Reached pretty early. At 8.20am. My race wasn't till 9.45. But i figured it was my first race, i should head down slightly earlier to get myself acquainted with the place and surroundings. When i got to the place, i actually managed to get a parking space. So i figured it was going to turn out all right after all. Please dun ask me what does parking space have to do with the race. Just my really really warped thinking.
Walked towards the competition area, only to see hordes of people. That was the intimidating part. One. And since i was alone and all, not knowing many people, didn't even plan to meet anyone there, i just walked to the tent where i saw a lot of people queuing. Can't go wrong i figured. True enough, it was the registration tent and also the place to get our body markings. It was approximately at that point of time where i freaked out. I really just wanted to turn around and head back to the car and drive back home. I was scared. First, i hate crowds. Too many people. Of course East Coast park is big, its just that there were too many people gathered in a small area. And it just felt all uncomfortable. But the feeling soon went away, and i told myself, give it some time, it'll get better.
To my surprise, while i was queuing, i met my sec 3 cross country coach. Mr Winder. Haven't seen him since sec 3. And it felt better seeing a familiar face. But then, the next question that pop in my mind was, oh my.. he's such a strong runner. I'm screwed. That was the pessimist in me talking. Finished getting the body marking, walked to the transition area. Worse. More people crammed in a really small transition area. I'm not sure if all transition areas are that small. But it was really scary. Everyone got a small space to put their belongings. And once again, i thought, damn. Why did i sign up for this. I would have been better off at home sleeping. Intimidation part 2 was when i saw a lot of very fit women who all had markings on their body starting with 8. I knew they would be in the women's open. And they looked really tone and fit like they ran everyday just for the heck of it. And some of them came in their standard chartered marathon attire, some from other races. Some of them were dressed in their tri racing gear. Scary.
Anyway, met another friend at the transition area, and she was very encouraging. And slowly, i felt myself settle down. I wanted to go do some warm up, but was not sure, what i had to do. Or where to go. And i didn't want to stray too far away. So, just hung around the transitional area. Until i met one of the guys from the forum. He was real helpful and even helped my place my shoes, socks, cap, running gear, etc in the correct manner. He told me this was to minimise the transition time. Really thankful for his help. But honestly, at that point of time, i was just thinking, will i make it? Will i be able to finish it?
Finally, it was time to head to the starting area for me. The current looked a little overwhelming. And when the race started, it was horrible. Everyone else was trying to swim. And for the first 250m, i kept having to stop to see where i was going. Or stop coz i touched someone's leg. Or stop coz someone really close to me was kicking and i didn't want to get kicked. The next 250m, i kept away from the crowd, swimming on the outside. But there were still some guys who were completing their swim and they obviously cannot be bothered who they were kicking and where they were going. The last 250m of the first lap was an easy swim due to the fact that the current was helping us. The 2nd lap's first 250m was horrid for me. Kept swimming far out. And having to navigate my way back. But other then that, there were less people coz by then. So i would say the next 500m to the end was an easier swim. I remembered to switch to breastroke for the last 100m of so. Got out of the water with 4 other women. Of course every one of those 4 started running before me. Hee... Slow transition for me lah. But it's my first race and i had to tape my foot before running. But i felt a lot more comforted coz when i glanced out in the sea, i saw there were swimmers who were just starting on the last 500m. So i figured, as long as i kept running and not stop, i wouldn't come in last. =)
The running was alright. I doubt the distance was a full 10km. Think it was probably 9km or so. Anyway, since i have never ran the route before, decided to conserve energy and just follow what my ipod indicated. And there were some people from the forum who cheered me on while i was running. That made me feel better since the run is usually the tough part for me. Tried to average a 6min pace. But fell short a couple of times. And when i got to the last part, according to my ipod, it was only about 8.6km. But the marshall told me i had about 300m to go. So i opened up and ran to the finish. Was actually thinking of opening up in the last km coz i was still feeling strong. Oh well, it was fun. Finishing was worth it.
Although i didn't complete the swim in the time i set for myself, i guess based on the strong currents today, it was alright. More importantly, i finished the race, ran the whole 9 or 10km without stopping.
Timing:
Swim leg: Approx 39min ACTUAL 38:17
Transition: Approx 2 min
Run leg: Approx 55min ACTUAL 55:53
Total time: Approx 1hr 36min ACTUAL 1:36:10
Position: 19 out of 30
The confirmed timings will be out tomorrow. And i forgot to do a time split. So i'm estimating the timings based on memory. Will confirm tomorrow.
Race no, finisher's medal and Event Tshirt
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