Singapore Marathon!

HOW is it mid-March? Seriously. Time needs to just chill out a bit. I've never lived anywhere where time went quite this fast. Maybe it is a function of getting older, but I'm also pretty sure that something about the fairly consistent weather and hours of daylight in Singapore make time appear to move more quickly.
That's my take, anyway.

So I ran the Singapore Marathon...like, 3+ months ago. Right after my race, I did start a blog about it but never posted it. So even though this is late, I'm posting it - as much for my own records as anything! (This blog partially functions as our family journal, and I want to remember this).

(Imagine...it is December 6, 2013...*memory-inducing-harp-noises*)

I completed the Singapore Marathon!!
That was 6 days ago, and I'm pleased to say I'm officially no longer sore. I'm even going down stairs like a pro!

I can't really believe it is over - I registered for it 5 months ago and trained seriously for about 3 months. I'm really happy to say that the training paid off - the race went so well! I had had trouble settling on a goal time for the race, since there were so many unknown factors - especially the weather - but I ended up going much faster than I'd even hoped! I broke my second highest goal - to run a Personal Record (PR) and to average less than 6 minutes per kilometer.

Final time: 4:11:56 - a 3 second PR over my Twin Cities Marathon 3 years ago. And looking at my split times, I also ran much more consistently through this race. I ran the second half of the race only about 4-5 minutes slower than the first half, and my last 2.2 km was my fastest!

The weather completely cooperated and I think it was the best possible conditions I could have hoped for in Singapore. The temp hovered around 79 degrees the whole time, there was cloud cover, and even a light rain around halfway. That said, the humidity was about 90%, and I could tell - I was thirsty at every single water point (of which, thankfully, there were plenty - 16 or 17!). In past races I would take water at every other water point or so, but I heard that for this race even the elite runners take water at every opportunity!

I also hadn't run the course at all - too far from my apartment, and I'm much to gross to ride public transit after I run - but had heard it was pretty flat and easy. We started on Orchard Road, which is the fancy shopping street. It was all decked out for Christmas, so the lights were beautiful. We ran through parts of the city, past Marina Bay Sands, the Singapore Flyer, and other landmarks, then set out along the East Coast Parkway, which follows the shoreline for many miles. We ran a long, straight out-and-back - it was fun to see the elite runners going back the other direction, even though it made you realize just how much faster they are! I think I saw the lead runner around his Mile 17 - my Mile 9. Jeez.
I was not prepared for the one loooong uphill over a bridge - starting at Mile 23. It was especially daunting because you could see it a few miles before you reached it so you knew it was coming and that it would hurt. This was also where the full and half marathon courses converged, meaning a lot more congestion and requiring a lot of weaving between walkers. A bit frustrating, especially when people walked in groups and you're like, 'hey man, I've been running a few more hours than you, could you get out the way!?' I managed to run the whole way up though, and got all excited when I finally crested the hill. Yay! Downhill! And then I actually started running downhill, and realized how much more painful that was! By this point though, everything hurt already so it didn't matter. With 3km left, the 10km race also joined in - this was the only part where I felt like the race was poorly managed, as the 'runners' at this point were really walkers...slow ones. Lots of dodging - eventually I stopped caring and just sort of started clearing my path however I needed to (gently...ish...come on people, you don't need to hold hands or walk four across in the middle of a race!)

All throughout, I felt pretty strong. I was nervous for the first 10km, having doubts when I thought about running for another 3+ hours. But as the kilometers ticked by, I realized I was feeling pretty good and actually picking up speed, running the 2nd 10km in 57 minutes (which was probably too fast...) I'm not sure if I ever exactly 'hit the wall' - at least not as bad as in previous marathons. It got tough around Mile 22, but I got it back after walking through a couple water points. There weren't a lot of spectators - and it seemed like most of them really only cheered for the people they knew. Of course, there were some good cheerers - including Jacob, who covered several miles himself trying to get around the course. He managed to get to the course right after that long uphill, which was a great pick-me-up!

The final 200m of the race was really exciting for me - not because I was racing anyone in particular, but because I was SO close to my PR, I knew it, and I truly, actually gave it everything I got. I was sprinting as much as I could sprint after 4 hours of running, and I'm positive that I was making noises reminiscent of a dying animal, but it was such a great feeling. In regular life, you rarely get to feel like you are pushing yourself to the very limit, and that is pretty awesome!

A Day(+) in Agra

On Monday we got an early start and headed to Agra, a 3 hour trip on a brand new superhighway. We passed brick making sites and signs for wild cattle crossings, and as we got into Agra, many wedding bands and processions. We dropped our stuff at the hotel and met our guide for the afternoon, Neeraj. After a paneer-filled lunch at Priya restaurant, we headed off to the main attraction - the Taj Mahal! They keep most cars away from the building (white marble gets dirty!), so you can take an electric golf-cart type thing up to it, or a camel-drawn cart! (Watch out, they spit!)

The Taj Mahal was built by Shah Jahan as a mausoleum and memorial for his wife Mumtaz Mahal. It was built between 1632 and 1653.
Pictures are going to be better than anything I have to say about it!

First glimpse!

The Taj!!

Gorgeous flowers everywhere!

We are sitting on what is known as the Princess Diana Bench - 

and you had to fight for your 3 seconds to take the photograph,

because everyone wants to get their poses in!

To keep the place clean, you can either take off your shoes

or wear shoe covers.

Reliefs carved into the marble decorate the outside, along with inlays or flowers.

There is tremendous inlays of semi-precious stones like
jade, jasper, onyx, and carnelian. The work on the outside
of the building is amazing, but on the inside where the actual
tomb is, the inlay work is even more intricate.

This is not my picture, as photos are not allowed inside the tomb area. But this gives you an idea of the
impossibly intricate inlay work, and well as all the marble carvings. The scenes of flowers show the cycle of life, from budding to blooming to wilting. 

View from the back patio of the the Taj.
You know, they should really put
a Weber grill out here!

On one side of the Taj Mahal is Mosque - and, for the sake of symmetry,
there is an identical building on the other side, which was used as a sort
of guesthouse for visiting dignitaries.

View looking back from the Taj. I didn't get a picture of this, but at the base of a tree on the far left side of this picture, we found a Geocache! We explained Geocaching to Neeraj, who got really excited about it and helped us search.

Cool. (Even if I can't hold a camera straight.)

After our visit, we went to a craft shop where they still create marble inlay by hand. After seeing how the marble is hollowed out and each tiny stone in the design is shaped, I had an even greater appreciation for the craftsmanship and the sheer scale of the Taj.

A small design like this has something like 50-70 pieces!

So you can imagine how long it took to create this table!! Of course, everything was for sale! Though 'sale' is not a word I would associate with those prices! If only...

After the craft shop, we went on to the Red Fort. This was built before the Taj Mahal, and was a fortress and the main residence of the Shah's harem. 

You go through three gates to enter the main living area,
and the approaches are zig-zagged so you can't charge right in.

 

Again, I'm not normally a flower person, but all the gardens here just blew me away!

I couldn't resist taking a picture of these ladies in their saris.
I hadn't realized that saris were still so commonly worn.
I just loved all the beautiful fabrics, and how colorful all the crowds were.

Looking out at the Taj Mahal

More ridiculous marble work!

Archways!

After we left the Red Fort, Neeraj was determined to help us find the other Geocache located in Agra. That brought us to a big park across the river from the back of the Taj Mahal - a place we probably wouldn't have come to if not for Geocaching!

Something in there!

Found it!

When we realized we didn't have a pen to sign the log book,
Neeraj took off and managed to borrow one from another tourist.

At sunset.

We checked out one more craft store, featuring embroidery and gemstones, but by this time we were pretty tired and not interested in another sales pitch, so after a cursory look - and being frightened by a giant embroidery of a tiger eating a peacock - we headed back to the hotel.

Blue steel!

We ate more delicious Indian food at the hotel restaurant, Peshawri. Never seen bibs at such a classy place before - but then, you were encouraged to eat with your hands, so they were practical.

A very, very good day.

We rose early to go see sunrise at the Taj Mahal. Though clouds meant that there were no spectacular pinks and reds in the sky, seeing it in the misty morning was beautiful - and quiet!

Taj Monkey!

One of the guards outside the Taj Mahal, looking out on the river.
Yep, her gun is propped up on the sandbags!

View across the river. I can see out Geocache tree!

The people show you how big it really is!

WAZOO TANK!

Reflections.

After spending a pensive hour or two walking around the grounds, we headed back to the hotel for a dynamite buffet breakfast. We then packed and headed back to New Delhi, There, after lunch, we were dropped at the airport where we said our goodbyes, my parents departing for Goa, India, and I for Singapore. Definitely a weekend we'll never forget!!

Ahhhh...