After toying with the idea of joining a public run ever since my college days, I finally got down to it yesterday morning. Not that this was my first attempt since the army makes all fit servicemen sweat it out in the annual Army Half Marathon, but today’s run was purely voluntary and that made a big difference. It all started in Ann Arbor where I would see running clubs whizzing about central campus in packs of various sizes and ages. I was never really into running but I found it to be a good way to maintain cardiovascular fitness and to unwind after a long day of lectures and tutorials and three-hour lab sessions. The problem was AA started to turn cold every October and froze up in snow and ice all the way through March. Now, regular semesters began in late August and closed in April. That left about two months of good weather, one right at the beginning of the school year and one at the very end during exam season. Needless to say, my sensible mind shut out the option of running in the frigid cold. Not that I never tried, but I always ended up nursing a headache at the end of the few bold attempts so I gave up.
Now that I’m back in Singapore, there really isn’t any excuse to not give it a shot. So, I signed up for Run350 a month ago without second thoughts. Even if I didn’t show up on race day, my participation fee would add a small drop to the pool of funds meant to cut down on carbon dioxide levels in our atmosphere. It was a win-win situation, a deal I could not refuse. I set a goal to finish in 52 minutes.
Fast forward to 6am on race day. I snoozed my ultra loud alarm clock.
6.10. My mum walks into my room. “Aren’t you going for your run?” In my drowsiness, I think she followed up with, “But you don’t have to go if you’re tired.” I went back to sleep.
6.15. “If I don’t make it today, I’d be such a failure.” With that thought I pulled myself out of bed, washed up and jumped into the bright orange Run350 vest before grabbing the car key.
7.30. Flag off by DPM Teo. Having arrived at the starting point later than the other runners, I had to run hard from the tail of the pack to overtake the joggers on the outside before the path got congested. It must have been the easy overtaking that gave me a false sense of confidence. Armed with complacency, I adjusted my pace to come in under 50 minutes. Tall order without much training, but not impossible as I ran by the 1km mark at 4:29.
I breezed through the first three clicks in under 14 min even though I had just fought off a flu. Four and five were ok, I didn’t stop for water. My watch read 24:01 – good pace at the halfway mark. At six I gave in to a few sips of 100 plus when my chest felt heavier than usual. Breathing wasn’t as easy as I had expected and my sweat tasted of the sea. Poor hydration prior – not good. Seven – I stopped to walk. Until that point, I had never stopped to catch my breath in a race before barring cramps. With just over 15 minutes and 3000m left, I had lost the mental battle. To motivate myself, I pushed back the goal to the original 52 minutes which I thought wasn’t a shabby timing after all. It was around that point in time when a female runner who pushed off much later overtook me at a steady pace. Helpless, I could only watch her disappear into the trail of male runners stretching far ahead.
At 8km, I began to pick up the pace when I realized 52 minutes was in sight. Before I knew it, I was giving my all in a desperate bid to finish the race against myself. I crossed the line at 50:41, half of me happy that I’d somewhat achieved my goal and the other half already beginning to plan for the next 10km race. As I cooled down and stretched out, I did some calculations and became quite confident that with proper training and good health I would surely be able to clock a better timing. My next goal? 48 minutes!
