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I am a Practitioner of 'The 7e Way of Leaders' where a Leader will Envision, Enable (ASK for TOP D), Empower, Execute, Energize, and Evolve grounded on ETHICS!

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Daily Lessons from Life 06 December 2009

Today is the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon (SCSM) 2009. I took part in it again after my 1st marathon in 2008 raising fund for the Singapore Cancer Society.

I like to share the day (or half-a-day) I spent on SCSM2009 here:

The day started at 3.50am as I woke and heads to the pick up point near my home where a coach will fetch up the the Esplanade, the start point of the SCSM.

I have trained for this race since early January 2009 after the 2008 SCSM. I have no illusion about the 2nd one being tougher than the 1st one as I was running (or more precisely: jogging and walking) on adrenaline in 2008. Being new and not knowing what I need to be concerned about, I just go and run, jogged and walked. I did it in 5hr54mins then.

This year while I trained longer and harder, I have this nagging fear that what if I hit the cramp at such a such point? Will I be able to beat or meet last year timing? Had I trained too hard that my knees are actually weakened than 2008? etc...

At 5.30am the air-horn sounded and off we go. The elite runners were off like a bolt! Sprinting at blinding speed for this fairly new marathon runner (jogger/walker)! The rest of us followed in our own pace and made it past the 1st 10-11km with no major event. It should be routine for marathoners who trained to get past the 1st 10-11km without any trauma or drama!! ;-)

I did not locked into a 'pacer' this year unlike last year as I decided to start at a slower pace and pick up a little after the half-way mark. I also decided to drink more 100Plus isotonic drink early instead of after the 10km mark in to hope of staying hydrated and push the cramps back. So, on I trotted till 20km when the unpleasant happened. I felt the 1st sign of cramp on my right calf. This is discouraging as it occurred earlier than last year! So, my strategy did not work very well.

Nevertheless, I continued and hoped to shake off the cramps. It did not work very well. I had to stop at least another 5-6 times in the rest of the race to tend to the cramps. Luckily I had my 'deep heat rub' tube with me and it really helped! This is especially when the official sponsor for the 'deep heat rub' this year catered for WAY TOO little for the participants!

I completed the race at 6hr20mins accordingly to my own stopwatch (the official timing will be available in January 2010) and in once piece and in a safe and healthy state.

This race is about the generous supporters and donors of mine to the Singapore Cancer Society. They are in Singapore, China, Hong Kong, South Korea and the USA. I am very grateful to them for trusting me and supporting me.

If healthy permit and with their continued blessing, I will jog and walk the 2010 SCSM again.

May the money to the Singapore Cancer Society be put to the most appropriate use to benefit the patients and society at large.

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