exciting

interesting week. double champs for cross country, canoe camp, and 2 weeks to nationals.

today's 2k timings left much to be desired, maybe it's a sign i need some rest. I'm still trying to time my rest day, it's been 21 days on water, with the rest day not in sight. well, at least i got to chill at home for the afternoon today.

Training with the national team has been different from the last 34 weeks. Lots more weights training and runs, compared to what i would have done. Perhaps the greatest change for me is the degree of control i have over my training program, previously it was lone ranger, own time own target 60% of the time, with rj about 40%. Now it's 20% on my own, 60% nat team, 20% with rj. Will need to make adjustments, must make more time to train on my own (: i do learn different things while training alone, versus with the team, or nat team, so yes, i will make more time for myself.

Nationals coming up, double gold is far-fetched by any standards, but i hope this team will set out to achieve what they've dreamt of for the last 1.5 years. Now's not the time for nostalgia, but i just want to say how thankful i am to be here to watch this team on its journey.

let's go raffles

6 x 2k

exciting

6 x 2k 100%

it was a very strange training, to say the least. start in lane 4, come back in 6. staggered starts (of 30s intervals i think), was the first to start out of the 4 of us.

first 2k 10.36. was using a substantial amount of brute force. managed to sneak a look at my watch (plus minus 5s), at 500 was 2.20, after turning was 4.50. so it means my second 1k needs to improve. timing was ok for me. prior to training was deliberating whether to conserve some energy for the full 6 sets, but well, 100% just whack. and besides, i can't control my speed at will yet. first thing coach said, yesterday's conditions were better, no wind.

then the next 4 were rather horrible, ranging from 11.03-11.15. was rowing like mad, strokes felt weird, and the timing cmi, got owned by the second boat.

so last set. coach said 'we'll all start together. (The two of you) can go first, 30s headstart"

this time we could pick any lane we wanted, so long we went out to 1k mark and back. Took lane zero (: "Ready? GO!" Right from the first stroke something felt different. Actually i just wanted to figure out where i lost out to the other boat, was it frequency or catch or fatigue, so i totally didn't expect this. It was a very comfortable feeling, a confidence knowing i have done this before, and could do this. I never once saw the boat next to me. At 500 mark, it felt good, i imagined the C2 a boat length ahead, and i was catching up. Around 700, imagined the aqua marin2 k2 on my left, and me matching them stroke by stroke. Soon, it was down to the last 500. Heard the other 2 boats pushing each other on, ' come on, all the way', and that's what i did, whack the last 500 like some 200m set. then it was over. 6 x 2k completed

10.35. my fastest out of the 6 sets. even coach couldn't explain, he said he was wondering who that fast boat was (relative, since my range was... 40s?)

Training with the national team is really great, lots of sparring partners. Hope we get to do more neck-to-neck sets/training instead of staggered starts. gets the andrenaline pumping.

anw, the other two national team easily did under 10.30 for all 6 sets, and yesterday, one of the senior women did a monstrous 9.45. beating at least 1 senior men for 3 sets.

room for improvement. and if the last set is anything to go by, i think i'm barely at 40%

What if you believe?

tomorrow will be the 14th day, and also the end of week 35.

first week training with the national team. still trying to feel my way around but this is good. thursday's training was a little disappointing, i don't like that feeling, but thanks, i'll remember it. I know i'm much better than. anw school training later made things better. i await tomorrow's training with great anticipation.

This is my most 'supplemented' training week. and i can just feel all the muscles building rapidly.

my mum made cheesecake for the first time yesterday
bro got into ocs, reporting on monday
dad. well, my dad is my number one supporter (:

i wonder what training is going to be like next week

exciting exciting

training has been cool

yesterday's 20k hurt though, had to rush off to ccab so started 6k on my own, then managed to pace the senior ladies for 8k successfully, then after that ko-ed, so did the last 6k on my own. When i joined them, it seriously felt like 2k timing, but only this time, it was suppose to be 14k. Though overall the 20k was painful, i realise how pleasant it is to hear the washing-machine like sounds from each stroke and surge of the boat (:

today's program got rained out after we did 6 1ks at 80%. You know what, i think i'm so grateful for this opportunity that this whole sufferring business is enjoyable.

just something random, was talking to mr gopi yesterday. about luck/chance/fate/destiny, whichever you prefer. Couple years back he wanted to leave his old workplace, got an offer from another place. It wasn't his dream job but he applied anyway. On his weekly trip to the temple at the start of the year, a fortune teller told him it's not the time yet, had to wait 6 months, not now. Then guess what the application messed up. He called to check after 2 months, but they never received it. Next thing he knew, he got a call from mr koh about vacancy at RJ. Came down for what was supposed to be an 'interview', but it was more like a briefing on the job scope!

If you set your heart on doing something, the whole universe will conspire to help you.

anw it's really great training with the national team. I think the way some of the seniors train is really admirable. They are the fastest and most experienced, and they still pay attention to the smallest details

ok, off to finish the last 60/150 pullups for the day.

all grown up

Just over one weekend, you guys became a full-fledged canoeing team. Many first times here... first race as a J2 team, first competitive experience, and most importantly, first time the responsibility of upholding RJC's name rested solely on your shoulders. Each race was fought to the end; it's true you might not have been good enough for the gold medal or finals, but again, each race was fought, to the end.

So what now? Someone said nationals is a matter of luck. Some of it depends on your lane draws, the weather and stuff like that. Then again, someone else said, the harder i worked, the luckier i got. Your 100% might not be a match for that other boat's 100%, but if every single race you're able to row at your 100% effort and speed, now that's something different.

proud of you guys. 1 more month. Keep your promise. Let's go raffles

njcc tmr (: would be interesting (: let's go raffles

What is your deepest fear? Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate; our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am i to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fears, our presence automatically liberates others.

Talking about deepest fear,

"Coach wants to talk to you"

-8.5k, 2 500s, 6 250s and 1 cat I lightning risk later-

"Would you like to join us for training?"

was suppose to start on monday because today is a 'very hard' gym session, last one before the real rest. Muddy being muddy, went today. (say, did you realise today was a holiday so i could go for morning training? Must be part of the grand conspiracy) 3 hours weights session. It was scary to say the least; for one, i almost dropped the weight on myself not once, but thrice. Felt this sharp whole body pain twice, and countless times head felt like exploding. I have never done weights like that before, this owns even ultimate weights. but you know what? Like the national team coach said "If by now you're not sufferring, you're going to suffer in the race"

Today i learnt 3min45s is an eternity and relatively speaking, my lats/pecs/abs are much stronger than my triceps/biceps/delts, and things like 200 reps or 100 leg lifts are doable. sometimes i surprise myself. and i managed to take a look at what i've always wanted to, not quite what i expected.

with weights like this, i'm going to hit 20 pullups in no time. but before that, DOMS is settling in, goodnight.

wheeeeeee

exciting

finally got my hands on a copy of flatwater racing canoeing 2. I need to study that book, plus a leadership by john c maxwell.

hopefully would have time next week to do that; the crazy week of napfa + keying in 1200 scores is over. and there's njcc next weekend, all the best raffles row, may your efforts reap the results you want.

so things to do this week:

• train
• train
• train
• apply for psc, ssc and ntu scholarships
• study flatwater racing canoeing 2 and john c maxwell's book

exciting (: