onward

creature of habit

routine routine

got to start a new one for the next 10 weeks.

to the old one, thanks for pulling me through the last 5 months. training hasn't been smooth, but that's how it should be yea. i know i can do this.

new experiences yea. if things go, i'll get to try k4 for the first time (:

and it's really unlikely, the places/people one can find inspiration. it's pretty strange but i guess this is what is meant by the great conspiracy. I've got to know a couple of elderly folks along the way, and yea, guess what they all tell me? Follow your heart. Chase your dreams. Do what you love. (Or some variation of this theme)

From TIME,

"... Which is why that night, the women leaders reassembled at the White House for a dinner with more than 100 students from schools across the city to celebrate Women's History Month. Tonight is your night, Michelle told the girls. So don't be shy. "Poke and prod and figure out how [these women] got to be where they are and what you can do in your lives to get yourselves ready for that next step. Tonight we just want to say, Go for it! Don't hesitate. Don't act with fear. Just for for it." Because all the women in the room, she told the girls, see a little bit of ourselves in you."

This is why i'm here.

onward!

need to offload, too many thoughts

Everest (: the girls did it! Why do you want to climb Everest? Because it's there. My utmost respect and admiration to the ladies (:

1 more week of relief teaching. then it's finally over, out of the safe haven of RJC that has sheltered me for 2 extra years. i wouldn't have known what to do without this place i call home. a bit premature, but to my teacher/colleagues, thank you for your guidance and support. Some plans didn't quite unfold the way i wanted it to, but things worked out in the end and really, thanks for being there for me. i'll remember your words, "It's not exactly world class. But i know you'll find a way to make it world class"

hm.. and even without asking around, i know 3 others who will be my classmates! there's just 40 of us

bball girls finals against hci. we lost, 58-61, but that's only so much the scoreline can tell you. the first 3 quarters, it really seemed like we were giving it to hwachong, play wasn't very good. then something happened in the last quarter. we were down by some 16 points, a massive gap considering hwachong was at only 50 points. then we fought back like mad. with one minute to go, think we were 8 points down. seemed like it was over for us. then we made a shot. and with 10+s to go, our hero of the day jolyn, threw in a stunning 3 point shot that momentarily stunned the hc supporters. I thought that was the defining moment of the game, and of this sports season for us. one can just imagine all the thoughts, all that pressure, but she took her chance. we called for one last timeout, but sadly, with 1.9s on the board, a pass was made to no.9 our key player, and well, things didn't work out.

despite the loss, i believe that comeback by the girls taught us a very important lesson. It differs across individuals, but to me, it was the idea of seizing the moment that was inspiring. thank you no.5 (:

and today i rowed k2. a proper k2 row after... 2 years? despite feeling a bit unstable, it was stable! amazing. wasn't even 100% but it felt passable, mainly cos the boat was slippery, even the heel contact! and i finally understood what jiaolian meant. k2 back ftw and meanwhile i'm going to keep working on my k1. thanks

then after that back to training at macritchie. maybe it was cos of all the screaming (not by me of couse) that was making me feel disoriented. after 9k i couldn't take it so i decided to go home earlier to rest. Left the water around 5.55pm, up at 6pm. so well, this morning i head out for my pre-training training, finished, got up and ready for gym. set up the weights as usual, and just while waiting for everyone to get ready, noticed some people kept asking Coach if we were paddling after gym. Then i asked my gym partner what happened

"ee tuck drowned"

many accounts as to what happened, but the thign we know for sure, he capsized, declined help for rescue, started swimming back. some time later the girls realised he was still 'swimming', then it was too late... (the report is in today's today btw)

i know everytime something like this happens, the media will be out probing for newsbites and stuff. but i don't know, the thing is, i could have been there. Usually on weekdays at 6+pm, it'll just be njc and me and recently crescent and acjc. i'll train till 6.30pm, but it just so happened i left early yesterday. and guess what, rugby finals yesterday rj vs acjc so the whole of acjc had compulsory match support.

"For all the words of Man, the saddest are these 'It could have been'."

thoughts from a 19.5 year old

updates first, then some thoughts

shortly after the brilliant 20 pullups on monday, 21 on tuesday, guess what. saturday was a 23-pullups-after-water-training day (:

wheeeeeee

now for the next magic number

and that 11k run? I did it again on thursday afternoon with the blazing sun shining from everywhere. Again i reached terap hut at 18:36. and finished the run in a marginally faster time of 1:06:42. this is addictive btw. ahhh, i got owned at the downhills again, but uphills are fun comrade. It's like i know if i push myself, i can go faster on the uphills but downhills are a different story. It feels more like skill than a combination of endurace and brute strength alone. haha (:

team dinner on wednesday (: it was fun meeting up with the canoobs, happy birthday javine (and elisa) (: next up, harry's with noisan

anw in case you're wondering, due to my highly planned day-to-day life, i'll only be able to blog on weekends when i switch on my com, or at least for the next 3 weeks till relief teaching ends. speaking of which, ccal camp is cancelled due to H1N1. so i guess no 4 in a row then. oh btw comrade, the pictures you posted of ccal camp 07 brought back nice memories; we all looked so happy (:

"But days come and go. sometimes, i even wonder if it was all just a dream."

the new canoeing exco has been announced. but it seems like they're not ready to takeover yet, can't fault them cos they've barely joined the cca. it will be another uphill battle, and still, it's up to them how much of a fight they'll be willing to give. I hope they'll come together quick, no time to lose.

well, it's been an interesting week at work/play. the soccer boys were eliminated in the 2nd round and it's even hard to be around mr low for a moment without sensing that immense disappointment. like what cunzhi used to say, mr low is raffles soccer.

We all thought this year would be the year. We believed it had to be this year. We dreamed that if it were to be any year, it had to be this year. sounds familiar eh. but sadly, things were not meant to be (once again), and the better team out there won.

so what now?

that's probably the toughest question one can be asked after a disappointment. i know i took more than a year to figure out an answer to that, on a personal level. Already people are writing the soccer boys off for next year, but what the heck, in the championship year, people did that too, and raffles proved them otherwise. so let's go raffles

i'm writing in detail about this, because i'll just like to share how much inspiration i drew from the 07 soccer boys. individual skills wise, they definitely couldn't match up to their opponenets, but they didn't let that deter them. Instead, they trained extra hard to build up their fitness and most importantly, played like a team. or what a friend says "their skills not as good. but when they play, they really cover each others' butts". it's alwyas nice to believe that miracles do happen, but rmb, first must come the preparation.

training has been ok, figuring out a new stroke. haven't sprinted in quite awhile, but the water sense feels better. only 3 more weeks in this routine, then it's time to work out another one for 'the rest of the days before school' and finally a battle plan for school. can't wait for school, or rather, i can't wait to matriculate and receive my timetable, then i can figure out training times. At least i know morning training is sitll possible (: ahh, and probably i won't stay hall, unless jurong lake is open for training, then it would make sense.

was talking to mr seah this afternoon. real conversations with him are always very insightful. today we were talking about fighting a losing battle, in terms of trying to teach students the 'right thing'. to quote redsports, even if we fail, at least we know we have tried and did our part". It might be a losing battle, but that doesn't mean we don't fight. Instead, we'll fight even harder. We might have lost the battle, but we will win the war. and it's always nice to know that someone shares your philosophy on things. sounds big, but in this case, we'll just use the context of pe. over the last 2 days, i've taught modified lacrosse to 4 different classes, 3 of which i was covering, and only under special circumstances would i have the chance to take them again. the strange thing is, despite having to repeat everything 4 times, it was fun (: in particular, that moment when the kids manage to make a catch or good pass or spectacular shot, and the thing is, they surprised themselves. it's like some eureka moment and it is fascinating, both for the doer (that's them) and the observer (me)

if that's a difference i can make, no matter how small, i'll do it (:

wheeee

11k run today (:

timing was 1:07:03. below the 1:12 target coach set, but could have been much better. got lost 3 times lol.

and i know i took a really really long time for the downhills. the northern trail downhill was already slow (there were 2 long ones, plus one really major one) but that's nothing compared to the one after the golf course. That was real man. i recall myself pausing before a really steep step, wondering if i should just jump off or how. thoroughly enjoyed the uphills though

the run felt good, was rather easy. it didn't feel as painful as the great eastern women's 10k. in fact it wasn't painful on the legs at all. maybe it's the terrain, suppose to be tougher but i prefer this. the usual stumbles and near-misses along the way, but generally each step felt good. after the run felt like i could go for another. but well, 59 minutes is real man and for now i know i'm not fast enough to hit that timing.

looking forward to the next run (: