Image Credit: Pixabay Images
I remember my first run in Singapore back in 2011 with my friend. It was a weekend after a light shower in the afternoon – weather was cool and breezy. Everything was pleasant, except for the run. Half-way in the run, I was literally gasping for air, my shins felt like they were metamorphosing to a rock, and a strong urge to throw up and dizziness – Well, that was my level of fitness back then.
Running History
After a long hiatus, I slowly took up running again in the neighbourhood (1.5 km loop) in mid-2014. Then in 2015, I signed up for my first 5km run event. It was the “Rail Corridor Run” on 31 January 2015. It was not the most memorable run because it rained heavily the night before and the off-beaten track was muddy. But, looking back, that event was the gateway to my participations in running events.
From running 5km, I slowly started participating in 8km, 10km and 15km. My first half-marathon (21.097 km) came two years later on 25 February 2017 (Marina Run 2017). For an amateur runner, it was like hitting a milestone. This was followed by another half-marathon at year end on 3 December 2017 (Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon 2017). I was contented running half-marathons.
Motivation For Running Full Marathon
I participated in the third half-marathon on 24 February 2019 (Marina Run 2019). After noticing the improvement in Net Run Time with each run, the thought of a full-marathon grazed my mind. I knew it was challenging but there was no way to measure that unless I tried it. After much struggle, I convinced myself ‘mentally‘ that I can do a full-marathon. And to prove myself, I registered (one step at a time!) for the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon (SCSM) 2019 on 9 August, 2019.
Training For Full Marathon
The next challenge was to train myself for the marathon, knowing that I have 4 months in hand. I scoured the internet for training plans on how to do, what to do, how many runs in a week and the distance in each run. The information was overwhelming. Fortunately, the Nike Run Club (NRC) – Running Coach app provided just that ‘for free’. Moreover, the training plan was dynamic and the run plans got updated as I progressed with the training.
I failed to keep up with all the training dates and did missed out on many runs in between. But the training plan was a good guideline for an amateur attempting his first full-marathon. The NRC app plan included both long and short runs each week. The long runs were mostly aerobic workout and short runs for anaerobic (sprint) workout.
Below are screenshots of my trainings of 4 months. Note that the last few weeks leading to the event was filled with longs gaps in between trainings. I couldn’t keep up with the training schedule and tried to compensate that with longer (aerobic) runs. It is better to maintain both long and short form of runs for training.
The training was sans injury (thankfully) and going well until I experienced hitting the wall with a month to the event. It was a jolt to my confidence that was slowly building up. After understanding the cause of that, I had to take care of my diet too.
The weekend before the full-marathon, I got a bit enthusiastic and ran the full-marathon in the neighbourhood. At the end of the run, I was exhausted but not like ‘hitting a wall‘ experience. The run statistics (screenshot below) gave me a lot of confidence. The following week was busy for me and I couldn’t go out for runs. Also, so contented was I of my runs that I did not push myself harder to train.
The Grand Finale
I was a bit nervous and excited at the event, though the atmosphere at the race was very energetic. My 4 months of mental and physical preparation was finally here. I was determined to beat my earlier full-marathon run time or so, I thought. It started in the evening and with the sun setting down, the weather was very pleasant. Moreover, it was one of those rare instances where the major roads in Singapore are blocked and the participants owns the road.
Things started out well as I checked my progress at each 5 km intervals. The 5km was pretty much on track, so was the 10km, followed by 15km. After crossing the 15km distance, I felt a slight discomfort on my right groin. Since I was still able to run, I continued and finished the 20 km distance at my training pace. My confidence was sailing smoothly.
Around 22 km, the slight discomfort was growing into a nagging discomfort. The run was slowly turning into intervals of short runs and long walks as I had trouble with my strides. This was when it slowly dawned on me that I was not going to beat my earlier record. The frustration was so heavy that I could really feel it.
It was downhill from there and the rest was an unpleasant experience. I had to stop on many occasions to stretch my body and it gave only a temporary relief. I even had to pull over at the medics camp for the sports cold spray. But it did not help much. At the end, I was forced to walk the remaining more than 15 km – it is no fun dragging your leg half-way into a marathon.
I came across another runner from Philippines who also gave up with the run because of a muscle sprain. I saw him limping on the race track and struck up a conversation. We walked the remaining distance talking about everything under the sun – from our frustration of our condition to our trainings, food we like, where to eat what in Singapore etc.. Towards the last 100 m of the race, we gritted our teeth and put a last effort to (slowly) limp over the finish line (Things camera at finish line makes us do!).
At the end, my first 21 km took 2 hours 27 minutes and the next 21 km took me 4 hours 30 minutes. The groin muscle sprain recovered after more than a week.
This is not a story of triumph but an experience many have gone through attempting their full-marathon run. A story of disappointment that is often not mentioned or penned down.
Was it Worth It?
Yes, TOTALLY!
The finisher’s t-shirt and medal shall forever be displayed on Random Rant’s Wall of Fame! Haha…!
Takeaways From the Run
Running a full-marathon may not be for everyone and the initial battle is in the head. As much as it is a physical activity, the mental grit is also important for endurance sports.
There were red flags during my training and that could have been avoided:
- Overlooking my diet
- Focusing mostly on long distance runs
- Doing a full-marathon a week before the actual event – as a first timer, I guess my body didn’t recover fully
Finally, if you are a regular runner and have finished two or three half-marathons, a full marathon ought to be one of ‘Things to do‘ on your bucket list. Little did I know that the 5 km run event would one day culminate into a full marathon after 4 years in 2019.
