to my buddy Zihao, i'm happy that you finally found a job which you like and also doing the things u wanted to (earning $$ at the same time). it's an enriching job but at the same time, i know it is very tiring. do take care and pace yourself out!
and also, congrats to Jiewen for returning back. i believe you'd have fun coming back to work and i believe a lot of the kids miss u.
i also wanna congratulate this someone who managed to sort things out with her boyfriend and set on a happy path again. good to see that u are not so gloomy (no more long faces!) and started to be happy again. i wish the best for both of you! (but that doesn't mean that i will not chase him down in AHM!.. well.. if i can)
and to one friend who has been rather emo lately. pick yourself up! and if u need ,there will always be friends like me and those who are close to you and care around. and also.. start running!
A new year indicates a new beginning. i would say majority of 2008 will be a relaxing period for me because for almost half of the year, i would not be doing anything much except to train (well ok, not that kinda relaxing) and work (flexible part time).in case you dunno, i'm actually working at Running Lab where we sell mostly running shoes, products and triathlon attires. sms me if you wanna get anything!
NUS Biathlon 2008 (17th Feb 2008)
well shortly after CNY, i went for my first ever biathlon (swim and run). it was a 750m swim and 5km sprint distance. it's actually a build up for a bigger race in 2 weeks' time (Singapore Biathlon). i was very nervous before the race because i didn't know what to expect. i also heard a lot of people saying that sea swim is not like swimming in a pool and at the start, there will be a lot of brawling, tugging and pulling.
luckily, i was with two of my colleagues/friends (Sham and Evan) who have been in biathlons and triathlons. so their presence makes it easier. Wei yang was with me. he, too, is on his first biathlon! on the way to meet sham and evan, he was telling me why are we so dumb paying money to wake up so early and torture ourselves. haha. actually it's true to a certain extent but the joy of completing what you have not done before is something that is very hard to explain.
we reached ECP quite late and had to rush to register and put our things at the transition quickly. after that, we slipped on our shoes for a warm up run.
just minutes into our run, i heard the commentator asking people wearing blue caps. it took me a while to realise that i was in THAT wave! i quickly scramble to my transition, take off my shoes, picked up my swim cap and goggles and rush to the start line. just then, they flagged off! i haven't even catch my breath!! i was thinking "aiya.. just heck it and go in to swim la!"
indeed, if you have not try an open water swim before, you'd definitely be shocked at the brawling inside. haha. i swear somebody touched my butt. i think i got elbowed several times. nono, i WAS elbowed several times. the water was murky and salty. to make things worse, there were sea bugs which stung me all over during the swim (super itch la!). against the current, every stroke didn't seem to be properlling me forward. there was a time where i seriously think that i wasn't moving at all! in the open water, you can't see (except the buoy), hear (except waves and your own breath sounds) and smell (except sea water) anything.
i sighted the beach and swam hard towards it. surfaced and ran towards my transition area (which is good because it's on the edge of the whole transit area). Weeling was there! and boy, it feels good to see a familiar face after the gruesome swim! slipped on my shoes, took my number tag and water bottle and ran. 5km to go.
my run was slow. didn't want to push myself too hard after all it's my first biathlon. sun was coming down on us and the water evaporated and perspiration took over. then i saw the finish line. Sweet!
total time:
750m open water swim: 18 minutes 18 sec
5km run: 28 minutes 7 sec
total: 46 minutes 25 sec
not too bad a result for myself =) it's a build up for the big O in two weeks time
here's some pictures to share!
that's my backview when running towards the finish line!
an all time classsic! evan chasing down sham.. when sham overtook near the finish!
that's us! evan,sham, me and weiyang!
that's our numbers! (nice photo right)
Team Running Lab (with the photograper who was late, Weeling!)
Singapore Biathlon (1st Mar 2008)
The Big race which i had been preparing for the past 3 months. a 1.5km swim, 10km run event (yes,twice of the distance for NUS Biathlon!). this time around, i'm more prepared and felt stronger. reached there early to avoid the same frantic moments i had at the NUS Bi. studied the current and route. did a light warm up run. saw two waves before me.
It was this lady (national swimmer Crystal Feng) who came out of the water first at close to 23 minutes if i am not wrong (super fast!). at the last stretch (from last buoy to shore), she looks like a torpedo and i don't recalling her coming up to breathe at all! after that, the fastest swimmers came on and i saw my coach David (a.k.a Yellowfish). he still take a peek back before moving on (prob to see where the other competing "fishes" are). second wave flagged off and it's my turn to move to the start line. Weeling and Fana were there to support (and i really wanna thank them because it was very early and the weather was quite bad! thank you girls!).
at the start line, i was re-enacting my whole race from swim start to transition to run and to finish (that's why later there is this zonk-out look photo of me). last good luck wishes from the two girls and off i go!
no amount of preparation will prepare you for the swim start (unless you got into a 200 people brawling session before!). the roughness of this race was even worse. i almost drowned and before i reach the first buoy which was like 200m out, i was already exhausted and panting. after the first buoy, things smoothen out and i regain my momentum. as the starting out direction was with the current, my first half was fast (for my own standard) at 15minutes. after that, it was a U-turn and it was battling with the current. i still feel strong but had to conserve for the run. touched down on shore at approx 36minutes. transition took me about 1-2 minutes. same thing. took my belt, power gel and water. weather was super cooling and slight drizzle. perfect weather for a run.
i pace myself at a moderate 5 minutes per km. at every km, a time check ensures i'm right with my target pace and at the 9km part, still feeling good, i ran faster. finish line was in sight and boy, it was nice. wonderful feeling to finish within my target time of 1hr 30 minutes.
total time:
1.5km wim: 00:36:14
10km run: 00:51:04 (counting in transition)
total: 1hr 27 minutes 17 sec
it feels great and i really feel hooked on to this multi-sports field. can't wait for my next race in April: Tribob Sprint Series!
here's some photo again! this time taken with Weeling's Sony SLR!
that's her! crystal feng. first lady (or first person) out of the water!
the "ducks" as Fana and Weeling called. because they wear boots with yellow top and shorts! haha.
the banner every participants wanna see (or not because it signifies 10 more km!)
the "nua" photo! they say i look blur at the start line. i was re-enacting the process in my mind k!
the start line. white caps. my wave. i'm behind there somewhere!
the flag off! ALLEZ!
that's me out of the water!
that's me running and washing my mouth to get rid of the salty taste!
Fana waiting patiently! or not? haha
just keep running, just keep running, running running..
the pain, the suffering, hang on!
i'm running in! woohoo!
shag face (pose one la!)
the finisher medal!
fana in Oakley Radar! but there's no sun
the camera girl weeling!
testing whether the medal is real or not..
haha. yup. that's my two races in these two months. more to come! confirmed list below:
20th Apr - Tribob Sprint Biathlon (750m swim, 10km run)
15th May - New Balance Pacesetters (15km)
31st May - adidas Sundown Marathon (42.195km)
8th Jun - Saucony Passion Run (10km)
today ran 20km from home to Novena. zonked out on the way back and also at home. haha. going to zonk out soon.
will update soon! good luck and happy wishes to all of ya!
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