Pre-race
Morning: Reported back to school n conducted lesson as per normal.
Afternoon: Lesson ended at 1pm n went back home to get myself ready to e airport. Bused 27 to T1 n checked in upon arrival. Had a nice bowl of Mee Rebus at e T1 staff canteen n waited patiently for my flight. Kumaran n Tram joined me much later @ e boarding room. Flight was slightly delayed again. Finally got on e plane @ 6.10pm n departed Sg @ 6.20pm. Texted dear beforehand tt I will call once I reach. Missed out so much fun n food on Friday, luckily get to eat e superb Soya Beancurd n food @ Dynasty on Sat. hehe Touch down at HK at 930pm. E custom was slow w super long queue but we were lucky to get into an express lane just in time when e officer opened up a new counter. Trained to Tsim Tsa Tsui by Airport Express n called dear. Finally checked into e hotel n zzz. Wat a day.
Sat was great! Shopping n eating throughout haha. Had Tim sum @ 9am followed by a quick shopping spree. Bought 2 tops, 2 dresses n 3 pairs of shoes within 2 hr. Deposit e stuff back to hostel n proceed for part 2 at Mongkok haha. Had lunch at e roasted meat eatery n went to sinho for watches. Dear saw a Suunto GPS X10 very tempted to buy but cost HKD 3800.. manage to resist his temptation n off we went to Fa Yuen st where I got a bag n sports bra muahahaha.. Trained back to Hostel for a short rest b4 mtg e rest @ 6pm for dinner @ Red Ants.. Had a big portion of Baked Cod fish with salted fish n garlic.. Woah very nice but almost killed me w e amt of food guess I had some indigestion as e lunch was at 3. Past another fashion shop as we walked to e bakery.. Ermm bought another 4 tops from there! woah this is e 1st time ever I had bought so many clothes within a day!! PB in my shopping record.. :">
Race
Got up @ 5am to prepare for e race.. Took my raisin bread n a bottle of gatorade b4 heading down to start pt. Dear wished me luck n reminded me abt e target time for each chkpt. I walked to my timezone section (1:50-2hr) n waited patiently. Everyone were excited n cheered on.
I crossed the line abt 1min later.. Everyone were speeding.. Being conservativeat e start, I focused to get my pace n breathing right. Chked my 1st 5km mark - 28:33. Off by 33 secs. Was feeling quite comfortable n my pace gradually increased without much effort.. Took e sports drink at e 7km mark.. It was mint flavour.. Abit like listerine.. I rinsed n spit it out haha.. @ 10km mark, time chk - 26:36 (56:03). Wow I was surprised tt I caught back e lost time n hit my 10km target.. But worrying tt I might be gg to fast, adjusted my pace slightly n tagged along a fellow runner.. Realised tt when I overtake him, he will try very hard to run beside me n overtake... Took e same sports drink at e next 2 WP n took a mouthful each time.. @15km mark (end of tunnel) - 26:05 (1:22) tt's much faster than wat I expected! The last 6km at HK was very challenging with multiple slopes.. I tackled them one after another. It was during this period where I get to overtake many runners n it boost my confidence. Time check @ 19km - 1:43 wow my sub 2 is cfmed! Took 27:31 (1:49) for the last 5km chkpt.. Last km to go.. Crowds cheered for e runners along e way n it was very motivating :D finally e last 200m n e clk was ticking to 1:55.. Crossed e finishing at 1:55... E feeling was great!
No sight of Trevor n gang.. Decided to return to hostel n shower before heading back w dear's stuff. Lucille did her PB too! 2:41, 15mins shredded off! Well done for her as it was a hilly run. She was glad tt she did MF hill training which helped her to tackle all e slopes :D
Dear did his PB too! Completed his full in 3:21 - it was a great race despite e tough route n weather (26deg) for e full marathoners.
Time Split at Chkpt5km - 28:33:05 (29:26)
10km - 26:36:37 (56:03)
15km - 26:05:41 (1:22:08)
20km - 27:31:24 (1:49:39)
21.195km - 5:29:79 (1:55:11)
