Yes, I did the Singapore Half Marathon!

Things of sentimental values to me... my shoes, my number tag and medal (on my Korean blog)

After training intensively for more than 3 months, I finally did it. Yes, I completed the Half Marathon, the first one in my life. Crossing the finishing line was a bitter sweet feeling.

Of course it was great to complete 21.1km amongst 6,800 runners. But my timing was worse than I had expected. In my past three 21km training, I had always managed to do it under 2hours. Today, I took 10 more minutes than usual to cross the line at 2:00:11. But I guess with a fall (luckily it wasn’t a bad fall and there was only a slight abrasion) and more up slopes than I had expected, the timing’s not surprising. After the first 5km, I started doubting if the officials had measured the distance correctly! Because when I did the 10km Sheares Bridge Run which covered the same part of the route, I managed to do 5min for every km or less. And I had expected to be better after intensive training… But today’s run just felt very tough.

Anyhow, I’m glad I made it and the following are three lessons that I had learnt from my first competitive event:
1. Go at least 45min before flag off and warm up for at least 15min before going to the starting point. I thought I could warm up at the start pan (like my previous 10km run which didn’t have that many people)… little did I know it would be so sardine packed this time round!
2. Lose weight and try to be in tip top condition – this is a wish but something hard to control. I’ve been having an ankle problem for a month but I just couldn’t stop training.
3. Always try out the actual route before race day. At least you can be prepared and know what to expect.

What’s next? Well, I’ll be signing up for the Singapore Biathlon happening on 17 Mar 2007. And I’ll be training for my first full marathon next year, wish me luck : )