Stanchart Survivor

After breezing through last year's 10 km, Ed boldly declared that we should challenge ourselves further and sign up for the the 21 km. Alas, the other half conveniently had a business trip during this period and Ee had to face the consequences of this decision. *resigned sighs*

This time though...it wasn't about running for gold but to finish in one piece and perhaps beat my own self declared completion time to get the promised voucher. (Yes, I'm a real sucker for vouchers.)

In fact, this was not the best time to train and I was whining to friends (and anyone willing to listen) that I was so not going to complete my 21 km alive in view of my past month's busy-ness, the lack of proper training as well as the fact that I had never ran more than 10 km leading up to THE day.

Thankfully, I survived and somehow managed to limp my way to the finishing line barely in one piece! *victory sign*

Contrary to the belief that it is mind over matter, I think my legs were going to fail first even though mentally, I felt able to run. In fact, the turning point (for me) was the 17 km mark when I could no longer feel my legs and I had momentary fears that I might just collapse. At 18 km, I had to compromise my stance towards isotonic drinks and decided to gulp down a cup of 100 plus in response to my body's cry for salt. By the 20km flag, it was sheer willpower (and the voucher) that propelled me towards the finishing line. *sits down to nurse aching limbs*

Besides an exhilarating run, I also had a fortuitious encounter with Good Samaritans who offered me a lift to the racing venue at 6 am in the morning. Here I was resigned to taking public transport when this nice couple pulled up and offered me a lift in view that they were heading there as well. Mindful that one should never accept lifts from strangers, I figured out that this was one of those times when one could make an exception. In fact, I even had a chance to visit their award winning garden since absentminded me had to retrieve my mobile phone left behind in their car earlier that morning.

Post race, I have vehemently rejected the possibility of even attempting a full marathon or to run another 21 km EVER AGAIN. However, time has made the aching muscles heal and bad memories fade away. Suddenly the prospect of running another 21km in 2010 seems more palatable. We'll see...