Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon

I was traumatized... I was so mentally exhausted from the marathon,
at lunch i just stared into space over a bowl of sliced fish soup. I have
a phobia of East Coast Park, the single recognizable stretch that
almost killed me. i thought i'll never exit the place. When i saw the
6hr pacers, i wheezed under raspy breath, " I'm counting on you to
get me out of here."

At the 32km mark, there was 10km more to go and i had nothing
left in me. My IT Band was killing me. I wanted to lie on the
ground and have the medics come get me in their super cool SUVs,
but i had already completed 3/4 of the marathon and stopping
here would forever haunt me. I stopped to sit at the side to stretch
many times and let my mind get the best of me. It's tougher
this year cos i recognize the route and i knew i was a far way
off from the finish line. I decided i just had to make it. No other way.
So i plodded. I widened my eyes and tried to smile, psyching
myself that i was in the happiest place and pressed on.

When i hit the 38km mark, i was like, "okay meiyi, just 4km
more to go. Run, you'll get there faster, get it over and done
with." I might have been running at the speed of brisk walking
but i didn't care. I hit Glutton Square at the Esplanade,
1km more to go.

I could hear the MCs chattering, the music blasting and people
cheering. Oh yes, this is what i envisioned when i was dragging
my legs along East Coast Park with Santarina and Mohawk
egging us on. I didn't get a second wind, i didn't get a high to
sprint to the finish, i just dragged myself across the line. Man, this
is the toughest thing i ever did in my life. Both mentally and
physically.

I met my family at the WW1 memorial and just collapsed on the
grass, squirmed around a bit even. I did 7min better than last year
which really really surprised me. While running, i thought
i'll clock 8hrs this year.

So this is how my 2nd Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon
went. Will i do it next year? i don't know. For now, i hope my
muscles will obey and bring me to work and still have enough in
them to take me out to lunch and back.