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Disclaimer: I am writing this not because I am the blog administrator. It just happened that my last Sunday run of the semester ended with a huge sense of accomplishment, which made me feel like sharing it here. So here is the story about my Sunday run. Hope u’ll enjoy reading it (:
For those of you who don’t know, I am the girl who runs to macr from school every Sunday morning. The one who runs there, does one loop in macr, and runs back to school sometimes. I always say that I am clocking mileage for my marathon whenever people question why I run so much. But the truth is, I m just giving myself a reason to run more.
So why do I run so much? I guess it’s because I like doing long run. But why do I like long run? This, I wonder why too.
I first started running in JC. Back then, the team wasn’t as big. Nonetheless, it was a great team. We did a lot of seemingly boring long runs, like running 15km on the field. Yet running with the team was never boring. The guys would bring Chinese chess pieces, put them on the chair and dropped them one by one onto the track every 3 rounds (1k equivalent). We cheered each other on as the chess pieces werebeing removed. Admittedly, long run is an arduous journey. But running with people makes it feel effortless. In any case, long run always ends with a great sense of accomplishment.
Trainings were slightly different in NUS. Doing drills on the field brought back a sense of nostalgia. Although workouts and intervals brought much accomplishment, the feeling was different. So I started doing my own long run to macritchie, in search for the feeling I had lost. I never expected anyone to run with me and I thought I had to rely on my good old memories to keep me going. Yet to my surprise, Bhavesh started joining me, and Nic and Melvin joined us few weeks later. All of them seemed to have enjoyed the running journey. That’s when I started asking people to join me running to macr.
And slowly, new memories started to form.
My long run to macr became more exciting during December holiday. I stayed over at Kelly’s, Tricia’s and Cai Sang’s place, and ran with them from their places to macr.
Soon, school reopened and the running group grew. It reached record high when Cai Sang, Brittany, Bhavesh and Philip joined. Shortly after, Calvin joined, followed by Bee. Patrick and Jackie appeared once as special guests, in the morning before Japan 10k Run.
Then exams came, and almost everyone stopped running to macr. Except for a few individuals who have their own reasons to continue.
The first one is Eugene, who could afford the time to run because he has no exams (he is an incoming freshie). He ran from school two weeks ago, did another 18k in macr, and ran back to school. Total 38k. I admire his passion in running and finally found somebody who ran more than me.
Next, there are Yannick and Kelvin, who are training for their sundown marathon. Yannick promised that he would run to macr from school one day before he graduates. He is truly a man of his word.
The forth one is Nic, who started joining us again a few weeks ago. Nic has been running consistently to clock mileage for BIG. Every Sunday morning, he would start running earlier before joining us to macr. I admire his perseverance.
And the last person is me. I continue running to macr, simply because I like doing long run. I like long run, because it reminds me of my old memories while allowing me to form new ones. My long run to macr has indeed ended with a great sense of accomplishment. Yet this time round, it is another kind of accomplishment. The sense of accomplishment comes not from the mileage I’ve clocked, but from the satisfaction of introducing long run to others and knowing that they enjoyed it. With the next season coming in October, our Sunday run would soon be switched back to hard run. So for those of you who have not tried running to macr, you should perhaps try it once during the coming holiday. And I hope you will enjoy your long run to macr, because I’ve truly enjoyed it (:
Emelyne
As requested by Tricia, here’s one of my blog posts from my personal blog.. slightly edited. do pardon the slightly personal albeit bohliao comments 
The beginning of December involved 2 birthdays of my closest friends in the cross team, stan chart, and Peter’s farewell.
A 6-part Harry Potter marathon was held on the 2nd of dec at Siew’s place. I was awake for the first 3 movies, and died the remaining 3 movies ahaha. Anyway, since gc’s birthday was on the 3rd, the team suprised him with a cake at midnight in the middle of the movie!
Eric’s bday is on the 6th so he’s sharing the cake with gc
Some shots from the night…
this one is damn funny
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LOL!!
Here’s us in the morning…
Anyway after the event I asked gc if he enjoyed himself and he said he was pleasantly surprised.. so yeah the surprise was a success even tho planned last minute. 
—
5th was the Stanchart Marathon so i kaypoh kaypoh went down to support.. In the end it was too hot to cheer them on at the finish line. =XXX So I moved around the place from shade to shade, and eventually went to Marina Sq in search of Gong cha. I hadn’t tried it yet so I figured why not go early to buy… 10am was abit too early tho.. 
((
((Random photos from Stanchart..
poor gc was so shagged out after the race he was sitting anywhere and everywhere.. :P
After that we made our way over to Lavander’s Golden Mile Food Center to let Peter try our local dishes..
The view while walking from Nicoll Highway mrt station.. nice and deserted ;p
I think this shot is kinda cool
Waiting for our food..
Presenting our farewell card to Peter
Group Photo!! (damn big group!)
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A few of us walked around the area to Haji Lane afterwards..
Outside a Mosque..
Alibaba… ahahha
At Haji Lane
this building is too cute! 
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The next day was the 6th –> Eric’s Birthday! So gc organised a little gathering to Manhattan Fish Market at PS. I LOVEEEEEEE manhattan fish market!
us..
the pairs that shared the platter for two..
The xmas tree in PS was SO CUTE! They used paper hearts!
Group photo!
It was a pretty eventful week..
“Don’t bother to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Just try to be better than yourself.”
– William Faulkner
Thanks to Roy, Kelvin Ling, Nic Tey & Chun Meng – for (in)directly pushing me to get back to running after a not-so-terrific weekend of being sick at home. Normally, I would be spending this time trying to bury my face in notes, but I feel like I’ve been through the best reading week of my university life.
Just a preamble: falling sick before exams, 2 weeks before embarking on a 21km first-time run, is like walking tightriope over over a minefield. Watching people run while being confined at home, unable to study from a massive headache, isn’t good either.
And recovery isn’t very fun. It’s been 3 sessions of running after getting better but there’s still too much phlegm in my nose and a tightness in the chest. I can sympathize with Roy when he says he struggles to return to form ahead of his marathon, and when Kelvin says that Patrick is always going to fast even on easy runs.
But the joy of recovering from a bad flu/fever/stomach virus/cough/sore throat is that it makes running so much sweeter. It makes doing laps and laps of grass under the sceptre of exams an exercise in defiance. But most of all, recovering and starting all over from scratch as made me more appreciative of the people I rely on to pace. They keep me going, they make sure I don’t fall back.
They remind me that, really, when the pain in the chest hits, it’s all about how much more I’m going to push. And from there, recovery goes on.
So to everyone reading this: I would like to see you at the Padang on 5 Dec, so please take care of your health & those of others around you. Wash your hands. Get enough sleep. Drink lot of water. I’m not a doctor so please correct me if I’m giving bad advice.
But most importantly: don’t forget to run.
—-
shelter
You don't need to run alone
Take these footfalls with you: till our steps
move brimming with falling sun.
I watch while you stretch the fabric folds
of your muscles into anticipation –
a form, tense –
wearable, sleeveless.
And lazy sunshine, its loose glare,
wraps its last wayward fingers around the flush of your cheeks.
After you, please:
in similar motions our strides burst into pace,
like frames
for slower runners in still life: shrinking, shrinking.
The want for air moves us – a common
desire, breathing pulses glazed with sweat.
But I’m only faster with you around: when you’re
climbing, diminishing –
a blur of your jersey like a flag – you
a bullet off the lines – one that
hits me deep in the crease of my panting soul
till I have you run with me,
where at this hour crickets whistle
for us to finally slow down. Floodlights cast you
luminous: a halo of sweat,
the only thing aglow on the dark track,
as evening overtakes us.
——
shelter (after training, 2009)
Its a little late to cheer YAY IVP’S OVER because by now, it would have been long forgotten by all as we’re busy mugging for exams. But because I’m not YET busy mugging, I still want to share my tiny IVP experience with the team (:
800m. It was an event that was personal to me. Its not something that I’m really good at, but it just meant something to me. I had my first encounter with 800m in primary six. I don’t even remember training that hard, and I won the silver in Nationals. And when I think about it now, its really funny that I can win a medal, when I don’t really want it. Because in primary school, all I worry about was my school-girl crushes and recess time.
And I went on to running 800m in secondary school nationals but never winning anything. Nevertheless, I had fun. And that was something that I’ve forgotten about as IVP was approaching.
I really wanted to run 800m. Again. And when I finally made it, I trained real hard for it. And as every training session became better, we were getting faster and faster, I not only wanted to run, but I wanted to win something. Its not that wanting to win is a bad attitude, but when you forget everything else except to win, that’s just not right. And it was a lesson learnt through my experience this year (:
I remember trying to study on that Sunday morning. I simply couldn’t because all I could think about was the race. And I got grouchy when my family came back late from their weekly marketing and bought home my lunch late. I remember ranting about how importance it was for me to eat my lunch and now that it came late, it will screw up my race -.- I know right, its something that I’m not proud of. Despite my attitude, my parents willingly sent me to Gombak stadium in the heavy rain.
I was strangely quiet the whole time before the race. And I guess everyone could tell that I was nervous. I mean, I’m not usually so quiet right hehe. Even Yati had to tell me a joke during our warm-up because she could sense the tension. After all the hugs and good lucks, I finally ended up at the starting line. I remember closing my eyes for a few seconds and praying there and then. And I guess I made a mistake there. I did not ask to do my best, I asked Him to make me win something.
The race was good and everything went on as planned. I stuck to the front pack (forget Lossini, she’s just running her own race haha). In fact, I felt good running the race. At the second lap, I wanted to go faster. But both NTU girls were in my way. I remember thinking a lot during that short race, if I should overtake them or not. And I finally did at the 200m mark. As I curved the bend, I was second. And that was all I thought about. I could not even hear the cheering. Wait, I think I could not hear anything at all. I could only hear myself. “Omg, omg, omg, you’re second”. Then I was overtaken. “Omg, omg, omg, I can still make it, I’m third”. And then I was overtaken AGAIN. My legs were still moving, but I had no more energy. All I wanted to do was to reach the finish line. And hold back my tears.
I saw Kaiming (my HC teammate) standing there . He was smiling, a kinda sad smile. You know the kind of “I’m so sorry for you” smile. He invited me to knock knuckles with him (you know the kind Jackie always does). And I did it weakly. On my way back to our area, everyone gave me that same sad smile. Tears were gathering up. But I just keep telling myself I can’t cry. Cos its pretty embarrassing. Until I saw Siewmin. And gosh I’ve cried so many times in front of her, I couldn’t hide it anymore. So it all came out, on her hair I think? Haha her hair was on her shoulders and I cried on it.
The girls brought me to the toilet. And it was there that Yati knocked some sense into me. Running is not about winning. And you don’t enter competitions to win. Competitions are meant to be fun. Those competitors, they are not just competitors, they are friends. And the whole training process, it is not just to win. But to have fun in the process. Because you forge such close bonds when you train together. Whatever Yati said, its not something new to me. It was just something that I have forgotten. And I ‘m ashamed of that. But I’m really glad for the lesson learnt (:
In secondary school, I used to think doing below 2.40 is god-like. Turns out, I did a 2.35 for that race. My personal best. And way beyond my target. And it was all that matters. I did my best. And I’m god-like now
For the next IVP day, I kept bumping into Nikki and Lossini. And we joked and encouraged each other for the 4x400m. I didn’t even care that they were the ones that overtook me. I forgot all about losing that race. I only remember doing my best for that race.
I went on doing a 65sec for my 4x400m. I remember during training, Mr Quek telling me to do a 66sec, and I was so afraid I couldn’t do it. And yet again, I’ve performed beyond expectation. I did my best. Again.
As I put aside the silver 4x400m medal, I suddenly thought about the bronze medal that I almost won for 800m. In that split second, I thought about “I could have had another medal”. And as I looked at my collection of medals, I don’t even remember where I got some of them from. And from where I was, they just looked like rusty useless metals. And that’s what my silver IVP medal is going to look like in a couple of years. A rusty piece of metal.
And that’s when I could smile again. Because I don’t need a medal to remind me that I’ve done well for a race. As long as I did my best, that sweet memory is going to last for a lifetime.
Zakiyah
HELLO!!
So… I haven’t posted before and Mr. Boss-man Azrul said I should lead by example and write something. I was trying to think of a topic to write about, but it’s actually quite hard when most of my brain space at the moment is devoted to bacteria, antibiotics, and genetic diseases. For lack of a better subject, I thought I’d just bore you all with a few of my thoughts about running in general, and my IVP experience. Oh and before I forget,
Whoo we won IVP again yay I guess! Congrats to all the runners and jumpers and throwers and stuff and much respect to all the supporters who braved the elements to cheer their hearts out (UMBRELLAS AND ALL)!
OK now that that’s out of the way, I’ll start with the post proper! Have you ever wondered why you subject yourself to so much physical discomfort by choosing to be a runner? There is no game, no scoreboard. Sometimes it’s really difficult to find the motivation to keep it going in this you-against-yourself-type activity. Perhaps we carry on just because we want to keep fit, reach the targets we set for ourselves, or just to enjoy the company of this awesome club called nusxcountry. We all have our own reasons; I know that one of mine’s to delay my degeneration into a glutton for as long as possible I’m really not a very sporty person, thanks to the utter lack of any decent physical co-ordination (if you’ve seen me play soccer, you’d know. It’s bad.). Running has made me maintain a (fairly) healthy lifestyle, and I think that’s a good enough reason for me.
Other than that, I’ve found that I like racing. Whether it’s a half-marathon or a steeplechase race, that certain kind of high racing gives you is a great feeling, and it motivates me. I gave the steeplechase my first shot back in Sec 3, and raced in the steeplechase every year from 2005 to 2008 in secondary school and JC (medal-less, though ). I like the event because… I dunno, I suppose jumping steeples is fun, haha. As the IVP date came closer, I felt much more excitement than anxiety, and rested pretty well before the race. The race itself was really well paced, with neither my fellow steeplechaser Jayanta nor I starting excessively fast. We both slowly caught the main body, and while Jayanta sped ahead, I tried to stick to the guys in 2nd and 3rd place. With one and a half laps to go, I figured I’d definitely lose in a last minute dash and pulled ahead in hopes of maintaining a lead over the other two. Still, a turtle finish meant double overtakes in the last 200m or so and a 4th place finish. Still, I was really happy with my time (finally broke my PB from 3 years ago in JC1!), and the way I ran the race. Plus, Jayanta won!! Which was quite yay 
GO JAYANTA!!
This year, I must say I’ve enjoyed the training sessions leading up to the IVP race, and it’s especially thanks to my training buddy Jayanta (though I’m really trailing him the entire time -.-). I really admire the strength he displays and the positive attitude that he always brings to training sessions. His encouragement has helped me to stay focused when training gets tough, and just watching him power on ahead of me (even despite a trip, fall and roll à la Mission Impossible) during the race spurred me on to chase the rest of the steeples down. And that’s probably the most important motivation for most of us–our teammates! This being the first time I’ve been down to watch IVP tracknfield, I think the best part’s not the race in itself, but the race being surrounded by you guys cheering all of our athletes on. As I’m sure any of our competitors would tell you, the familiar faces and voices are really empowering.
So yes, it’s true that physical discomfort is an inevitable part of being a runner, and it’s also true that it can be really mind-numbing because it’s not a game like many other sports are. Sometimes an injury hampers your progress, or you feel disappointed after failing to hit target times a few sessions in a row. It’s phsyically and emotionally exhausting, and I’m sure everyone has their stories. For myself, I remember this one particular Epic Fail: (video courtesy of my junior Ruiyong!)
Hmm. Talk about emotionally exhausting! I obviously felt pretty screwed up for the rest of the race, and a bit humiliated for being laughed at, but looking back at it now, it was pretty darn hilarious! Luckily, I still managed to finish the race (albeit with a rather wet jersey). What I’m trying to say is, things happen, and we can only try our best to deal with our setbacks. The good part is, we have teammates to help us see things in the best light possible! I mean, after reading Giri’s and Mel’s IVP blogposts, I feel so privileged to have such motivated teammates that I am inspired to continue running for as long as I can.
With a spread like that, how can you not love nusxcountry?
Even though I only started training with the team in June this year, I think I feel quite at home here. I really enjoy the company of our cross country team (though I know I’m too socially defunct to show it), and all other motivations aside, the teammates are what ultimately makes me keep coming down for training. So no game, no scoreboard; no problem. My inspiration is right here
AND BTW THANKS BEN FOR ALL THE AWESOME PHOTOS!!!
Norman.
Something my coach shared with me and I thought a lot of sportsmen can relate to:
Oct 19, 2010
Money can buy a club, but form is priceless
When a sports star hits a bad patch, his bank balance is irrelevant
By Rohit Brijnath
OWNING a club, like Liverpool, should be about sentiment. Buyers must be able to mournfully recite stats of seasons lost, recollect precisely an Ian Rush goal, leap from their seats in blue-striped suits. It is a lovely thought, but deeply impractical.
The only stats that matter here arrive from an accounts ledger. The only passion here is profit. This, we sadly understand, is business: someone mans the goal-line and another the bottom line.
Money has altered the vocabulary of sport. Players have become brands and clubs are commodities, even if there is a coldness to such a definition, for it strips sport of its essential humanity.
The opposite view of sport, as a pure romantic pursuit, appears too idyllic now, in a time of ego, drugs, scandal, but at least it is more pleasurable and less clinical.
There is a need to place a dollar value to so much in sport, effectively turning a mysterious art into a pragmatic enterprise. Totalling the dollars Singapore athletes were rewarded with after the Commonwealth Games is intriguing, though how they won their medals, with nervous hands in tough arenas, tells us more about character.
The truth is, however powerful the role of commerce, the essential appeal of sport, week in and week out, remains the simple, unending struggle for form and confidence. This is incalculable.
When Andy Murray won the Shanghai Masters on Sunday, his pay cheque – appropriately – was barely mentioned. After all, outplaying Roger Federer so completely, and the new belief that seems to have settled in Murray’s head, defies a price tag.
Money assisted in Murray’s rise – in affording coaches, equipment, travel – but on the court, without breaks for mid-match coaching, a man is left alone with his fears and his inspiration. That is a beauty that is hard to cost.
Money brings no guarantee in sport for it is too fickle an enterprise. There is no sporting store where one can purchase courage, no corner shop that offers confidence for sale. Constantly athletes grapple with the vanishing of consistency. Where did it go? How does the mind manufacture it again? Here there is no discrimination on the basis of bank balance.
Private jets and plush penthouses are not worth a damn when goals don’t go in. Wayne Rooney netted 26 Premier League goals last season, but just one this year. Some unholy mix of injury, indiscretion, arrogance has interfered with the synchronicity of his feet and brain.
Federer couldn’t miss once; on Sunday, in Shanghai, he only missed. At one point, after over-hitting a shot he once could have done blindfolded, he stood in the centre of the court, hands on hip, a picture of confusion. He once wrote virtual textbooks on forehands, but now it is as if he can’t remember the stroke. Invincibility, he is reminded, is only loaned to athletes, it cannot be negotiated at an auction.
Said Federer: ‘Missing so many important shots really, over and over again, obviously took a lot of my confidence away.’ It had taken the same flight as Fernando Torres and Tiger Woods’, all these millionaires suddenly impoverished when it comes to form and confronted by sport’s enigmatic reality: it’s hard to win without confidence, yet to gain confidence you need to win.
Cricketer Rahul Dravid, one of India’s greatest batsmen, familiar with how self-assurance dips, says: ‘There is doubt. You worry a little. You question. You fall back on people who know your game. It’s easier if you know what is going wrong, but if you don’t know what the problem is, it can be confusing. But most athletes will just work harder.’
Form’s betrayal has a hundred fathers. For Torres perhaps injury and fitness, for Rooney his manager’s eroding belief, for Federer age, for Woods the distraction of scandal. But perhaps the first response is sweat. Another 1,000 forehands, another 60 free kicks over dummies, another 200 putts from six feet. This is the universal currency all swear by.
Some athletes will trust themselves, stay faithful to established routines. Some will visit therapists, turn obsessive, fiddle with equipment. Some will compensate for failing parts by adding new ones.
A tennis player might opt to volley to shorten points. A batsman may subtract a stroke from his arsenal to avoid error. Great players, if anything, are masterful at the art of problem solving – whether conditions, opponents, tactics. They find solutions till none remain.
Occasionally, what the athlete requires is another guru, a new voice in the head, repeating old mantras perhaps but with the odd new twist. So Federer, so long his own man, opted for Paul Annacone, once the unobtrusive voice in Pete Sampras’ ear. Woods parted ways with Hank Haney and signed up with Sean Foley.
If Alex Ferguson’s mind is set against him, Rooney may want to fly, for in another club’s belief in him may lie the return of his own. Either way, most will believe the same thing: just one goal, just one big win, and the tide of greatness will wash over them again. Such faith is beyond dollar appraisal.
Amidst all the economic mechanics of the Liverpool deal, a human thought intrudes. To see Rooney falter, Federer fumble, is a reminder that every athlete, even them, has his frailty. These men do not come from other planets; they’re just human beings struggling desperately to refind their grip on greatness. And when they do, when form returns, that moment will be priceless.
rohitb@sph.com.sg
Posts will continue for now
I have a love/ hate relationship with the track.
During JC, I remember two friends and myself sitting by the Bitumen D at Acjc track in the evenings while all the hardworking and respectable students went home. We watched while AC track legends like Tan Yue Han, Maria Pang, Jerry John, Chester Chong and Paul Tan do their runs on the track. One of my friends was supposedly in love with Maria Pang. But we all knew he didn’t stand a chance: he was a hockey player.
Most of the time, the idea behind sitting on the D was not to people-watch. Definitely the scenery was good and we got distracted. But we sat and reflected on all the wrongs we had committed for the year and listed them out one by one. Probably one of us had cheated on a test, another may have said the f-word to a teacher, and all of us were guilty of talking trash about some girl. The idea confession; the goal repentance; the time after our Singapore Poly long runs, and the place was at the track, in the D, where we could watch the world run all around us.
Things have changed a bit since then. I’ve stopped playing the wild game, and I only carry my hockey stick into recreational matches because there was a need to move on. Instead the track is now the stage for every purpose, locomotion, hope and emotion. My two friends have moved on, too: they smoke, they have a club, they have graduated, they have more meaning in their lives than to sit on the D or to run aimless loops around the track. All our heroes in JC have come and gone. And love is like sweat: it evaporates over time. It leaves a stench.
Sometimes I see someone wearing the Acjc track jersey: Kenny on a good day, Ee Ghim on another, and I think: what was I missing? Or what have I missed? But then it doesn’t matter because Ke Wen will ask me: how fast are you going today? And I will just suspend thinking and run the 400s as if there’s actually a purpose in those loops.
When I end, I will sit in the far corner, looking at the D, under the bowed heads of the floodlights and imagine what happened if I didn’t turn my back on the club. Or what if I were still a stick wizard – who only cares about Astroturf, white water rainbows at CCAB while sitting on the Bitumen D to watch mad, insane, demented crossers train and blow their lungs out over some hopeless timing that doesn’t really matter in the long run because sport isn’t about running, but playing.
And in the end Patrick will say something and I will go do strengthening exercises. I will ask Sarah Tan about Sociology modules, I will talk to Chun Meng – Roy will say something in Mandarin I don’t understand – someone will laugh – and someone will tell me: there’s a purpose because, really, it doesn’t really matter what you do, you idiot
At least not tonight.
——–
shelter
Why do I run?
The following is an extract from a recent entry in my training log this year. It provides an insight into what’s going through my mind before/during races.
“07/25/2010 Sunday
Workout: 5th All Comers Meet – 1500m (target 4:15), ~1h rest + 800m
Description: At ITE College East. Hot weather for 1500m, a little cooler for 800m.1500m Remarks 1545h
Spent less time warming up for 1500m than usual. Had to wait in the sun while girls finished their 1500m. Started a little fast. Took the pace for 1st lap. Slowed down considerably after 200m. Colin took the 2nd lap and maintained the target pace. Could hear Mr Quek asking me to pick up the pace as we passed 700m. I tried to get in front of Colin on the outside of the curve. But he moved out to let me pass so that I could take the pacing for the 3rd lap. I picked up the pace a little at 1000m, and then some more at the beginning of the last lap. Last 200m I was just trying to maintain the pace. Felt like I wasn’t pushing as hard as last year’s races. My last run during training sessions this year felt harder.
800m Remarks ~1645h
Decided to run it when Mr Quek asked if I was up for it, after the 1500m. I thought I would just take it as a training session. Colin and I signed up with the help of Mr Loh, one of the NTU coaches. The race was about an hour after. Got stuck behind Colin and Feroz as the others’ start was a little faster and they were cutting in from the outside. Followed Colin for 1st 150m and then cut him. Feroz, Raviin and Hazwari were leading, in that order. Maintained my position behind them and responded when they picked up the pace at 300m. We picked it up again going into our last lap. Tried getting in front of Hazwari at 550m but he was also trying to move in front. So I relaxed and settled behind him again. Started pushing and got ahead of him after 650m. Surged past Feroz and Raviin at 700m. Was pushing myself hard for the last 100m. I was worried that they would catch me. A lot of lactic in my quads as I finished. Could see Kuan Yong from the corner of my eye as I crossed the line.
My 1500m Timing
100m – 15
200m – 32
300m – 51
400m – 69
800m – 2:17
1000m – 2:51
1100m – 3:08
1500m – 4:13.84My 800m Timing
200m – 30
400m – 59.8
600m – 89.6
800m – 1.58.6 HT
1.58.8 ETRace results: http://www.singaporeathletics.org.sg/download/5ACM2010-Results.pdf
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/video/video.php?v=443531437717&ref=mf is the video of the 800m.”
This session was the day after the NUS Cross BBQ/chalet at East Coast, of which I was in attendance for about an hour. I was torn between staying or just attending or not even showing up. Some of you (remember me playing on Redang Island? =P) would understand how much I would have loved to stay and have fun with you guys. However, socializing always comes in behind racing and obviously, I went home to sleep on time.
I am not sure how many people can grasp what I went through, just by looking at the short race report. It was good racing that day for me; not just masochistic pleasure. It is rare that everything you planned for, and could not plan for, can go in your favour. And those feelings are what I run for.
This beautiful song (sorry it’s another Chinese song:)) sort of sums up why I run and my love for running.. It’s called 很旅行的愛情by Cindy Yen..
爱是一场越过天际落向永恒的旅行
原来一切只是美丽
当我终于明白我爱你
寻觅草天的香气
每段小径都很甜蜜
北房间是否也得那片森林
变松果落地时都在开心
天气很晴 你是一行蔚蓝色的诗句
湖泊很静 而我携着朗读无处不在的爱情
比利时的黑巧克力 余韵不如你
葡萄庄园里的香槟 清澈不及你
古典钢琴弹不出 你微笑时的声音
爱你才是我最重要的旅行
山腰蜿蜒的小径 余韵不如你
琉璃瓦上的雨滴 清澈不及你
你是这个世界旅行中最美的风景
于是沙漠 于是寂寞
就像我们不说话的时候
于是冰丘 于是心暖和
就像我们牵着手的时候
What I would like to say that running to places changes how you look at the scenery and each time I run to somewhere new, it seems and feels like I’m on a holiday to a really scenic and lovely place..it doesn’t matter where it is, whether I’m running alone, each time i run, it’s a new experience.
Running was actually first introduced by my friend, who asked me to join her for TAF Club runs during breaks in secondary school. After several times, I realised I feel really happy and accomplished after my runs. Thereafter, I began to explore new running routes around my neighbourhood as I really love seeing new sights each time I run.
Distances increased and the time I spent running increased too as I grew to love the entire process of running…thinking of where to run, absorbing the new sights as I ran and savouring the sense of accomplishment after the run. Whenever I felt like I needed some personal time, whenever I feel stressed or angry or sad or even happy, I ran. Sometimes I ran hard, just to release the pressure boilling within me, sometimes I just took my time, using the run to ponder over issues. But whatever that is, after each run, I returned a different person.
My parents used to get mad at me for spending so much time running…but somehow after years, I’m glad they are able to tolerate my love for running. Sometimes I really hope that with me running, they would slowly be able to accept this healthy way of living and run. I really hope to inspire them to run…
I’m also really glad I continued to run; no matter how tough it might be to drag myself out of bed on a nice morning to sleep in; no matter how hard it is to schedule my day properly in order to come for cross trainings/even find the time to run on a busy day; no matter how much appointments with friends I might have to miss…
Running has given me a whole new experience in life, new goals and new friends and I do hope I would be able to continue running for my entire life ^_^
Love,
Sarah T.
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