marathon's over. phew!!

really thankful for a few things..

-thank God the hamstring strain was kept at bay throughout the entire run.
-thankful for pre and post race massage by the top massuer- Billy .. in fact since the hamstring strain a week ago, i've been getting massages after every run..woohoo!!
-thank God for the nice cool weather
-thanks so much to all the wonderful Trifam Pacers..you guys rock!!
-thanks to adrian n his guys who brought to us the powergel..not exactly the yummiest food on earth but it's race-needy.

i did a 4:47 for this yr's 42km.

had initially wanted to give up the run..coz i didn't want to aggravate the hamstring strain that had bugged me for a week.. i gave up on friday's interval training 1/3 way through as it was pulling so badly.. on sunday morning, i was really reluctant to go as i didn't want to do a bad run. nevertheless, billy's enthusiasm rubbed onto me and though i was frowning (due to my growling tummy), i went. lost billy amongst the bag deposit crowd and i dragged my feet to the start point. the thought that went through my mind was that i was definitely going to stop once my hamstring pulled. probably won't get to finish the marathon..but nvm la..

i was all the way at the back ..so it took a while to stroll to the front.. half way through marina, spotted trifam 5:30 pacers and i thought...yea..y not? pace with 5:30..that's a decent timing and their pace is comfortable to follow..

after following them for 10+ km..at esplanade road i lost them at a drink station..so i pushed on alone.. not too long, i spotted two 5:00 pacers..and i asked them if they were still on time for 5:00 finish..one replied ..yea!..and i pushed forward.. found jeremy yanglyn who were the 5:00 way way way in front at ecp area..and i lost them after a water station too.. i told myself i want to try to locate the 4:30..can find, good. can't find also nevermind.

pace all the way to 35km was great.. i employed a new strategy to hydrate from the start..from 6km, i started sipping water at every station..if i took a cup of 100plus, i would skip one station. around 21km mark, powergel was made available. as i started to feel a little draggy, i began sipping my powergel..there were no water stations any where near ahead..hence i didn't gulp down the entire pack..slowly intaking the powergel over a few kms really helped..when i saw the 'drinks ahead' sign, i took in more and washed it down with water. at 30-33km, i took another power gel. (the 2nd one sucked. eeks.)

all's well till 35km..my pace dropped slightly and felt my legs go heavy.. the hardest bit was the last 3km..i was so near to stopping to walk..but seeing cheng really made me push on..i passed him and that kept me going. i wanted to win him badly..coz he's just too xiao zhang!!..hahaha..

pushed on..and i tried to kept pace with the few gals around me.

glad at 4:47 it ended..yipee!

hehe..to think since powerman, i totally never do any mileage. for 3 weeks, i was sick for almost 2 weeks. i strained my hamstring for 1 week. the longest run i did in those 3 weeks was 10km. before that the longest mileage i went up to was 20km. i haven't done any 30km runs at all. dratS!

i'll keep in mind to train properly next time..=) the bonus to the run yesterday was really the nice cool weather. it does make a huge difference. last year it was hot hot hot!

fuelling strategy is really important. guess experience has taught me to plan how i want to proper fuel my body for a race. in addition, brick training for powerman taught me to endure the soreness in my legs and just keep moving. my quads were so sore at the last 3 km..but i told myself this feels exactly how i felt after getting off my bike after a 5hrs bike ride and running..if i can tahan through those training..this one i can tahan too.

looking forward to more runs. 30km kl pace setter run next on the list.

marathons have a healing touch to them. they are really painful to go through..but they make us stronger. today i feel so refreshed and i'll be doing a recovery run tonight...even swim training would be fine for me too. =)

billy did a fantastic job. 3:47. exactly 1 hr ahead of me. =)

yea..but on the whole, i still prefer doing duathlons over marathons la..coz i like to bike and feel the wind..hahaha

another good news..i'm done with driving module 2. proceed to module 3!..bad news, module 3 is all done in the circuit. CRAP..today i did my few rounds in the circuit and it was PAINFULY SLOW. i was driving at less than 30kmh all the way..mostly at 20kmh. gee..i'm so going to miss my 70kmh rides outside. but at least i know i'm progressing fine.

tricia wants things to pick up steadily as it should. and i want it to be so. =)