"And after this race, I think I'm just sticking to shorter 10km runs and target for a sub 50 for now. No more half marathons till I get a new pair of shoes that doesn't give me blisters. And more importantly, till I am mentally stronger and able to drag myself out of the house, put on a shoes and make running as my daily routine. When that time comes, then maybe I will do another half marathon. The thought of doing a full marathon will have to wait." - from last year's post
So, why did I decide to run this half marathon this year? No, I still have not reached my sub50 target for a 10km. But yes, I got a new pair of shoes and it doesn't give me blisters. I felt that I am mentally stronger and able to overcome the boredom of long flat roads. I mentally prepared myself the night before, telling myself I know the route, I know where I'm gonna get bored and I shall not let that get to me. I have my RunKeeper now, which is a pretty darn good app that have accompanied me this year throughout all my runs. It's gonna be different. I am gonna make it.
And on the top side, work paid for my entry fees. So, why not right? Lol!
And I was way more disciplined this year round. I sort of started training in June. The aim was to do it under 1 hour 55 mins. There's this website called marathonguru.com.au and I tried to follow the training program. It was pretty much train 5 days, rest 2 days of the week. But obviously I did not stick to it. Mine was more like train 2 days, rest 5 days. But still, it was better than last year. On the website, it even update my estimated finish time everyday after I enter my workout summary. I had an estimated time of 1 hour 45 mins! Yea right... i'd be happy with 1 hour 50 mins man.....
I think this was the most prepared race I have ever been. Training went well. I peaked at the end of August. Even managed to taper in the last few weeks before the race. Before this, there was no such thing as tapering to me. It has always been the 'just going to wing it' attitude. But no, not this time. I tapered. I carbo loaded. I slept early. I felt so ready man.
On the morning of September 18, I woke up and I had the "Yeaa!! this is gonna be my day!" feeling. 1 hour 55 mins here I come!!
Got to the start and had to go to the loo. By the time I took a dump, the race has started. But it didn't bother me seeing that we all have timing tag and the time starts only when we cross the start line. After I crossed the starting line, I was like.. damn!! Had to run pass all these people in front of me. They were going quite slow and I was just using my energy to dodge them. Rolled my ankle a few times but it wasn't too bad. I ran up and along the kerb because not many people ran on it and it was easier to run pass the crowd.
My pace was 4:33 for first km, 5:00 for the 2nd, 4:44 for the 3rd. I felt good and I knew I won't be able to keep this up for long but the plan was to maintain this pace for as long as I can and then do a nice relaxed pace after for the rest of the race. Ran across the harbour bridge and pass the 3km mark, I was running on top of the kerb and we had to U-turn. So I got down the kerb to make the U-turn and then....... Snapped! Couldn't really stand up and I had to sit down. I was on the urge of pulling out but then all these thoughts.... the effort I put in the last few months... this can't be happening to me. So I told myself.... don't be a wuss, just move on! So I got up, and off I go.
Could tell that I really slowed down looking at my RunKeeper profile (this app is super amazing i tell you!). 6:08 for the 4th km. Lol!! Tried to speed up but couldn't maintain my pace for long. Especially when running through the botanical garden. Up and down, up and down. Tried to ignore the pain in my feet. Wanted to run landing on the balls of my foot but because of the ankle instability, it was difficult. So I had to just run landing on my heel. My cousin woke up early and met me around the 8-9km mark to snap some photos and cheered me on after I ran out of the Botanical Gardens. Felt so energetic after that and it was nice having a cool breeze coming through as we ran through Phillip Street which was surrounded by tall buildings. It was shady and cool.
I picked up speed after the 10km mark as it was cooling and it was downhill to Circular Quay and the Rocks. I knew what was coming ahead of me. The Hungry Mile aka Hickson Road. That long stretch of unshaded, flat road somewhere around the 13km. I thought if I speed up whilst I can, I can relax a little during the gruesome boring road and take my mind off the km markers and just try to enjoy myself.
But.... after the 13km mark.... music stopped playing. I looked at my phone and....... it shut down! Great.. just great. It happened once before during my training runs when I ran under the flyover to fish market. No idea why it happens but *sigh*. Apparently when there's no reception, it shuts down. But why does it have to happen during my race??? It never happened when I ran along Hickson Road during my trainings. Why why? so I pulled aside to turn the phone on, turned on the music and tried to restart RunKeeper. Music played but RunKeeper failed. It hanged. Spent like a minute or so trying to get RunKeeper going but the pain in my feet was throbbing and got worst the longer I stay still. And so, I had to just keep running without RunKeeper. I was silly enough not to wear my watch and so I had no idea what my pace was. Frustrated, I just had to keep going.
It felt like deja vu from last year. I tried to take my mind off the heat, the pain and calculating the distance I have to go. I tried to imagine I was just on my normal training run, imagine I was running along the waters. I stopped at every drinking station to grab water. I saw quite a few runners who stopped because of over-heating or dehydration. I tried to spot every camera man and smiled at it just to distract myself from everything. Came the last 2 km near the Opera House, the plan was to speed up. I tried but my feet wouldn't let me. The mind wants to but the feet simply just couldn't. The bigger the steps I took, the more pressure I was putting on my foot, the more pain I could feel. I think I only sprinted towards the last 50m and I waved frantically as I ran pass the finishing line. Simply delighted that I finally made it. Had no idea what my time was but I didn't really care then.
Once I passed the finishing line, I stopped and I felt like I couldn't walk anymore. I looked down at my foot and OMG! It was so swollen. Could hardly put any weight on it. Took me awhile to walk to the first aid station to get some ice and bandage. Didn't help with it being up slope at the botanical gardens. Wrapped it up and iced it whilst sitting under the hot sun. Sat out on the grass for more than an hour before I decided to collect my baggage. The walk to the baggage collection area was the most painful walk I ever done. It would have taken a normal person 5-10 mins to reach there but I took almost half an hour to get there. People from the 9km bridge run started coming in and walked pass me (their race started at 9) to collect their baggage. It was quite embarrassing to have everyone staring at me as they walked pass me. They must be wondering how the heck I got my ankle like that in the first place. They were all shaking their head and at the same time, saying "well done" and all I could do was to nod my head and said "thanks".
After collecting my stuff, I hopped my way up to the recovery area whilst waiting for my cousin to get me. No way was I able to walk back. Got my free massage but it didn't feel as good as last year as my muscles weren't as sore this time round. It was either because I warmed up well in the morning and I'm super awesome or... the pain in my ankle was masking the soreness of my muscles. I'd like to think it was the former :p haha!!
Came home, showered and then it was all RICE RICE RICE! Cousin was so nice to cook me a good lunch - smoked salmon with turkish bread + scrambled eggs + garlic mushrooms + roasted tomatoes. Yummy!!!
Checked my time online and I completed the run in 1 hour 59 min 47 secs at a 5:40 pace. Quite gutted because I didn't meet my target time. My longest training run (16km) averaged at 5:19 pace. I was aiming for a 5:28 pace at least. All the effort training the past few months just did not paid off. I was planning to do a full marathon provided I meet my target. But because of the unfortunate incident at the start, I failed. Sure, there's all the "if only". If only I didn't injure my ankle ... If only the weather was cooler.... If only I think of myself as more awesome and signed up for the A start group instead of B ... (you see, A start group starts earlier and start at the front instead of the back) ... then I need not dodge all the people in front of me ... then I need not run on the kerb... then I wouldn't have....... Ohhhh well.. we all learn from our mistakes yah? I'm all to blame for running up that kerb.
In case you're interested, ankle is not too well. Dr. sent me for an Xray worrying it might have been an avulsion fracture because of the massive bruising. But you can't tell a fracture in an Xray with all the initial swelling. So no idea if I had a fracture still. I really doubt it's a fracture as I was able to weight bear after the injury. I freaking ran 18km! Unless I didn't initially fracture it... probably tore the ligament initially and then with all the running after, the bone might have been chipped off by the strong deltoid ligament. Have been on bed rest since Monday and given MC for a week. I'm dying of boredom. In a way, I regret running another 18km after rolling my ankle. But in away, I do feel pretty awesome for still completing the race. Call me silly but I blame the endorphins and adrenaline. (btw, parents do not know about this. not planning to tell them as i do not want them to worry or get scolded. but if they do read this... sorry mum and dad!!! i will not do such stupid thing again)
At least I came out of this race stronger and more determined. I am pretty proud of my preparation leading up to this race. I was more disciplined. It was difficult to wake up on Saturday mornings to run or Sunday mornings before dragon boat. Nor was it easy to run at 7pm after a long day of work. But I did it. Gotta actually thank RunKeeper. Seriously, it's like my running buddy. I enjoyed training with it. Screw the finishing time. Screw the ankle. I am going to do one more half marathon next year. And then a full marathon. That's the plan. A full marathon before I turn 25!!
And here's 2 videos of me before and after the finishing line (look out for the crazy woman in a strikingly green top waving her arms frantically. That's me!)
Before Finishing line
After finishing line
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| Just keep going.. just keep going... |
Once I passed the finishing line, I stopped and I felt like I couldn't walk anymore. I looked down at my foot and OMG! It was so swollen. Could hardly put any weight on it. Took me awhile to walk to the first aid station to get some ice and bandage. Didn't help with it being up slope at the botanical gardens. Wrapped it up and iced it whilst sitting under the hot sun. Sat out on the grass for more than an hour before I decided to collect my baggage. The walk to the baggage collection area was the most painful walk I ever done. It would have taken a normal person 5-10 mins to reach there but I took almost half an hour to get there. People from the 9km bridge run started coming in and walked pass me (their race started at 9) to collect their baggage. It was quite embarrassing to have everyone staring at me as they walked pass me. They must be wondering how the heck I got my ankle like that in the first place. They were all shaking their head and at the same time, saying "well done" and all I could do was to nod my head and said "thanks".
After collecting my stuff, I hopped my way up to the recovery area whilst waiting for my cousin to get me. No way was I able to walk back. Got my free massage but it didn't feel as good as last year as my muscles weren't as sore this time round. It was either because I warmed up well in the morning and I'm super awesome or... the pain in my ankle was masking the soreness of my muscles. I'd like to think it was the former :p haha!!
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| Rock On!! |
Checked my time online and I completed the run in 1 hour 59 min 47 secs at a 5:40 pace. Quite gutted because I didn't meet my target time. My longest training run (16km) averaged at 5:19 pace. I was aiming for a 5:28 pace at least. All the effort training the past few months just did not paid off. I was planning to do a full marathon provided I meet my target. But because of the unfortunate incident at the start, I failed. Sure, there's all the "if only". If only I didn't injure my ankle ... If only the weather was cooler.... If only I think of myself as more awesome and signed up for the A start group instead of B ... (you see, A start group starts earlier and start at the front instead of the back) ... then I need not dodge all the people in front of me ... then I need not run on the kerb... then I wouldn't have....... Ohhhh well.. we all learn from our mistakes yah? I'm all to blame for running up that kerb.
In case you're interested, ankle is not too well. Dr. sent me for an Xray worrying it might have been an avulsion fracture because of the massive bruising. But you can't tell a fracture in an Xray with all the initial swelling. So no idea if I had a fracture still. I really doubt it's a fracture as I was able to weight bear after the injury. I freaking ran 18km! Unless I didn't initially fracture it... probably tore the ligament initially and then with all the running after, the bone might have been chipped off by the strong deltoid ligament. Have been on bed rest since Monday and given MC for a week. I'm dying of boredom. In a way, I regret running another 18km after rolling my ankle. But in away, I do feel pretty awesome for still completing the race. Call me silly but I blame the endorphins and adrenaline. (btw, parents do not know about this. not planning to tell them as i do not want them to worry or get scolded. but if they do read this... sorry mum and dad!!! i will not do such stupid thing again)
At least I came out of this race stronger and more determined. I am pretty proud of my preparation leading up to this race. I was more disciplined. It was difficult to wake up on Saturday mornings to run or Sunday mornings before dragon boat. Nor was it easy to run at 7pm after a long day of work. But I did it. Gotta actually thank RunKeeper. Seriously, it's like my running buddy. I enjoyed training with it. Screw the finishing time. Screw the ankle. I am going to do one more half marathon next year. And then a full marathon. That's the plan. A full marathon before I turn 25!!
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| Finally!!!! |
Before Finishing line
After finishing line
