Mission Accomplished
This picture says it all. 
I managed to complete my first marathon within the six hour limit! It was quite a torturous run for me in the last few miles. The endless hills and a six hour time limit added on to my misery. I had to complete within the given time frame or else I wouldn’t get the medal and also have my time noted in the official results.
During the run, there were a few thoughts that came to my mind. In the first 8 miles, I was running quite okay and told myself that “Hey, you can do this all day long. After the mid point, I was very happy that I managed to complete a half marathon distance (21km). And then it struck my mind that I had another half marathon to go. At about three quarter mark, I was like “Why on earth did I sign up for the marathon? Paying $120 to torture myself!”.
At that point, each step hurt a lot. I realized that my knee and feet would not take it any longer so I started to walk. The last stretch was uncalled for. I thought that the first half would be crazy enough during the Hurricane Point mark. The last stretch was very hilly and curvy. When I saw the 1 mile mark to go, I was totally excited. And it turned out that the the one mile was the longest mile ever. When I saw the finish line, I just sprinted and completed my race in 5 hour 39 mins, just short of the 6 hour limit.
Nevertheless, the whole view along Highway One was spectacular. Even if you don’t run a marathon there, you should take the opportunity to travel there to enjoy the breathtaking view. It has one of the best scenery, right at the edge of the Western world.
It was a great accomplishment, given that I did not really train for the marathon. The longest distance I ran was about 12km, and for the past 2 months, I rarely ran more than 10 miles a week. And sometimes I didn’t run at all for some weeks (which was a bad decision). Coz my legs joint are very sore now. I can hardly walk and each step is a mammoth task for me. Anyway, look at my delighted face upon completing the race. Still can’t believe that I completed the marathon.
Now that I have completed my first marathon, will there be a second one? 
Added 28 April 08:
I forgot to mention that I would like to thank Ruey Feng. He’s the one who persuaded me to sign up for this marathon back in February 08, which means that I wouldn’t have completed this marathon or run any marathon at all. (In other words, he’s the one who ‘psycho-ed’ me into signing up). Haha.
He also signed up for Big Sur Marathon but he had to go back to Singapore for some personal stuff. Ruey has done a few marathons (His best timing was about 3 1/2 hours. Yup that’s very impressive). We did a few lunch-time 5 mile runs for training. Before he left, he was quite worried that I would suffer during the run given that I did not train well for the marathon. He told me not to push myself too hard just to complete the race because I may just end up hurting myself. But I told him and myself that I will complete the marathon within 6 hours and get the medal. And I did! “Once you have completed a marathon, there’s nothing that you cannot achieve if you do not try or put in any effort” Yup, thanks for your advice, Ruey! And also thanks to my family for being so caring for me. Love you all!
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