Month: November 2017

It was the last 200m of the half marathon and I squeezed out whatever energy I had left in my legs to give a last sprint, brushing my sweat against people and trying to reach the finish line. As I crossed the finish line, I felt relieved and elated that it was finally over, that I had completed my very first half marathon.

But when I saw the timing I took to complete it, I felt a tinge of regret, because of all the things I did wrongly. I didn’t manage to get a good sleep before the race, I didn’t eat enough before the race, I didn’t manage to pace myself properly because my phone was showing me the wrong pace due to the high-rise buildings affecting my phone’s GPS, I even ran a little too much the day before the race.

Nonetheless, it was a lesson to be learnt. And now that it’s over, I’m looking forward to my favourite part about races…. Pictures and FOOD with my friends after!

I’ve never been interested in running; even during my army days, I never really trained for my IPPT but somehow always managed to pass (never going below 12 minutes for my 2.4km run though). However, one day in 2016, I decided to start running on my own because I stumbled upon an article regarding the benefits of LISS (Low Intensity Steady State cardio) and wanted to try it in hope of burning some calories.

I started by taking it easy at first, but I soon became obsessed with trying to increase the distance I can run. All that was going through my mind while running was that I MUST run more than I did last week. Eventually, I got tired of running every week, tired of just trying to clock mileage. I got so sick of running that I stopped running completely. That was until I joined ROCKrunners this year.

I’ve been following ROCKrunners for a while and I’ve always wanted to join their weekly runs, but I feared that I would be awkward because I didn’t know anyone there, so I didn’t. Then one day, I was scrolling through my Instastories and I saw the story that ROCKrunners had posted, of them doing intervals and they seemed like they were having fun. I don’t know what came over me at that moment, but I messaged them on Instagram, telling that that I was interested to join them for their run the following week.

The following Saturday, as I made my way to The Lawn, I got more nervous with each step I took. When I arrived, I joined them for the warm up and introduced myself. During the run, I got to know Sheryl, Sam, Dalton and Philly.

Since then, I’ve been joining ROCKrunners on the weekly runs on a regular basis. I now enjoy running so much more because of the company that I have. Running with friends is so much more enjoyable than running alone; encouraging each other, being motivated just by looking at the back of your friends who are running in front of you. (I want to say a big THANK YOU to everyone who has ever ran with me and cheered me on.)

I’ve always wanted to attempt a half marathon but I feared that I wouldn’t be able to complete it or that I would end up with an unsatisfactory timing. Then I saw Shan Ming’s Instastory about SingTel’s Race Against Cancer. I went to look up the race and saw that they had a category of 15km. I thought to myself that 15km “seems manageable” so I decided to sign up for it after a few days of consideration.

On the race day, I remember feeling nervous and fearful that I would not be able to complete the 15km. However, while waiting for the race to start, Shan Ming and Connie kept encouraging me and told me to take it easy as it was my first race. At the end of the race, I realised my fears were unfounded and I did better than I expected.

Something I’ve come to realise is that life is your own race, run whatever pace you want to run, and be happy with it. Sometimes you’ll feel invincible, sometimes you’ll stumble and fall, but just smile and enjoy the moment, even in the hardest of times.

Some run to keep fit, while others run to relax. These are some of the reasons why many of us choose to run. Hopefully you’re already running, for your own reasons. Else, let me share with you my story and maybe by the end of it you will find yours. So who am I?

I’m Dalton Lim. Just an ordinary 27-year-old male working in the air force.. at least that is how I see myself. As a kid I grew up in a single-parent family all the way till my dad remarried when I was about seven. It wasn’t something I wanted with my childlike mind back then, but as time passed I grew to accept it and everything turned out fine.

Growing up as a kid, I’ve always been that hyperactive kid that runs around a lot. You can say I’m a naturally a very sporty kid. Sadly, while I was in primary school I was rejected from the track and field team as they said I was “too small”.

Later, in secondary school, I had to contemplate whether to join the choir or the track and field team. It was a hard choice as singing was something I loved as well. Ultimately, I chose to join the track team and it was a choice I never regretted.

At this point of time, the main reason for running was because I was relatively a fast runner. The feeling of freedom while I was running was something I enjoyed. Coupled with the fact that I enjoyed the adrenaline while competing and of course, the feeling of winning races. While on the track team, I was also lucky to have been given the opportunity to develop my leadership skills by leading the team as captain.

However, when I was in polytechnic, the running momentum died off and I got kinda lazy. There wasn’t any requirement to have a CCA, hence I didn’t have any reason to run and it resulted in the biggest drop in my fitness.

Towards the end of my poly days though, I was smacked in the face by reality with the fact that I would be enlisting soon and I had failed to get a silver for the NAPFA. As a result, I had to enlist for an extended BMT which was four months instead of the usual two months.

That made me pick up running again as I wanted to sign on as an Air Force officer and fitness is a basic requirement. This process of running to maintain fitness (so I could pass my IPPT too) continued all the way throughout my studies.

I never ran out of passion or personal interest to run… until I decided to try my first full marathon, a bucket list item. Two weeks after I registered, I tried my first 20km and I immediately started to feel regret. Nonetheless I continued to train for about two months till race day and I completed it in a decent timing of 4 hours and 59 minutes.

This was when my passion for running was reignited. The drive for personal improvement challenged myself to constantly train to improve. This led to me finding more like-minded people to train with and that was how I came to know of ROCKrunners. And at the same time, I started participating in more races.

My love for running has since grown a lot and I’ve learnt a lot about life. Not only has it helped define who I am now, it will continue to help me learn more about myself. Throughout this journey, my reasons for running has changed but thankfully there was always a reason to keep running. I hope after hearing my story you’ll be encouraged to find your reasons and start (or keep) running! It is an honour for me to be featured as ROCKstar of the month for September and sharing my story with you.