In the stillness of the night 2 days before the year draws to a close and the next one begins, it’s good to look back and see my failure and success, the things that I have done wrong and those that are right.
2009 is/was a special or crazy year, when the economy headed south, my exercise regime headed north. Maybe this would be the only time slot whereby I can put in a little more time to pursue that which was seemingly impossible.
As I peered into my calendar, I surprised myself for completing 26 events this year; 7.5K of Open Sea Swim + 310K Bike + 417.5K Run. Amazingly and thankfully my aging body did not breakdown!
There were so many memorable moments but of it all there is one in particular that I would remember for the rest of my life; my 1st ever open sea swim event on the 12th April by TriFam. A simple no frills event, yet it etched very deeply in my memory. A simple 750m Swim + 20k Bike + 5K Run, no big deal, nothing to shout about but to me it’s like Armstrong stepping on the moon; “A small step for mankind, a giant leap for John”. In fact, when I came out of the waters, I was over the moon! I have overcome the fear of the sea at last! Many would not understand why I was so happy coming in near the tail end of the swim with almost everybody gone from the beach. If one had experienced the near effect of drowning, every stroke we made, every inch that we propel forward and every second that we stay afloat is an achievement. Some said that we have conquered the sea but I always feel that we can never really do that. Its power is beyond our control and I have learned to live in harmony with it and to respect it.
The most fun Triathlon event was the Port Dickson International Tri. An Olympics distance event that was just right for my fitness level. Very exhausting but very enjoyable. My night mare was the Desaru Long Distance Tri. I was ill prepared for the ride; very hilly and hot. Felt that my heart was going to give way on the hills, I was totally drained in the end, both in strength and spirit. The pain was just too much and it took me a couple of weeks just to recover. Maybe I would be able to make peace with the hills one day.
The NF100 was another wonderful event. Never felt so uncertain, self-doubt and anxious ever since my 1st marathon run. To finish it was sweet!
2009 marked the 1st time that I ventured into Malaysia for runs. It was whilst driving towards Penang that I saw these big mountains reaching into the clouds. How I wish we have one of these here in S’pore, then I can run up and touch the clouds! Malaysia has the perfect terrain for NF events, it would be so interesting to run from hills to hills. I day dreamed that maybe one day we could run from S’pore to Penang and time it just right to run at the Penang Bridge International Marathon! 700+km, if we cover 42k a day it would takes us about 18 days to reach there. 18 marathons back-to-back and finish with the finale at Penang! One day….maybe one day….
The venture into triathlon affected my running. Time needed for swim and bike eats into my running mileage. This year, I didn’t see any improvement in my running times except for the 21k SAFRA event. So I have decided to focus on running for 2010 and come back to triathlon later. I was spread too thin this year by participating in too many events. Next year would be choosier and focus on Ultra- distance events. My 10k & 21K goals are long overdue, hope to achieve my target next year. They said that one would reach his/her best fitness level 7yrs from where one started training( if we train consistently). So 2011 would be my best year but would try to push a little more in 2010 and see how my body would cope.
2009 was a good year to meet many new friends at Punggol Runners. The friendship forged during our suffering together would not be easily forgotten. Countless Sunday runs, running to the Mandai Zoo, climbed the steep Bukit Timah Hill, got roasted on the Mandai Hills, and finally circulated round and round the MacRitchie Reservoir. At times, some were limping, some daydreaming, most grit our teeth and move on, some kana stomach upset, some have pains at all parts of the body we can think of, gifted few glide effortlessly, most mortals struggled to put one foot in front of the other, some almost wanted to crawl home, some charged like there is no tomorrow, others armed with calculated plans and cool heads, …..but none gave up. We finished our races! The “don’t know the word DIE” type and the Mr.Cool can all be found in the same PR group. Competition can either build us or destroy us. The unseen (and rarely admitted!!) competitive nature within some of us drives us to greater heights! Thankfully it is the friendly competition.
So it’s a year to thanks all those whom I sweat together with, joke with, laugh with….thank you all! The voice of the presenter of the Desaru Tri event still rings in my ear, “Hey John!....as I shuffled across the finish line after 7hrs.
Looking forward to another good year of fun with the PR people and hopefully we would all run well into our retirement and beyond!
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