you won't know how much you can be until you try

i've always thought my fastest 400m was 1.43 or something

then i decided to run intervals with ms see tho's class for fun. target time was 1.45. first round, vanessa and joanne flew off, so i followed behind, 100m to go i felt like exploding, made it though, 1.31 (: after a work rest ratio of 1:1, got ready for second round. legs quite soft, 1.47. final round, 1.39. at least for now, it's a big deal for me, and i didn't even have a proper start. so yea... then part 2 was today, 1 round warmup, then 3-2-1 laps with mr o's class. good pace, could have been easily under 2 mins but during 2/3 of the first set, fell back to push some of them, then kept up with a 2 min round. last 400m did 1.47.

interesting. i wonder how fast i can run 2.4 now

weather past few days have been less than ideal, due to the rain. well, but it's good too, need some rain time and again. 2k timing was at (i hope) the slowest end of the range, amidst the conditions. will find a way to use my strength in water

today while waiting for the lightning risk to be over, did some pullups. managed 5 x 12 with lots of rest but yea, another first time, and the strangest thing is it didn't even feel ike 5 x 5, much less 5 x 12. so yay (:

read the poem about success, a good reminder.

What if you believe?

work life balance

"When your work is your life, it is balanced" Mr Low

interesting week

for 2 weeks didn't row well, couldn't catch the water.

thursday decided to do something for a change. monster training (: ko-ed after the first round of 25, ggxx just after 1 set of 15. ipus, twists, 5k run and discovered it's easier to do 5 x 10 pullups rather than 10 x 5, having tried the latter.

friday was aching like siao. felt like mr leong's fractured rib. laughing/coughing was painful and in his words, the first sneeze was super exciting. friday was a good row though, got the feel. evening tried just one starting burst. with the first stroke pain exploded.

so was a bit apprehensive about today's training. started off with a good 9k warmup. couldn't really feel after that, so did 2 x 2k. 10.40, 10.40. (estimated based on the k2 since jiaolian didn't see me). 2 x 500, 2 x 1k and 10 x 40 starting bursts were thrilling, thanks. happy to see you all improving

so i guess that means monster training worked (:

What if you believe?

our defence must be total

hi everyone

for those who are interested to know

i got the letter from Western Ontario.

Not Accepted

don't worry about me. actually, strangely enough, i didn't feel the slightest hint of disappointment

so anw time to make new plans, like compete at Laos SEA games, thinking about it, will probably post more on my blog over the next few days

This week has been rough, 2ks been quite crappy. but overall things are going according to the grand plan. last saturday i did 10.33. which ko-ed me till monday morning so i didn't go for the timetrial, but it's ok, i'll be even faster the next time.

yea, so...

What if you believe?

wheee

today's training was exciting

the past week's training has been trying. Stronger wind conditions this week and rain in the evenings. Yesterday's row in the rain was good though, practised my strokes and i didn't even feel the rain.

i've not rowed bow to bow with another boat in a long while. Usually 2ks are painful, but today was a whole new level, which i'm glad for, though it really hurt. For 1.925km, i could just see/feel the k2 next to me.

Hovered around the starting buoys, waiting for more boats. Lined up in between 2 k2s.

Ready? Go! Burst out, good feel. The last few times the k2 would lose me after a few buoys (and i'll get washed) while i'll lose the other k2. today was strange, cos i was flanked by both k2s, who were just slightly in front of me. If i had gotten washed, it'll be ggxx. So just row, all the way to the 500m mark, still the 5 of us (3 boats) were just within touching distance of each other.

After 500, only left with one k2 next to me. You know what, i don't think i had a transition at all, just kept going. After the turn, carried on, with 600m to go, everywhere started burning. Strangely again, each time i felt i was going to fall back, somehow something won't let that happen. With 4 buoys to go, decided to make one last burst away from the k2, 3 buoys, now or never, finally crossed the finishing buoys, exhausted.

The NO moment (By ketupat Javine)

from one of the more exhilarating 500s muddy and i did during training today:
the NO moment arrives when another boat is uncomfortably close to yours nearing the end. nope, it does not happen when everyone is preparing at the start line when all eyes are glued to the race lines. that's for prayer. nope, it does not even begin to happen when you burst off, flying past the first 2-3 buoys in a blur. that's for yelling for strength from God. the ultimate NO moment arrives when you're at the last 3rd buoy when another boat is dangerously close to yours. uncomfortably close, in fact. when the tip of the next boat refuses to move out from the front rower's peripheral vision.[that would be mine]

then in your head [preferably in sync with your partner] a loud shout goes,
"NO! I WONT LET THEM! NOT TODAY!"

you sit up a little straighter, your shoulders relax a tad further, your arms reach out a little more and your torso twists a little harder. the burning lactic sensation in your lower body dissolves, your eyes narrow, zoomed in on the last two finishing buoys. you pull a little harder [in fact, at this point, with all that you've got], you recover a little faster, you pant a little louder. the yelling for strength from God becomes a full time shriek in your head.

And then you're off.

Thanks to both k2s plus the guys' k2 for the row.

On another note, congrats to weiyang and junyong for making the senior team. and your generosity with teaching me how to start properly.

10.33

What if you believe?

take 5

after Take 5, i went to macritchie to row and take 5 (:

thursday night went back to school after training, helped load the Take 5 logistics with the soccer boys, chicken rice dinner at 9.30pm sitting on a kerb at the pasir ris park carpark (: probably one of the best dinners i've had. great job to the soccer boys, they had training, then debrief, then had to rush to load the stores w/o bathing, eating or resting.

luckily we didn't have to blow balloons at 11pm this year. Sat around and talked to mr tan, mr leong and mr gopi. Bed was three plastic chairs at the grass patch under the main tentage, which didn't work out at around 2am, upper body was spilling out of the chair, thanks mr gopi for the sleeping bag.

next day woke up bright and early, was quite cool, ms tan bought polar cake and ms koh had like 20 packets of kopi/teh and 1 milo for me (: so dressed in our red shirts, we were off to ensure a happy take5 for everyone. this year's event was much smoother, and more classes/ogs were having their little gatherings and games around the park. did some bike patrol, walked around, and caught mr siva's performance.

after the event, some minor problems at the bus pickup area, by the time we got back to school, unloaded the logs and stuff, 3.30pm and guess what lunch was? chicken rice (:

wheee

wheee

wheee

if you can make the time, do read The Outliers by Malcom Gladwell. Among many other theories, the author suggests that to be an expert in your field, be it sports, science, arts or even business, you need to put in 10,000 hours. managed to get my hands on a copy of the book just yesterday, though the 10,000 hours theory is one of the basis of the grand plan.

the start of each week feels like preparation for war. everything to ensure the week flows as smoothly as possible against any circumstances.

on top of the attention i usually pay to my strokes, this week was intensive stroke work. the speedstroke machine in the gym is pretty useful and thanks loads to james and zhenxiao for helping me out.

the wind conditions at macritchie have stabilised, strong gusts at times, but not as imba as the last 2 weeks.

then came saturday's water. did more than 12k of 'warmup', starting from light continuous strokes to harder ones. figured the best way to improve strokes for me is to well, start paddling light first, then make adjustments. did a 2k, was a bit conservative since i'm testing out a different stroke, probably 70%, and

10.36

What if you believe?