Thursday, October 24, 2013

2013 04Apr13 - Rotterdam Marathon 2013

We had a choice of running Paris Marathon or Rotterdam Marathon or BOTH since they were only a week apart. I didn't want to run in a city run because of the crowd (past experience at Tokyo Marathon). So, I opt for Rotterdam Marathon in Holland instead.
The expo was held at the Beurs-World Trade Centre
(about 1km away from our hotel)
Entrance to the expo
Targeting a time?
I took the sub4 hr band
Signing 4-5hrs away of our life away
Bib collection
The usual suspects
With my favourite travelling marathoners on our annual trip
Different Gate-starting time/area
as per the time which you had submitted during registration.
Shopping in Holland is heavveeenn...
It's so much affordable than Australia
AS KS would say, I'm an addict to Expo shopping
Sports apparel eg. tops, shoes, tights, socks, sunnies etc.
Bought myself a pair of 3/4 tights, 2 tops, nearly sunnies =p
The reason why i picked this race was because we don't see the other side (u-turn) of people so often and its not just covering the city centre.
Race morning with pleasant weather
I had to take this =p
Check out the men's urinal.
No stinking cubicle since its open air. Just "stick" it in
Leng & I were on the same gate
When the starting gun went off, I saw flying shirts/jackets, disposable rain coats in the sky.
Mainly because we were standing next to the bins
We slowly shuffle our way to the starting arch.
First up was crossing the Eramus Bridge Rotterdam towards the south side of the city.
However, from here on, the whole route seemed more like a maze to me.
When its cold and wet, and someone this hmm..yummy run past u, its hard to miss =p
The song popped in my mind "You are not alone....I am here with you"
On the south side of the city is practically running through rotterdam's housing area.
Passing the apartments, countryside (no fields) houses.
And being such a bicycle friendly country, family/friends would be cycling next to you for support.
Crossing the Eramus bridge again & running back towards the city centre towards the north side.
Worst is that, I run past my hotel....twice!!!
Going underneath one of Rotterdam's sightseeing places, the Cube House
I wonder how the interior looks like.
Running on cobble stones
Hitting the 35km mark....tireeddd
Water station was at every 5km
The weather was starting to warmth up.
Time to head back to the city.
Unfortunately, my dream of sub4 went down the drain.
I was overheated & thirst. My small handheld bottle wasn't enough.
Turning towards the main road of Coolsingel with 400m marker.
The whole road was fenced up just for us.
100m to go
Sprinting to the finish line!!
Volunteers standing at the finish line offering to help you take your photo.
Limping to collect my medal
I do look like a blonde cat with my white ears 
  
Didn't achieve my goals but maintain consistency
Oh well...



Tuesday, October 22, 2013

2013 10Oct13 - Melbourne Marathon




Crappy sleep due to noise situation at the lodge.
Even KS felt crappy.
Dress up in warm clothing and took a final photo before departing. 
Ben from Nike Rundle Mall run group's, advised to me.
Sternly looked at me and said 3 important words
DO Not STOP!
My first thought was, u think easy ah??!!!
But the next time reassured me.
A slow job is still faster than walking
He told me to write it on my hand.
Well, KS did that for me =p
*In truth, in the middle of the run, only my right hand was cold, i kept rubbing it to keep warm.
Next thing i knew, the whole thing was smudged off =p*
It's the thought that counts 
Starting time was 7am, we started making our way at 6am.
I would like to say the quiet streets greeted us, but it was Saturday night in Melbourne CBD. 
We weren't the only participants making our way.
I thought there would be a huge traffic getting there.
MCG in sight. 
KS trying to see if he could blow mist due to the cold 
 Ok, route review.
 Starting off at Batman Ave. There weren't that many runners for the full marathon event so there's no pushing or fighting. It's always wiser to start off on a main road than the stadium.
*photo by Felicity*
  • Up from Batman Avenue towards Flinders Street, and turning left at the Federation Square (1km mark).
  • Head downwards along St Kilda Rd. Slight downhill put don't push it (5km mark).
  • Turn right towards a park with the lake on your left. Nice & flat surface. Getting out of the park towards St Kilda beach was winding with uneven road surfaces.
  • Beaconsfield Pde at St Kilda beach is a looonnng road. You will see runners on the opposite side. 
  • If you are a leisure runner, stick to the middle & cheer on your friends. If you are chasing for time, keep away and focus on your pace & road. There will always be the thought of "where's the bloody u-turn point?"
  • A difficulty for 4-eyes (glasses) wearer when it rains. Where do you wipe the moisture off your glasses when your apparel is already drenched?
  • The route back on St Kilda Rd seemed faster then coming down. I was trying to catch a few runners to pace with. 
  • Getting back was not as straightforward as coming down.
  • We had to go underneath a flyover, then back up again towards Domain Rd (500m uphill then down again).
  • At this point, I had reached my limit. I was looking at anything and everything. Noticed another group of runners on the other side of the road, and I was questioning myself if i was running with the correct group.
  • Even once we reached Federation Square, the other group turned off towards the footpath while I'm still on the main road. Found out that that was the 21km runners route.
  • Another 1km towards MCG, I gave my all. Sprinted thru the wet roads, I felt goosebumps popping. 
  • Supporters on both sides cheering. I saw the gun time on the board as we entered the grounds 3hr 55mins ??secs. Just another 200m around the grounds to the finish arch. KS asked why didn't I cherish the moment. In my mind, every seconds count.
*photo by Felicity*

I wanted to cry when I ran pass the finishing arch but I remember I told KS to return to the hotel first. I didn't want him waiting for me so long.
I hobble to the luggage area to change into warm dry clothing. Then, I realised that I had to walk the longer way back coz the shortcut was used as a race route.
Passing runners along way walking back to hotel
I'm still alive!!
*Plastic bag covering my head coz it was raining*
Participant shirt
Once I got back to the hotel, I didn't say anything to KS.
I just showed him my watch and CRIED!!!
Laguna Phuket Marathon 2009 - ??? (forgot to record my time)
Macau International 21km 2009 - 2:04:33 hrs (21km)
Seoul Marathon 2011 - 4:24:10hrs
Tokyo Marathon 2012 - 4:37:22hrs
*photo taken by Sarah*
 Timesplit (avg 5.38m p/km)
sub1hr - 11km
sub2hr - 22km
sub3hr - 33km
With Felicity, fellow Lakers
*photo taken by Sarah*
I knew that once I hit the 33km mark in sub3hr, the max avg page I can do was 6min pace. No slower than that. That really helped me alot because once the legs hit >35km, it automatically started slowing down. 
There came to a point that I didn't know I had slowed down to 7min pace.
Hello..sub4...I welcome you with open arm...pls never leave me
Comparison time with KS
only 5:14mins behind him
Final treat before we left Melbourne
Accidentally cracked my laptop screen on the flight home ... sighh...

BUT

 
*no idea who she is...doesn't matter
 OK...I'm done gloating =p