KLIM 2007 - 5h58m24s
KLIM 2008 - 5h24m13s
I had my heart and determination set for a good finish time from Dec '07 and put that into a structured training program. But as any training program, a lot still depends on other unavoidable circumstances which might put a dent in our efforts.
The last four weeks leading up to the race seemed to be a systematic de-training or de-conditioning for me after seeing myself through a solid 3 month training that saw a tremendous improvement in my form and fitness. 18 consecutive days of completely no running or cross training followed by some last minute desperate short runs to warm up the muscles again was what I was left with to face the gruelling 42km that lay ahead of me.
In any case I'm glad for friends like Tey, Jamie and Choi who gave me the encouragement to still lace up and arrive at the starting line yesterday. I was feeling quite relaxed and ran at a constant comfortable pace for the first 21k (2h21m).
Everything was still feeling pretty good but that soon changed when my right quad started to pull just before reaching the 25k mark. I'm glad that it was just that one muscle that gave me problems this time (unlike last year) which allowed me to continue to adopt a run-walk approach for the rest of the race. Crossed the finish line with a chip time of 5h24m13s.
Sundown marathon (Singapore, 01-06-08) - Sub 5???
Photo courtesy of Tey at 37km:-
