Thursday, November 19, 2009

2 more days!

I was realllly nervous the weeks before, but right now I'm a mixture of really nervous and totally excited. I have no idea what to expect but at the same time I know what I would be facing.

 I've gotten over the fact that I have not been doing any sort of training since I came back from Nepal. The only running I did was for the Mizuno Waverun and the Great Eastern Women. Other than that, the only form of exercise I did was a couple of slow walk around the vicinity of my neighbourhood and a lot of swimming. But although swimming is as good a cardio as running, it is not running. It is not going to help me mentally in terms of carrying myself for 21km.

 I keep telling my friends who know I am going to PBIM, "I cannot even imagine 21km. I have no idea how far it is and can't gauge the distance." The longest distance I ever did ever since I started competing was... 12km. And that was in a race. I have never attempted anything longer than that.

 But you know what? It doesn't matter. When I first started entering races, my target was simple: to finish a race. Well, my actual real target was to finish a race running, but for this one I'll go easy. I'm going to walk as much as I could and run as long as I could without seriously injuring my knees again. I know at some point I would suffer, my ankles would hurt and my feet would ache and my knees probably would be singing. I know my shoulders would be heavy and my lower back hurting and I would feel like stopping. but I'm just going to take it easy, enjoy the whole race, and say hi to people that I know or want to meet (hello fellow bloggers!).

 Two days back I was nervously googling about the things you should have when you run a half marathon. I always go to a race with just myself and my shoes. No water, no nothing. But 21km is a long distance. I'm thinking that maybe I should equip myself with some tiny muscle rub, and OSR packets to drink at the water stations.
 
 Also, the biggest misconception I had for half-marathon was that you don't really stop unless you want to drink. And you definitely don't stop to eat either. But the blogs have all these suggestions on food to bring, and some even suggest a 2-3 minutes break. I never knew you could stop and sit and relax! I always thought you'd.. well, just run non-stop! 

 Also, I thought that you had to hold in your pee too. It never occurred to me that you could actually wander to the nearest petrol station and do your business. I guess the race mentality in high school and uni is deeply embedded in my mind. You certainly don't stop mid-run during a 1500 race. And going to the nearby 7-11 during cross country felt more like a rebellious thing to do than a normal thing.

 I'm going to Penang with my sister who'd be sleeping as I am waking up to go for the run. I hope I get to meet some of the people whose blogs I've been reading. In case you don't recognize me, my bib number is E25121. Say hello!

 And Good Luck everybody!

 BTW, I swam today. 8x50m, 2x100m, 1x300m. Total 900m. Awesome session! I love.

1 comment:

  1. Hahaha, in marathon you can walk, chat, stop at 7-11 to buy drinks, or you can just stop and sit. But expect to be back in 7 hours. I will probably do all these if I do the Ultra.

    Good luck. Enjoy the experience.

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