Barren

It's been a while since I last wrote an update here. Work and life has gotten in the way and trying to find some time to sit here and update this blog is considered a luxury I don't have at the moment. Today is the only day I can find some time to jot down (do we even jot anymore these days?) a couple of lines.

The month of May seems to be a barren month for me, race wise. At the beginning of the year, I set myself a target of taking part in at least a minimum of one race a month and so far that was going well until this month. If not for some unforeseen things that is based on my principles I would be running a half marathon this Sunday but alas, that was not meant to be.

The PJ Dawn half marathon this weekend was a race I scheduled myself in from the very beginning but have recently pulled out of it once I found out who was part of the organizing team. While some of you might think my reasons for sitting out in protest might be petty but I have principles and I stick by them.

So there went my only chance for a race this month. Oh well, you can't win 'em all, I guess :D There's always my big race to look forward to next month which is the SCKLM. I'm excited at the thought of participating in my first ever marathon yet apprehensive at the same time. I've been working and pushing myself hard to prepare for this run and though at this point of time I'm pretty confident I can do it there are still lingering doubts at the back of my mind.

Will I be able to do it in one piece? Will I suffer cramps? Will I faint halfway? Will I pull a DNF? I'm 45, these old legs might not take it. What am I getting myself into. Maybe I should just stay home and watch TV! Those are questions and thoughts that plague me everytime I sit and think about my upcoming marathon.

Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that I'd attempt running a marathon. While I love running, I've always restricted myself to half marathons cos I never had the confidence to run a full. It's only up to about two years plus ago when I started getting to know more and more running buddies out there and reading up on their exploits and achievements of completing either their maiden marathon or running their 30th marathon has thoroughly inspired me to finally try running the marathon.

What's more, the support and confidence shown to me by my wife who is my soul-mate/best friend/running partner in crime, is one of the main reasons I'm attempting this. If she has that much confidence I can do this, who am I to disappoint her?

I don't have any aims or goals for the SCKLM. The only thing I want to do is cross that finish chute on my own two legs with my head held high. That's it. No concerns about finishing in a certain time and wanting to be fast. No concerns about pace. Improvements in timing, performance and pace will come with time and experience in future marathons. The whole idea in this maiden 42K run is to go out there, have fun and justify the faith the wife has in me. That's it! Simple enough reasons, right? Let's just hope I'll be able to pull it off.

With that said and done, the daily training continues and with the SCKLM just about a month and a half away, I need to step up with the intensity of my training a lot more. Juggling that with a career and trying to make ends meet does play a little havoc with my training schedule but I try my best to put in whatever mileage I can get in any free time I can spare.

All the best to those running the PJ Dawn this early Sunday morning. I would love to join you guys but heck, I still take offense at being called a stupid hooligan!