Anticipation

It's the last week of BMT and I can't deny the bittersweet feeling. As much as it marks the closure of my first phase of NS, many changes come along with it.

The friendships I've developed over the previous 2 months have been immensely valuable to me as I spent my days in Tekong. Though I won't say I've gotten really close to anyone, I know I've made exciting friendships there and this has been paramount in helping me get through the hours, days and weeks.

There is much uncertainty that lies ahead. First, my NUS interview/test awaits on the day after my POP on 13th April. Furthermore, I'll have my NS posting and NTU interview on the 19th. 

Though it is true uncertainty frightens, it is undeniable that uncertainty brightens my life.

Discipline

Nothing has guaranteed my contentment more effectively than discipline – be it in thoughts or actions. It is my platform to fulfill my dreams; and though it doesn’t promise success, the outcome always leaves me satisfied.

Hockey training in 2012 was definitely exhausting from all fronts. After tasting success during the National ‘A’ Division Championships in 2011, we were pressured to perform – particularly because 2012 was the graduating year for the entire team. While our coach perfected our strategies and technicalities, I bore the responsibility of organising fitness trainings. In spite of months of preparation, our season ended abruptly. After some reflection, I found contentment, recognising that I had been disciplined with my time, trainings and thoughts. I did however, decide to pursue another sporting field – distance running.

Discipline was imperative to distance running. I was driven to perform well in what I had committed to – even if it meant juggling my relationships and the academic commitments of my final year. Every week, I dedicated four to seven sessions to train. My schedule was simple, but arduous. Weekends were reserved for service in church, family bonding and training; weekdays were focused on friendships, academics and training. The four months of commitment to running, amidst academic preparations, climaxed in the November of 2012, when I sat for my IB examinations while tapering for the Standard Chartered Marathon in December.

I remain proud of my efforts, though humble of my achievements. Both running and academic outcomes surpassed my expectations. I placed 2^nd in my division and obtained 45 Points for my IB Diploma. Though I do credit these successes to my ability, it is not physical or intellectual ability I acknowledge, but the ability to remain disciplined in my endeavours. As Jim Rohn accurately identified, “Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishments.”

Outfield

As much as I intend to keep posts on this blog relevant to running, I'd like to share some instances of my field camp/SIT test from 4-9th March.

I heard stories of field camp prior to my field camp and most seemed unnerving. Yet when I had the chance to get down to the site and experience it personally, it certainly was manageable. Hygiene was understandably poor, food wasn't as palatable. However, other aspects appealed to me - the community spirit, the willingness to help one another, performances our CSM tasked us to do and of course, the breathtaking night sky.

The night sky would be one I would always remember. I'd recall the night of 8th March, when my section mates and I stargazed in the brief moments before lights-out, when they got me to look up before singing "Happy Birthday". 

I remember the tunnel ride home, when the tunnel started singing "Happy Birthday"(even though it was already 9th March). 

I remember the combat movement we did, the firing of blanks, the many mistakes I made(I somehow don't quite remember anything that involves my rifle - other than making sure it's with me at all times). 

I remember the day I was the Platoon IC and accidentally called my coy's OC "Sergeant", getting 70 push-ups for that.

I remember the perfect weather. I'm estimating we had about 60 seconds of rain - spread over a few instances, over our entire outfield training.

Oh, I remember the sights and smells of the latrine at our field camp site. Breath-taking indeed.

Most of all, I remember how God was present through it all.

Discover

I'm serving NS at present, entering my 3rd week of BMT. 

On the physical side, we've done our first IPPT. We've also learnt a variety of strange exercises and warm ups/cool downs. Our first AGR was miserably slow despite the group being the fastest 25% of people. Hopefully they will commence the "progressive" part of the training quickly. Overall PT is quite comfortable, but in my opinion, too comfortable for me to see any improvement in my running.

The other side that many of us had to adapt to is our physical capabilities when we're handling our combat equipment cos' it's shockingly bulky and heavy at first. Being on the lighter end of the weighing scale, these equipment constitute a larger percentage of my body mass hence I'm assuming it's relatively more uncomfortable for me.

Apart from the physical side, NS has been an awesome experience though I started to feel the accumulated fatigue of our 2 weeks of confinement after the 10th day. New friendships, many restrictions - yet all these helped me find God.

I've realised that a key for feeling great about NS was to embrace every day in its entirety and to view every episode as an experience for growth.

Field camp week ahead ~

One Day More

Tomorrow we'll discover

What our God in heaven has in store

Amelioration

A casual 20min tempo run at the gym turned out to become my 10k PR. 

What began at tempo pace(or so I thought) progressed into a run longer than expected.

Previously while training for the SCMS 2012, the fastest extended pace I held was an 8km run totalling 35:50 which left me fatigued. I have no idea how my existing fitness managed my pace today.

A month ago, I was struggling to handle a 13.2km/h average for 4km. 2 weeks ago, I could barely hold a 13.3km/h average for 20mins. If you check my running log, you'll have realised I clocked in only 16km of running in the past 2 weeks. What could possibly explain the significant increase in performance?

If you actually did check my log, you'd have realised that I engaged in some other forms of physical activity ~ I simply refuse to credit this improvement to "just feeling good today" and instead suspect that out of the other activities(strength/core work, cycling, swimming, soccer etc), some had significant impacts on my improvement. After all, I'm very much a person who believes that results have to be earned. A quick consideration led me to the following inferences, bearing in mind the aerobic base that was built in the latter half of 2012.

1) Core work increased stability which helped breathing and form significantly. 

2) Strength work, along with an interval I attempted(4x3:05 at +4% incline, 14km/h, 1:55 rest) helped leg power and cadence.

3) Swimming improved my aerobic threshold, functioning as cross training.

4) The single instance of cycling probably had no impact(yet).

5) Unfortunately, I don't think hockey or soccer led to much improvement. Nonetheless, this is based on my fallible logic.

These supplemented my basic running fitness, thereby leading to a satisfying improvement(which of course, did not just happen after 2 weeks). The result was a 43:38 10k with 22:18/21:20 5k splits, averaging 13.75km/h(I do all my paced runs at +1%). 

The danger of improvement is, however, the fear of failure during subsequent attempts. How best can one avoid failure? By not trying.

If you don’t know what you’re capable of, then take a risk and find out — and by that I mean a risk for you, not for your peers.  Let the world tell you when you've gone too far.  Let it knock you down and say, “This is as far as I’m willing to let you go.”  Make sure the walls you hit are made of reinforced concrete and not of your imaginary self-doubt.  Don’t be such a wuss when it comes to risk-taking.  My standard for risk-taking is, “If it won’t land me in a prison or a coffin, it’s worth doing.”

Steve Pavlina

Try

I'm wondering what it'll be like to do a triathlon :D