William Chong

8 weeks of training.

48 times getting out the door in running shoes.

1,879 minutes spent traversing over 325 km of pavement, trail and road.

It all comes together at 6:30am, 2 November 2008, tomorrow when the marathon began.

In less than 24 hours, I’ll be running in the 2008 Auckland Marathon.

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How to start a run…

A friend of mine challenged me to give it a go. And I took up the challenge to not only improve my fitness, but to push my own boundaries and also use it as an opportunity to connect with my friends. The first time I went out on a run, my limbs screamed out in pain and my lungs struggled to shepherd in enough oxygen. An old lady was able to sprint past me with ease; the day after, persistent aching in my calves reminded me of how unfit I was.

… and not grow weary

Each week however, I’ve been encouraged by friends and family, colleagues and co-workers. Some give moral support, some put their trainers on and run with me. Some donate to the NZ Heart Foundation on my HeartRacer page. Some commit it to prayer. But everyone’s been supportive, and have made it so much easier to clock up the next kilometer, or the next half-hour during training. 

So despite the longer distances, I’ve given it a good go, fueled by the positivity of everyone significant in my life. I’ve enjoyed running in a host of different locations, like Howick, Albany, Pakuranga, even Sydney in the midst of my work commitments. It’s gradually gotten easier and easier, and I’m much more appreciative of the local surroundings. It’s been great.

… and spend time with God

When you’re a full-time worker in a family-flat situation, there’s little precious time to yourself. A big part of running for me has been the opportunity to clear my thoughts, meditate on Scripture, revisit church sermons, and pray and spend time with my Maker. Instead of writing a book on the run, I’ve had some quality devotional time.

It’s brought us closer together, no doubt.

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Generally the last week of preparation is spent winding down the intensity of your runs. Aside from a half-hour run on Monday and two 15-minute jogs, I haven’t done much else to let my body recover as much as it can for the race. 

I picked up my race pack on Thursday amid evening rush-hour traffic. It’s clear that I’m not the only one crazy enough to be running over the Harbour Bridge early Sunday morning – there’s over 8,000 other people doing it with me.

Alright, I’m off – wish me luck!

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“But those who wait on the LORD
Shall renew their strength
They shall mount up with wings like eagles
They shall run and not be weary
They shall walk and not be faint.” – Isaiah 40:31 (NKJV)

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Plotting runs on google maps has been pretty fun these past few months. I think I’ve been able to explore many of the sights and sounds of my local suburbs – something that unfortunately eludes all too many people in their pursuit of the rat race. During my training I’ve been fortunate enough to meander along the streets of Bucklands Beach, Eastern Beach, Howick, Pakuranga, Panmure, Farm Cove, Half Moon Bay, Golflands, Botany Downs, Meadowlands and Highland Park – and my appetite to discover has only just begun!

There’s a lot I’ve discovered about Auckland just by running among the people and their streets. In the past 3 months I’ve seen:

• an elderly sage meditating in a cross-legged and introspective pose, perched on a small wood fence with the beauty of green grass, cobalt sea and sapphire sky behind him
• that Pigeon Mountain has a significant chunk excavated out of one side mastectomy-style, with blocks of housing and a scrappy treeline in its place
• the wetland area that skirts around the Tamaki inlet dotted with eager mangrove shoots, a safe haven harbouring an intricate ecosystem I last explored on a primary school field trip
• that there are certain sidewalks in the neighbourhood that lead straight to views so breathtaking, you’re compelled to pause your workout and just savour an E.G.C. moment
• people of all sizes, ages, races, dispositions exercise, and there are more people out on the pavement at 5am in the morning than you’d expect
• an indescribable sense of Auckland’s serenity and safety that I’ve grown to love

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I’m winding down my running distances (as you can tell from my training record). In general, the week leading up to the marathon is where the athlete will want to recover and repair his/her body fully in preparation for the big race. Any strenuous training at this stage is less likely to add significantly to the athlete’s endurance, and more likely to afflict an injury.

Do. Not. Want. Injury. Not now.

I’ll try and do a final write-up as close to the race as possible. I’m bringing a camera with me, so hopefully I will be able to give you an on-the-street, as-close-as-you’ll-get-to-running-it-yourself perspective of the 2008 Auckland marathon event. Stay tuned!

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Tricia, Ben, Paul, Theresa, Maria, Yuen, Henry, Tina, Brendan – thanks heaps, you guys are amazing! Check out my HeartRacer page and see how they’ve totally broken through the fundraising target!

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Week 11: Training Record

20.10.08 – Route – 33 min – 5:41pm – 6.30 km Run
21.10.08 – Route – 39 min – 7:56pm – 6.96 km Jog
24.10.08 – Route – 39 min – 5:25am – 6.96 km Jog
25.10.08 – Route – 1 hr 14 min – 7:29am – 13.79 km Run with BL
26.10.08 – Route – 33 min – 7:20am – 5.82 km Jog

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I had a heartfelt conversation with one of my running buddies last night.

He talks about finding meaning in life, and seeking out challenges. He laments about being caught in between two worlds. His conscience tells him that he doesn’t belong, doesn’t fit the drinking, partying lifestyle of the twenty-something youth. Yet conversely, he doesn’t have the faith and certainty exhibited in a church setting, exhibited by Christians around him worshipping the God they believe in. “I know I don’t belong”, he says.

His words seemed to guard a subtle tinge of what I guessed to be disillusionment. This is a friend who is still looking for meaning and purpose in life.

On training and running this marathon, there have been a few moments where I too, have been made to think.

Moments where you consider what our toil and trouble in this world is for.

Moments where you consider the strange fact that once this earthly race is run, the recognition, the treasures, the wreath, the crowns you gain in the here and now aren’t transferrable. In fact, the Bible uses the term perishable to describe the the accolades we get:

“And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown…” – 1 Cor 9:25

Mm.

My hope is that I run the race not for my own sake.

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Thanks Jared and Kristy! The finish line is in sight, check it out at my HeartRacer page: I’m still training as often as I can!

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Week 10: Training Record

13.10.08 – Route – 39 min – 5:45pm – 6.98 km Run with short sprints
14.10.08 – Route – 31 min – 6:20pm – 5.34 km Run
16.10.08 – Route – 51 min – 5:34am – 8.62 km Run
18.10.08 – Route – 50 min – 3:48pm – 8.54 km Run with short sprints

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Hi everyone – just thought I’d type this out while being stuck in heavy Auckland traffic.

Today I’ve been flirting with the possibility of upping the ante on my half-marathon attempt, and perhaps going the full 42 km instead. It’s apparently not too late to switch, and all of those donations would then be worth twice as many kilometers! Of course, it could end up being a disaster if my body suddenly finds itself unable to cope with the extra burden, and I fail to complete the race before nightfall!

One of the more frequent questions I get asked when I tell them I’ve been training for a half-marathon is: “How much weight have you lost?”

To be honest, I haven’t lost any weight for all the months of ugly-running bluster. I think that my waistline has remained marginally unflattering largely because of my diet; I’ve pretty much increased my food intake to match my running. Post-exercise nutrition is usually something like a banana, or a muesli bar. That’s in addition to regular Powerade and water during runs, and large meal portions after everything else!

All the serious runners will be using their own specially-formulated drinks and crazy hi-energy gel foods and camel packs. That’s crazy stuff…

In the weekend I was fortunate enough to celebrate Kim’s birthday with not one, but two birthday meals. We went to Daikoku Restaurant in Botany for lunch and enjoyed a couple of well-presented and tasty lunch-box sets. The waitresses wore kimonos and fashioned the latest Japanese-style footwear craze – the er… socks and sandals combination.

After a big lunch, we drove home. And I proceeded to get my running gear on and run back there.

And back again.

That’s about a distance of 17 km all up.

So with the help of Jesus Christ, Steve Jobs, Peter Somervell, Mark Driscoll, Jamie Cullum, Parachute Band, Bob Kauflin, I survived my longest training session yet: a run of 1 hour and 40 minutes (the list is not meant to be in any order of importance: Steve Jobs =/= divine dude).

You know that you’ve run very far when your stopwatch kindly reminds you that it’s the “halfway point” and you’re three suburbs away -�it’s times like this you start to appreciate the invention of the automobile. I guess back when people didn’t have cars, to get from Bucklands Beach to Botany would most likely have required a day trip.

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Even more fun was training today – a much shorter timespan of 40 minutes, but made interesting by the �interspersed 30-second mad sprints (yes, that would have been me doing random sprints along the Eastern Beach parade). Oh that was fun.

It’s funny how much effort it takes to get out the door and put your running shoes on… but once you’re out there and you’re at a comfortable pace, you almost don’t want to stop.

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Week 9: Training Record

8.10.08 – Route – 45 min – 8:01am – 7.98 km Pre-interview Jog
9.10.08 – Route – 43 min – 6:93am – 6.93 km Tea Run
11.10.08 – Route�- 1 hr 41 min – 3:24pm – 16.97 km Run

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Thanks Kelvin! Keep it up guys and gals, there’s less than 3 weeks before the big race! Sponsor my running/training/marathon mission and support the NZ Heart Foundation by clicking on this link here.

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Some people have asked me if I’ve got a target time for the 21km run. To be honest, my initial thoughts at the start of my training programme (i.e. months ago) was really just appreciating the opportunity to take part. I’d do my best, it’d be no problems, I’d raise a sizeable amount for the Heart Foundation, and catch up and train with friends through the week.

But that was before I read the back cover of Newstalk ZB radio presenter Kerre Woodham‘s marathon memoir.

Granted, she’s way more pro (having done full marathons and getting the media accolades for it) so perhaps it’s not a fair comparison. But her half-marathon results are around the 2-hour mark (2:03:41).

So let’s go for that!

Provided I can keep my pace between 5 and 6 minutes per kilometer, and not tail off horrendously in the second half of the November 2nd road adventure… I think it’s a realistic aim for my athletic ability.

So. Let’s. Beat. Kerre! (Or at least be motivated by her to some degree…)

Enjoy the return of the sun, everyone!

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I’m fundraising for the Heart Foundation of New Zealand. Check out my HeartRacer page.

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Week 7: Training Record

22.9.08 – Route – 25 min – 5:41am – 4.6 km Jog
23.9.08 – Route – 28 min – 5:40am – 5.03 km Jog
25.9.08 – Route – 40 min – 5:45am – 7.32 km “Tea” Run
27.9.08 – Route – 33 min – 3:35pm – 5.97 km Jog
28.9.08 – Route – 66 min – 6:52am – 11.78 km “Lee” Run

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It’s always great to run with someone else.

For a start, a training run passes by so much quicker when you’re chatting away down the footpath. The soreness and breathlessness seem muted when you’re engaging in friendly banter. You pace each other (provided the other guy’s not a professional marathon runner) and cover more ground.

And it’s also quite fun.

For all those who’ve decided to show their support by actually walking the talk and joining me in training – that’s awesome. I love you guys. Rather than pleasantries and rhetoric, you guys make it so much more rewarding by joining the fray, and doing something. No matter how little or how often I get to run with you, I’m happy because we get to spend a small portion of our lives in comradeship (so to speak).

So thanks!

This week I’ve ramped up the running a little to make up for last time. As you can see (below), each run steps up in time and length. One highlight was tracking along Eastern Beach on Tuesday, with the near-full harvest moon casting a pale limelight for each step I took under the clear night sky.

I think a realistic aim is to try to maintain my current pace which is between 5 and 6 minutes per kilometre, across the duration of the race. So far I’m tailing off a bit, especially past the hour mark into previously uncharted territory – I’ll look to working on that!

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I’m fundraising for the Heart Foundation of New Zealand. Check out my HeartRacer page.

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Week 6: Training Record

15.9.08 - Route - 23 min – 4:48pm – 4.02 km Jog
16.9.08 – Route - 35 min – 8:14pm – 5.95 km Jog
17.9.08 – Route - 43 min – 5:35am – 7.66 km “Tea” Run
19.9.08 – Route – 75 min – 8:47am – 12.39 km Run 

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Mm.

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It’s been a bit hectic this past week – unfortunately it meant one less run as a result. I had to apply some creative tactics (i.e. wake up super early) to fit in a few runs.

Nevertheless, this week’s training did include by far the most picturesque running route. I took advantage of a work trip to Sydney to savour the pavement-pressing experience, running past many a unique photo op along the way. You don’t always get many opportunities to do calf stretches in front of views of the Sydney Opera House and associated cityscape, so I’m very grateful.

Just as I’m grateful for the donations that keep trickling in! I believe that if just 5 more people helped out with $1 per km I lug my frame along come November 2, there’s a good chance of making the fundraising target!

I’ll leave this post with a picture of a group of people struggling with a fitness “boot camp” – their instructor barked out orders for pushups, rope pulling, jogging and so on! The Botanical Gardens I ran through was definitely a hive of fitness-related activity! Swiss balls, practice cones, shuttle runs, pilates sessions, stair climbing…

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Want to help but haven’t yet? Help me reach the fundraising target by clicking through to my HeartRacer page!

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Week 5: Training Record

9.9.08 – Route – 34 min – Jog
11.9.08 – Route – 34 min – 5:11am – Jog
12.9.08 – Route – 30 min – 6:13am – 5.16 km Sydney run

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Hope you’re all doing well as the inclement spring weather introduces itself!

I put in some pretty good runs this week. The durations start gradually extending and I start building in the distances, as per the training programme.

Did my first night run on Tuesday…

… and there’s not too much that beats being in your own space running towards old Howick under a clear night sky, amber hues cast from various electrical monoliths that one takes in their running strides, those veritable progress markers.

And then there’s the dawn run (Thursday), where you bounce along the Eastern Beach esplanade as if the waves and the sand wake up to your footsteps – “and though the clouds may hide the sun”, on Thursday morning it peeked through just in time to usher in the working day.

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