It's all in your mind

The marathon taught me a few things about myself and life.
1) I'm a weak-willed piece of turd.
I was managing fine, all the way up till 38 km, and then my entire left leg (calf + thigh + hamstring) simultaneously cramped up. Of course, the pain forced me to stop and walk for about 30 seconds, which would have been okay, except that 20 seconds after i started running after the walk, i stopped again, unable to conjure up the willpower to do the "mind-over-matter" thing. This occurred a few times until...

2) Ego is good for you.
...until some woman came puffing past me in her pink tights, and i was like "@$@#%@#", and somehow, my ego managed to override the pain, and gave me renewed mental strength. People along the streets would have noticed me grimacing in pain, but hey.... whatever works.

3) It's all in your mind.
So, at the end of the day, sitting around the Padang, looking at the participants, i really think it's all in your mind. I mean, sure, 42km is ridiculously long (roughly the longest diagonal of Singapore), and yeah, 4-8 hours is a ridiculously long time to spend continuously on the move, but 70+ years old can finish just 20 minutes behind me, people who are like 45 kg overweight can finish it in 5+ hours, whats your excuse?