Real Run 08

i believe many would have known that i was blindfolded and led to a surprise waxing session for my 21st birthday celebration. i struggled, fought and cursed my way throughout the whole ordeal.

but now, i'm considering doing it on my own.

reason? Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon.

no thanks to my extreme man-liness, resulting in a lush carpet of hair covering "hotspots". one of them, which gives me the most problems during my long runs, will be my armpits. the chafing caused by hours of arm swings (part of the running motion leh..) is really getting on my nerves.

but i'm ALWAYS so FREAKING easily tickled i think i'll die laughing the moment the (female, MUST be female) therapist touches me (in all the right places).

tickle my muttons

i think i'll stick to bodyglide anti-chafing stick for now.

__________________________

Real Run 2008.

as i;ve mentioned before, this run comprises of 3 running routes - Trail, Sand, Road. i've always scoffed at the title of the event, REAL Run. 'cos most runners will know that the trail component of this race is just.. er, a little rock/sandy/grassy. nothing that will justify it being called the REAL Run of Trail running. 

Moving on~ i invited V.Neo and her boyfriend along for this event as my company have some free slots which was left unused. Wei Long (the bf) was nice enough to drive all the way down to woodlands to pick me up before 3 of us set off to Changi Exhibition Center where the run will be flagged off.

the night prior to the run, i was out with siew ee consuming tons of crap food and, best, coffee. so due to the blend of caffeine and pre-race jitters (i think?), i was still wide awake at 1+am despite knowing that i have to wake up at 5am to prepare for the run.

thanks to the availability of an automobile, we were ahead of schedule when we reached Changi Exhibition Center. i left the couple and walked around. ran into alot of familiar faces, exchanged numerous good-lucks, hunted for miss-red-human-tee-weeling but to no avail. i hastily made my way to the starting line, where the humid air was filled with excitment, nervousness and an awesome smell of a few thousand runners. 

most runners came down in groups and pairs, so the constant buzz of conversations lit up an otherwise boringly hot sunday morning. i have done numerous long solo runs before, so i know i'm mentally strong enough to keep myself going even without a running partner/group.

but my worse enemy will be the heat.

over the PA, the booming voice announced the commencement of the run! i wanted to start off at a steady pace of 4.30min/km but the uneven terrain had another plans in mind. adding on to the uncertainties, my polar running computer had to screw up on me. the pace and distance counter went haywire during the "trail"-component so i was unable to tell if i'm going too slow or too fast.

the trails look somewhat like this...

relying on hao-gut-feeling running computer, i was quite sure i was doing 5-5.30min/km for the trail part. weaving in and out through the crowd, my main worry was tripping on a stray rock kicked up by another runner. that will really take me out of the race, or worse.

runners. yeah, we're different.

upon reaching the road section, my polar quit bitching and started its primary function - working for me. i had to make up for the loss time, due to the trails, so i know i had to push harder on the straights.

in running, we'll always reach a threshold where your legs stop aching, lungs stop burning and you feel like you can go on forever and faster! i like to call this "The Sweet Spot" where i could accelerate and my legs would pound furiously without feeling the pain or the burn.

on normal days, my Sweet Spot normally comes at 4k mark. BUT perhaps it was the lack of sleep or the prior "trail" terrain, i was pretty much still struggling at the 6k mark. given it was a 15k race, i NEED to be cruising much earlier. 

better late than never, my sweet spot came slightly after the turning point at 8k. however, with less than half of the race to go, i have lost much ground.

10k mark, time check. 51 minutes.

maintaining 5min/km, the overtaking game was on. running past fitter-looking runners had a childish happy factor to it; i was almost screaming "i'm better than you sucka!". heh.

then came the sand at 11k.

minefield for ankle injuries

running on sand is a whole different ball game. i have never done any sand-running since i started running seriously and i think it proved itself a sufficient challenge to me. running perpendicular to the waves, the incline of the beach means that my running strides will be different on both sides. the loose sand stirred up by the front runners made balance a crucial factor. one wrong step followed by a strange twisting of ankles and you could be finishing the race in a First Aid vehicle.

while most would thrown caution to the wind and slow down on the sand, i took a calculated risk and ran harder. to reduce the possibility of spraining my ankles, i kept to the extreme sides of the sand route where things isn't that loose. still, i tripped and slide several times during the sand course, nothing serious but it made my legs feel funnily wobbly when i hit solid ground.

the next (and last) part of the race was ALL about the heat as the taxiway route was devoid of all trees and shade. with a very cheerful mr sun, the heat was pouring down on our bodies and radiating from the tarmac. for me, this part is where fatigue, lack of sleep and stitches sets in. 

the taxiway looks like this, only much uglier and hotter.

somehow, i managed to will myself on. 10 metres to the finishing line, i heard someone shouting out my name. it was miss-red-human-tee-weeling with fana and lingxiu. 

15k. 1h 20mins. 

not great but i'm happy with it given the lack of sleep the night before.

and yes, i will be back next year.

will you join me then?

sidenote:

i KO-ed for 4hours when my head hit the pillow just now.

pictures will be uploaded soon!