I have the best parents in the world.

One hydration salt pack, two powergels, and a hugeass run later, Hobbley Hubba and I were treated to a whopping Western buffet - bring on the pasta, please - and a massage with a glass of honey water. Am feeling pretty refreshed now, albeit bruised and battered. Toenails are threatening to jump ship and I keep finding new abrasions that sting. No doubt about it, today was really tough for me and Andrew.

We were up at 4am and I have to say I don't think we started the day off that well. We forced our food down just because we knew we had to, not coz we were hungry. Parking was a bitch and then it was the whole panic of not being able to find my Dad, who was also running the half marathon this morning. Apologies to Andrea for being curt for I was really flustered that I couldn't say 'good luck' to my Dad before the race! At least we managed to say it to each other though :) Anyway, thank goodness I managed to run into Yuling where we said we'd meet, and we set off together with her friend Ram.

We were only about 8mins away from the start line when we saw the lead marathon runners pegging up the road towards us, going at breakneck speed. It was so exciting watching them go by and all the whooping and cheering really gave me a buzz. So I picked up the pace slightly. Kept right to see other marathoners go by: Cheered the pokerface Ironman Nickeroos on. Saw Hubba go by as well and he gave me a high five as he passed.

We meant to run the race together, coz truth be told, 21.1km is a reallyyyy longggg way. But I lost Yuling somewhere around the 4km mark and figured it was going to be a lonely, lonely race. Ram came up from behind me somewhere around the 8km mark. We chatted for a bit and he suggested we not chat anymore - Boo. I could have done with the company. Oh well, we reached a waterstand and I lost him after that.

Think I pretty much sustained a good pace throughout the first half of the race coz I clocked an hour for the first 10km. Broke out the ickleyshuffley only at this point and when I put it on, Hella Good gave me a good mental boost. I let loose some aggression and kept going. Managed to catch Pei Fen in action as she passed and I think I saw Debra walking along with her 3 friends. But didn't know whether to call out to her as she was mid conversation... And I was mid pant. Hehe.

Actually, I must say that my lungs didn't feel tired for one second during the race. My breath was steady and I felt like I could have gone on further. But my li'l legs tired after 1.5hrs and I broke into a walk. I think I walked for about 30minutes after that. Everytime I tried to run, my back just felt like it'd been done in and my knees were aching something chronic. I figured I'd walk for a bit to recover.

The last stretch out to Nichol Highway and back was brutal on the willpower. Was mid walk out when I bumped into Ram on his way back and realized I'd fallen way behind. Also got caught walking by Nick F and felt a little embarassed. But I told myself to turn the corner before making the attempt to screw my knees altogether.

Once I turned the last corner, it was homestretch all the way. I saw Raffles City in the distance and imagined the Padang and the finish line right beside it. Broke out into a run and didn't let up. To be honest, by this point I felt like I was on drugs. I couldn't feel my arse or my legs or my arms. I literally felt like I was flying back to the finish line - I guess I was high by the thought that I was almost done. Dad saw me heading back and I cheered him on. He later said I looked like I was running all over the shop. I guess I really couldn't feel my legs.

When I turned the corner and saw the finish line, I broke into a sprint. Well, I'm sure it wasn't much of a sprint seeing as how I was so knackered. But I gave it my all anyway and crossed the line with a sense of disbelief. It's over? Hmm. I've waited all year for that? I can't believe it's over. It was definitely a tough race mentally. Pure, droning, constant torture. I'm not sure what my exact time was, but when I stopped my stopwatch after having a drink, it was 2hrs34mins. Let's hope it was less than that. Didn't hit my target, but close enough I guess. Ran into Dex as well and he didn't look too happy.

As for my Hobbley Hubba, he finished his 42.195km in 4hrs40mins - way off his target. My poor husband was absolutely ruined at the end of his race. He said he'd never suffered so much in his life and he'd never felt that way before. I'm sure it's something he might want to write about himself, so I shan't go into it too much here.

But if you see us hobbling along hand-in-hand, you know why.