Great Eastern Women Run 2016

Great Eastern Women Run has always been my favorite run. Simply because it's an all-women run #girlpower. I missed it last year because of Subaru Challenge. 

2016 had been a year plagued with injuries. First, I twisted my left knee in a basketball tournament. Then I injured my right knee which saw me withdrawing from my Ironman race. Just a few weeks back, I injured my lower back. I consulted Dr Cormac O’Muircheartaigh from Sports Medicine Lab for my injuries and only managed to get back to running a few weeks back. 

So the goal for GEWR 2016 was to enjoy the run and to complete the race without injury. I was careful not to increase my mileage too quickly and to hurt myself again. I did multiple 5km runs and only a single 10km run a week before GEWR. The night before the run, I even googled "How to run a half marathon without proper training" ;p

At the start, I kept telling myself to be patient... It's a 21km run and I need to conserve my legs for the later part of the run. Whenever I see a runner charging forward, my mind went "patient... patient..." 

Throughout the run, I was checking for pain in my knees and lower back. None. Soon, I ran past 5, 6 and 7km. I popped a salt tablet... When I reached 10km, I ate a gel. The sun was rising and I told myself, that's where the run really begin... My coach used to tell me, the first 10km is a warm up... the rest is the real race. 

I set the run-walk pace on my Garmin. The strategy was to run-walk the last 10km so that my back can rest... A few times I felt my legs wanted to go faster, but I knew the consequences would be more pain later (which I cannot afford). By the time I reached the last km, I still had legs to pick up speed towards the finishing line. 

There was no pain. No fatigue. No mental wall. I enjoyed the run thoroughly! It was not my best timing but definitely I had worse ;p

Another reason I like GEWR was the Adidas tee. Maybe it's a women only race; the cutting is always flattering. I love, especially the Finisher tee for this year. The colour. The design. Love. 

Every race is an experience and GEWR has been a great one! A confidence boost for my marathon coming up at the end of the month. And a final note... If you want a decent running picture, wear shades :)