Survived my first 21-km!

I was so surprised that I didn't vomit or crawl to the finish line on October 11, 2008 at the Adidas King of the Road race at the Fort in Taguig. For someone who just started marathon training in July, got injured for a month from over training, then resumed training mid-August - -I am very very happy, thrilled that I completed the 21-km distance (i.e. Fort-Buendia-South Super-Buendia-Heritage Park-Fort), finished in 2 hours 17 mins (note: arrived late and started running 4 mins after flag-off)... and didn't experience any pain that day! Note though that I felt the tightness in the thighs (lactic acid build-up) and some muscle twitches the next day and on the third day after 48-hours, feverish and deadweight. My therapist called it delayed onset of fatigue.
Anyway, a lot of things contributed to this 21-km milestone! First of course is the training. After the heel spur and plantar facitis fiasco that kept me off the track for a month, my coach (Mario Canjas - 0919 657-5124) resumed training slowly. He focused more on endurance and gradual building up the workouts in terms of time instead of mileage. He reduced the training from the previous 6x a week schedule to 5x a week with Sun-Wed as rest days. The weekly workout consisted of 2x speedwork, 2x fartlek and a long run on Saturdays where the length is increased each week by 30 mins. Plus 1x-2x Core training with Pilates instructor Cecile Sicangco. At the last 5km when I felt like I was about to hit the wall, I just tucked in my tummy and remembered her saying to use core muscles.
I still had to contend with my prevailing heel and foot injury and mind you, had additional injuries - like the shin splints on my left leg and patella femoral pain syndrome on my right knee. The plantar actually disappeared when I started wearing my specially moulded orthotics (from Ortho Frey 634-2705). The second factor is therapy. My weekly therapy sessions with Sante's acupuncturist Dr. Butch Ong was increased to 3x a week and also with intuitive nerve therapist Miguel del Prado. Note that Jo the healer left for Russia and found instead Miguel.
Third is nutrition and rest. I started taking Timelab's Endurance Fuel during training and Whey Protein after (both available at Health Express) and the chinese herbs presecribed by Dr. Ong. I also started taking a lot of carbs - pasta and bread. And most of all, sleep. I'm in bed at 10pm!!!
Lets see how I fare in New York on Nov 2!! Wish me luck.