Shape Run 2009 at Raffles Boulevard.
Reporting the carnage in my mind…
Before the race started:
7:00 AM Why are there still so many participants milling about all over the world? We’re supposed to gather at the start point by 6:45 am. Some people are still having coffee in Starbucks.
7:01 AM Queuing up at 5 km waiting point, near the front. So many girls in pink. But I don’t see 8,000 people.
7:10 AM Hahaha. Someone is wearing Standard Chartered Marathon tee from last year.
7:15 AM I need to pee.
7:16 AM I already peed three times in the last 30 minutes! Stupid bladder.
7:17 AM That giant bowl of milk (with cereal) and that glass of water were taken at 5 am. Why does my body produce so much water by itself? I hate hate hate my bladder.
7:20 AM STOMACH ACHE!!! DAMN YOU CEREAL. DAMN YOU WATER.
7:30 AM Can they start already???!!! DJ talk so much in front but it’s all muffled. Can’t hear a thing. 10 km participants pushing through every 10 seconds to get to the front. Irritating.
7:35 AM Zzz… Need to pee. Need to toilet. I hate Shape Run. I hate latecomers. I hate Singapore events for never starting on time.
7:40 AM Finally 10km flag off! Relief! Why is everyone clapping? Flag off also must clap? Never mind just clap cos it’s kinda cool.
7:45 AM 5 km people allowed to run up to official starting line to queue up and wait some more. Some 10 km people have just arrived and are hurriedly joining the race. Siao lah, so late.
7:50 AM DJ, stop talking so much, flag us off already before my bladder explodes.
7:55 AM FINALLY. I DON’T BELIEVE THEY ARE LETTING US START.
Photo taken after run.
During the race:
00 MINS The feeling of starting a run is amazing. The feeling of starting an organised run, everyone wearing the same top, having the same mind and purpose, is actually quite awesome. IN LOVE!
01 MIN FEELS GREAT RUNNING ON AN EMPTY ROAD IN THE EARLY MORNING!
01 MIN Okay okay don’t get carried away. Slow down, don’t get burnt out.
02 MINS Die. Feel tired already. See lah, so kan cheong for what. Sloooooooooooow doooooooown. Negative split. Catch up later.
03 MINS Damn I am so out of shape.
04 MINS Bladder full, check. Desperately need bowel evacuation, check. Period started today, check. Haven’t run in a month, check.
05 MINS Stop being negative! Just run your best. You’re not competing. Don’t need to break any records. Just finish the race.
06 MINS Aaaarrghh people overtaking me. And I am already FREAKING TIRED AND WHEEZING.
07 MINS Shhh, shhh… don’t care them. You’re not competing. You’re not breaking records. Just finish the race. Try and achieve your average training timing (33 minutes). Okay okay, give you +5 minutes since you’re not feeling well and you haven’t trained in a while.
08 MINS What did I get myself into again? Why do I always torture myself like that? I hate running. I don’t ever want to join a race again!
09 MINS I feel like I’ve run 5 km already. But I’m sure if I asked someone now, they’d say it’s only 1 km. I hate running. But I know that after I finish, I will love running again. WHAT THE FFFFFFFFFFFFF IS WRONG WITH ME?
09 MINS I’m glad I’m only running 5 km. I WILL NEVER EVER RUN MORE THAN 5 km for races!!!!
10 MINS Mind over matter, com’on. Remember how you’re always so confident that you can endure physical challenges and exceed your limits? Remember you believe how it’s possible to ignore all pain and discomfort and just focus on the objective?
11 MINS Shuddup. I only believe all that when my body is at rest and my heart is not trying to jump out of my chest.
12 MINS Remember… after a run, you always regret not pushing yourself harder while you’re at it?
13 MINS Shuddup. I’m a nincompoop. I wish I’d studied the map more carefully. I don’t even know how far I’ve come and how far more to go. How to negative split like that?
14 MINS It’s only a 30-minute race, don’t be a ninny. Just burst through it and then you can rest and pee and shit. There is plenty of time to run leisurely at your happy snail’s pace at other times. When it’s not a race.
15 MINS I’m not even racing lah! I just want to finish at a decent timing. So why get so stressed out? Just run lor.
15 MINS No no no… cannot slack. It’s an achievement thing. It’s a pride thing. Must at least maintain personal record.
16 MINS This looks like a halfway mark since we’re making a big U-Turn. TIME TO PICK UP PACE!
16 MINS WTF? Only halfway? I’m done already! I dowan to run already. People are overtaking me!! *cry*
17 MINS Pick up the pace pick up the pace, if not you’ll go slower and slower and you will finish at 50 minutes and then you will regret it for the rest of your life! See see, so many people stop and walk. Your turn to overtake!!
18 MINS Okay visualise a horse galloping. My legs are horse legs.
19 MINS I think I feel a little stronger. I don’t feel my heart trying to jump out of my skin. I don’t feel my puny human legs crying for mercy. I’m all horse legs! I am a horse galloping with ease!
19 MINS But I still can’t make myself go faster. Why?
20 MINS Fuck the horse legs. My lungs are bursting.
21 MINS WHERE IS THE DAMN FINISHING LINE!
22 MINS Dammit, I really can’t pick up the pace. It’s all I can do to continue putting one foot in front of another. Negative split my ass.
23 MINS MIND OVER MATTER!!!! Just suffer a few more minutes and then it’ll be done and you’ll be proud of yourself! COME ON! FASTER QUICK!! GOOOOO!!!!
24 MINS Shuddup! You’re not the one who feels like you’re going to spontaneously combust. Weakly. Cos there is no more energy left to make a big bang.
25 MINS I CAN SEE THE STARTING LINE! IS THAT THE FINISHING LINE ALSO?? DAMN WHY DIDN’T I MEMORISE THE ROUTE MAP?!?!??! Faster faster go gogo go legs go faster!
26 MINS Dammit, legs. Why aren’t you going faster? We are finishing!!! Grrrr!
27 MINS WHY IS THE FINISHING LINE NOT AT THE STARTING LINE?!?! KENA CHEATED WAH LAU!!! ARRRGGGGH. COM’ON IT MUST BE NEAR. JUST DO A BURST NOW AND IT”LL ALL BE OVER!
27 MINS NOOOO…! CANNOT BURST! THERE IS NO MORE BURST LEFT IN ME. I HAVE NO MORE BREATH NO MORE STRENGTH NO MORE NOTHING. I AM DYING.
28 MINS OMG IS THAT THE FINISHING LINE? So many people crowding at the sides here, taking photos. OMG OMG QUICK go faster don’t malu.
28 MINS NO MORE STRENGTH LAH CANNOT. Can lah can can can go go go! CANNOT LAH. Can! Just one last burst! Only 50 metres DUH!! Come ON!
28 MINS I see the finishing line! I see the clock! Hooray! OMG I am finishing under 30 minutes? It’s a miracle! Quick! Gogogogo before the clock reaches 30 minutes!
28 MINS Arrrrrgh dying dying dying dying dying.
29 MINS YESSSSSSS! I DID IT!!!!! WHEEEOOOOOT! SEE I TOLD YOU YOU WON’T DIE!
29 MINS SHUDDUP, I FEEL LIKE DYING NOW.
29 MINS Eh, why they wait 10 seconds to beep my timing chip? Cheat me 10 seconds!
Finisher bracelet:
Awww… isn’t that sweet and heartwarming?
I love running (again).
I am really pleased with my timing because I broke my record from two months ago.
I pushed past the line at around 29:05 today. I think my best timing two months ago was about 31 minutes. I had totally expected to clock 40 minutes today, due to all the unfortunate circumstances.
I guess this is why people continue with endurance sports, even though they hate it and they hate themselves during the moments when the going gets tough. Because finishing is fun.
And organised races are cool. We get tons of junk to take home.
I remember hating myself all the way through the race. I remember the pain and the torment. But I think I will forget again by the time the next race sign-up rolls around.
never chio …
Why you mess up my bed with your junk again?
nice bracelet! hahaha.. the horse legs thingy made me LOL.. grats on finishing!
haha! that was so funny! Congrats on finishing it! It’s great timing!
When I’m running I’ll be thinking stuff like
“The ground is slanted, dammit, why is it slanted.”
“ho, the person has nice legs.”
“look at the tree, u’re going to reach that tree. ok, now u’ve only got 540 trees to go.”
“ho, I can see my fats swinging around.”
“my face is oily.”
“my specs are irritating. should have worn contacts.”
Lol very funny! Nice post! ;D
@tstar: Haha ya; I guess thats what everyone is thinking when they are running! xD
Hey shey! congrats! U finish the race under 30min! :)
What went thru my mind was that why didn’t I sign up for the shorter course when I saw the U-turn sign for the 5km runners! And due to the full bladder (I was running late and couldn’t squeeze in line for the ladies before the race..) i crawled back after turning @ stadium link.. :( and finished in a less than desirable timing.. ;o
goodie bag junks? lol… Two bottles of oil & loads of muscle pain relief cream! .. :)
And I agree that finishing is fun! ;)
This post is damn funny! Kinda similar to the internal dialogue that I have when I run a race too! But the adrenaline and the excitement of running a race is sooo…awesome, and you’re right, you feel so damn good when you finish!
Congrats on achieving ur personal best :)
woot… nice run and did u really thought all tht while running? :P
@Sheylara: Something tells me that if you hadn’t been thinking so much, you would’ve been done in less than 25 minutes (the urge to pee and crap notwithstanding). But then again, I wouldn’t be enjoying this entry, yeah?XD
Morte: Cos you’re not chio enough.
The Goonfather: Cos you always confiscate my junk.
xide: Thanks! :)
tstar: Haha… I think all those things too, about the environment. But I guess I was more stressed about timing during the race, so my mind focused mostly on running. :P
TaintedCross: Thanks!
mione: Hi girl! Thanks for the congrats! You were there for the 10 km huh? I was really really glad I didn’t do 10 km. Haha. I think I don’t really like too long distances. :P Did you hang around after the race to enjoy the sports massage and the prize presentation ceremony, etc? I wanted to but had to rush home to do some work then get ready for my concert. :(
Nabilah: Cool! Always nice to hear someone feeling the same about running! Were you at Shape Run?
tvbaddict: I thought all that and more. What you read is just the summarised version. :P Basically my mind never stopped working for the entire 29 minutes, haha.
RN1209: Actually, I think if I hadn’t been thinking and stressing myself, I would have finished the race much much later. Cos I would have just relaxed and run at a comfortable pace. :P I usually clock about 35 minutes comfortable.
And when you’re trying to kill yourself in achieving a record breaking time, there’s no way your mind can go blank. Haha. Or maybe it’s just a gender thing. Females tend to think more than males, anyway.
Feeling out of shape after 3 minutes sounds a lot like me during a race as well. That’s so funny the things that go through your mind when you are being so physically active.
Haha… do you race a lot too?
interesting chronology of race in terms of minutes.. surprise u can remember the exact timings u were thinking then?
Haha. I remember the chronology of my thoughts from start to end, but the timing is just a rough gauge lah. :P
wow, still not an easy thing to do.. i dont think i can remember what i was thinking when i am running.. congrats on your PB!
Thanks, ming! Sometimes, I think it’s a job hazard. Bloggers probably put in more effort to remember stuff in order to blog about it later. Haha!
Thanks for the congrats! Hope to improve my timing a lot more!
sure can improve further if you train.. :) wow, your job is to blog? fulltime?
I saw your link in one of the running forums which i am in.Interesting account of your 5km experience.Indeed unique thoughts there =P Congrats on your 5km within 30 minutes timing.It certainly requires discipline and effort! ^_^
ming: Yeah, I kind of blog full-time. Although I do dabble in other stuff also. :)
karl: Thanks for dropping by, too! Nice to see runners in here! :) Since you’re in a running forum, I believe 30 minutes is probably quite slow for the serious runners that you hang out with. :P But I guess I’m happy with it for now since I only trained for it 2 months after years of no exercise. :P
Hi again sheylara!!
The results are out already.Based on your name and timing,you really did well lah!! =P At least,you have outrun a few thousands of the 5km participants,hehe.29 minutes for 5km is also not an easy task,so be proud of it ^_^
Hi again karl! :P
Thanks for the encouragement! Haha. After reading feedback from so many runners, I’m glad I tried to run faster and managed to avoid the human jam of 10km and 5km runners at around the 40-minute mark!