End of (Bi) Season

the NUS Biathlon season ended yesterday, with the NIE Biathlon.

i was trying not to think too much about the race. i had ashley liew from smu in my wave, and i knew i had to pull a big lead over him in the swim since i heard that he was stronger than me in the run.

Moments to remember
1) started the day badly, waking up at 620 ( i was to meet jason at 630) so i had to rush down and have bread for breakfast, rather than my usual pre-race muesli cereal.

2) the girl who did the body marking was using a very hard marker. pure agony as she scribed the numbers 023 on my arms.

3) mine was the second wave at 830. just before the start, lemin fell into the pool. cue memories from RP where i did the same thing as he did.

4) first tumble turn the left side of my goggle got loosed and water flooded in. i swam the next 50m with my left eye closed. more shit to come.

5) second tumble turn my goggle came out entirely and dangled around my neck while i continued swimming. Murphy's Law indeed. i had the option of sacrificing a few seconds to put it on again, but i didnt want to stop my momentum for the swim, so i swam half-blind.

6) finishing the swim i came out of the water blinking furiously, checking if my contacts were still in my eyes. they were (cue huge sigh of relief)

7) nicolas telling me as i ran to my transition box "go jon ma chase jiajie!", and some girl shouting "jon you're second out of water!" this was it, a run till i die 5km

8) overtook jiajie after the roundabout, and just kept going

9) at the 2.5km mark i took a look back. no one. dunno where ashley was but i imagined him chasing me down.

10) last 800m, as i turn right i looked back and still saw no one. contemplated slowing down since i was almost dying. then i remembered that this was a team race based on time, so i just kept going.

11) was hitting the last 100m when i ran into the carpark, i truck in front looked like it was gonna hit me. imagine me DNF-ing cause i got hit by a truck. joke of the year.

12) crossed the finish line at 34min 27s. breathless.

we went on to win 1st and 2nd for our guys and girls team, as well as overall! NUS team 2 pipped NTU team 1 to second place by 3 seconds! (heng i didnt slow down) it was really a race well done by everyone!

all in all, it was a good season. dealing with burn outs, injuries, doubts and our studies and everything, the team came through together. this team has become more than a team, but rather a family. we not onbly see each other during training, but out of training as well. amid a dull hall life and a hectic life in Arts, the team was what made my past 8 months more than enjoyable.

thanks boss aldrich, zhiyun and kepkee for everything you have done for the team. words just dun do it justice. thanks for being understanding and as dedicated as you have been. i would not have been able to achieve all that i have in sporting terms without you guys. Of course, thanks to david tay who helped my swim improve tremendously.

to nic, norm, qiukun and JJ, i have faith in you guys and the decisions u will make to bring this team forward. rest assured that i will continue to give my best to the team and contribute to it in anyway i can.

till the next race (on sunday 22nd March) 1.9km swim, 90km bike, 21km run

the little things give you away

at times, unnecessary and excessive insecurities annoy me

sometimes we think too much

maybe we should just get off the blocks and just simply.... race...

the night a guy cried for me

it's not as gay as it sounds. really.

thanks aldrich, zhiyun, nicolas, norman and jiajie.

Sing Bi 09

Men's Open
1. Mok - 56:07
3. Sunny - 58:30
7. Zhixiang - 1:05:28
9. Ze Bin - 1:06:05
10. Nicolas - 1:07:30
14. Josh Li - 1:08:22
15. Jon Ma - 1:08:30
21. Lemin - 1:11:28
22. Ex^4-Captain Jie Xiao - 1:11:33
27. Kep Kee - 1:13:00
30. Josh Lim - 1:13:10

Women's Open
2. Dinah - 1:08:23
3. Zhiyun - 1:12:03
15. Dong Xiang - 1:23:20
16. Yati - 1:23:40
20. Orlanda- 1:26:35

Team Challenge
1. Mok + Sunny - 1:54:36
4. Zhixiang + Josh Li - 2:13:49
5. Nicolas + Jon Ma - 2:15:59

what a race! a year's worth of training for this race, and it definitely paid off.


in 08 i was 124th, swim- 32:54, run- 49:33, total 1:22:26 (4th page of the results)


this year i did a 15th, swim- 26:31, run-41:59, total 1:08:30 (1st page!)

Moments to remember:
1) before the race, JJ said to me "start we chiong to the extreme right, then you draft me and let the tide push us in". the moment the horn started, we ran out and dived into the water, and i didn't see him anymore. haha, so i just kept swimming.

2) when nicolas overtook me, i recognised him by his physique underwater, hahaha...

3) got kicked in the face when a guy felt me touch his champion chip. would i have pulled it off? hmmm.... funny thing was he actually paused and try to see if i would be reeling from his kick, but i just kept swimming... sorry to disappoint! hahaha..

4) there was this very nice guy who would keep sighting, so i merely followed him. i assumed that the frequency at which he sighted meant that he would be more or less on course. he wasn't. the whole group of us cut one part of the swim course. i didn't do it intentionally though. the whole time i was wondering "where the hell is the lane rope on my right?"

5) coming out of the water to cheers of "go jon!"

6) seeing bryan as a road marshaller at the start of the run. then seeing him again after the U-turn at the lagoon. according to him, someone missed the U-turn and ran straight on!

7) running down people one by one, then allowed two guys to overtake me when i stitched at NSC and could only hang on in the run till i ran it off. mistake: gulping water at the second waterpoint.

8) after the NSRCC U-turn JJ shouted "Jon faster i'm catching up with you!"

9) running down more people after NSRCC ( i recovered from the stitch by then) and NSC. there were these 3 guys ahead of me that i chased all the way till the end

10) being overtaken by Josh 500m from the end. he had overturn a 3min swim deficit! holy shit!

11) running down 2 of the said 3 guys before crossing the finishing line, breathless.

very proud of the rest of the team, especially the first-timers! think most of us enjoyed the race, and the massive cam-whoring session after that (me a culprit). was so proud to be part of the team as mok, sunny, zhiyun and dinah went up to the stage to collect the prizes representing NUS! the post-race CARL'S JR meal was damn fun! and jason's birthday cake!

was quite glad that i didn't let the team down... and hitting a PB for a 10k run after a swim! hell, i was only a few seconds short of my PB for a fresh 10k.

now looking forward to next sat, NIE bi!

B -1

i've waited 371 days for this moment.

Sing Bi is less than 24 hours away!!!

training since last year all the way till now, that is one heck load of effort.

been getting 8 hours of sleep the past 2 days. this morning i woke up and had my usual breakfast. 2 hours later i went to SRC to do 400m light swim (just to get my stroke and muscle memory working) and ran back to hall (more muscle memory thing).

felt good. now to keep my excitement/pre-race tension from bursting out till tomorrow!!!

more to follow........

Tapering Week

monday's swim was good. despite the lifeguards not allowing us to swim till 7 cause of lightning alert, we did a short and intense set of speedwork, my muscles feel quite used to the fast, hard and long strokes ...

yesterday's track intervals seemed daunting at first, 10 x 400m. didnt really want to do it at first, then aimed for 1:35 per round. ended up doing 1:30 to 1:26 quite comfortably. now hope that i can maintain this speed on saturday and not fade like i did last week.

just is coming to NUS today! yay! havent seen him for ages!

the great journey around our little island

from the humble little house to the eastern sea, then to a previously uncharted areas of the north-east, to the tip of the little island, and westwards to the winding and hilly roads, till the open and wide plains of the north-west and making a round back to the west before a final charge through the heart of the island back to where they started their epic journey.

the round-islanders faced winds, mechanical failure, mysterious disapperances, fatigue, early retirement and a clash against the SBS monster, but eventually all escaped victorious, as the triumphants round-island conquerors, a gruelling 120km ride.

till the next ride, and the price that the SBS monster has to pay.