The MotiBoard

This is it. As per the requests from those in SGRunners.com, I have uploaded the picture of my MotiBoard (Motivation Board).

Though this might appear humble to some out there, but this is actually my sweat and tears. This board represents hours and hours of training and gruelling tests. Sometimes when I am down, I will just stare at this board. My eyes will dwell on each badge and my mind's eye will recall what I had to go through to achieve that badge. And slowly, goosebumps begin to run through my skin. As I relive each triumph, I am reminded that challenges in life will never cease. As such, if we take courage and endeavour to overcome them, you will look back later at that moment in life as a turning point, a milestone - a medal of honour.

When I reach that state of mind, I know perseverance and endurance will serve me well - be it in training or in life. So why not go back today and look for YOUR MotiBoard - you will be surprised at what you have achieved so far. ^-^

Wed Nite Swimming Training

Did the following at TriFam's swimming training tonight:-

400m Warm-up
10x200m Free with Pool Buoy
250m additional
8x50m Sprints
Total 3050m

Pretty intense. I slowed down a little tonight. Instead, I concentrated on my body roll. Did this by keeping my head from turning too much, this way, I have to roll my body on the side more to breathe properly. Felt a bit strange initially, but as I kept on trying, it seems that instead of being slower, I can feel myself gliding more. Hmmm...Will have to keep trying this in order to feel the full effect of it. that's pretty much it from me tonite. Cheow y'all..

A Bit of Running

Tried something new today - interval running. Here's how it went...Got to the stadium around 5:30pm. Managed to consistently run 1:47 per lap for 4 laps. Time rest in between running is 3 times the time spent running, which is about 5:15. Before that did a 1km warm-up and after that did a 800m warmdown. Followed by stretches.

Gosh! Although it was only 4 laps of running, it really takes alot out of you! During the 3rd lap, I was struggling after 300m. Never had 100m looked so unattainable to me before. Even after the 5min rest, the last lap was a real test of mind over body. But it looks like I am supposed to increase these kind of training technique if I am to improve on my running.

The book I am reading from says that this is all part of strength training, and it goes a long way to improving your timing. So it looks like no way out for me - I'll have to stick at it if I'm ever going to run the marathon by Dec this year.

Tuesday Thoughts....

My thoughts are still hovering over the Aquathlon completed over the weekend. I must say that I really enjoyed myself and I met quite alot of friends that day. Let's see...

From primary school(I haven't seen him for more than 15years!):-
Guoping

From SGRunners:-
The Lonely Runner - Sukaimi
Ironmandreamer - Ben
Cyberkinetic - Alex
Balasing - ??
Sotong & Wife - Mah & Wife?
Eunice (Nick and name the same)
Trisuccelent - David
Penguin - ??
Stanley

From Trifam :-
Johnson
Thomas
Gary
Trey (I think)

Think I got most of you. Apologies if I missed you or got your name wrong.:P

Thinking of changing my nick, maybe...Runnerator, Trinerator, Incinerator?? Hahaha :))

Went for a 5km run yesterday evening. Didn't want to rest for too long after Sat - I had already rested the whole of Sun. I tried running my race pace but couldn't do it. My thighs were feeling tight right from the start. It was hard continuing the run under those circumstances. :( The tightness only went off about 3-qtr of the way. After that I thought I could run more than 5km, but I reminded myself not to push too hard. Well, sprinted the last lap around the track and finished pretty strong. Going for another run later, will probably do intervals or something like that. Don't feel like doing any LSD anytime soon.... :|

New Balance Aquathlon 2005 : Part 4, Post-Race

As I finished and made my way slowly to the transition area to collect my stuff, who do I meet? Just about the person I least expected to meet - Guoping from my primary school days. I had been thinking on and off about the bunch of friends I used to hang around with in primary school and now I meet one of them!! What a wonderful surprise to an already great day I was having! :D

To cut the long story short, we exchanged email addresses and made promises to catch up in the future. Then I gathered my stuff and made my way to meet up with the rest of the gang.

It seems that everybody was more or less satisfied with what they had achieved and we made our way to the showers. By the time we decided to catch a ride in TLR's car, we realised there were 7 of us!! We all managed to squeeze in and started parting ways at Harbourfront. Looks like even "Jazz" managed a personal best today.

Conclusion : A WONDERFUL day spent with WONDERFUL people doing a WONDERFUL sport!!

New Balance Aquathlon 2005 : Part 3, The Run

As I exited the transition area to begin the run, I almost went the wrong direction as there were so many twists and turns to follow!! Thank goodness for those road marshals and volunteers!! Phew!

I started out at a faster pace than my usual run as I was still feeling the adrenaline from the swim. Going into the run, I was determined to improve on my timing compared to the Biathlon in March (about 1:19:xx) and also the NB REAL Run the week earlier (about 1:14:xx). Although the REAL Run's time was still an improvement, it was not as big as I had hoped for. This time around, I was really looking to make a big dent in my running time.

Coming towards the 10min point of my run, I knew I could not sustain the pace any longer and decided to settle into my normal race pace. Once I did that, my legs were not complaining as much and they started to get used to the running. I began to settle down into the run and my normal rhythm began to play itself out. Many of the competitors were passing me along the way, along with those from the SGRunners forum - first TLR, followed by Ironmandreamer. And I saw Balasing and Penguin going along the opposite direction a couple of times.

As I reached the first turnpoint(2.5km) I was still feeling quite comfortable and my watch showed about 15min+. Seeing as how this was within my target of completing the run in an hour, I was encouraged and decided to pick up the pace - just a little. This, and the initial 10min burst of speed, would prove a mistake later.

The 5km mark saw my time at about 31min+. At this point, my legs were straining and my breathing was laboured. This distance is well within my usual training limits and I was wondering to myself as to the reason for the level of fatigue when it hit me - the faster pace in the first 10min of the run. It had taken more out of me than I expected. As I came to the next waterpoint, I made an agonising decision - I needed to stop running and walked instead.

At the beginning of the race, I had determined to run all the way and not walk at all. During the previous week's REAL Run, I had walked part of the way - especially through the sand portion. This had only served to re-affirmed my resolve not to walk during the aquathlon. At this point you can imagine the disappointment I was having at myself - it lasted for all of 5 seconds.

I re-strategised. I knew I wasn't going to be able to keep running for the rest of the race, yet I was determined to improve on my timing. I decided to take breaks at all the waterpoints as well as every 7-8 minutes, but I confined the breaks to no longer than 20secs each. This strategy proved the saving grace for me. I found the strength to continue at a good pace between the breaks and was even able to summon up a short burst towards the finishing line. This was a big difference compared to the Biathlon in March as I was just walking towards to the finishing line then. Time 1:02:44 (off my watch of course). This was, in my own opinion, a significant improvement over March's timing(1:19:xx). Yoohoo!! :D

New Balance Aquathlon 2005 : Part 2, The Swim & Transition

As the call went out for my event, I made my way to the beach. It was a wet start; meaning we get into the water, tread water for a little while, then start when the horn blew. I made my way to the start of the crowd just before the starting buoy. When the horn sounded, it was a real adrenaline rush to stay ahead of everybody. Being at the front of the crowd meant fewer bodies to fight with. It also meant leading the way. Seeing as how there are always the more enthusiastic ones around (and there was plenty yesterday) I still managed to draft behind a few swimmers along the first length of the swim.

Going into the 2nd length of the swim (total 3 and a half), I had a nagging feeling of a cramp coming on in my left sole. But I wasn't kicking at all!! And to make things worse, my shoulders were starting to ache!! I decided not even to stop and stretch it but to continue swimming. Thank goodness both the cramp and the shoulder ache went off by the end of the 2nd stretch.

The 3rd stretch saw alot of us in the last wave catch up to the swimmers in the earlier wave. The "body avoiding" started and this is the time I think I slowed down a little. By the end of the 3rd stretch of swim, I could really feel the oxygen-deficiency rising in my body. I decided to ignore it and went all out for the final stretch. But along the swim, knowing as how running is my weak point, I decided to slow down a little when I came in sight of the Swim End.

As I exited the water, I recorded 31:54 on my watch. This improvement of almost 7 minutes over my last race in the Navy Biathlon on March was due to the guiding ropes along the swim route. Whereas it was an open water swim in March, this time we just have to look out for the floating line and swam along it without going off-course. This definitely helped to cut the time down.

Going into the transition area, I only had to put on my glasses, my cap, my shoes and socks and belt with my bib number. I had bought a full tri-suit earlier and this was the first time I was trying it out. It had felt a little strange during the beginning of the swim but it was easy to get used to. The excitement of the moment definitely helped too. :) I exited the transition area with a time of 1:30 - another improvement of more than 1min over the March time. I definitely believe that the tri-suit helped to cut the time down as I did not have to worry about shorts and shirt this time round.

So I started running.....

New Balance Aquathlon 2005 : Part 1, Pre-Race

Completed the Aquathlon (Swim 1.5km, Run 10km) yesterday. Here's the rundown.

Met TLR, Cyberkinetic at Harbourfront at around 9:30am. Waited awhile more for Trisucculent and then proceeded towards the race venue. Thanks the ride TLR - appreciate it!! :)

Reached the meeting point and met up with the others. Saw Sotong & wife for the first time. Later realised that both of them completed Marathon before. RESPECT TO BOTH OF YOU!! Coming back, all of us went about the business of registering and getting ourselves ready for the start of the race.

Things were going along pretty well with half the events either completed or on-going when suddenly it felt like Hurricane Katie decided to off-load one of her smaller cousins to us. We had one of our infamous afternoon showers (and this is not in the bathroom) and everybody ran for cover. I managed to cover my stuff in the transition area before coming back to help move the stuff into the shelter. Balasing and Ironmandreamer had to bear the thought of their shoes being made into new swimming pools for the ants on the beach.

During the week leading up to the Aquathlon, I had only swam once and ran once, so I wasn't really big on confidence coming into the race. And when the rain hit, it only dampened my spirits further. Some of the others who were supposed to be halfway in the race were recalled and started joining us at the shelter. After about 30-45min of waiting, the sun came back out and the events continued again. Some of those who completed parts of their event had to restart from the very beginning. Whew!! Real Bummer.

Before long, it was the turn for the Men's Open Long Distance to start. This was when things started getting interesting.....