it's shocking when things like that happen.

i'm still in a bit of a shock now.

thinking of how things like that can happen to one of the best of us is certainly a snap back to the harsh reality of life.

all the things we do now seem so trivial and insignificant in the larger scheme of things.

Lord we need your grace.

welcome back coach, welcome back speed

as predicted. i swam alot better today now that coach david is back.

we did 3 x 200m target swim. 1st one was 2:48, and he commented that it was too slow (WHAT!?) so i went harder for the next two and came back at 2:41 and 2:40. felt very good. my confidence in my swim is back.

biked to boon's today to change my saddle originally. then i ended up changing my cockpit (which i have been wanting to do for the longest of time) bike now looks and feels even better. shioks.

suspect my hamster are fighting when im not looking. both of them have a bloody front right leg. shall keep monitoring and separate them again if things go downhill.

PS: i got an ugly singlet tan from being under the sun for most of the day. oNO!

back on concrete

did a run in the morning... 10 mins warmup, 10 mins hard, then it started raining (passing cloud).... so i hid at a busstop till it passed...

continued again, this time did 15 mins hard before reaching home and did some hip strengthening and core work...

made kebabs for the YA botanic garden outing, NICE! (will put up pic some time)

pigged out like mad at botanic gardens. roti JON, my own kebabs, pineapple tarts, alissa's BRILLIANT! brownies and josh's konyaku jellies.

had alot of fun with the doulos team, played alot of new (and old) games and generally had a great time of fellowship.

went back to hall and went to do groceries for the week.

then i felt like going for another run, so i did. 5 mins warm up then hard for 6.7km (i measured on mapmyrun.com) finished in 28mins. thats 4:10 min/km

not bad at all! best part was that during the run i felt really really good. I was breathing hard but enjying it at the same time. been a long time since i had that feeling.

yay. =D now to get back to my assignmentS.

after effects

hard to believe, but 2 weeks on, i still havent fully gotten my swim back to 100% after the one week layoff from my crash.

did a mini time trial today for my 1500m with the bi team today. 23:29.

not good enough, considering i swam a 23 min before about more than a month ago. by all accounts i should be even faster now.

i can feel expectations from people on my shoulders, and its hard to shake off.

half the trip home did ease it a little though. whats the point of risk in this world if it is only a board game.

fuelled by inspiration

went for my 2 hour 20 mins grass run today. somewhere at 1 hour plus into it i was fading. I contemplated giving up. Then 2 things happened.

First was I thought of Macca and his 'die die dun give up' spirit during Kona (see below post).

Second thing was that God provided me company in Chun Kiak. With him time passed by much more quickly, and made the rest of the run bearable.

Thank You.

PS: Apples rock.

Ironman World Championship

stayed up from 1am to 9am+++ this morning to watch the race in Kona, and it was worth it.

Seeing Macca surge up from the bike, then blazing out of T2. He was on time to catch Lieto (then in 1st place) until he faded and had to walk. Then came the defining moment, where after Crowie (who will eventually win) and Andreas Raelert overtook him, he had the choice to continue walking or try to run.

He chose to run.

You can see it on his face, as he was grimacing under the Hawaiian sun. Yet here was a man who wanted to keep going, no matter what. He could have so easily chosen to continue walking, but no, he grit his teeth and pushed himself to continue running, even though each step must have been painful. (post race pic showed that he had a humongous blister on his toe)

That is the kind of spirit that inspires. The one that says "I wun give up!" despite mounting odds and waning motivation. That is when one digs deep into oneself to find belief in himself to continue on.

This doesnt only apply to triathlons. It applies to everything we do.

Thanks Macca. You may have lost the race (4th is still pretty damn good), but you have won over many people who watch you and were inspired.

i got my.... back!

yay! this morning's swim was good! managed to get most of my stroke back, though there are still some bits here and there that i have to fine tune and tweak here and there, but im aching in the right places at least! (thanks leon for helping me spot my stroke)

ok, tonight (or rather tomorrow morning SG time) will be kona!!! goodness, so exciting! go macca!