Pre Race:
met up with Sham who is our Team Runfanatics (consisting of sstaff from running lab and some common friends) coach. he led us for a short warm up run and we begin our stretching. he gave us a brief race briefing and also individual motivation. ended it with what he wants for us to be written on our arm! mine was " Focus! 4:15".. haha.. feeling good and inspired, we headed to the start line and discovered we were like... a few hundred metres away from the start gantry. haha
let's go Team!
During race:
evan and i decided on a 6 min pace per km. start was bad. we are stuck with the group and couldn't go our intended pace. so we did some "sliding" in and out of the "peleton". haha we managed to reach a "clearing". saw some chaps! like smallcircle (andy) and Jerry (on ENR who was cycling to support us). haha.
after a while, i lost Evan. can't see where he is. and that moment, when i turned back to look for him, i realise something. something freaking bad. my race tag actually broke from my race belt!! the hole broke! so the tag was like dangling with one hole attached. it was like such a stupid mishap. i tried to slide it into my tights at the back but i am afraid of the abrasion the sharp edges will give me. so...i tear out the whole piece and use my race belt as a belt. slided the tag in and continue running. i was thinking "o man, it's like less than 10km and something so shitty has to happen". however i told myself :"aiya fuck it. i'm not gonna let this stupid incident affect my performance for a race i've trained so hard for!"
10km mark, time check : 54mins. and coach say check time only every 10km and so i did
good pace for me because i remember coach's instruction was for us to run faster for the first 10km. as a race strategy, we should too because the course only starts to get difficult at the second half. first half was rather flat along Changi costal and ECP. so if we want to catch up on the timing at the back, we have to run faster in the flatter course of the first half. "Visualise the route" he always said.
about the 15km mark, coach appeared and gave me a bottle of Powerbar Endurace drink! that really helps man! he ran a short while with me and keep encouraging me. it helped a lot. at 15km, it's not easy nor hard. just... starting to suffer a bit. so with that encouragement, i spurred on. meeting several friends along the way really helps. along the way, i saw a lot of friends and i keep doing hi 5 to them that i become quite high. approaching the "runner's high", let the adrendaline pump!
20km mark, time check: 1 hr 46 mins. was rather worried i was doing too fast so i decided to slow down a little.
all the while, from 20km mark to 32km, this guy was pacing with me. i can't see his face because it was so dark. all i see was his singlet with "Raffles Canoeing" at the back. then i tot to myself "this guy must be some kid who is either in sec school or JC. man, i'm not gonna get dropped by him! NEVER!" there were times when i pulled him and vice versa. we never talked. i just dun wanna lose to him! his pace was strong. going on a 5 min ++ (or at least i think so. haha) pace. along the way, he greeted some friends and i come to know that his name is Gu (or Goo) haha. sounds like brand Gu Gel man. well, we "fought" each other all the way till 32km. reached the aid station. drank the 100 plus. poured the water onto my face. poured the water over my buring calves.
suddenly, i feel light. i feel good. so as what coach advised, last 10km onwards is when u decide whether u wanna break or bail.i took the break and pick up my pace. i dropped Gu.
and then, Jacqueline (call her Jacq, who happens to be my swim classmate from Yellowfish) caught up with me. man, she's a strong runner. from then onwards, we were pacing each other. kept each other strong on our strides. so good ah. i got different pacers for almost my whole race.
34km time check (because i forgot to check at 30km!): 3hr 17min. i was thinking, yeah well on pace, 4:15 is within reach!
at 34km, Jacq was telling me that she dunno where she is running. i was telling her "come on! almost there, reaching downtown east at the right turn" actually i have no idea. i am not familiar with this area but i believe it would keep her going. "what is 8km to you after u come so far! let's do it. don't think of the distance!"
we kept going. strong, i believe, was the phrase for our stride. along the way, both of us did our very best to pull people along with us. there was this guy wearing the Aviva Ironman top and he was walking. so i patted on his back and asked him to come with us. didn't really know what happened to him. he was running and stopping. then this guy whom i met at Pasir Ris ( just before the first slope) was walking. once again, i patted on his back and said "come on! i'll pull u. follow up!" so it was down to the three of us. me, jacq and the guy whose name is Andrew. he was suffering bad. heavy steps, heavy breathing but he was trying very hard to keep up with our pace. admirable chap indeed!
well, never underestimate slopes. they can break u. literally. it was one after the other after Pasir Ris, then came Loyang, then Changi and more. at this point, i was so glad that i attended coach's training every week. he trained us hard for slopes. did lotsa slopes training. breathing technique, correct striding and tempo were important when you attack a slope. still, no matter how prepared, i still suffered. everyone does. just how much. "hang on man. my mind and body is strong. go on Eugene!" i tot to myself.
i didn't look at the time anymore after that. last slope was the steepest. up from Hendon camp side to the Changi Chalets. last sprint. when i reach the top and run down, i was thinking to myself "damn, before the race, we were still walking down this road saying how much we are suffering when we get here later." u betcha man. haha. last 400m mark appear.
Jacq started to break away from me. i tried to chase her but she was really going very fast. i think her break was here. she disappeared into her turn. i still chase although i know i am not gonna catch her. i'm not gonna let myself down at the end of the day. once again, coach said that we must exhibit our power at the last stretch. CHIONG AH!
the finish is in sight. up the gantry and there it's over.
42km time check: 4 hours 4 minutes.
Andrew came up to me and shook my hand real hard. he said "thanks man, without for you, i would have give up running way back at Pasir Ris. really thank u". actually my proudest moment was this. on top of attaining my target, i helped a fellow athlete. we may not know each other. but we suffered together for that hour. that was the moment and i hope i can help more people next time.
i wanna thank everyone who supported and encouraged me. pre, during and post race. thank you guys!
next target: break the 4 hours barrier. wish me luck =)
signing off
Eugene
Team Runfanatics
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