What a day this was!
It started for me at 3.30am. But in my haste to pick up Yuan Ping, I forgot my salt tablets. Thank goodness Jeffrey had some to spare.
At 5.15am, we went off to meet him at the Esplanade. The crowd was so thick, we tried going by a less congested passageway, only to discover it led to lots of steps. Thanks to kindness of some guys behind us, they helped carry the wheelchair up the stairs. :)
After the race started, as expected, we were kind of hemmed in by the sheer number of runners, especially in the Shenton area. By the time we got to Nicoll Highway, there was a young boy who decided to help us by shouting out "Coming through!" to help us clear a path. If I remember correctly, his name is Raymond Goh.
It was also very sweet that there were so many runners along the way who broke out in a round of applause when they say Jeffrey pushing Yuan Ping through the hordes. Raymond who suffered from cramps at East Coast Park dropped out of the picture but there were others who magically appeared to take over!
Deep, heartfelt thanks to Jeffrey who blazed a path pushing Yuan Ping 99 per cent of the time to a 4hrs 44min-finish (2 minutes faster than her 2007 timing). Without him, today would not have been possible. Though we had both said it would be a let's-not-worry-about-timing race, when we got to Nicoll Highway, he sensed a good opportunity to finish well when we checked the time.
By the time we hit the F2 carpark, I excused myself to go to the toilet. When I came out, I tried to catch up with him and Yuan Ping but even before I could get to the U-turn up ahead, he was already on the return leg, so I skipped across the lane to rejoin them. By doing so, I in effect DQ-ed myself by skipping the U-turn point, bringing dishonour to Crazy2Tri.
Shortly after, I stopped to help some newbie who lay on the path writhing in pain from cramps. After he recovered, I left him to try to catch up with Jeffrey and Yuan Ping but they had disappeared. Then I decided to do something about my tummy which was starting to churn so I went to the toilet. After I emerged, I spent the rest of the East Coast Park stretch trying to regain lost ground but they were long gone!
I met up with Ivan and his friend at the 30km mark. And then, my body started to punish me for not clocking up sufficient mileage. I guess I had hit the wall and it took a lot of doing just focusing on putting one leg in front of the other. By that time, I knew it was useless to try catching up with Yuan Ping and Jeffrey. I became very demoralised.
At the National Stadium, I contemplated joining the 21km lot of runners to shorten my suffering. Then I thought "just finish it" but at that point, walking seemed the only bearable thing to do. When I got to PA opposite the National Stadium, I got passed by the 5hr-Team FatBird pacers. I asked whether they would mind if I tompang them and they welcomed me.
Because of them, I was able to get to the finish line. After I finished, I looked down and noticed two streaks of red running down my tee. At first, I thought "how come the printing is so lousy that the colour ran within one race?" Then I realised it was blood. I looked like a horror movie except the blood was from my nipples. Ivan afterwards said something very R(A) about that but because you guys are family types, I will refrain from repeating what he said. :p
Ivan also joked that he did not clock enough mileage and had relied on his base to pull him through. As for me, I think I relied on my base too – from 5 years ago!
Lessons learnt:
1. Jeffrey's short but consistent 1hr/1hr+ running training is one possible option for those of us who don't have the luxury of time to train and train.
2. Running barefoot is not as shocking as it may seem to many. We saw at least one barefoot runner who was able to finish in a very good time.
3. For those already thinking about next year's marathon, what I found very useful was tapping on the collective strength of the pacers. I also discovered that they are very scientific with their pacing so following them is a good way to achieve the timing you want. They are on Facebook as Team FatBird.
While I suffered on the course today, what was very gratifying for me afterwards was meeting the Crazy2Tri gang and exchanging war stories. Terence, Reese (who has put his injuries behind him and made a remarkable comeback!), Macca, Mark, Ivan. We met Shawn Kona at the start of the race, Joe and David Tan and Chua along the course but not after. Enrico, whom you all know, had a great finish with 3hrs 36mins, if I remember correctly. He says he kept up with Dex all the way to the 28km mark then could not keep up with the young man. So Dex must have had an enviable finish time too!
More than the actual race day stories we swapped, what I really enjoyed was the comaraderie. We're all a few years older and our bodies may be a little more subject to wear and tear but how blessed we are to be able to take part in all these crazy adventures together.
Long may they continue.
BP
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