2008 in Review

A time to review my sporting calendar. I was hard-pressed to find significant achievements or moments in 2008, given that 2007 was quite a stellar year for me. In comparison, 2008 was a year of extreme firsts and injuries.

I kicked off the year with an uneventful GE Pacesetter 30km run in January. Then I ran a pleasantly unexpected PB timing at the HK Stanchart Marathon (4:08h) in February. March saw a spectacular tumble on my MTB during the Sabah Adventure Race, scrapping my chin and getting stitched up for the first time in my life. April was spent clocking back-to-back weekend mileage for Sundown Ultra-marathon, earning myself a nickname of Mileage Queen. And a nagging back-hip pain as a result. Friends and I proudly completed the inaugural Sundown 84km in May, the longest distance I had ever ran, battling the sleep monsters in the dark. The City Duathlon a week later in June was a letdown, one of the most poorly organized local races in my memory.

The 2nd half of 2008 was a very busy period and had its equal share of ups and downs. I survived my first ever OD-triathlon in Port Dickson in July, happy as a fish in water. An irony description because I swam only because I had to. On a triathlon high, I went for the Desaru Half-ironman in August, somewhat ambitious with a new tri-bike and a looming 2km sea swim target. The open sea was described by friends watching from the shore as being tossed in a washing machine. There was some truth in that. Completion was ultra-sweet, never mind my 7h timing. One could walk with a slight swagger when one was half-iron. *grin*

The annual Army half-marathon a week later was a recovery run following Desaru. It was also the start of a series of knee injuries, health issues, dropped races and declining run times for the rest of the year. In the midst of plummeting self-confidence, I signed up for swim and run coaching sessions to improve my performance. September was essentially a wasted month as I combatted an uncooperative knee, reluctantly obeyed instructions by KM to lay low and enviously watched friends peak for various upcoming marathons. It was also a financially bad month as I spent heavily on recovery treatments - physio, sports doctors, acupunctures, massages - I tried them all. Desperate measures for desperate times. In October, I travelled to Sabah again with friends for the first Borneo International Marathon. I changed categories from 42km to 21km to eventually 10km. An uncanny stroke of luck gave me a trophy for 2nd placing in the 10km Women's Open category, even if the timing (53min) was average. My first trophy!

The next week, I made my first trip to Switzerland where I ran the 2nd Lucerne International Marathon with a not-fully recovered knee. The views and experience were awesome, and so was coming in last before the cut-off at 5:30h. The Europeans were awfully fast, and I was mentally flat. The race pictures told a compelling story. Still somewhat in the European time zone a week later, I took a 9h bus ride with friends in November for Powerman Malaysia in Perak. As expected, my timing was worse than 2007, slowed down by the 2nd run segment. We returned to FatBird marathon pacing trainings in the lead-up to Singapore Stanchart Marathon. I missed my 5h pacer target and returned 45min off. It was the first time in 5 years that I did not bother to check my official timings or photos. I had a plane to catch the next day and did not want to kill my legs. I took off a day after the marathon with my climbing mates for an expedition to Nepal, Naya Kanga (5,846m). It was my first climb since July 2007, and I looked forward to being in the snow again. The trip was exciting in itself, with unexpected twists and turns of events.

It was a long and tiring 2008. I hope 2009 will be a better sporting year, with new goals and fewer injuries. Happy new year!