Some thoughts on FB and the half marathon

Getting more and more uneasy lately in a way I cannot define, probably due to FB and the upcoming half marathon.

With regards to FB, started when an ex-colleague (around mum's age) asked me how I know X (my age). Turns out X is her daughter's ex. Pretty shocking.

Then I saw another ex-colleague commenting a photographer's wedding photo. I had seen the groom before when he came to the office to give the cards to my current colleagues. I ended up seeing my colleagues' pretty faces in the album. Mental note: I better behave as my career world of contacts just shrank.

(Another example of how small FB makes my social network become…. Zzz.. I was talking to this newly found Socian senior cum current colleague of mine when I realized his wife is Doc & Tatter’s friend… what????)

Then I did something wrong in FB. I tried too hard to maintain a conversation and he ended up cutting me short. Point is I kept telling myself don't bother but my hands don't listen.

I ended up sleeping little and idle at home the next day preparing to collect my race pack. Like what my friend said, half mara has half the Q of the full mara. Weird there were more full than half though using my theory, I get a better deal paying the same price for a longer journey. Bravo to the full marathoners!

I then head to the gym but somehow did not feel like running too much on the eve. Just practise a bit, and do other exercises. I think I neglected these machines while preparing for this half mara. Must head back to them soon.

Hmm I kind of forgot what other whines I have. Probably some trivalities like a guy coughing onto me in the post office and that there are so many SAM machines yet the ones that weigh parcel break down the same time (different locations). Maybe I wasn't thinking too positively then.

Anyway I am happy now as I'm typing because I managed to send my xmas present to the child. I need to think of a pretty term for her.. Can't really call her my child as she has parents. She call me sponsor tho. And what makes my morning is receiving her xmas card (I thought I was early in sending, she's earlier haha) .

Oh and as I'm typing this while on the way to the half mara, I think from now onwards I will remember MRT first train for sunday is 6am. Definitely gonna be late.. Oops.

Just hope the run will be ok because I couldn't do any prep on the eve. I wanted to listen to CL and carbo load abit as well as rest early. But I had a wedding dinner on the eve and such dinner usu has more protein than carbo. Luckily the hotel is the nearby Changi Village Hotel. Change of name but the feel is still there where I attend my then very good friend's wedding with .. Anyway it was a lovely wedding and I'm taking a chance to see how's my friend sprain since we touched down from Japan. Still having a slight limp tho, hope she recover faster. Then I rush back home in a cab to sleep before midnight. At least I have 4.5 hours of sleep before the event.

Hmm here onwards is the aftermath of the run haha. I join the queue just when the event flag off. The point is, the queue was very very very long haha. And we just kept strolling towards the starting point that the emcee kept urging us to please start running to the starting. Oh I got too lazy to take photo of the start and end, probably wait for professional photos haha.

<-- Now you know how many people were in front of the queue .. because the chip and the clock totally don’t come close haha

Halfway through the race I learnt another thing - never get shirt size XS. (But the NB size S was big, sigh.) The shirt caused me some abrasion that I kept pouring water on my left arm to alleviate the discomfort. Hope I did not wet anybody's shoes. Then there are times I will try to motivate myself… drink stops are good motivation points (the fruit aka banana stop was an even better motivator because that means you reach turning point already)… and then when you are at the other side… Still remember at that scenic Kallang area, the other side was the Marina Barrage which I told my friend when I reach there then see (because I wasn’t tall enough to see the other side then). Then there are times you need to u-turn, or round-about etc.. and when I’m on this side, I feel kinda depressed… The theory of the grass is always greener on the other side =p. And when I’m finally back to the Kallang area, on the other side, it really felt so much better to know I’m on the return journey plus the fact I maintained my running style like how I did for the Real Run, constant running pace with only occasion stops at water point.

Seriously I felt I came a long way from my first marathon – then Vertical Marathon. Coincidentally I passed by that building along the race route. Vertical Marathon really gives you a different feel as it was very well organized and at the end you get beautiful memories of the helicopter view when you completed plus a beautiful medal. Because of it, I thought all marathons should be interesting to join.

After that, the SwingKPE (pretty bad in terms of organizing, I did not even get an accurate assessment of my race though it was probably bad too as I was walking more than jogging). Then the Nautical run. I like the shirt though, but I did had a hard time completing it as it was the first time I ran under the sun (SwingKPE tunnel was darkness and shade all the way). The only race that came close to enjoyment probably was the Real Run (trial) because I loved running on the soft sand when the sun was not high up and there was much lesser people.

SC half mara is a different feel. It is a run I am not prepared, I did not even tried to train to 15km by then. So to complete it, and to look back with all my other races, I do feel proud of myself. Most importantly, it was this run that made me join all the other horizontal marathons (I used to wonder what I get at the end of such marathons unlike that helicopter view – still loved that best). One of the advices dispensed was to run the marathon for your own sake, not for others. Indeed, when I joined this race, I did not expect anything, I just wanted to see what I can accomplish. Although meeting him could still be a bonus but fate thought otherwise. No worries though as after the event, my mental state was not clear haha. My trekmate commented I looked very happy when we met at the booth… hmm.. probably not thinking straight by then.

Alright before I end this post, here’s my timing (average of 8km/h which is good as I expected to go slower this round)


and the race route for half marathon (I ran for the sake of seeing the scenery.. but after running I realised I forgot how to make my way there again... sigh the usual me - directionless.  Imagine after passing a building then I told my friend I think I just passed my work place haha.)


and the medal


In some sense, thankfully I finally see another medal… having a medal still makes a marathon more enjoyable. Else I might just give up on horizontal marathons from now onwards. Considering after the event I slept the whole afternoon shows how tough this had been for me =p. But I thank GA for the fine weather, not running with the sun on Nicoll highway is still a good thing.. not having the drizzle like what I’m encountering today is also a good thing.