what?: Xmas buildup and celebrations!

as some of you might know, these few months has been quite an emo roller coaster on me. from poor results ( and i mean really poor.. not those who get A- and sad that nv get A type of poor!), injuries which affect my training and of course, certain personal problems.

things have certainly turn in the positive direction. i am definitely going to focus (which i seriously lack in sem 1) on my studies and study smarter. an attempt to pull up my overall GPA! i can do it! i dun believe i can't after surviving A levels and Adv Dip..

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Team Runfanatics had a Xmas gathering at my house on the 20th and we had lots of laughter and fun eating. well.. as runners.. even as entertainment, we watch a movie on Pre (one of USA's top runner who passed away young).. Sham came late and came to give us a very inspiring 2 hours speech. he even gave out awards for best sportsman and sportswoman of the year who so deserve it. cheers to Isabel (completing 3 marathons in 1 month and all around 4:30! damn good) and Andy (amazing athlete who has fantastic results for 2008).. Tricia was selected as Captain and i really think she is the best candidate because she always cheer us on during training and i believe she has the potential to lead us to better performance.. Go Tricia, the team manager (points at me) will be behind u!

training wise, Sham talked to me and.. his exact words were:

"eugene, u can be one of the top runners in S'pore.. all you need is hard work and patience.. be patient."

well as much as the fact of being one of the top runners locally is a daunting fact, he managed to convince me to work really hard towards that target. by "patience", i am sure if you are an endurance athlete, you would understand what it means. this is to pace yourself right, train properly, get enough rest and not overtrain. i learned my lesson from my injury back in Sep. it crippled my ability to run and brought me a lot of agony. at the same time, i disappointed a lot of people who pinned hopes on me. i guess... this is the process of growing up and maturing as an athlete. from now onwards, i will listen to my body and give feedbacks to my coach(es). i will be working closely with Sham and SMU long distance running coach to refine my training and achieve my goals.

i've set my goals in endurance sport for 2009. my focus will be more on triathlon instead of pure running. i believe the combination of swim,bike, run works for me because i am not particularly strong in any discipline but slightly better when all 3 comes together. i will be focusing on shorter distances i.e. Olympic Distance of 1.5km swim, 40km bike, 10km run. in running, i will primarily be doing 10k races and probably 21k for Standard Chartered 2009.

one aspect of being a smart athlete is to choose your race wisely. going for every single race is not constructive for one's body and it doesn't allow you to peak correctly. my races for the first half of the year is tentatively as shown below

1st March 2009 - Newton Active Run 10k (come back race for 2009)
7th March 2009 - Singapore Biathlon (preparation race for Bintan Tri)
23rd May 2009 - Bintan OD Triathlon (one of my major race for the year)

there are many competitors to look out for.. everyone is getting stronger.. so.. no slacking =P.. gotta train hard and train smart!

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21st December marks the first time JEZ met out in like.. 10 million years! haha.. this time round.. it's slightly special as each of us bring the person special to us to the dinner..

had dinner at Manhattan Fish Market at PS which serves great food. (have to book days before.. if not sure no seats!)..took some photos there and we went to Toast Box to hang out further before leaving separately.. haha.. kinda awkward.. but interesting.. hmm.. haha

photos are here