A little too ambitious

I think I should never make targets. I always seem to screw up whenever I try to achieve a target.

Yesterday I ran the Standard Chartered KL Marathon with my dad, Isaiah, Ralph and the many other marathon enthusiasts. I had targeted a sub 4 hour time and I had this aim sitting in my mind since I registered for the race a few months back..

One thing about me, I should stop blabbering. I need to learn to keep my ideals to myself. Maybe if I hadn't told so many people about my target time I wouldn't feel the pressure caving in on me. *shrug*

Excuses aside. The race was a blessing for one thing. It rained at the start, which made it cool and a lot more bearable for my jetlagged unacclimatised body. I am not a fan of the wet squishy shoes, but hey, you win some you lose some.

We started off at a comfortable pace, I thought. I was happily chatting and singing even with my 2 peeps, Ralph and Isaiah. But then I asked Isaiah what pace we were doing, he checked his little pacer thingy and said we were running at a 9km/h pace. Now, that to me is an offense. 9km/h? I was thinking, that's really really slow. What are we doing? We need to speed up!

So I did. And I think I kinda overdid it. I was trying my hardest to find the 4:00 balloon. When I saw a yellow balloon up ahead, I would speed up, give chase, until I finally catch up on it, and realised to my dismay, that it was only the 4:30 balloon. I think I went a little crazy, because I carried on "sprinting", I think probably running a 5 min/km pace.

As expected, my fuel tanks ran low pretty quickly. At about 25km I was feeling a little nauseous, feeling like throwing up. I had to stop to see if I was going to. Ralph asked me to slow down. Which I did, but then I keep wanting to go faster and faster.

So the last 5 km or so was a run-walk event. I know, I am truly disappointed in myself. But when an uncle told me sub 4 hours was a little bit hard to reach then, I kinda lost hope. And gave up. When Keat Seong came up from behind to get me to go on, I could only keep up for a bit. I don't know why I was so low on determination yesterday, because I swear I could've done it. It was within reach. I had 5 km to go and a 27 minute allowance to make it under 4 hours. But nope, I had to throw my hands up in despair and stop.

To be honest, I was gasping for breath. My feet were burning. But these are all signs I am all too familiar with. Yet I fail to harness the energy to pummel through. Why? Don't know...I guess I just got mad when I realised I wouldn't have been able to make it.

Anyway, I finished in 4:06:36. which I guess wasn't too bad considering the amount of time I stopped to walk. And we all have off days, don't we? =) I'm a little bummed out I didn't give it all I've got, but I think it's not too bad a time also la. So, I guess I should count my blessings.

Daddy had a half an hour improvement when he finished in 5:14. His last marathon took him 5:45, so well done Daddy!

I've managed to hurt my ankle though. I think I stepped in a pot hole and twisted it ever so slightly. So I've got my ankle wrapped up in a bandage now.