Name: NEO YONG SHENG RENNIE
Event: Interschool Biathlon 2008
Date: Saturaday, April 26, 2008
School: Temasek Polytechnic
Rank/Bib: 27 out of 41 / 637
Swim: 00:22:57
Run: 00:26:12
Total: 00:49:09
Only biathlon that I did this year; and timing wasn’t fantastic, but had lotsa fun in the race; before, during and after. Its this yearly interschool biathlon that sparks the team spirits flying high, and get trainings going. Most importantly, this was the final race that the batch of seniors raced under the name of TP.
Certainly given my best to enjoy this race! It was always the swim that seemed shaky for me; after the swim; body was too ‘nua’ to continue the run part. Hahah the tsunami of water in the open sea, splashed upon me when the participants wavered through one another to get a headstart. I guess this is normal in an open sea swim! Just have to improve my fighting skills in water against others =)
Fierce competitors in this race came from NUS, NTU, SMU, and NP. It’s the usual them. NUS was superb in clinching the top 2 tertiary men individuals, while my two teammates secured the 3rd and 4th. Women individuals from my team; fastest came in 6th in position, it was a great experience for her; pat. Well done, team temasek tri…
Name: NEO YONG SHENG RENNIE
Event: Singapore Marathon 2008
Date: Sunday, December 7, 2008
Rank/Bib: 2251 out of 11000 / 23774
Time: 5h:18m:51s (gun) / 5h:03m:24s (chip)
1st 10km: 1h:20m:40s
10-21km: 1h:14m:49s
21-30km: 1h:03m:30s
30-42km: 1h:24m:25s
42.195km: 5h:03m:24s
Avg speed: 8.35km/hr
Ave time: 7:18min/km
This was my very FIRST attempt in marathon running! (the longest I have ever run) It was definitely cooler than cool. Rise and shine super early like 4am for the race? Travelled to race site with eyes barely open; and discover it was already flooded with runners, everywhere! Made my way to baggage counter to store my bag; and headed to meet friends; Sheryl & Evelyn. I swear I was super in need of toilet; and the queue was longer than hellokitty’s queue la! I literally forgot about this issue during my pre-race plan; and under ‘bo pian’ act, joined the queue which took me near 20mins. I sprint my way to start line, and discovered I was very back behind; thus the big difference of gun and chip time, appx 15min:30sec. Gosh, luckily I wasn’t very much affected by this.
1st 10km (1h:20m:40s): was pretty much slow pace; adjusting myself to marathon pace, warming up and being warmed up at this point. Glanced through the pack of runners, trying to find someone I know or somewhere I can pace with; but to no avail. Having no one to run with, I set my on composure and to run this run alone! I started off quite okay; nothing much; no pain; given myself plenty of breath and shaping my posture as I footed along.
10-21km (1h:14m:49s): was more/less at a comfortable pace; caught glimpses of fellow runners in the marathon cat; many enthusiasts like jc, poly students, veteran runners, athletes, family runners and so on. So far, am still able to be enjoying the morning breeze, cold air through the run. Quite a consistent pace with the 1st 10km; thought I was doing great at this point of time. My mood lifted when I caught up with Sheryl and Evelyn; finally saw someone I know in the run but didn’t keep with their pace; so I just ran off after giving them a pat on shoulder. (taken my first power gel near the estimated mark of 15km)
I was rather surprised to learn that my 11km timing was faster than my 1st 10km’s. Though I went slow at the start, the timing of next 11km should be around there. I did much faster; 6mins faster with 1km to spare. Ahh, perhaps the last 12km says it all.
21-30km (1h:03m:30s): still able to run according to race plan; of run 25min, walk 1min, and also slowed down a little or sometimes stop to catch a gulp of air at every water point. Oh well, was still doing fine over here; though I felt a little pain starting to set in, and the gasping for air, occasionally. 30km mark was still consistent with the previous two timings. Confidence built up, and felt mentally and physically strong to finish the race well within my target timing of 4h:45min. (taken my first salt tab near the 20km mark together with water)
30-42.195km (1h:24m:25s): simply gruesome, hell-devastated, mainly nothing but struggle! Down with the last 12km: thought everything would go fine, but sometimes things just don’t go your way, you know! Pain sets in, that is; strain at right hamstrings, gluteus maximus, thigh muscles, a little of calf muscles first, before it switched to left. Pain oh pain! Mental strength dropped like crazy; race plan abandoned; have to walk often, run little, and run in pain. Thoughts of giving up and just walked back to finish did appear in my mind; but didn’t want to give in to those thoughts. Negative thoughts aside; I cheered to survive on; repeated same old songs over and over in my head with broken lyrics. Getting tired of that! Then, saw my teammates shouting and cheering me on at some distance from finish line; the cheers were temporary strong for me. I pierced through the pain; only managed to go a short distance.
Still a fair bits from finish line; a guy came from nowhere and cheered me on; to keep up the pace with him. That kept me going; he let me set the pace and ran alongside with me. It was a great companionship to the finish line. I managed to survive through the last bits and pieces of the run. The pain and struggle I put on was worth it. I crossed the finish line, arms in the air and with a great sense of satisfaction that was also filled with some pain. After race, we exchanged conversation and found that this guy called danny. Thanks dude. You’re sure an inspiration for me to inspire and motivate others in my next run!
Oh well, I’m inspired to do a MARATHON again in 09. Hurray!
Okay; shall sign off with this quote: pain is temporary, pride is forever.
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