Monday, March 31, 2008

My 3rd marathon

KLIM 2006 - 5h24m19s
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:-


15 comments:

Jamie Pang said...

fantastic. some more PR! wat did we tell u?

C-CUBE said...

DK, the day u decided and made up your mind to start the race with us oredi made u a CHAMPION.

Like what P2 said, with or without training only those that had the BALLS will run a marathon irregardless of their physical condition, that open up a whole new world of running a marathon!!!

Keep it up and lets have a showdown in SUNDOWN MARATHON, hehehe!!!!

Frank Chong said...

Your persistent and "no fear" attitude made you a champ in KLIM08! CONGRATZ!

Keipo said...

well done bro...PR again sundown ya !

Anonymous said...

Wayyyy to go, fellow Klang runner. A PR after a comeback, too!

John said...

Well done! Keep it up.

Kenny said...

Bro, Well done and congrats !

CP Waterman said...

Congrats! You have done well considering the 4 weeks none training b'4 race day.
If you are severely taxed, Sundown may be too close for you to be able to recover sufficiently for a sub 5. But,if you are all for the fun of it racing in the middle of the night,then, by all mean go and enjoy the run.
Bravo again & take care!

Unknown said...

Carboman.. haha a 6sec improvement, in a marathon I hardly consider that a PR, if it was in 400m sprint then maybe lah.

C3 yes we shall indeed have a showdown in Singapore. Looking forward to it cinya!

Frank, you are the man!

Tey thanks for the photo and support.

Haza congrats in finishing yet another marathon and you will always be an inspiration!

John and Kenny, thanks dudes!

CP, I'm hardly severly taxed now apart from a few sore muscles. Feel very relaxed and no pressure for Sundown. I shall take it as it comes.

There will come a day when everything will fall in place, including the training, peak phase, tapering and finally the race and I will just wait patiently for that day. Till then just continue to do the best I can.

krunner said...

Yes, one day everything will come together for you. In the mean time successfully completing a 3rd marathon is an achievement. I've known other long time runners who have run one marathon and said "never again"

Anonymous said...

wow...runner blog...

i found out your blog searching for klang...and trying to help the owner to get some fresh blood into this forum

http://www.myklang.com

Michele Tab said...

Hi DK

I heard Ms Leong wants a room for Sundown Marathon, what are her plans like? I plan to leave by Friday night and leave by Sunday afternoon, so it's going to be pretty rush for me.

Nice PR for KLIM :)

Michele Tan
rei.the.amazon@hotmail.om

Unknown said...

Michelle your email address doesnt seem to be valid. Please contact Ms Leong directly at 0123822343. She is flexible and also doesnt want to be in Singapore for too long. She is looking at getting in and out just for the event.

Thanks

PACM.KLANG said...

Go down south , and run your best Sundown -----in the dark, who knows , you could better yr time.

Dont put so much pressure yourself on doing a sub-5, this time run " without " your watch ...and have fun.

Lim

Faithful Soles said...

Congratulations on a new PR! When is your next race? Keep up the great work.