, trailing sweat, come into view, applaud their insanity, give their spirit a standing ovation, cheer their resolve. Then we can go back and finish our steak and eggs.