2nd Marathon

Completed my 2nd Marathon the Standard Chartered Marathon recently. I ran it last year and this year the route was the same however there was definitely more people participating and it was a huge event. I usually book a room to stay around the area (end point) so that I can rest up after the event and this year was no exception. Was a little pump up for the event but had not really been training heavily, slacking off this year.

As usual I got up at 3am and prepared myself for the race. I put on extra coating of gel this year as I did not fancy myself getting any abrasions as in last year. Used up practically the whole bottle of it. They say don't use anything new on race day but this year I did something different I put on sunscreen as I knew what was coming the heat and I had a running cap which I recently bought and it was the first time I am using it. It was one of those 2XU brands and it had ventilation at the top as well as a sweat band and it was washable. Made my way to the start point which was at Orchard Road.

START

Massive human traffic everywhere, this year the entry to the pens was terrible. I had a hard time finding the entry point and just made it into the pens 15 minutes before the start of the run. I don my cap and waited for the flag off. just had time to stretch a little. The atmosphere was great. At 5am we were flag off and it took me like 10 minutes to just get to the start point it was basically walk stop walk stop till I reached the start point and than more walking and stopping due to the sheer number of runners 19,000 from official figures of people who signed up. At this point I have to make a confession .... it was the first time in any race that as soon as I started I had to pee !! managed to rush off to the bushes just 200m from the start and relieve myself. Well practically everyone was doing it. Never had to do it until now, really bad planning on my part.

RUN

I notice this year the start was a little better not too congested once you got on the way I think they open another lane, but at the 2/3 KM mark the lanes squeeze into 1 and this was really bad. also the distance markers were non-existent this round. I hardly ever saw one !! That was really bad. I think on the entire 42 km run I saw at most 10 distance markers. Last year every km I could see a clear marker. By the time we hit Nicoll Highway it was better as the lanes widen and the runners spread out. Made it to the 10k point in 1hr 25 mins, I reached the half way point in 3 hrs. Got to the 30k mark at around 4hr 15 mins which was the beginning of the construction site and that was it I knew the last 10K would be the killer as it would be HOT, HOT, HOT !! that was where the cap helped and the sunscreen but it probably wore off by all the sweat at that point. My will to continue was gone (will never be a Green Lantern), mind over matter did not really matter to me any more. Practically walked all the way back to the Finish point. It was the longest walk ever. Took me close to 3 hrs to get back. ended with a time of 7hrs 20 mins. But I was glad I completed my 2nd Marathon. woopee ...

FINISH

After I got back collected my T-Shirt and participation medal headed back to the hotel all smelly, wet and tired. The missus got me a sports massage for the afternoon which I had last year as well and surprisingly I got the same elderly lady masseur as last year, she was good my aches were not really there and by evening I was walking around quite comfortably, no abrasions this year thanks to the gel. Only felt a little sore on my left calf and that was it. Surprisingly cramps did not really feature maybe it was because I walk most of the 10K back but my shoulders ache a little. Had a good dinner of Curry Fish Head yum yum and than a good nights sleep.

see ya all NEXT YEAR !! .... I'm a sucker for punishment.