No longer an FMV

I ran my first full marathon today.



The distance felt like it stretched forever, and made its half counterpart (a distance I am more familiar with) felt very short.

I was expecting it would be torturous, but what I did not count on was how solitary the distance was. A few times, I found myself alone along a long stretch of the course, with other runners either way in front of me or quite a distance behind me.

At that point I realized - it was the very reason why I run.

I enjoy my own company, and am comfortable being with and by myself. The day will come when I run with a partner but the decision will not be because I need one, or desperate for one, but because I choose to have one.

Okay, enough with sappy, serious reflection on the road.

Here is a story from this morning:



With Mr Chin.
When I started walking at KM37, he asked me to not stop running. "Come, you are a strong girl. Let's run."

I ran about 2km with him pacing at 7km/min. When we got to a flyover, he was faster and I could not catch up thus I told him to go ahead. I ran a bit then walked for about maybe 1.5 km. My goal was to make a finish line dash.

When I was sure that the finish line was about 1km away, I started running, fast. Looking at the watch (GPS has died), I knew I can get a sub-5:30. 

Just before turning into the stretch towards the finish arch, I met Mr Chin again.

"Eh, I caught up with you."
"I have no more energy in my legs. Started walking already."
"The end is so near. Let's make a run for it. We can get timing under 5:30."

With that, we started sprinting. We made a pact to finish together (this is our first marathon), and were joined by another runner who also started sprinting with us.

And we did it. 5:25.

Not too shabby for a first full marathon eh?