My Sundown Marathon 2009 reflections.

I ran the Sundown Marathon yesterday (30/5). This is my 7th completed marathon. As i am writing this blog, my body is aching all over, but my soul is well pleased with the run for two main reasons.

First, my lovely wife, Linda, participated along side with me. She did the 10km run. As this was her first run, she was naturally overwhelmed by the anxiety about whether she could complete the race, what time that will be etc. We targeted a 2 hour to 2.5 hour completion time, and I would be at the finishing point to receive her. (The woman 10km is a all-women only category, and start at 8.30pm)

As it turned out, Linda completed the race in 1 hr 17 min! It was a good timing considering this was her first race. She even had the stamina to post a cheeky V-sign with her arms while charging towards the finishing point.

Second, I had changed my running philosophy this year by not wearing a watch when I run (both in training and competition). Instead I rely on my foot-strikes and heart beats to gauage the sense of time. But more importantly, I want to use running to appreciate life: the view (nature has its ways to surprise me with its subtle beauty), the people (what's their story?). I found that I am more calm and relax running this way as compared to previously as I was so stressed (pretending to be competitive...haha) when I kept looking at my watch as I pounded the road.

The week before, I was planning for my race. Last year, I hit the wall at the 22km mark, and was struggling all the way to a 5 hr 56 min race. Therefore, my objective this year is to defer hitting the wall to as many kilometer as my body could take it using the new running philosophy. In the midst of over three thousand marathon runners, I was the only one that started the race without a watch. I managed to defer hitting the wall all the way to the finishing point at 42.125km!

Objective achieved!

(* My timing this year, for the sundown marathon ('09) , is 4 hr 52 min.)