Create Your Reason: Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon
* This is a long entry about the songs that accompanied me on my run this morning.
I completed the half today! Yay! The official timings are not out yet but I am certain I completed in under 3 hours which was the amount of time I gave myself. I came in when the official clock was showing 2:47 but my chip timing should be less than that.
I woke up at 4:30am and got onto a cab to Raffles City. Along the way there, the traffic was unusually high given that it's 5am along Bras Basah Rd. I brought with me a change of clothes, slippers, a small pack of complimentary Mentholatum heat rub all in the events day bag which is a laundry bag with the Standard Chartered Marathon logo printed on it.
The toilet queues were terrible.
The full marathon was flagged off on time at 6am. After a simple warm up and stretching exercise, I made my way to the start point.
I had my nano on shuffle so I haven't a clue which songs will I get. I gave myself a comfortable 5 hrs worth....in case I do actually take that long. There were a total of 63 songs.
These songs accompanied me.
The Reason - Hoobastank. I had short laugh to myself. This song was a firm favourite of V and i thought it was quite appropriate for it to start my run. But really, the number of runners were in the thousands and Esplanade Bridge was not wide enough for all 10,000 or more of us to start together. So it wasn't until the second song, White Houses - Vanessa Carlton that I crossed the start point....
When Ghost Ship In A Storm - Jim O'Rourke came on along the way to V's former workplace at CPF building, I thought that it was such a great feeling, running in the Central Business District, on the main road, with Jim bloody O'fucking Rourke. It was so weird that I felt nice and confident that I'd finish this bitch.
I Melt With You - Jason Mraz was up next. Haha...not Nouvelle Vague's cover. When Two Of Us - Aimee Mann & Michael Penn came on I was into Marina Bay area or so...and when Don't I Hold You - Wheat we were near the Marina Bay MRT. There was a underpass through the area and when I was about to leave the underpass, Belfast - Orbital came on. The sky was slowly turning brighter and there was this synchronicity that felt right. Surface To Air - The Chemical Brothers came on too early. Or so I felt. Shining - Kristian Leontiou, Weekends - The Perishers filled up the next 8 minutes. So the quarter of an hour with the last three songs felt a little out of place.
The next track didn't disappoint. Sweet Surrender (Tiesto Mix) - Sarah MacLachlan. Followed by Can't Explain - Longview. Next track was especially sweet. Rewind - Stereophonics. Maybe it was the tiredness that was kicking in slowly but surely that made me concentrate on the lyrics more. It was a really fantastic song to run to. Another Orbital track - Halcyon + On + On then Holding Onto Nothing - Agnelli & Nelson. The lines "Standing in the rain. Twisted and insane. We are holding onto nothing. Feeling every breath. Holding no regrets. We're still looking out for something." kept repeating in my head. It was also then I saw this 50 odd year old man with a t-shirt that read "Because I've been putting it off for long enough."
When GDMFSOB (Goddamnmuthafuckin'sonofabitch - UNKLE Remix) - DJ Shadow feat. Roots Manuva was throbbing in my ear, I was getting distracted because I kept thinking how the latest offering by Josh Davies was so disappointing. Whatever he wants to say about hip hop......more bass!
Zocalo - Armin van Buuren did absolutely nothing for me.....but good rhythm though. Love U More - Sunscream was at Lau Pa Sat I think. Yay yay! This was almost 13km into the run. The furthest I've ran in the training phase was 12km. Haha! It's all mental from here on...
Ashes - Embrace. Good Times - Jim O'Rourke. Here again I was distracted. I was thinking to myself, "Hey, just now when I entered CBD it was Jim O'Rourke as well!". When Fix You - Coldplay was on, I was thinking how near I was to where Lee Hsien Loong said used the word "fix" during the lead up to the elections at the lunch time electioneering rally. But he didn't just want to "fix you" but "them" too.
Shivers - Armin van Buuren was slightly better perhaps by the vocals. But that too was boring me after 4 minutes. I was walking by now....I crossed Esplanade Bridge again. It was the 15km mark.
Naughty Girl - Holly Valance. Damn, Dead Or Alive. If only Devon Aoki sang. I think I was near Ritz Carlton when Mad World - Gary Jules was playing. Everything just started slowing down....I decided to change my brisk walk and broke into a jog. It was tough. The lactic acid had gathered by then and to change the pace and muscle group was quite a shock. Luckily I had Bones - The Killers for company. Devon Aoki!!! Blessed. Followed by Taking Off - The Cure. Great track as well. She's So High - Kurt Nilsen. Yay yay! Wires - Athlete was where I made the turnaround. This was where the marathoners continued onto East Coast Park while us humans made the turn back to Padang. World Hold On (Children Of The Sky) - Bob Sinclair feat. Steve Edwards. Wahahahaha! I was jogging again. Is this the "runner's high"?
When I got back to Ritz Carlton, I thought my battery went dead. Or that the earphones were spoilt from the sweat entering them. It was when Deep Blue Day - Brian Eno came on that I realised why it'd gone all quiet. This track is super to run to when you're a little delirious, you're comfortable, you know you're gonna complete this run and you just think of the toilet bowl scene in Trainspotting.
Amber - 311. Another track I found because it's related to V in some way. Amber is the colour of your energy. True....it was waning at this point. Must have been a little too fast for my own good over the last two tracks.
I was back on Esplanade Bridge for the last time! Swollen - Bent. Yeah. My neck was feeling swollen. As were my thighs, ankles and calves. Holding me like an anchor. Hahaha....just like how the lyrics go. By the time the song was halfway through, I knew the next song will bring me to the finishing line. I was on Anderson Bridge and once across will lead me to City Hall and the finish line at the Padang. I was wondering which would it be.
And at Victoria Concert Hall, the familiar bassline and fuzzed up keyboards of David Bowie's Ashes To Ashes ringed in. It brought a wide grin.
And I crossed the finishing line.
I completed the half today! Yay! The official timings are not out yet but I am certain I completed in under 3 hours which was the amount of time I gave myself. I came in when the official clock was showing 2:47 but my chip timing should be less than that.
I woke up at 4:30am and got onto a cab to Raffles City. Along the way there, the traffic was unusually high given that it's 5am along Bras Basah Rd. I brought with me a change of clothes, slippers, a small pack of complimentary Mentholatum heat rub all in the events day bag which is a laundry bag with the Standard Chartered Marathon logo printed on it.
The toilet queues were terrible.
The full marathon was flagged off on time at 6am. After a simple warm up and stretching exercise, I made my way to the start point.
I had my nano on shuffle so I haven't a clue which songs will I get. I gave myself a comfortable 5 hrs worth....in case I do actually take that long. There were a total of 63 songs.
These songs accompanied me.
The Reason - Hoobastank. I had short laugh to myself. This song was a firm favourite of V and i thought it was quite appropriate for it to start my run. But really, the number of runners were in the thousands and Esplanade Bridge was not wide enough for all 10,000 or more of us to start together. So it wasn't until the second song, White Houses - Vanessa Carlton that I crossed the start point....
When Ghost Ship In A Storm - Jim O'Rourke came on along the way to V's former workplace at CPF building, I thought that it was such a great feeling, running in the Central Business District, on the main road, with Jim bloody O'fucking Rourke. It was so weird that I felt nice and confident that I'd finish this bitch.
I Melt With You - Jason Mraz was up next. Haha...not Nouvelle Vague's cover. When Two Of Us - Aimee Mann & Michael Penn came on I was into Marina Bay area or so...and when Don't I Hold You - Wheat we were near the Marina Bay MRT. There was a underpass through the area and when I was about to leave the underpass, Belfast - Orbital came on. The sky was slowly turning brighter and there was this synchronicity that felt right. Surface To Air - The Chemical Brothers came on too early. Or so I felt. Shining - Kristian Leontiou, Weekends - The Perishers filled up the next 8 minutes. So the quarter of an hour with the last three songs felt a little out of place.
The next track didn't disappoint. Sweet Surrender (Tiesto Mix) - Sarah MacLachlan. Followed by Can't Explain - Longview. Next track was especially sweet. Rewind - Stereophonics. Maybe it was the tiredness that was kicking in slowly but surely that made me concentrate on the lyrics more. It was a really fantastic song to run to. Another Orbital track - Halcyon + On + On then Holding Onto Nothing - Agnelli & Nelson. The lines "Standing in the rain. Twisted and insane. We are holding onto nothing. Feeling every breath. Holding no regrets. We're still looking out for something." kept repeating in my head. It was also then I saw this 50 odd year old man with a t-shirt that read "Because I've been putting it off for long enough."
When GDMFSOB (Goddamnmuthafuckin'sonofabitch - UNKLE Remix) - DJ Shadow feat. Roots Manuva was throbbing in my ear, I was getting distracted because I kept thinking how the latest offering by Josh Davies was so disappointing. Whatever he wants to say about hip hop......more bass!
Zocalo - Armin van Buuren did absolutely nothing for me.....but good rhythm though. Love U More - Sunscream was at Lau Pa Sat I think. Yay yay! This was almost 13km into the run. The furthest I've ran in the training phase was 12km. Haha! It's all mental from here on...
Ashes - Embrace. Good Times - Jim O'Rourke. Here again I was distracted. I was thinking to myself, "Hey, just now when I entered CBD it was Jim O'Rourke as well!". When Fix You - Coldplay was on, I was thinking how near I was to where Lee Hsien Loong said used the word "fix" during the lead up to the elections at the lunch time electioneering rally. But he didn't just want to "fix you" but "them" too.
Shivers - Armin van Buuren was slightly better perhaps by the vocals. But that too was boring me after 4 minutes. I was walking by now....I crossed Esplanade Bridge again. It was the 15km mark.
Naughty Girl - Holly Valance. Damn, Dead Or Alive. If only Devon Aoki sang. I think I was near Ritz Carlton when Mad World - Gary Jules was playing. Everything just started slowing down....I decided to change my brisk walk and broke into a jog. It was tough. The lactic acid had gathered by then and to change the pace and muscle group was quite a shock. Luckily I had Bones - The Killers for company. Devon Aoki!!! Blessed. Followed by Taking Off - The Cure. Great track as well. She's So High - Kurt Nilsen. Yay yay! Wires - Athlete was where I made the turnaround. This was where the marathoners continued onto East Coast Park while us humans made the turn back to Padang. World Hold On (Children Of The Sky) - Bob Sinclair feat. Steve Edwards. Wahahahaha! I was jogging again. Is this the "runner's high"?
When I got back to Ritz Carlton, I thought my battery went dead. Or that the earphones were spoilt from the sweat entering them. It was when Deep Blue Day - Brian Eno came on that I realised why it'd gone all quiet. This track is super to run to when you're a little delirious, you're comfortable, you know you're gonna complete this run and you just think of the toilet bowl scene in Trainspotting.
Amber - 311. Another track I found because it's related to V in some way. Amber is the colour of your energy. True....it was waning at this point. Must have been a little too fast for my own good over the last two tracks.
I was back on Esplanade Bridge for the last time! Swollen - Bent. Yeah. My neck was feeling swollen. As were my thighs, ankles and calves. Holding me like an anchor. Hahaha....just like how the lyrics go. By the time the song was halfway through, I knew the next song will bring me to the finishing line. I was on Anderson Bridge and once across will lead me to City Hall and the finish line at the Padang. I was wondering which would it be.
And at Victoria Concert Hall, the familiar bassline and fuzzed up keyboards of David Bowie's Ashes To Ashes ringed in. It brought a wide grin.
And I crossed the finishing line.
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