As I'm looking at the things I've blogged about in the past in order to figure out what important things I don't want to forget about our time in Asia, I realized how could I forget to write about the Singapore Marathon?!
So let me give you some history of why I signed up for the marathon in the first place. Did I think I'm built to run marathons? Nope! In fact I've always thought they can't be good for your body. It all started because my co-worker mentioned she had signed up for the half marathon in Singapore December 4th, 2011 and was scared to death (Indonesians aren't big into running or working out in general). I went home that night telling Alo that we should sign up as well - it sounded like a great race. Alo and his co-worker Steve decided to do the full marathon and immediately signed themselves up at work the next day. Well because my local check card was so odd, it would never let me make any online purchases so I needed Alo or Steve to sign me up. I kept asking Alo to sign me up for the HALF, of course reminding him day after day as he let it go in one ear and out the other. Well one day I hear at work that the HALF was closed for registration because it had hit its max limit of participants. I was slightly furious knowing most likely Alo had still not signed me up and I had probably missed the boat on this one. Sure enough that was the case. In order to try to redeem himself he thought it would be a good idea to just sign me up for the FULL and I could just run with the HALF marathons on the big day and it would be fine.
Well that wasn't possible. If you have ever been to Sinapore you know it's super "rule" oriented and there was no way to just hop in with the half marathon group. So I decided to attempt the FULL thinking it couldn't be that bad if I had a run/walk strategy. Well Alo was against my strategy of running/walking/running/walking even if you aren't tired. His idea was to run as far as possible and then walk if I had to. That might have been the worst idea! ha. Alo and I ran the entire first half of the marathon and then I literally hit a brick wall. I remember thinking how will I ever make it to the finish? Did I mention it was scalding hot and the sunburn was already in full force? Sunscreen isn't even an option because you'd sweat it right off in a jiffy.
Well after a long painful morning/afternoon, we made it! I have literally never done something as hard in my life. I have a whole new respect for FULL Marathon runners. Granted I still feel now more than ever that it just can't be good on anyones body to run/walk that much in one day (26.2 miles) but I do commend them for their amazing ability to accomplish it and at such fast speeds.
I would really recommend running the HALF or the 10k options for the same race. It was the Standard Charter Marathon in Singapore and I think about 20,000 people participate in all the different race options. I'm happy that we finished - that was my main goal! Checked that one off the bucket list and certainly don't plan on repeating it again :)
The highlight of this "Marathon Trip" was that everything was decorated for Christmas in Singapore and just gorgeous! They really go all out, especially on Orchard Road where all the shopping is located. All in all it was a wonderful weekend in Singapore and I'll certainly never forget it!
So let me give you some history of why I signed up for the marathon in the first place. Did I think I'm built to run marathons? Nope! In fact I've always thought they can't be good for your body. It all started because my co-worker mentioned she had signed up for the half marathon in Singapore December 4th, 2011 and was scared to death (Indonesians aren't big into running or working out in general). I went home that night telling Alo that we should sign up as well - it sounded like a great race. Alo and his co-worker Steve decided to do the full marathon and immediately signed themselves up at work the next day. Well because my local check card was so odd, it would never let me make any online purchases so I needed Alo or Steve to sign me up. I kept asking Alo to sign me up for the HALF, of course reminding him day after day as he let it go in one ear and out the other. Well one day I hear at work that the HALF was closed for registration because it had hit its max limit of participants. I was slightly furious knowing most likely Alo had still not signed me up and I had probably missed the boat on this one. Sure enough that was the case. In order to try to redeem himself he thought it would be a good idea to just sign me up for the FULL and I could just run with the HALF marathons on the big day and it would be fine.
Well that wasn't possible. If you have ever been to Sinapore you know it's super "rule" oriented and there was no way to just hop in with the half marathon group. So I decided to attempt the FULL thinking it couldn't be that bad if I had a run/walk strategy. Well Alo was against my strategy of running/walking/running/walking even if you aren't tired. His idea was to run as far as possible and then walk if I had to. That might have been the worst idea! ha. Alo and I ran the entire first half of the marathon and then I literally hit a brick wall. I remember thinking how will I ever make it to the finish? Did I mention it was scalding hot and the sunburn was already in full force? Sunscreen isn't even an option because you'd sweat it right off in a jiffy.
Well after a long painful morning/afternoon, we made it! I have literally never done something as hard in my life. I have a whole new respect for FULL Marathon runners. Granted I still feel now more than ever that it just can't be good on anyones body to run/walk that much in one day (26.2 miles) but I do commend them for their amazing ability to accomplish it and at such fast speeds.
I would really recommend running the HALF or the 10k options for the same race. It was the Standard Charter Marathon in Singapore and I think about 20,000 people participate in all the different race options. I'm happy that we finished - that was my main goal! Checked that one off the bucket list and certainly don't plan on repeating it again :)
The highlight of this "Marathon Trip" was that everything was decorated for Christmas in Singapore and just gorgeous! They really go all out, especially on Orchard Road where all the shopping is located. All in all it was a wonderful weekend in Singapore and I'll certainly never forget it!
