The Jouney...

This has been a journey that started over a year ago. From my decision to do an Ironman, then obtaining a slot for Ironman Frankfurt and from then on it was all a long road of preparing for what is undeniably the biggest race of my (almost 22 years of) life so far.

Back in Secondary School, I hated running. The 2.4km we had to do for fitness tests was a pain the ass. I knew that I was an above than average runner, but I did not enjoy doing it. The only reason why I ran was to either pass the tests, or to accompany friends, or forced to do so in school inter-house meets. It was only in Junior College that I started to enjoy running more when we had to run 4km for warm up during soccer trainings. I was a goalkeeper and I was able to run with my friends who played outfield. Oddly enough, I enjoyed the company, as well as the silence between me and my beating heart and moving lungs. The adrenaline rush was an added bonus after the run was over.

When soccer season ended, I needed an outlet for all my pent up energy and release from the stress of studying for my A Levels. I turned to swimming.

I had been swimming since I was little. However, due to my lanky build and small frame, I was nowhere near fast enough to turn competitive. I was above-average-fast, but still not fast enough to join the ranks of the club swimmers where Singaporean swimmers blossom. At 13, I did a trial with my coach for the 50m freestyle. When my hand touched the wall, I looked up, and the very first thing I heard was my coach’s friend saying to my coach, “For his age, he’s quite slow.” Upon hearing that, I gave up swimming totally for the next couple (and probably the most important developmental) years of my life. During these years I was active (if you can call such an immobile sport as such) in air rifle and soccer.

I started swimming again in JC after my classes. The nearby pool had been renovated and the facilities were pretty good. I just swam for fun, and doing first 10, then 20, 30 and eventually 40 laps at a go. I rediscovered what I loved about swimming. There was a sense of peace and serenity when I was in the water. Gravity was barely-existent, and I felt free like a fish in the sea (pardon the cliché analogy).

All these continued when I joined the army for my National Service. I was one of the faster runners in my company, scoring high on fitness tests. I continued swimming on the weekends whenever I could. This carried on when I entered the Officer Cadet School and subsequently signed on with the Navy. Factoring in swimming, running and other fitness tests we had to do, I had the best physical fitness in my batch. If not for my course officer’s blatant favouritism, I would have received the best physical fitness award.

In early 2008, I saw an advertisement for the Singapore Biathlon, which was a 1.5km swim in the sea, followed by a 10km run. Seeing how this combined both my two loves together, I registered and began training for it on my own. I would jog to a nearby swimming pool, do a 1500m swim, and then head out for a 10km run. I did this many times to prepare myself for my first ever endurance race.

On the race day, I did the swim quite comfortably in the sea. Then the run came, and I fell in love with it. I was enjoying the run so much, and I felt so comfortable during the 10km. When I finished, there was that immense sense of achievement and satisfaction. I could not wait for the next biathlon!

Many things happened after that. I was even stricter with my own diet than before. I started working out almost every day. I had found an outlet for the energy I had inside, and I was enjoying every single lactate-burning moment of it.

In August that year I disrupted my service to the Navy to further my studies at the National University of Singapore. There I joined the biathlon team. I remember clearly how I heard about two other freshmen who were competing in the Singapore Ironman 70.3. For someone who had cramped during his virgin marathon in May, I was in awe of these two guys. I could not fathom racing for 5 to 6 hours at all. I mean, that is sick, man. I later met these two guys who would become part of my circle of close friends, Jiajie and Jason.

Meanwhile, I was training actively with the biathlon team and loving it. Finally, I got tempted into investing my money into a bike. With much help from Jiajie, I bought an Orbea Aletta Tri Bike, which had to be brought in from Europe as the bike shop (Soon Watt) did not have my size at that time. So I borrowed Jiajie’s road bike to do my first triathlon. OSIM Corporate (Sprint) Tri, a 750km Swim, 20km Bike and 5km Run race. To sum it up, I fell head over heels with doing Tri after that race. That very night, I made the decision to sign up for the following year’s Singapore 70.3 Ironman.

I watched the video of the2006 Ironman World Championships at Kona Hawaii which Jiajie had since passed to me. It was my first time watching an Ironman, and I was fascinated by what I saw. Especially that of Chris “Macca” Mccormack. He is an Australian Pro Triathlete who on that day, came off the 180km bike 11 minutes behind the leader. He ran his guts out and managed to cut the lead down to 90 seconds before he ran out of real estate and finished second. I was inspired by what I saw and how deep he had dug in to do what he had done. I instantly became a fan.

To cut a already very very very long story short, I now find myself about to attempt my first Ironman 1 year 8 months since I started doing Tri. I still hold the same love (or more) for the sport and enjoy it for what it brings me. I thank God that I am able to experience the fruits of the spirit while I am out there, whether training or racing, and the new experiences and friends it has brought me.

In another couple of hours, I will be doing the Ironman, and I will dig deep, I will fight. I will race hard and smart, and I will make sure I will draw from myself whatever it takes to reach the finish line, knowing that on this day I had given my all and have done my best, holding nothing back. And at the end, I... will... be... an...