The long anticipated marathon finally came on Sunday. I thought I was more prepared than 2 years ago when I ran the same race, but ended up taking about 30 minutes longer to finish this time around. The time limit was 6 hours and I finished the marathon in 5 hours and 58 minutes! 😂

I probably overestimated my ability and walked the course way longer than I should. The months of practice on the treadmill gave me the illusion that I had improved my fitness beyond the time 2 years ago. In retrospect, I really should have done more training outdoors in the real world.

The weather felt comfortable for running throughout the whole 6 hours. Temperature was in the teens and cloudy skies blocked direct sunshine most of the time. It only started raining after I finished my run.

All in all, I’m grateful for the weather and am overjoyed to complete the race within the time limit. I seriously had to squeeze the last drop of energy to run the last kilometer or so for fear of not getting the medal. And even after receiving the medal at the finish line, I was still wondering I may have gone past the 6 hour time limit. It was only after I finally had time to look at my phone and see my friends’ congratulation messages that I felt relieved. Apparently, quite a few of my friends had been tracking my run via the race’s official app and had been cheering me on virtually. They must have felt a little anxious seeing the clock rundown and that I didn’t cross the finish line until the very last minutes. It was almost as though I could sense their virtual cheers that I was able to pick up my pace to run the last kilometer or so. I was deeply touched.

This wasn’t the first marathon I finished, but it was definitely the one I felt most enjoyable and grateful to have completed. Thank God!