i ran my 1st ever marathon! sundown marathon. a misnomer if u ask me. should b called sunrise cos we started off at 11.59pm on 31st may n effectively run till the sun's nearly up. or in my case, when the sun comes up!

was a gr8 run. b4 this i was concerned abt my health cos i had a bad bout of bronchitis which didnt clear for weeks. had residual stuff that worried me abt whether i was fit for the marathon. had a little heart attack scare which my dr put me thru ECG n x-ray. both results being normal, did away with the stress ECG test, n upped my meds. that did helped n he concluded dat he should ve done it earlier so i wouldnt have such a long drawn thingy with the lung infection. so yeah, by the time the run came along, i havent trained and was still a tad worried abt my heart. committed it to God and asked Him if i should run, n if i shouldnt, asked Him to juz stop my stupidity. anywayz, i had peace, n my health was fine. had a gr8 run. i was in pretty good shape. n surprisingly so since i hadnt trained.

then met my fren at ard 19k who said she couldnt go on.she busted her hips n knees said she was v v tired n couldnt go on. i stopped n walked with her. tot since the route was bringing us out of ECP to siglap, kembangan etc, i could walk her till she reaches the road to get a cab. then of course, encouraged her to go on. esp so after she said "hey u r supposed to scold me n tell me not to give up!" so yeah. we walked the rest of the 23k!

pp tell me it is very excruciating not training well to walk in a marathon. i fully agree! walking 23k was no joke! it took SOOOOOOO long! wat could be a 3 hr run become a 6-hour walk. 

PS grimaced in pain every step of the way. after the run we joked n laughed abt it n she said "oh no! u saw my ugly side!" i didnt. wat i saw was her strength. walking 23k, 6 hours in pain is no mean feat. she could ve quit. hailed a cab or took the bus (since we were v much along the roads after the 19k). i wouldnt n couldnt have tahan so long. 

aside fr dat, we had a gr8 time catching up. lots had happened since we last met (3 weeks ago) n tears ran down her cheeks as she recounted the various ridiculous incidents. we turned out walk into a prayer walk at tampines ave 10. then when we were at ave 9 the sky lit up with lightning. b4 long, it poured. we were soaked to the bone. took the opportunity to go to toilet at petrol station as we wait out the downpour. when we finally got out,the rain become a drizzle so we cont walking, our shoes n socks squeshing out water as we went along. 

of course i was in pain after the marathon. but surprisingly, i recovered faster than last dec when i ran half marathon. today d pain is gone. no knee or ligament prob. 

that's y i love to run long dist. reminds me dat life/ministry is not a sprint. it is not a 100m event. u need to last, to persevere, to pace yourself. the run lasts longer than an adrenaline rush. u go thru energy ebbs. fatigue sets in, doubt too. dont rain on my parade? well this time it did. i started running when i was in med min. when i was alone in min. then i realised i needed to learn how to go the distance for God, with pp. 

some lessons i learnt on this marathon:

1. heb 12:1-2. the theme for the camp i m organising. ECP was crowded with campers, teenage "ton-ers", cyclists, pp fishing... sometimes, pp come out fr their tents n shelters as we round close to them and they cheered and clapped. i was touched n reminded of "since we are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses..." i wondered abt the true cloud of witnesses who are cheering us on as we run this christian race. dat this knowledge of being cheered on should encourage me 2 run on, 2 run well.i thought about the sin and hindrances. and of course, perseverance. Jesus, for the joy b4 Him endured the cross. i had thought the joy was the medal n the tee. but after getting them, i came 2 admit dat they were but shows of pride. they didnt thrill as much as the thought of getting them did. my true joy was not in them. it was in crossing e finishing line, knowing dat i did the whole distance and did it well. (well not in timing but in attitude and character) and despite me walking to it instead of sprinting to it in past races, the joy was far greater at this one than the rest.

2. a filippino stood by a cardboard as she looked out for her fren. the board blasted, "JO FULFILL YOUR DREAM!" Running a marathon b4 i m 30 is my dream n i was fulfilling it by a margin. but this is a small dream, a by-dream if there's one. i tot abt my dream. THE dream. i tot abt THE dream of those i love. i teared.

3. i rediscovered myself. i like myself again. it's been sometime actually. these past months God was doing a good work tearing "me" down. n now building me up. thru this run, i liked who i was, or maybe who i've become. i liked wat i valued and how i acted. i had thot dat i became this goal-oriented, results-focused person. but He showed me, no. He showed me i was less "self" than i tot. that i do love pp, the process, the journey. i like me! haha.