I am getting the jitters just thinking about the upcoming Singapore Marathon. The distance will be far... farther than I have ever ran before. However, there is little I can do about it except to calm my nerves. When it comes to this stage, no amount of last minute training will help. That much I know. Training the body follows the laws of nature - the body needs time to strengthen. Although I am an addict to urgency and last minute errands, I know that is no way I can apply the same technique when it comes to my body. I have learnt it the hard way on my first half marathon...ten over years ago. Then, I was not prepared for the half but forced myself to run and was limping from the 18k point onwards. It was memorable because it was painful. And the fear also put me off running till a couple years ago.
Anyway, fast forward to today. I was talking to a few people from church who were running the marathon and am simply appalled by some of their lack of preparation. In fact, one person I talked to had the furthest run of 8km according to his wife. A whooping 8km and he is running the marathon. Man, I feel for him. I hope he walks the entire journey because if he even runs 8km during the race and walk the rest of the 36km, he would not be walking for a week after that. On top of that, he is 2 years older than me, which means he is an old uncle by Singapore's standard. Another person I know, has done about 10km about 2 weeks ago. We are not talking about 10km 5 times a week. 10km every 2 weeks. Even with a walk, run strategy, 10km is really underestimating the distance. Maybe youthfulness is their only redeeming factor, that or pure talent. Maybe these people want to create a ground where they will see the need for God. Even then, God created the laws of nature and if we break them, we pay a price. Regardless, I will pray that God be with all of us to keep us from harm. When compared to them, my preparation is so adequate - I should feel good about it....some people just have to learn things the hard way.
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