Count Down to D-Day

6 more days to go before my third and perhaps last (??) attempt at the full marathon. Why last? Cos I promised myself if I can do a ‘perfect’ marathon, I will retire on a high and henceforth, no waking up at 5 am to do silly shagged tiring hot want to die long runs

What is a “perfect” marathon? To me, it is not the time finish but more how I will feel after finishing (if I finish that is).

Flashback 2 Dec 2004 – my first marathon. Then with only 9 months of running behind me, I went for it without any expectation and also not realizing what was in store for me. I mentally targeted to finish 4:30 and was on target up to the 30km distance and than wham, the cramps set in and I had to walk the rest of the way back. Eventually, finished in 5:16 and even had the humiliation of having to get Sebas to come down and drive me home – so bad was the cramp and ache that I couldn’t even walk after crossing the finishing line!

4 Dec 2005 – 1 year later with 1 more year of running experience and tips, advices from friends, came back ready to give it another shot. This time, with hindsight and experience, decided to set a modest 5hours target. Sigh, this time round the cramps came in even earlier at 27km and with that hobbled back in 5:37.

So what’s going to happen this time round? Based on the various pace calculators and using my recent race times, I am supposed to be able to finish between 3:52 to 4:20. Ha I know myself – these sort of timing is not possible so I am contend if I can hopefully finish within 5 hours and thereafter able to go off on my holiday without any aches or pain.

Question is – can 1? 1st time round – target 4:30 finish 5:15 (45mins behind); 2nd time 4:45 finish 5:37 (57mins behind); this time target 5 hours will I finish 6:00 aargg! I having nightmares just thinking about it!