Safra Bay Run & Army Half Marathon 2009 (3 of 3)

Coming from a great night with friends who visited Singapore, I managed to grab three hours of sleep on the eve of the Safra Bay Run & Army Half Marathon 2009. I was still dreaming about Leonardo Da Vinci and his creations, which I saw in the exhibit at the Singapore Science Centre that Saturday, but I didn't want to miss my first half-marathon so I hauled myself to the shower and allowed the running water to rouse me fully awake.

Breakfast was too quick for me to remember what I had, but I do recall drinking a lot of water. Fortunately I didn't forget to slip three packs of GU Energy Gels into my belt bag knowing that the lack of sleep would severely affect my performance. Of course nothing beats having enough rest during the night.

Thank goodness it was easy to get a cab. I was thankful too that there were no signs of rain coming. The commute was fast as I expected it to be early in the morning. We did experience bit of traffic when we got near the Suntec area however, something I simply attributed to the road closures.

It was easy to find my way to the starting point as a lot of runners were heading towards that direction. I didn't even need to exert effort to locate the the portalets — the queue pointed me there. I think the visit to the portalet is really becoming part of the pre-run routine.

My watch said 5:45 a.m., which only meant I was late for the flag off. But there were numerous runners still behind the starting line so I felt hopeful I wasn't too late. Then the man on the mic announced the second wave was just about to start. Luck was with me.

Then it was time. I was off to a slow start, knowing it took a while for body to warm up. An endless stream of runners passed me by. I tried my best not to think of my recent misadventure with the X-ray and the ECG but the thought hunted me incessantly and I caught myself with my hand over my chest quite a few times as I ran.

I didn't even take time to review the race route. I knew it would be easy enough to follow other runners. I was right of course. Soon we were making a left to Marina Boulevard, then we were climbing the ECP flyover.

Right after the flyover, one male after another made a detour on the side of the road to take a leak. How could the marshals complain? Besides, the heavy Singapore rains are sure to wash away any evidence afterwards.

The longest part of the race would have to be the East Coast Park leg. I think there were three water stations in this area alone. They were giving away bananas at one of those stations. It was too good to resist.

It was this part too, after the 10 km mark, that a lot of participants had began walking. While I certainly wasn't among the fastest runners, I managed to run all the way, unlike what I had previously done in the Mt. Faber Mizuno Run and the first TNF Progressive Run.

The cheerers did a great job of motivating the runners. At one point, there were belly dancers doing their thing on one side of the road. My friend Paul managed to take a picture of them. I wasn't that fortunate. I don't even have a copy that I can post here.

Speaking of my friend Paul, to my surprise, he found me near the finish line. He was running 10 km, and their flag off was at a later time. It was great to be able to finish together.

It was easy enough to get the medals at the finish point. Unfortunately the same could not be said about the isotonic drinks. As for the bags, there was a bit of queue but nothing major.

I think it was a well organized run. I like the fact that the race started very early so that runners are not exposed to the debilitating, late morning sun. There were just enough drinking stations, sufficient volunteers to man the routes and signage that were easy to spot. A separate finish line for the 6 km was an excellent decision on the part of the organizers.

After about another hour of walking around, we found a place to eat in Marina Square. I managed to go home after, enjoying a few hours of sleep before I put my heart to the test again just a bit later in the afternoon.

***

Safra Bay Run & Army Half Marathon 2009 (2 of 3)

It was my friend Joan who suggested I go for 21 km on the Safra Bay Run & Army Half Marathon. She knew I had taken a bet with friends for the first to finish the half-marathon among us. If you’ve read one of my previous posts, you already know that staying fit was our primary goal, that running was the form of exercise we chose, and the small bet was a neat trick to keep us focused on our goal and sustain our interest when the hard work began. While I was sure I could go 15 km if I had to, I had gone only as far as 13 km once and running 8 km more seemed like a gargantuan task. But I felt there was enough time to prepare so with a bit more prodding, I registered for the half-marathon.

I ran as much as I could during the weeks that followed. On lazy days, covering 5 km felt sufficient, but 10 km suited me just fine on regular days. Still, I wasn’t able to run the full distance of 21 km at least once as I hoped to.

One of the things that greeted me after a good 10 km run was a letter stating I needed to undergo a physical checkup, which included getting an X-ray. I thought that wasn't a big deal so I arranged for an appointment as soon as I could. I was only happy to obtain the results from Raffles Clinic that Friday morning, nine days before the Safra Bay Run & Army Half Marathon. I was certain I didn’t have TB to be worried about, which proved to be the case when I gave the results a quick scan. Later that night however, when I gave the results a second look, I was filled with disbelief when I read “Heart is slightly enlarged” as part of the interpretation.

I then spent a good number of hours surfing the Net and filling my head with information about Cardiomegaly, but not after I sent a quick e-mail to a close friend-slash-doctor back at home. To my surprise, I got a reply from him in less than thirty minutes. Here’s part of his reply:

..more often than not, especially in someone as young as you, it is usually just an incidental finding on x-ray, because the heart, at the point the x-ray was taken, rotated slightly and thus looked like it was enlarged -- in this case, you don't have anything to worry about. (If you want to imagine how this happens, look at your palm directly face up, then rotate it so that you only see the side. That's how you can have an illusion of an enlarged heart when in fact the heart can be of normal size, just that a different cross-section was captured in the X-ray.)

“But I am almost sure (95%) that there is no problem with you. But just to make sure, I want you to consult with a cardiologist so that we can rule out any cardiac problem.”

I made an appointment to have an ECG the very next morning.

“It looks normal,” the physician said on our second meeting that day.

The clinic had required me to consult with him first before allowing me to get an ECG. I couldn't get the reaction I needed from the nurse who conducted the actual test. I was in fact more worried when she had to run it twice, putting cold gel on the suction tubes on the second try.

“I don’t think you need to undergo any further tests,” the doctor concluded.

I thanked him profusely and told him I was relieved to hear that because I was planning to run the marathon. I think my statement had the desired effect as he proceeded to listen to my chest in three different places and then checked my blood pressure before finally dismissing me and sticking to his earlier assessment. Having read about 25-year-old Captain Ho Si Qiu's death in the same run two years ago, I had to be sure.

That didn’t stop me from spending another few good hours in the evening comparing my ECG diagram with as many as I could find on the Internet. I didn't know ECG images were so abundant online until then. I only gave it a rest when my friend replied to my e-mail and reiterated that my ECG looked normal and that I could run as much as I liked.

That wasn't the end of it though. On the succeeding days I ran slower and shorter than usual. If I felt chest pains I didn't know for sure if they were for real or if that was just my imagination playing tricks on me. It was difficult to get back into the groove after that finding; I had to get over it soon if I wanted to accomplish what I had initially set out to do.

Half-asleep on my bed two days after my checkup and seven days before the run, I realized I was not able to claim the race pack. To add to my anxiety, I was responsible for collecting the kits of two other friends who were flying in and decided on the last minute to join the run so they could experience how it's like here in Singapore. I thought that was the absolute sign that I should not be running in the Safra Bay Run & Army Half Marathon. But I thought better and decided not to give up. I sent an e-mail that very hour to the organizers asking for their special consideration. I got their reply the day after saying they were giving everyone who failed to pick up their kits a last chance. I could not and did not waste that chance.

***

To be continued...

Safra Bay Run & Army Half Marathon 2009 (1 of 3)

Strapped tight to a distinctive steel chair and about to be hurled into the air at a force many would not get to experience in their lifetime, I felt resigned to my fate having no energy left to resist.

"Are you all usually so quiet?" asked the man in black, a big jovial character with a bald head and a thick beard.

"Only when we're about to die," replied our friend on my right. That got all of us laughing.

After making sure my two friends and I were all safely bolted, the same fellow stepped away from the platform and made his way to the controls.

He broke our silence again a few minutes later.

"Do you prefer a countdown or —"

"Yes, please," came my hurried but enthusiastic reply, cutting him off.

"Alright!" he said. "One..."

Before I realized it we were being catapulted into the air at an impossible height in such a short period of time at a previously unimaginable speed. Just a few minutes earlier there were four of us free falling from a height of about 50 meters, held by the same type of straps and cradled by the same kind of chair. This time, there was room only enough for three. I had chickened out first but the only female among us wouldn't allow herself to be outdone. That's how I got myself into that position, a high and adrenalin-pumping at that. I raised my hands in an act of bravery and surrender, like I had done during the free fall, copying my friend Paul actually, letting out a scream while praying all the while for a safe landing and a strong heart that wouldn't fail me.

That was about eight hours after I completed my first 21 km run at the Safra Bay Run and Army Half Marathon. But that's getting ahead of the story, let me start from the beginning.

***

To be continued...