Wednesday, March 26, 2008

last fri was Yuko and Kiat Hau' s dance performance... we to UCC at NUS to watch... was quite a nice performance.. my brother's chereo a dance using "Ma tongs"... the things which you used when you go to PooPoo! ahaha... and it was so amazing and nice and exciting that the audience all roared and cheered during his performance... as my brother is called Ah Siao...! hahah you know his performance is really SIAO! aaaahah....

and we took some photos!
went out with Shu and Michelle last week with 2 other friends... Richard and Dave... nice guys.. nice company...
and we took lots of pictures... I was busy talking to Shu and Ric abt training and intervals while Mich was telling me to be wary of certain swimming companies which may be .. erm.. cunning...
and we also met ZOE TAy... and i pulled Shu to take a photo with her! haha... Zoe was really nice.. she even told us where to take photo with the best lighting... nice lady humble and sweet... and very skinny!!!!

Sunday, March 23, 2008

X physique

i cant quite remember how did X physique went by, what i can remember is that it went by with lots of run...

we started off at white sands, pasir ris... we were in a rush at the starting line because our guys went to toilet one by one and we had not yet registered nearing the closing time for registration.. then we had to go back to the car to put out stuff and then rush to the starting point..

my team had Andrew, a runner from MR25 , he was also my partner for the vertical marathon and the hero who ran 4 times up 60 storeys of stairs... we had SUnny, sikhandar singh.. my close bro...

at the start point, we got the first check point card... we realised it was at fisherman village.. or rather the OLD fisherman village... we realised it was alomst a 2 km run to the point... once the horn sounded, we dashed off.. following JD... as he knew exactly where it was... but then halfway, SUnny took charge. because he was so fast! he was running damn freaking fast!... and then the funny thing was when he slowed down for us, he was practically running at a speed which looks as though he was warming up.. it was the first time i saw him running so slowly... when we went to the check point, we got there first. It was the CANOE station...

we had to canoe an M shape...out to 2 kelongs and then make a roundabout and then canoe back to a big red bull buoy and then up to several more kelongs again.. as we departed for the canoe right after the briefing for the marshalls, I felt happy... because it was like once in a year I can canoe with friends... ahah... weird feeling... when we were out in the sea, there was this guy on the Jet Ski who came to us and told us to turn back to make a roundabout around this BUOY which was non existent! We were taken aback and then we told him tat the marshall had told us to go straight and then towards the buoy in front... JD was like "eh NO! The marshall din say that, we are NOT going back!".... and the whole team felt like we should just move forward... and we did.. and sure we did, correctly, we reached another buoy which was so prominent... it was the correct one...

and then we made a roundabout to the other kelongs.. Da ge andrew was shouting to the marshalls on the canoe to come out and not hide inside the middle of the kelongs because we could not see them and could not ask for directions! haha.. and then we made our way to the checkpoint.. took the card for the other checkpoint and dashed forward...

this was one of the bad part.. we got lost... we ran on the beach and about 2 km forward, we realised we got out of the wrong entrance.. and got to bash through bushes... after bashing through for a long while, we finally reached the back of the pasir ris army camp... we knew we already got lost... should not have taken this route... but then we din give up we just keep bashing and running... and finally we got out!

and we ran all the way to erm.. i forgot the place name! it is a cycling training ground.. when we reached there.. we got a map... it was to navigate and find 4 check points out of 5.. I have been here before but then the thing is the map was not really accurate... we met esther's team, the national team inside and they also mentioned that the map was really hard to navigate... and we had to keep detouring to find several checkpoints which were said to be marked out by marshalls in yellow shirts... we were looking for our 4th checkpoint when we found a guy in white shirt... and we happen to run to him and ask him whether he is the checkpoint marshall.. and we realised he is! my gosh... we ran past him several times thinking he was not because he was not in yellow shirt! this is deceiving... aiyoh!

we finally made our way out and then ran out... we had to head to bedok reservoir...however, we ran to TPE... we had no choice.. we ran the whole of the TPE! non stop... JD was feeling tired and having cramps.. i was getting a little sick of getting lost! and sunny and Andrew was going strong in front.. and then after like 25-30 minutes of running we finally got out of the expressway and made or way to bedok reservoir... it was another 15-20minutes of running...

we saw esther's team at bedok reservoir too! we completed the task and headed to ITE simei to do abseiling... it was another running session. When we reached there, there was a good thing to know. the time was stopped once we reach the abseiling station and starts when we leave the station.. better than last year... when we were held back because of the helpers error...
Sunny and Andrew had not really done abseiling before and I was actually laughing at Sunny! opps brother! JD did it very well! go commando! ahaha....

after that we took our time to run to the cycling track at tampines... i remembered where that was...my old days where I did my cycling training... and we had to do a one round lap around the track before heading for Aloha resorts. we did it as a team and then headed to aloha resort o the bike... when we reached the end of the beach. the marshall told us to go back to a checkpoint which was marked on a card...

and when we went to the last checkpoint, we actually knew it was the last because it was only a 200m walk to the finishing point..we returned our bikes there and WALKED back... i told the guys to run and they said no point running since the first team we cant catch and the 3rd team was a lot behind.! my gosh... this was something we regretted...

We did not know that the race had 3 details.. from the start of the race till the end of the race we thought there was only one detail! my gosh... and when the results came out, we were second, behind esther's team but only one minute in front of the 3rd team.. if we had walked slower, we would have lost!.... now we learnt out lesson, not to walk in the race! and not to slow down! haha...

anyway guys, thanks for the splendid race... i enjoyed it a lot and hope that you all did too! thanks for the support and tolerance you all had.. the teamwork was fantastic.!
AND A PHOTO WITH THE NATIONAL TEAM...

Monday, March 17, 2008

overnight marathon swim

its back in school now after one week holiday... supposed to be a resting week... but then i went coaching, training and had so much work to do.. plus 2 races over 3 days.. was so tired!

Last Thursday was darling's surprise birthday party... and we all enjoyed a lot.. i surprised him with the greatest and ever first and last party that i will ever organise for him! haha... no more! anyway it was over great planning...

moving on to Friday night.. overnight marathon swim at NTU.. organised by NTU lifeguard corps... actually we felt that if the event was like the more the number of laps we swim, the more an organisation would donate.. but we paid 15 bucks and just swam... we felt it would be more worth to swim for the charity with the mindset that if we swim more, the money would be donated to the charity! but well it was fine...

anyway we had a great time... met up at NTU stadium at 7 plus and then headed to canteen 2 to eat... Alber just recovered from a stomach upset, Alvin has a torn meniscus on his left knee ... as for me, JD and Eddie, we just want to go there to have fun.. actually this is one of my first race where i did not pin any hopes on winning.... its more like a relaxation and fun and enjoyment.. to be having laughter and team work throughout the whole night.. 10pm to 7 am...

we started off at 10am... i swam 10 laps... and then JD took over for the next ten laps and then Eddie, Alvin and Alber... it was the same 10 laps sequence until we got bored of it.. i started to swim 18 laps.. then they swam 12 each.. but it was still boring.. time was passing off very slowly.. i was freezing! It was soooo cold! even with my long tights and jacket, i still felt cold. Can you imagine when we jumped into the water, its like jumping into ice ! haha.... however, the team spirit pulled each and everyone of us through.. we did not speed up, just slowly made my way to every lap...
some pictures before the race...my team!
and they were packing...
and then when we started the swim, i was taking some pictures of the swimming sceneand eddie swimming...and some pictures of the lovely couple.. peishan came down to support us! thanks!!!and while we were swimming.. peishan was going to go off to rest for her next day training... and so i insisted we must take photos!and then JD was trying some action on EDDIE!and then we finished the last 3 hours of the race by doing a rotation... every 100m swim we change people... and the last 1.5 hours, we did a swop every 200m.. and the last 20 mins i swam myself... to allow the guys to change up fast in case all the guy toilets were packed.. swam 24 laps.. think total swam around 130-150 laps! the guys each swam about 100-110 laps! good job guys! and then we went for our long awaited mac breakfast that Alber suggested!

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

haircut day...

yesterday brought my sister for a haircut in the afternoon... at clementi and then rushed for my swimming coaching class at queenstown.. after the class, we went up to my boss's house for a discussion for next term swimming lesson.. and the results came out quite nicely... they wanted me to continue to teach for the next term from april to June... and paying me quite a nice sum... 2 hours per training... and every tuesday and thurs... and they are even willing to pay for my AUST swim course... yup! and they are sponsoring me a wet suit top and t shirt and cap! ahaah... quite nice employers... haha i am just happy that my relief coaching for them went well last 3 weeks and had good comments and feedback from the parents of the students and they want me back! thanks ! anyway got to work really hard now... coaching on every tues, wed, thurs, fri, sat and sun... well and i have my own running training on Mon, wed, thurs sat and sun! and teaching is every mon to fri.. I think i have gotten myself really packed! okok back to setting of papers soon... oh yeah lets have some pictures of my mum and sister new haircut!

I kept pestering my hairstylist to cut or perm or rebond my hair... and she refused! she said my hair is in bad condition.. she wants me to leave it longer and then cut the damage parts away... and so... this good hair stylist cares more for me than the money that she can earn!!!

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

training at turf city

just finished training... now resting at home.. a typicaI day...

Morning had a rugby course... went for abt 3 hours... to Iearn how to pIay rugby.. its tag rugby... everyone waist has a veIcro beIt with 2 tags... and the game is Iike normaI rugby. just that the gae is stopped when the person is being tagged.. or the veIcro straps gets tagged by opponents...

the course was fiIIed with teachers from schooIs aII over singapore... we had a great time just that I was sort of pushed and I feII head down... and i bite my Iips and it bIed afte the faII... and then my head sort hurt quite a bit... the headache was quite painfuI and i feIt Iike vomitting ... but i refused to see doctor... ahah as usuaI.. the stubborn Sumiko I am... i just take the pain and went back to Keming Pri.. my kids were having fIoorbaII training and I need to be there to supervise... and what happened>..... I feII asIeep during part of the training.. I was too tired and I just dozed off.. but I woke up after that... hha... sports peoPIe Iike me tend to faII asIeep when we are not moving.. Iike during meetings...

anyway training today was good stuff.. aIthough it was raining sIightIy, we stiIi proceeded to our usuaI training venue.. the hiIIs at turf city... and did out usuaI 9 times up sIopes... but this time round, i feIt myseIf and the others too... running much faster than other trainings... dunno whether it was due to the surprise presence of 2 coaches... they came to watch us train! haha...

15mins warm up
3 x 150 m upsIope - fast strides
3 x 150 m upsIope - fast strides then high knee Iifts and then sprint
3 x 150 m upsIope - fast strides then sprint..
5 mins cooI down


today managed to finish the workout with aII the guys... thanks to aII the guys who gave me the support aII the way.. thanks to Subaish my tok cock buddy who ran the Iast 3 sets with me.. staying at the back to watch our stridings to ensure it was not overstriding.. thanks to IIIyas who aIways ask me whether I am fine... thanks to JOE for his ever taIking.. which keep aII of us Iaughing.. thanks to Atiqi for protraying that fighting spirit which makes me wanna push myseIf further upon seeing that spirit in him.. thanks to Marcus who keeps taIking to me and Keeps me moving on by encouraging everyone... thanks to Kharthik who aIiows me to buIIY him aII the time by keep reminding him that he is aIways Iate and have HOw much more to compIete!!! ahaha sorry bro...!

haha anyway I reaIIy enjoyed the training today...but did not enjoy the dinner we had after that! we went to AI Armin... at Bukit Timah.. dunno whether it is speIIed correctIy... and i ordered Maggi Goreng... it was tasteIess... and after adding my own serving of chiIIi sauce and Joes serving... it stiII tasted bIand... and i ate onIy haIf of the whoIe pIate... normaIIy i couId finish the whoIe PIate after training... but today I ate onIy haIf...

anyway coach just reminded me to cut down on my food intake these 2 weeks... He says i need to drop another 2 more kg before KI marathon... and i wouId require another session of sports massage from him before my race... i am stiII thinking how to Iose 2 kg in 2 weeks...!!! hhaah got some tips from him... wiII try!...

going to sIeep now... tomorrow is a busy day for me again... hoIs seem to be more busy than normaI day...

oh and coach finally sent us the new year picture we all took! when every single one of us came down for training.. plus some newbies from mr Yusoff class...