FM at last, and I don't mean Frequency Modulation!

5 Dec 2010 - Singapore Marathon 2010

Wow.. it has been exactly one year since I last wrote here. My last post was about my first half marathon where I challenged myself to complete a Full Marathon in 2010, and I'm glad to report that I now have a finisher tee!!!!

Not in a million years would I have ever imagined myself completing a Full Marathon (yup! FM in runner’s lingo)! I am more of a computer and movie geek rather than a sportswoman. Then one day on a crazy whim, Mag and I decided to buy our first pair of serious running shoes and join our very first mass run! We started modestly with just the 5km SHAPE Run 2007. I think it must have been the free Nike running tee again - right, Mag? Back then the goodie bag had good stuff, including 5 bottles of Vitagen!

After progressively increasing our distance - GE Women 10K, then 21K (I did 3 in all I think), a 30K NEWTON Run, even a MacRitchie trail run and then... fast forward 3 years and 3 pairs of shoes later... FINALLY the BIG Whopper -> Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore 2010 FULL Marathon!

Seasoned runners shared their experiences about cramped up muscles at around 30-35km, so I was really worried that it would happen to me. And being a regular morning pooper, I was also worried that I had to use the toilet in the middle of the run!

I went through all sorts of ups and downs with training - knee pains, tight muscles and just plain laziness! With the schedules I needed to keep at work, I had to force myself to leave the house (sometimes as late as 9:30pm) to run at least 12km around the river and back for a late dinner. Gotta get those legs used to the pain we're gonna put them through! I watched videos about Chi Running and practised forefoot/midfoot running. I was determined to complete in one piece, with minimal suffering! The Newton 30K was a good indication of the pain level I had to endure(OUCH)!

The days leading to the marathon had some sort of weird quietness - we were thinking about what to eat, what to wear, what to bring, when to meet, where to meet and where to park (for Mag). After the logistics were settled, it was a matter of just waiting for the day to arrive... Instead of the usual "Pain is temporary", I went local and wrote "DON'T STOP TO LIM KOPI" and pinned it on my back and sure enough, a few runners were amused by it. "Lim Kopi" means drink coffee and Singaporeans and Malaysians will get it.


Guess what? It rained the whole of Saturday too, just like it did last year!!!

So on a beautiful Sunday, the 5th of Dec 2010 at 5am, while some of my more athletic friends did their Phuket Ironman 70.3 and Ironman Western Australia Busselton, I did my first ever Full Marathon at 44 years of age, with Mag, Calvin Boo, Sandy and Fang Jie around me. My colleagues Derek Scully (first timer) and Chongwah (seasoned marathoner) were somewhere too. Donna and Derek were running 21K from Sentosa (how exciting)!

Flag off was in front of ION and we ran under the twinkling Christmas lights that lined the entire stretch of Orchard Road - quite magical. I remembered Chongwah's words to start slow if we don't want to cramp up later. The route was familiar as I ran it with Mag a couple of weeks ago (even though we got lost later. Haha..).

I can't really remember the start of the race because it was basically quite uneventful. By the time we got to East Coast Park, the pain started. I distracted myself by looking out for the fast runners on the opposite side, trying to spot Chongwah and FangJie. CCW spotted me first and FJ was not far behind!! Wow.. they're fast! This stretch reminded me of the Newton 30K - not a good memory.. Boring and neverending... I lost Mag and caught up with Sandy. We finally reached the U-turn and headed back to Fort Road. I was amused by a supporter's sign that said "GO STRANGERS, RUN!" <-- quite apt because we were truly strangers and they were cheering for us! It so happened that one of them actually snapped 2 rather nice pictures of me jogging!

People started walking and I felt like walking too. It doesn't help that it was just open space and NO SHADE at all! Headed towards the golf club & Marina Barage in the scorching sun! 9:30am and the sun was unforgiving! Harsh and hot! I had to walk at some point because it got so demoralising watching other people walking! I could feel the tiny bones on my feet and ankle aching with every pounding step... and I felt like walking... PAIN!! The sun ate into my skin...

I decided to tell myself to jog as long as there is sun - then at least it will reduce the time spent in the sun! I walked a bit when there was shade. Someone had an ice lolly - me jealous! Told Mag we should join Safra Jurong running club - haha!!

The route after Marina South was slow and torturous. We were tested by the slopes of Benjamin Sheares bridge and had to watch the finishers walk to the F1 building for their bags. It was funny to see the 10K runners walking or sitting at the side, while the marathoners were just trying to jog around the strollers. I had to keep telling myself not to stop, even if my jog was as slow as someone else's brisk walk. I felt numb and blocked out the pain and finally the last 100m approached. It was so crowded at the end that I didn't even get a good photo! But it's ok, because it felt great to cross the finish line, and even GREATER to have the Finisher Tee! Oh and the medal looks great too!

Official chip time: 5hr 26mins 10secs

P.S. I made Mag sign up for Sundown Marathon 2011 even before we completed the above! The carrot was the ADIDAS Finisher Tee!! HAHAHA!!!

My First Half Marathon

6 Dec 2009 - Singapore Marathon 2009

My bib number is not exactly the most auspicious - too many 4's for my liking. But I suppose if you say it with the zero and one, it does sound ok, like die die sure first! LOL..

I ran my first 21.1k Half Marathon last Sunday, and Mag did the 10K ... we trained together on 2 weekends at East Coast Park although she didn't really complete the whole course with me on the jogging path (up and down East Coast is around 20K).

At the end of her race last Sunday, Mag proclaimed the 10k not shiok anymore!! SO NEXT YEAR, we will go for the FULL marathon because we REALLY want the Finisher's tee !! So jealous of people who have it.. haha...

We were given a blank sheet to write encouraging words to pin on our backs for other runners. I thought that the most inspiring and appropriate phrase is from the man himself, Lance Armstrong - "PAIN IS TEMPORARY. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever."

I pinned this on the back of my t-shirt and I burned this phrase in my own brain. So many times I wanted to stop and walk but I remembered these words and somehow managed to muster enough strength to continue jogging. I wonder if anyone read my back and felt inspired...

The start time for Full marathon was 5:30am. For my Half marathon, it was 6:45am. I had to start alone because Mag's start time for 10K was 8:30am (so late!! and so hot!! )

I woke up at 4:30am (actually, I woke up many times before that, too excited I guess... even got called by office as I was on support roster) and tried to do my "morning BUSINESS" but cannot do!! DIE LAH... I thought I sure kena do big business along the way! I did a bit the night before lah. Ate my usual breakfast of cereal and milk and dressed in my bright pink t-shirt (sure cannot miss me in photos!) - I asked Dina to take a photo of me with Chewie (in her sleepy state) - something we always do before we go out for our early morning runs like Shape Run, Nike Run or GE Women's 10K. Sort of like a "pre-race" photo.

Downstairs, 5:35am, the air was cool and it was peaceful. Walked down Bencoolen Street and a girl popped out from Bencoolen Hotel dressed in the SCSM outfit with cap and shorts. Ah ha... booked into a hotel nearby and walk to venue - quite smart! Or maybe she's Malaysian or from overseas. Good choice of hotel - a bit sleazy but much cheaper than the Oriental, Marina or Fairmont.

More and more runners appeared as I walked towards the War Memorial Park (that's where the baggage deposit is). It was so dark my phone camera could not really capture much. The ground was muddy and soggy from a full day's rain the night (and day) before!! Maybe somebody 'prayed' for rain the previous day so that we can have cool weather :-)

After depositing my bag, I made my way towards the start point on Esplanade Bridge, near Fullerton Hotel. Some people were giving out Dr Joint Pain - so funny, one auntie even shouted, "come! Dr Joint Pain! Apply on your legs now! Win Number One!!" Haha... I took some - got a very generous squirt and applied the pain suppressing cream around my knees and the muscles around the calves. I think this is what helped me along the way too. Mind you, this cream isn't cheap! A small tube sets you back by more than S$15 !! So free cream must take lah! Haha...

I was so thirsty by the time I got to the Esplanade... luckily they already had the FIRST of MANY MANY water points!! OMG!! The floor was littered with mountains of empty Ice Mountain cups!!! (see picture) Sigh.... what to do ? It's such a dilemma - Runners have to be hydrated - so how to be environmentally friendly at the same time??? I took my one cup and threw it on one of the piles :-( No choice lor... maybe next time they will make runners carry their own water. Might not be a bad idea actually.

I got as near to the starting point as I could, and snapped pictures to while away the time. Nobody around my section paid much attention to the DJ, so when they started to do the little marathon dance, no one around me bothered. Everyone was just too psyched and eager to push off!! I met a fellow JoyRider, Bubble Sharon Khoo, and we chatted about our timing and how fast or slow we were going to be. She's a tri-athlete, fit and young (in the 25-29 yrs category), so I expected her to do much better than me.

The 42K runners were trooping pass us on the other side of the Esplanade Bridge, sweaty and some already walking!!!!! Aiyoh... all the more I think we must do the FULL marathon next year !! FINALLY, the horn sounded and we were flagged off !! Wooot !! The pace was pretty fast in the beginning. I even had trouble keeping up with the 2:30hrs pacers. But later as people tapered off, the pace slowed down. Many people passed me and I also passed a few. At certain vantage points, I could see a herd of people ahead of me!!! Why were they faster? sigh.... nevermind lah... I plodded on and on... argh... felt pretty cool and good. I kept reminding myself that I need to keep hydrated. Even though it slowed me down, I stopped at all the water and isotonic points and even the one banana station ! More trash and more mountains.. sigh... plodded on... at some point, I felt numbness in my legs but it passed. Wow... it's not 2 x 10K, it's actually 2 x 10K + 1.1k !! Grrraghhhh.... When back on the Esplanade Bridge and on the way to the FINISH LINE, the feeling cannot be described.. Just so elated and also relieved that it's going to be over soon!! and FINALLY I MADE IT to the Finish line and DID NOT HAVE A PHOTO TAKEN OF ME!!!! Haha.. Too crowded I guess... sigh..

OHHHHHH the pain after that was just UNBELIEVABLE !!!! I can't imagine how badly the 42K runners must feel if I'm already feeling this bad !! PAIN x 2 x 3 ?? Everything ached, including my shoulders and my collar bone muscles!! Very hard to walk. but glad I was still quite ok.. Heard that someone collapsed and some people had cramps etc. And here's the reward :


Met Mag at the 10K finish line and we were too tired to explore the grounds - and anyway, it was too disgustingly squishy and muddy!!



That's all for the story I guess.... will you join me next year? It's now Tuesday and I still cannot go down stairs properly... I just applied Dr Joint Pain on my aching thighs. Not helping much. The worse pain is from sitting and getting up from the .... WC !!!! HAHAHA.. I hope you know what "WC" stands for! Look it up on wiki please!

Official chip time: 2hr 23mins 57secs

Great Eastern Women 10K

Sunday, 21 Oct 2007
GE Women 10K website

This is the second run we did this year - the GE Women 10K. Perhaps I've forgotten the pain, but I'm kind of looking forward to next year's event. Haha...

The goody bag is nice and the Adidas running shirt fits better than the Shape Run one. And it could all be collected in advance which reduced the queuing time on the actual event day.


Once again, it was 5am wakey time for us. Poor Chewie still had her sleepy eyes but she never let me out of her sight (my sweetie pie) until we left the house. We took turns to give her hugs.


These are all the photos I took (other than the medal one right below). The rest of the pix are courtesy of Mag and her trusty little Cybershot handphone.

Here I am pretending to be jogging.


Spot Mag !! We were right behind the competitive runners at the starting line but we came in in twice their time. hehe...


I must say that this event was more fun and better organised than the "September event". There were free bananas, sample cereal & milk, lots of ice cream and drinks and even a free 10 min massage!




Little bowls of cereal




Here's Chewie trying on the medal for size :)

I'm quite happy with my results. It isn't under an hour but it's exactly double my 5K Shape run :

Gun time - 01:04:11.11
Chip time - 01:04:05.05
Open Category placing - 743
Masters Category (for women > 35 yrs old) placing - 338

Click here to read Mag's blog

Shape Run 2007

09 Sept 2007
Well, we did it! (Shape Run website)


After weeks of training, plotting our routes on mapmyrun.com, trial runs at East Coast Park and Shenton Way, 9 Sept 2007 finally dawned upon us!! Yup, I had to wake up at 5am on a SUNDAY! Geez...

We got to the Esplanade really early before 6:30am and the organisers were still setting up the stage and stuff. We noticed that the more seasoned runners did not turn up until much later, after 7am. But we were noobies at this; our virgin run! ;)



We mingled amongst the sea of 4D numbers. Of course my dad could not resist buying my number that Sunday but of course he didn't strike lah.. What did you expect? Oh yeah, as Mag said in her blog, I kept spotting my old car numbers - 6941, 2257, 7494.

ANYWAY... the weeks of training paid off (sorta). We didn't win the $500 first prize money but we managed to complete the 5km without breaking any bones.

For a $20 registration fee, we got a free Nike tee, which is quite nice. And also a bag full of sample vitamins, lotions, shampoo and all sorts of coupons which I would never use! The one I would never try is a UV protection/sunscreen which is taken orally. They claim that it's all worth a total of $1000...... really?





It was all in all a fun day, even though waking up at 4:30am/5am kinda messed up our systems...

Now go to Mag's blog to read more about it !!

Note to self: Need to gear it up for the Great Eastern 10km run!! gawd.... >.<

My timing : 00:32:34.63 (placed 168th)

Running Gear

By signing up for the Great Eastern Woman's 10K run, we could get a 20% discount off running shoes and apparel from Adidas Suntec or Cathay Building!

Personally, I prefer Adidas shoes over the 'other' famous brand because of the reasonable pricing and the quality. They last longer, feel better, provide better support and are value for money!

Since us gym rats rarely use running shoes, I wondered over to the Adidas store at Cathay Building with the hopes of buying something comfortable for my flat feet.

I met Jason and told him what I wanted. He immediately set me up for an analysis of my feet. I was required to run towards a "landing pad" from about 8 paces away, landing onto the pad first with my right foot, then my left. Several readings were taken for accuracy.


The final result was that I had severe over pronation on both feet and I rotate my feet inwards as I take off. The scan also shows an angle of travel as the foot lifts off, meaning too much stress is put on my knees and joints.

Straightaway, I was shown some Motion Control shoes that will give me the stability required to prevent the inward motion. I decided on Adistar Control 4 W which had everything I needed to correct over pronation - Ground Control System heel, de-coupled heels, Formotion, Flexgrooves, Forefoot propulsion, Shock absorption.





And now... this is MY Adistar Control!
Look out for the flexible de-coupled heel that gives you maximum shock absorption.



I can't wait to try it!