my 1st marathon, turned walkathon

disappointment could be the best word to describe the run that i had trained hard for. sadly, probably due to the shift work which disrupt my sleep cycle, somehow, i just can't recover from the TB cough which hit in early November. this had greatly disturbed the last month of my run training. for the entire month, i didn't get to even run at all, obviously, timing of 4.5hrs became a long gone dream.

team Odee Acee Again

nonetheless, i still had fun through out the 42km, less of a marathon, more like a Army 1/2 Marathon cum Newpaper Big Walk, plus jolly good time with old mates of my uni days.


right from the beginning, i was separated from the rest, rather fine for me, i always like to run alone, at my own pace. the start was real bad, due to the cough, i had pulled the back muscle at the region somewhere near my lungs, every breathe that i inhale seems to stretch it, fuck, it really hurt. lucky me, found a gal in white cap and FBT shorts, who jogs at the exact same pace and stride as me, i decide to place my focus on her, to divert away the pain.

happy me, followed her all the way, be it to stop for drinks or to strafe to the left/right to siam away from those doing walkathon. at the drink station of 16km mark, she suddenly back, stared at me, and blurted, 'are you following me?'. i was like so damn... 'haha, ya, was pacing you all the while..' si buai paiseh la! she must have taken me as some pervertic stalker!

at the 18km mark, i was still pressing on, despite the aching calf, and obviously without my white cap pacer (too paiseh to follow her anymore), happened to bump into tung and munir. haha, point of relief that i'm not alone, and yet spells disaster ahead. peer influence is is one of the worst evil, seeing them strolling happily along east coast park, chit-chating bout our good old days, how can i not succumb to such luring temptations! finally, i let my soring muscles to take a rest, walking with them for 500 metres and lauren came running from the back, real slow like a tortoise, but still running. how can pride-ful me lose to this puny girl, and once again, tung and me picked up the pace, dumping munir behind, still with great hope to finish the run without ever stopping again!


haha, ya, i seriously over-estimated the under-trained self. i'm no longer young and fit like i was in NDU days. haha, before long, at the 21km mark, i gave up. 30% for mentally weak and 70% for the throbbing calf which will cramp anytime if i was to push further. 休息是为了走跟长远的路, Newpaper Big Walk began for tung and me.

as discussed, we will walk for 2km, and run all the way to 30km, walk another 2km and finish the entire run. haha, all plans are meant to fail! yep, after 2km, we really did try to run again, which ended rather shortly after 2km! haha, change of plans, we shall walk 1km after every 2km of run! yet again, only at the 26km, every plan failed, it was fate that we are taking part in a walkathon.

happily at the 32km mark, this dark figure, with black calf guard and red shoes walked by on our right, DENIS! wahahaha, that's it for the marathon, time for good catch-up sessions for the old mates on a sunday morning! if munir ever caught up with us, i swear, we would have taken a cab along any road to the end point, with the $60 cash that he carried with.

5hrs passed, at the 35km mark, this bloody distance marker had words, 'Pain is Temporary, Pride is Forever'. wah, cannot take it, i must do something! picked up my lower limbs, wanting to chiong finish the last 5km. seriously, even my toes are aching while walking but my pride says i have to run it! and irritating tung and denis, kept poking me, 'before you think of running the rest of the distance, why don't you try running to that sign board (30m away) first?'. roar! roar! roar! hmpf! what lousy friends i had!


and yes, at 37km mark, i cleared the run without ever stopping again, fuck, my left knee and ankle got damn pain, first time ever that i suffer from knee problem after so many years of running. not that sure if i will ever do another marathon, but i'll never forget this eventful one, cos i'm so gonna make sure that the next one, will have no incidents, but just pure running till the finishing line.