22 Nov 2009 - PBIM My First Marathon!

It was 4pm on a lazy Saturday afternoon...

In a few hours I need to be at the starting line of the 2009 Penang Bridge International Marathon. There was a mixture of excitement and fear in the air. I was, after all running the first ever marathon in my life.

Thinking back, I remember asking myself... "How the heck did I get myself into this?" and then I remembered "Ah...John Wong" (some of our friends call him Fooz). Many moons back in 2009 (I think it was in April), John, my high school mate a year my senior declared one fine day that he is going to run a marathon in 2009. At that point, I recall he was still in the "talking phase" because he had no form of training what-so-ever.

I offered to join him in the quest for the marathon glory. I didn't think I would eventually take it up seriously. His strategy to motivate himself was simple... to tell everyone in the world that he is planning to run a marathon so that he won't back out. Well, initially I felt that it was a negative motivation, the fear of being teased if he didn't complete his first marathon would drive him to complete it for fear of "losing face?". He eventually included me in his announcements which would sound somewhat like "James and I will be running our first marathon this year!" to almost everyone we meet!

Well, what harm could it be right? Looking back before my running days, my waist-length was increasing due to lack of exercise. All work and no play doesn't only make a dull ol' James, but it also makes a fat ol' James! So, I thought - running is probably a good way to shed of the excess fats from my waist!

So it begins, the endless research on the best training methods, training schedules, running techniques and etc etc. John was an intellect with nothing but time in his hands, every other day he'll come up with a new reading material and go "Hey Friend, i'm sending you an article online..." or "I just bought this book, i'll pass to you later". In a short period of time, I think we went through (at least he did) dozens of books and articles. Not being much of a reader myself, i'll just ask him "So, what is the summary man?"

We eventually decided on our individual training schedules and I choose something which was easy to abide to. When I meant something easy to abide to I basically meant something that didn't require too much reading as my motto was "just run la..." If I recall correctly, it was a 18 week training program which meant... I DID NOT HAVE TO START TRAINING YET! There was no recollection on why we choose the Penang Bridge International Marathon (PBIM), but I think it was probably because PBIM was one of the latest marathon in the year, giving us ample amount of time for training.

Since there was plenty of time, we decided to participate in 10km race in the Standard Chartered KL Marathon 2009 in June. Our training began with short runs, 3km, 5km and a max of 8km. Anything further and I think I would've fainted!

I remember in one of our initial "longer runs" 8km felt like a very long distance and I remember asking myself... "How the hell am I ever going to run 42.195km if 8km felt like eternity?!"

June came quickly and soon we ran our first race at the SCKLM 2009. It was my first time participating in a big race. I nearly threw up at the finish line (I think I forgot to breathe) and my heart felt like it was going to explode! With that I concluded my first 10km with a finish time of 1:02:37.

Got my first ever running medal and instantly... I WAS HOOKED!

I'm not sure what it was exactly that got me hooked. I had read previously about the runners high, the endorphins and etc. For me, I think it was a combination of all of the above... plus the medal around my neck! :)

The next thing I knew, I was running an average of 4-5 times a week, whenever work permits with an average distance of about 10km - 15km each run. I found myself signing up for almost every other race I can find and frankly I still do!

Thinking back, I think I managed to sign up for most of the races in 2009 post SCKLM.

1. Standard Chartered Kuala Lumpur Marathon 10KM
2. Shape Run Men's Health 11.5KM
3. Ipoh International Run 10KM
4. Kuantan Teluk Chempedak Digi Pacesetters Run 10KM
5. Adidas King of the Road, Shah Alam 22.7KM
6. Mizuno Wave Run, Serdang 10KM
7. PowerMan Dualathon (Sprint - Run / Cycle / Run) 5KM - 32KM - 5.5KM
8. Penang Bridge International Marathon 42.195KM
9. Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon 21.1KM
10. Kwong Woh Century Run, Sungai Besi 10KM

Unfortunately, I missed the Malakoff 12KM because I made a wrong decision to go hiking the day before at Gunung Nuang. My legs felt like they were gonna fall apart because I was trying out a new pair of shoes I'd bought during my last trip to Singapore.

Now, back to PBIM 2009.

I was restless, as much as I tried to get as much sleep as possible in the comfy Eastin Hotel - I just couldn't get much of a sound sleep. I took advice from some running mates to try taking Novomin, a common motion sickness pill that also causes drowsiness. With that, I eventually managed to get some shut eye... though it wasn't for long.

6.00pm, was wide awake again. My wife, John and I had the idea of not taking any overly interesting Penang food in fear of a big mid-way nature call. So we stuck to the safe TGI Fridays in Queensbay Mall. Tried to carbo load as much as possible and then it was back to the hotel for more quick naps.

We were suppose to be at the venue to register at 1.00am, and the race was scheduled to start at 2.30am. It was my first night race (or should I say morning race). At 11.30pm, I was again wide awake, while John and my wife remained asleep - I was in my ritual of pinning my numbers, prepping my race bag, PowerGel and etc. John woke up and said "Wah... so many booster add-on ah you?". He was of course referring to my Phiten Neckless, Bracelet and Stickers which I had just purchase earlier that day from the PBIM promo counters.

John too woke up and decided it was time... we dressed, gave each other a pat on the back and said, let's go! We walked from the hotel to the event venue, at a slow pace passing by hundreds of people who seem to be sitting, standing and even sleeping on the streets in anticipation of the race that will happen soon. We passed by young kids, middle aged men, seniors and a few pretty girls... there wasn't much chat between us, clearly a sign of anxiety in regards to the upcoming race.

We sat around amongst the crowd, we heard this little kid singing his heart out on stage and did a Michael Jackson impersonation, which was quite good. Soon, it was time - we checked in our bags and went to the starting line.

I remember telling myself, "You can do this... i've trained for this and now it is time!" It was fortunate that I read some last minutes race day strategies online earlier in the day, about conserving energy and the walk-run strategy. It did work, and it worked very well... Before I know it, I was on the bridge and I have already passed the half way mark! Thanks to my trusty Garmin Forerunner 405, it gave the exact distance travelled.

I was very fortunate that I'd met several nice runners who actually chatted with me along the way, this particular person, in his 50s named Moon said he was from Seremban and if I recall correctly said it was his 12th PBIM. We talked, and time passed by much faster. I had earlier set a personal goal of completing my first marathon sub-5, so I kept checking my watch doing mental calculations of the pace I need to keep in order to complete it as per my goal.

At the 30km mark, they were handing out PowerGel. My personal supply had depleted, and I was glad they were handing them out. Grabbed one and moved on... my walk and run intervals were much more walk than run at this point. Step after step, I pushed myself to move forward as I inched towards the finish line. I knew, at this point I had hit "The Wall" that most runners speak about in a marathon.

Alas... 4 Hours 43 minutes later I was as the 40KM mark. I told myself if I can just do a 6 minute pace, I will definitely achieve my goal and with that I tried to quicken my pace. Towards the finish line, about 1km away i'd met a fellow runner whom had said i "Come, let's race to the finish line..." and that was what drove me to move it!


I recall sprinting across the finish line... just in time to meet my personal goal of a sub-5 marathon. My final finishing time was 4:57:23. The valuable gold medal and the finisher t-shirt made it all worth while. It was only after passing the finish line that I feel complete exhaustion as I limp toward hydration. I met Frank Chong, a friend from my college days and some of his running mates who had congratulated me on finishing my first marathon. The feeling... priceless.

As I limp back to my hotel room, I remember telling myself... "hmm... now can eat the assam laksa already..."