This month, Lim Thow Wee ran his fourth marathon. He began running marathons in 2006; the full marathon covers 42.195 km, and is an endurance exercise that is considered a peak event in the sporting arena. For Lim, it’s not the race that’s the toughest thing, but the sacrifices and commitments made prior to the race. City News spoke to him about training for his latest marathon.
The last three marathons, I wasn’t too serious as I ran only about 50 to 60 kilometers per week. My personal best was 3 hours 49.52 seconds in 2007. This year, I decided that since running is my God-given gift, I decided to pursue it seriously and strive to be among the top few in Singapore. Miraculously, I found Mr Rameshon, Singapore’s marathon record holder since 1995 (his personal best time is 2 hours, 24.22 seconds), on the internet and managed to ask him to be my coach. He willingly obliged.
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| PHOTOS: Lim Thow Wee |
Under Rameshon’s coaching, life has been quite different! I have to run at least 150 km per week — that means I have to run every day to spread out the workload, sometimes twice a day. My diet has to change as well. More fruits and vegetables have to be incorporated into my meals as their anti-oxidants aids in better muscle-recovery. Fast food, meat, greasy food and sugary stuff have to be off my menu for some time.
The people in my life have been very supportive. My cell group members have been encouraging me week in and week out, and they have been actively running as well. My family prepares plenty of nutritious food for me — they’ve even changed grocery items to things like bananas, low-fat milk, canola spread instead of butter. My wife has been amazing as she’s willing to sacrifice our personal time just for me to pursue my dream. In addition, she will be taking part in her maiden half-marathon.
It will be exciting come 7 December 2008, Sunday. It’s the culimination of my last few months of serious training. I hope to use it as a platform to draw closer to my dream of being the top few marathoners in Singapore in the next few years!
Editor’s Update: Lim Thow Wee came in 10th with the timing of 3 hours 10 mins in the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon on 7 December. His coach, Mr Rameshon came in 1st with the timing of 2 hours 49 mins.
