Yesterday was NUS bi, the IVP race for the 4 unis of NUS, NTU, SMU and SIM.
it was a super early morning start, waking at 5 and reporting at 6plus. my wave was supposed to start at 715. after the registration, the usual cam-whoring, complaining about the race organzers and an almost non-existent warm up, NUS team 1 consisting of Mok, Josh Li, Me, Nicolas, Lemin, Josh Lim and Dex were ready to go.
the swim was tough, though i could feel that i wasnt going as hard as i wanted to. maybe it was in anticipation of the super tough run later, or (more likely) the lack of a proper warm up, i didnt manage to hit the sub-11 timing that coach and i wanted to go for.
came out of the swim 2nd (behind NTU's sick sick roderick) at about 11:20something, and after a very fast transition (if i may say so myself heh) and went off. i took the lead just as we exited the MPSH building and started the run course of endless hills.
at the first hill i was already panting my ass off from the swim. gd ness. but i tried to remember how i went up that hill during thursday's transition training and pull myself up and over. once on the down hill i just took advantage of the free speed and turned left to go round arts.
i looked back at this point. no one. "where is mok?" scenarios ran through my mind, wondering what had happened to him. he was just a couple of seconds behind me in the swim, and by all earthly logic, he should have caught me long ago.
down the TH slope and turn towards biz i finally got a glimpse of mok. he was less than a 100m behind me, and by the time i hit the start of the PGP slope, he had caught and overtaken me. (took u long enough!) i slogged myself up that short but probably the steepest slope, then tried to get my rythmn back for the second part of the PGP slope. that looooonnnng stretch was just adding more pain to misery.
turn left again into KE7, and i knew the end was near. after the 1st (and hardest of the 3 slopes in this area), josh caught me. his footsteps were so loud. at this point it was soooooo damn tempting to just slow and stop. just walk. but the better and braver part of me screamed "NOOOOO!" and i forced myself onwards. i told myself to just aim to keep josh in sight.
pretty soon i hit the last downslope to go down the last slope to the finish. i was in so much pain at the end, where you feel your lungs were not big enough to take in the amount of oxygen your body demanded. i crossed the finish super happy that the run was over, and also as a peronal victory. total time: 34 mins flat.
team 1 managed to sweep the top 5 men's position, and with 7 of us from NUS in the top 10. it was another great result for us. this would guarantee us the first place for men's IVP team.
the girls also did great despite some last min setbacks to clinch 1st, 4th and 5th in their race, and managed to win the women's IVP team by a margin of 2 mins. (whew. scary.)
both our men's and women's team 2 also managed to get the 3rd places!
the individual 3rd medal today was the msot important medal for me today. not that i am placing myself above the team, but rather it was because today was such a personal victory.
having been blighted by shin splints since late last year, i have lost alot of confidence in my run. to prep for this, i have been doing my brick sessions on the NUS bi route. after an hour or so of hardwork on the trainer i dragged myself to hit those slopes time and again. on the run, it was the thought of not wanting to let myself and the team down that pushed me onwards. i imagined the joy of that we would all experience at the end, and told myself that if i just keep pushing it would be one step further to make this dream a reality. i was not gonna let all that training be wasted just becuase i didnt want to push anymore. and it really summed up something that i have always been telling myself. "if u want something bad enough, u will have to work hard enough to get it"
it has been a long journey with the team this year. the freshies are now considered "seasoned" and have taken over. great job by the prev exco in bringing us through. thanks goes to coach david for always pushing me in the pool and being a great guide out of it. all the sweat, lactate and pain we gone through has culminated in this one day and we certainly enjoyed it. yesterday we celebrated the results, but more importantly we celebrated the journey that we have all gone through together as part of a family (albeit a very sick family). looking forward to the next long and painful that the new exco we bring us on.
loves, hugs and kisses, XOXOXOXO
jon ma
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