Tomorrow's the aquathlon!

It has been quite a busy week at work. I actually had a very long day at work yesterday, having started at 8am and worked till 6pm, with only a half-hour lunch break! And being a radiographer means moving around the whole day. It's actually really quite manual labour, serious! U have to walk the whole day, carry those HEAVY cassettes(The stuff which we used to x-ray patients with), move the HEAVY x-ray tube(the room which I'm assigned to this week simply sucks for it has the heaviest tube and stiffest table and is furthest away from the processor!) and help some old and rather immobile patients move from the wheelchair to the x-ray table. ARGH... it's hard work.

So, the day was long yesterday, with me starting work from 8am to 6pm, and only having a half-hour lunch break. I could only rest my legs for 30mins. I had planned to go for a swim after work, which would be the last work-out before the aquathlon tomorrow. I was physically quite tired, but not mentally. Hence, I forced myself to go for the swim which I got to commit to before the event. It was late; 6.50pm. If I were to do my usual routine of 50laps of freestyle(F.S) and 10laps of breaststroke(B.S), I would be reaching home at about 9pm after washing up. Geez. I decided I should do just 40laps of F.S and 10laps of B.S.

I started out slow, and I could feel the muscle aches in my calves and thighs from the run the day before. Probably certain parts of my muscles had not recovered from the New Balance Real Run on Sunday yet. I told myself to just swim and not push myself too hard. After all, I need to warm down these muscles tired out by the previous runs. I still have a long race this Sat.

Surprisingly, the timings I clocked for all my laps are the same as those usual days when my body do not experience this kind of fatigue. I was pleasantly surprised, to say the least. I went on to do my 50laps of F.S but only managed 6laps of B.S, for my body was feeling rather tired already. I am happy with my performance. It goes to show that the body can do what the mind wills it to. My mind was mentally alert, but body was worn out by the day's work. In fact, keeping a relaxed and open mind also helped a great deal. I 'pulled through' the whole session.

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It is less than a day to the aquathlon. To be held at Sentosa Siloso Beach, I have had 2 simulated trainings at my friend's condominium pool and surroundings. But that was 2 weeks ago, before the Real Run weekend. Geez. I hope my body can still take the long distance that it had been through before in March when I 1st took part in the Navy biathlon. This event is the same distance; 1.5km swim and 10km run. I hope I would not regret not signing up for the sprint distance instead. I wanted to, and it's actually a more feasible choice. However, come to think of it, I go all the way to Sentosa and brought along so much gear and then, I'm only going to take part in such a short race?! One that would take less than an hour to complete? Hence, to push my limits and challenge myself after I have started work, I decided to sign up for the long distance one.

In March, I had trained hard for the biathlon, having not gone overseas during my 3-week term break and trained 6days a week for the event. After starting work, of course I do not have the luxury to do the same thing. Hence, I'm waiting to see how far I can push myself this round. I know I can complete this race for sure, but I have also set myself a rather realistic goal for this race: To complete it in under 1 hour 45min. I would not stress myself during the race. After all, I'm there to enjoy the race. To finish within the time limit that I have set for myself would be a bonus.

By the way, the flag-off time would be at 12 noon! Gee! I have never ran at that time before! I'm crossing my fingers that the weather would not be a killer!

It's already 11.30pm. Time to go to bed and get up early tomorrow! Will need to prepare myself mentally for the race. I have not packed yet!


"Most people can do extraordinary things if they have the confidence or take risks. yet people don't. They sit in front of the telly and treat life as if it goes on forever."
--Phillip Adams, as quoted from 'Sheer Will'