last year i took part in the relay team event and swam 400m while norms was my running partner for the 1.5k run. we got third that day.
this time i was in the individual category with josh and dex. there werent really any preps for this race, mainly cause it is so short (450m swim and 2.4km run - though we all agree that it was not 2.4km. way too short)
NUS was the only uni participating, alongside the other polys and this time, singapore sports school. scott ang was there. scay kid. he swims damn blooody fast, not to mention that he's representing singapore in the youth olympics next year.
JJ chartered a super duper nice van to take the team to RP. after a short warm up, we were soon up on the blocks to start.
my swim was stiff. i was still aching from gymming on thursday, so my back felt like a block of wood (or whatever is stiff). i saw the 2 swimmers from SSS gaining a ridiculous lead over all the rest of us. my only thoughs were just to keep pushing so that the deficit would not be too big out of the water.
finished the swim in 6:25 at third position (definitely not at my 100%). got out of the pool and headed to transition. one of the SSS kids was still at transition while scott was already running out. at that point i was about to put on my shoes when i noticed that the shades on the shoes were orange. it was josh's! (the perils of having the same shoes with same lock laces next to each other) i jumped into my own box to get into my shoes.
i realised that i had too many things in transition for such a short race. race belt, shoes, shades, singlet. wah lau. so i bit into my race belt and grabbed the singlet and ran off with my shades on my head. i had to change while running so as not to waste time.
scott had about 25s over me, and i had no choice but to push real hard on the run to catch him. at first it looked like i wouldnt be able to do it, until slowly but surely the gap between us closed that i knew i had a shot at this.
i told myself to keep up the ridiculously painful pace i was running, and soon after i passed scott to get into the lead. then we hit the slopes of the run course. wah lau. damn painful. but i knew that after the slopes it was just another 100m or so to the finish. so i kept going at it till finally near the end i saw that i had a comfortable lead and i could pose for the ending. it was a sign of thanksgiving to God at the finish line.
the night before i actually prayed for victory. it was the first time that i had made this kind of request. usually i just pray for a good race, but never to win. but the night before i realised that this was a race that i could win. so why not right?
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything , by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving,, present your request to God. - Philippians 4:6
my run time was 7:46, so total was 14:11.
josh came in 4th, while ZY won her race as well! orlanda, delphine and dex also took part and finished in good time. Nic and JJ got 2nd for the relay cat, with ben and zhan yuan finishing up the rest of our team's performance. thanks goes out to norms as well who drove all the way down to woodlands to support us!
another rewarding day for the team! the oldies certainly showed that we are no pushovers!
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