I did it!

1st kilometre…
I could feel the adrenalin rush. Everyone was running; no one talked. All I could here were the sound of shoes hitting the ground; echoing between 2 huge buildings around us.

2nd to 8th kilometre…
Cruising mode, a time when all the runs around the golf club and time spent on the treadmill bear fruits. My lungs and legs went at the rate I want them to go. No sign of other runners walking. This was also when I saw a guy who has got a hilarious message plastered at the back of his outfit. It reads… “No sex for me if I can't finish --- from the wife”. I overtook him and never saw him again.

9th to 10th kilometre…
First sight of people walking, and I was beginning to feel a little of my muscle. I slowed down to load up on packet of chocolate-flavoured power-gel and bottomed-up a few cups of H2O to wash the gel down my throat.

11th to 13th kilometre…
Auto-cruise mode began to show signs of malfunction. Stopped for the first time to do some stretching. Felt a stinging pain in my underarm only to realise that I have suffered from “chaffing” due to constant rubbing against my outfit. Continued running with my arms slightly open (like a chicken) to prevent further damage. It’s not funny.

14th to 15th kilometre…
Quite a number of runners are walking which means, no need to look for empty space to overtake others (even with my arms slightly opened). But then again, who said anything about overtaking now?

16th – 17th kilometre…
Auto-cruise mode completely fried. Stopped a few times to stretch, walk, and load up my second packet of power-gel. Pace was extremely slow. A motivation tip from a seasoned runner friend came to mind… see things that looked nice from behind, pick up pace to overtake in order to check if it the front looks as good, know what I mean.

18th kilometre…
The spirit is willing but the body is weak. Fatigue is the name of the game. Legs do not seem to listen to the brain. Told my ass to get moving but the legs that carry my ass just refused to go. Damn it!

19th kilometre…
Began to feel a slight cramp in my right calf. Stopped to do more stretching. It was here that I saw the most outrages cheering party ever… 1 boy, dressed in florescent yellow and a few girls dressed in florescent pink/green were dancing to loud music blasting from 2 big speakers. Trust me when I say they were dancing… they were realllllly dancing! At the same time, there were chanting… “You can do it”… “You can do it”… “You can do it”… “You can do it”… “You can do it”… Some people stopped to take pictures with them.

20th kilometre…
In trying to preserve my right calf which I felt was about to cramp, I put more weight on my left leg when I ran. Bad idea! Tragedy struck… a sudden massive cramp in my left calf. I have had cramps many times before during my games but this was by far the worst I have ever felt. I couldn’t even stand up.

I would like to thank the 4 guys who stopped to stretch my calf. One guy, with a set of tattoo on his left arm also helped to massage my calf while the other placed a towel behind my head (I was lying on the road) and ask me to keep breathing. Hey guys, I do not know any of you but I am sorry if I have slowed you guys down. Many thanks.

Managed to get up and continue…

21st kilometre…
In my effort to preserve my calf and prevent my chaffing to my underarms, I was literally running like retard. Well, it was more like brisk walking. But I still tried to run, or looked as though I was running. You know why? Too many cameras around at this point… hah!

Final 100 metre…
They said the half marathon is a 21km run. It’s not. It’s 21.1km. That additional 100 metres may seems like nothing, but when you have ran 21km; that extra 100 metres seems to be the distance between heaven and earth.

Nevertheless, when I finally can say… “I did it!”… all the pain was worth it.



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