year 2009

finally i'm back in the blogging world! haha, been really busy recently so i wasnt in the blogging mood much. anyway, a quick update is that i've been attached to the frigate RSS Supreme. quite a nice bunch of crew and officers (lest 1). i enjoyed working with them.

the shin is recovering well. it's been week 5 of my recovery and i did 5k yesterday with the team, then another 5k today with the ship crew for cohesion. obviously my cardio is a bit off now but i'm sure that with some hardwork and patience (important!) i'll get my form back by season.

it's been quite a year. so many things i am thankful for. God has really blessed me with much this year, especially in my athletic career. that's not to say that things have been all smooth sailing, but i choose to look at the positives rather than the negatives.

1) a wonderful first season with the bi team. it was really fun and amazing, and i look forward to the next one in about 3 months time.

2) my first foray into ironman (or rather, the half-ironman). suriving it was one thing. completing it with my friends is another. some of the most painful but also the most memorable 6 hours of my life.

3) running the fastest marathon of my life so far during sundown. only to have the timing chip screw it up for me. i'm still certain i did 3:20 something.

4) venturing into OD tri racing and also the hardest bike route ever at lake kenyir, then port dickson. ouch.

5) finally getting my COC (yay!)

6) doing a sub-5hr half ironman at desaru. granted the swim was probably about only 1.5k, but still.

7) winning my first (and very lucrative!) race. h20 biathlon.

8) PB for OD tri. 2:14 during trifactor and finishing 2nd overall.

9) committing myself into doing 1500m free for NUS. then finishing 20:55 when i was aiming about 21 mins. this was really really gratifying.

10) winning my second race, RP Bi.

11) learning about recovery. how much rest my body needs and what kind of training i respond better to. unfortunately some of this i had to learn the hard way.

12) being attached to the frigate and having a good VA. not too stressed and also quite a good learning experience.

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it's been a long year, and there's a longer one coming up ahead. i'll do a post on things i'll look forward to in 2010 tomorrow. time to go for a bike ride.

perspective

it's all about how u choose to look at things.

half full or half empty.

it's your choice to be happy or miserable.

ok gtg and refill my fill up my half full water bottle.

sea games

been watching the sea games swimming. pretty amazing. quah ting wen must be half-mermaid.

congrats to dinah for getting 3rd in the cycling individual time trial! all the ebst for the mass start tomorrow! kick them if they try to kick u! pretend it's a triathlon swim start!

maybe... just maybe... if i keep training and keep going at it hard enough... 2011?

we'll see...

PS: i did a 10 plus min jog on the grass today... after which i became breathless. HAHAHA. my run chui liao... from PB of 39:25 for 10k to nothing.

Plans for 2010

posting this cause i dunno what i want to talk about, but still feel like updating my blog.

races to kill at the present moment in the upcoming year.

1) IVP

2) Sing BI

3) Aviva Ironman 70.3 Triathlon Singapore

4) OSIM International Triathlon

5) Ironman Frankfurt

more to follow..........

Brian Boyle - Iron Heart

60% blood loss. Heart moved across his chest. Pulverised organs and bones. 2 months of medically induced coma.

Fast forward 3 years.

Ironman finisher.

another proof that nothing is IMpossible

Stan Chart 2009 - A Spectator's Perspective

this was the first time that i was watching a race rather than taking part in it. taking into account my long term goals next year, i decided not to run with a shin splint that is taking longer than usual to heal (probably cause i've still been running until last week).

i reached the race site just in time to see mok come into the last 200m. he finished with a time of 2:43. he was the top singaporean. considering this was his first marathon, it is an understatement to say that this was a good debut.

ashley was 8 mins behind him at 2:51 to finish second sinagporean. been hearing alot about how he'd been training. must have paid off.

saw the rest such as (in no particular order) junyang, bear bay, mark, baldwin, lucas, josh, zhixiang, eddy chun kiak, nicholas, elston, sanny and quite a few others finish. it looked so fun.

most importantly, i was down to watch the rubicon-huggs runners come in. saw uncle rodney, doing his umpteenth marathon. then there was just, my best friend for 15 years doing his first marathon. he only picked up running this year with the AHM, then decided to do the 42.2 today. he did about 5hours plus plus, which for a first timer doesnt really matter. first time just complete can already. my first marathon i cramped and walked the last 10km, so this was quite an achievement for him.

inside, i was feeling happy for everyone. some hit their PB's some didnt. but they finished, and the smiles on their sweaty faces meant it was all worth it. the time and effort spent training were all worth it.

obviously i felt sucky (understatement). the top 2 singaporean men were both uni students, which goes to show how the younger guys stepping up to the marathon distance are making quite an impact in the scene. a few months ago this was my dream too, to do a sub 3:10 to qualify for boston. never is easy to come to terms when there is a gap between what u want and what u can realistically get is too big to cross.

i just have to be patient and know that with the rest time i will come back stronger and faster. in the mean time, go mok and ashley. go boston (if u decide to go) and experience my dream for me. hope to join u guys one day. cheers.

I stayed up for 10 hours to watch the whole race and it was worth every single 600 mins

looks easy? looks are deceiving. 17 hours of racing compressed into a 1 hour plus show.

mind made up

i've decided. i will not run stan chart this sunday.

reasons being:

1) dun want to worsen my shin splint into a stress fracture. let's take it easy now so that i can build my base for next season =)

2) minimal training. rather than do a sub-par marathon, i should be patient and then aim for another marathon where i can actually perform.

3) if i want to take this whole endurance sport thing seriously, then i should take the signals that my body is giving me seriously too.

4) next year's aviva, sing bi, ivp, and frankfurt.

cheers to me. i'm growing up. =D

i still want to thank my sponsors for stan chart. rubicon (a head hunting firm) and huggs (coffee and sandwich cafe) for the running top and shorts. sorry i will not be able to represent you all in the marathon. i will be there to support and wait for u guys to cross the finish line though!

now to find someone i can borrow a camera from..........