Taking On The Bridge...

By Frank

As of this evening, I have completed my training that includes my tapering phase and all totalled up to 688.51KM of distance ran since starting back in August 2008 for my upcoming fifth marathon at Penang this weekend. I will be taking on the Penang Bridge International Marathon 2008 this Sunday which is scheduled to start at 3am making it my earliest marathon! The marathon was originally scheduled to be held in June 2008 but due to financial problems by the original organisers, it was cancelled. But thankfully, the state government decided that they will take on the responsibilities in organising this event and thus, runners were gifted the oppourtunity to run one of the longest bridge in the world this November 2008.

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The majestic Penang Bridge which span a total length of 13.5KM (8.4KM on water)...

I did pretty badly at last year's edition running in the half marathon category as I was hit by plantar pain quite early into the race. However, this time round, I'm feeling pretty good about it even if I'm running twice the distance. My training has been pretty intense and probably my toughest to date too. Being introduce to me for the first time was the back to back long runs. Though tough, I was lucky I have my running mates with me to go through the ups and downs of it. And this will certainly fill my mind when I take on the bridge especially when things get rough and tough.

I ran so much that at one stage, I neglected part of my resistance training. It's certainly not easy to do both trainings together especially having to run long distance. Knowing the disdvantages of not doing it, I got myself into the groove again and managed to put in some quality ones.

Training so intense for the first time left me battling with fatigue at one stage which slowed me down. The body just felt heavy and "lifeless" and it really made me look like a "walking zombie". Took about a week to get myself back into shape with a proper diet although my appetite just wasn't there. I just had to force myself to eat for the sake of the nutrients my body needs. Another to mention is the wound on Achilles which took ages to heal, courtesy of chaffing from one of my shoes. But everything went well towards the end of my training and I'm all ready to take on the bridge.

Now to my target. Frankly speaking, there is no target set. But I will run my best to try achieve a personal best. And not forgetting to stay injury free. Reason for such a simple and straight forward target is because I want to save my best for the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon 2008 which is 3 weeks later.

And finally, I'm certainly looking forward to this trip. Not only I get to run, I have always love visiting the Pearl of the Orient. Food of course will one of the highlights of the trip but I will save that as a post marathon reward as I do not want to mess up my system. Not forgetting, that there will be large number of us making this trip. I myself will be travelling with Choi and Pueh Tian via the Aeroline coach while others like Geraldine, Lynn, Chee Kong, Kit, Loke and Luc will meet us there. It's always nice to travel with friends especially those with the same interest and thus, I'm sure this trip will be a fun one, despite the "pain"! Before hitting the bridge this Sunday, here's to everyone, "GOOD LUCK and RUN STRONG!". Till then...