Own Time Own Target

E was out the night before a mah session with his friends. promising to return by 3am or so.

I had work (housework, work-work and getting ready for the race) to do and didnt manage to get to bed till 330am. not the best way to prepare for a race, but oh well.

I woke up at 550am before my alarm went off at 6am. and to my surprise that E wasnt home yet! did he meet with some accident? called his hp frantically only to learn that he was "finishing" and will be home by 630am.

upset, but went about having my breakfast and feeding the kids their milk, and packing their day-out bag. E got home at 638am. and i flew out of the house in a huff.

There were other pp waiting for cab! no, didnt look like they were going to the GE 10k... good grief... i was too cheap to call for a cab, so i went over to the other side of the road to try my luck and finally got 1 close to 7am.

we reached esplanade drive at 720am, just 10min before flag off. i walked around and didnt see any water points, and made my way to the pen. i was travelling light, with everything i need in my raceready pants. my SE W800i, tissue paper, a plastic wallet with some cash, a credit card, a bank card, plaster and blister plaster.

AND OFF we go! no time for warm up or stretches, i limbered up a little as we made towards the start point. The weather is really good, no haze at all, not much breeze and a overcast sky. I felt good, i felt safe. there was no jostling as in other competitive events, and no leery men. Just a pang of jealousy when i saw other men and kids urging their lady runners on. but thats alright, i'm used to running alone.

the route was esplanade drive, Nicoll Highway, Stadium Road, Stadium Drive, Nicoll Highway, Republic Avenue, Republic Boulevard, Marina Pronmenade Park, Raffles Quay, U-turn at Shenton Way, Fullerton Road ending at St. Andrew’s Road.

it was an easy LSD for me, no pressure. though the heat eventually got to me. i drank as much as i could and splash water on my face, neck and limbs at every water point. some might have trickled into my socks cos i developed a blister at 6km on the left instep. i stopped and applied blister pack but it was too late... it was already a full-blown blister by then.

otherwise, it was a really nice run. there were little to worry about jostling, not with so few of us running, just about 2750 for the 10km.

when we came down the esplanade pronmenade park, we heard loud music, but alas, we had to go down shenton way and u-turn to fullerton road then back to st. andrews again. that was abit demoralising, to have been hyped up only to realise that you are just passing the end point en-route before coming back. ie. running away from the end point, and then running back again. DUH!

there was no clock at the end point, but i thought i managed a 1:23:15 from my stopwatch. exchanged my champion chip for the medal, then had a drink, a banana and an orange while queueing up for massage. chatted with the ladies around me and pointed them to SgRunners if they wanted run info or running companions.

For the massage, we had a choice of lava-hot, very hot, hot and cold. i chose cold. good.

breakfast at ah-kun at funan with E and the kids and headed home for a nap. :)

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post-script:

1. my official chip time was 1:23:34, terrible compared my Sentosa Real Run last year, but different circumstances. i'll take it. :)

2. Regina signed up at SgRunners and pm'd me hi, nice. :)

3. Decided not to join the 2nd link run on 12-Nov-06. A wedding dinner the night before, and a birthday party the day's tea time. The 10km is also too short for my SCSM half marathon buildup. I'll run a LSD after the party that day instead. Save me $10. ;)

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