Will you be back?

This is always a question we asked ourself or your frenz will asked you after you have completed a gruelling 42k marathon, irregardless of what timing you have achieved. Generally at that very moment when you felt so tired and exhausted, you normally do not really pay much attention to it and put it aside. Or your immediately answer may just be "I dont know, it so f**king torturing running a marathon, why shud I be back.....tell me, tell me, tell me!!!!!


And today while going thru all the certificates and medal that I have collected in my past races 15 years ago (because PM1 aka Lonnie See, opps its Ronnie See ~ wants to have a record of it.....he is so passionate about collecting medals) I actually stumbled on my first medal and the certificate where I completed a marathon, and that was in the year 1985 where I first ran The Kuala Lumpur Internation Marathon 1985. I still remember the pain and suffering that I endured in this particular race that I will never forget as long as I live. I suffered heat stroke, encountered cramps on both my legs from 30k onwards, have to be assisted by the medical team ~ lying flat on the pavement along the highway in Jalan Parlimen!!!!! My timing when I crossed the finishing line - a whopping 5h48mins.

Running a marathon needs lotz of personal discipline, commitment and sacrifice on time to train yourself up to be ready for a race ~ physically and mentally. And generally the answer after the race is that "No way I will run a marathon again in my life....that will be my maiden and swansong marathon race...I stick to the shorter distance. Good luck to those who continue running the marathon" There will be runners who will curse, swear and say whatever they want after the race ~ telling everyone no way he /she will be back.

After running thru all the medals and certificates, I dont think I actually have collected a lot of medals. First of all there isnt a lot of races 15 years ago, probably less than 10 races in a year and I believed I have also misplaced some of the medals. Dont know where I kept it, but its definitely in the house. So whatever is accountable for is actually 30 medals to my achievement. And since I am into it, I might as well check out my PB.

My PB
- MAS Penang International Martathon 1987. Timing of 3h31mins
- Ipoh Half Marathon 1987. Timing of 1h23mins
- Penang Bridge Run 1987. Timing of 1h37mins
- cant seems to trace back on my 10k timing
- 1987 was my peak....and I hang up my rubber trainers in 1989/1990

And after what those people said ie "That they will never run a marthon again", you will start seeing them doing their training and preparation for the next marathon. And their answer is "I want to give another shot at it and see whether I can improve my timing". So it wasthe same for me too. My immediate response after the 5hr48mins race was "I am not coming back, you guys are crazy man!!!" But that doesnt seems to happen because when I am back to training, with the support and encouragement coming from all the running buddies and also seeing the fun when training for a marathon, my next marathon race was 6 months down the road. That was the Cathay Pacific Penang Marathon 1985. Timing was 3h56mins....a whopping improvement of almost 2hrs. And my confidence level become so positive from that day onwards and by 1989, the number of full marathon races that I ran was about 15 ~ averaging about 3 marathon races a year (not including other shorter distance races)

I believed a big number of runners out there have ran their maiden marathon, they will have this question "Will you be back?" put right in front of them after the race. They probably will have or continued running at least one marathon (if not more) a year ever since their maiden race.

Lance Armstrong quotes after his first marathon during the recent New York City Marathon 2006.

He called the race "the hardest physical thing I have ever done" — even more grueling than his worst days on the Tour.

Will he be back?
"Now's not the time to ask that question. The answer now is no, I'll never be back. But I reserve the right to change my mind," he said. "I don't know how these guys do it."


SO, WILL YOU BE BACK?????