I felt like a fish tonight.

With the upcoming race on Sunday, the assigned sets were light. We were meant to take it easy and this was good news to me, since I've started to feel a little bunged up and like I'm definitely fighting off a bug. I took it super easy tonight but concentrated on my breathing and my stroke.

3 x 300m
4 x 200m

I must say it felt really good to get the heartrate going and the body moving somewhat, yet not do too much to feel tired. During the last 2 warm-down sets, I tucked my head as far down as possible, felt my ankles float up to the surface and worked on gliding whilst not kicking at all. And it worked. And it felt good.

Just call me Nemo with the ickle fin ;)

bacon sarnie


pancakes


made by hubba

When I did my first mini triathlon a few years ago, there was nothing to follow.

I didn't know what brick training was or that your legs would feel like lead after pushing a heavy gear on a bike. I didn't know what was the order of a transition. I had a million things to change into to feel 'comfortable'. I biked the measley 10km with a very uncool hydration pack. I just did all the sorts of things you'd do if you really didn't have a clue.


dorky me

It's kinda fun to look back and laugh, really. I guess that's the sort of thing beginners do - Look silly and mess up. Or do they?

These days, almost anyone can look cool in a triathlon. Why? The sport has picked up like wildfire and everyone's talking about it. I would say I know a whole bunch of people who are doing it for the first time this year, and almost every single one of them is looking cool already for their debut at the start line. Swish bikes, fancy shoes and great tri suits for the transition... They sure as hell won't look as dorky as I did three years ago.

And what with the existence of tri clinics that have been held every single weekend before the upcoming OSIM Singapore International Triathlon 2006, there's no way these newbies will be as unprepared as I was either. Held by the Triathlon Association of Singapore, these clinics will teach you everything you need before you set foot into the water. From the right equipment to have, techniques to use in the open water, the best nutrition to have, to pre-race preparation, these clinics farm out great tips by experienced dudes who've raced a million times over.

Along with some of our friends, the husband and I thought we'd check out one of these clinics yesterday and get some practice in before the race next week. It was strange to think I was doing the equivalent of a sprint distance during a practice run, since I've only ever done sprints for all my previous 4 races. 800m in the sea, around 25km on the bike and 5km on the run, it felt good to be out there and feeling fine after a whole week of inactivity.

The smurfs were present for the clinic and so was Aquaman Chi, who I kept losing in the choppy waves. I was relieved to hear that Rina's body isn't back to normal after last weekend's adventure race either. So even though she was still pulling the same speed as Hubba, Shem, Foo and Jeremy, she was feeling as tired as I was. Power to her! *kowtows* Meanwhile, I was riding injured superhero Bernard's tail... We did Coastal and got back just in time to start the run. I was happy to find that my knee, although feeling unhappy, pulled through the 5km run. Think it might just hold up for the 10km I'll have to do next weekend.

After the good workout, the bunch of us set off for a nice BIG meal at the East Coast Lagoon food centre. Hokkien mee, bbq tau pok and yu char kway, bbq chicken wings and some ice-kachang... And that's just what I had ;) YUM. Ok, I'm getting hungry now.

Gotta go. Church time. After which, I've been promised some homemade pancakes, lovingly prepared by the husband. Ciao.

It's the end of the day but I feel I'm getting busier.

House blessing is happening tonight so we shall be hosting the pastor and our immediate family in The West Wing. Sure wish Raa and the Marmadillo were around.. Then off I shall scoot to Loof for Noe's Pink birthday party. And my throat ain't feeling too good. Ack. Then of course there's all the activity tomorrow. The OSIM tri clinic at East Coast, a drop-in at Andrew C's gelato opening at Ridgewood, a shoot in the home or something... And then there's Sunday and Mummy's birthday celebrations and Wenyi & Fab's engagement party.... Yipes!

I hope the health holds up.

team slow smurf

Note: Wrote this report this morning before work and some in the train, so please excuse the rambling...Click on picture above for more pix.

When I was little, one of my many ambitions was to join the army. Don't ask me why - I just thought it'd be cool.. I guess I wanted to be a 'tough girl' and kick all the tough men's asses. Obviously, my family - especially my sister - thought this was a crazy idea.

This weekend's adventure race has made me feel the same way: I would not have made it in the army. It was one of the hardest things I've ever done, both physically and mentally. I'm not even sure I'd do it again... I guess I really have to think about that.

My first proper adventure race - that's what the warriors are calling it at the moment as urban races in Singapore are not counted as real ones - was held yesterday in Hulu Langat, just outside Kuala Lumpur this weekend. I had been told it was going to be a tough one, so I had myself completely psyched up for torture. But I don't think it was enough. This adventure race was definitely in a totally different league altogether - The teams that competed were all seasoned. We turned up on Saturday for the race briefing and the other participants were intimidating to a newbie like me. The girls would look you right in the eye to 'check out the competition'. I guess they wanted to suss out if you'd be a tough nut to crack on the race route.

Meanwhile, Janice happily chomped on an ice-cream cone and looked highly un-menacing. Lose.

We were flagged off at around 8am on a mountain bike segment, so since we were essentially mountain bikers, the smurfs and I figured we'd try to gain as much lead time as we could by blasting it as much as possible. Unfortunately, Pei Ling wasn't feeling too good once we hit the trail and we had to stop and rest for a bit. But this was to be our saviour strategy - Just when we thought we were the very last team, we saw the lead team head backwards. They were followed closely by Hubba, Ming and Ken. We've gone the wrong way, they said. Turn back. We were saved. So since Pling was feeling better, we hurried along as best we could.

According to Nik, we were the first mixed team to reach the first checkpoint. I think we were riding offroad for about one and a half hours before we chucked our bikes back at the checkpoint, filled up our water bladders and proceeded on to the first team challenge. Using a piece of bamboo each, we had to pick a tennis ball up without touching it and carry it to a bucket. Tougher than it sounds when you're tired and antsy and you've all got different strengths, but we managed it after a few tries and were on our way.

It was a slow run back to the jungle and the trail running was a bit of a scramble. Let's just say running at BT is a luxury 'coz even though it's offroad, there's some sort of path to follow. The first jungle trail was still pretty accessible. You could still run along with care if you thought you could handle it. It took ages and we kept meeting with faster teams who were on their way back from the waterfall checkpoint, and they’d say ‘it’s about 25 minutes away’. When we finally got to the checkpoint, Hubba’s team was just on their way back downwards.

Like he’s done before, he broke out into a big grin when he saw me and let out a ‘hey wifey’, which lifted my spirits somewhat. He asked if I was alright and to be careful, and then he went on his way. The waterfall obstacle might not have looked as hard as it did, but it took us a decent amount of time to get to the top. The rocks were wet and slippery, so every little miss meant a good bashing on rocks. My upper body was screaming by the time I got to the top and I was happy to start running again. Except by the time we got back to the tarmac trail where the trail had begun, my left knee was at busting point.

There was pretty much no way we’d reach the 1.30pm cut off point at the abseil checkpoint. All teams who couldn’t make it might be allowed to do the abseil but not continue the race to complete the last 2 checkpoints. The choice was simple: Bail out right there and then and feel like losers, let the smurfs continue on without me and get disqualified anyway, or just do what we could.

To prevent too much frustration, I made it clear that I might not be able to run a lot of the way. My teammates were incredibly supportive – We’d finish as much as we could with our final point being the abseil, they said.

Along the way, I had a few moments of utter weakness where I pretty much lost my nerve. My knee felt like it was in shambles and climbing or descending – especially offroad – was a nightmare. Under the cover of my sunglasses, I started to whimper and sob. Tried to stifle it but I knew my cover was blown when Nik and Pling started upping the words of support and encouragement.

Then there was the jungle bashing trail, which really told me I was no GI Jane.

The off-cambering was tough on the knees, and there were clear drops to the right at times so you really had to be careful. The thorns, leaf burns and stings I got didn’t matter anymore. The leeches that latched on became my friends. It all just didn’t matter anymore.

All that mattered was getting to the point where it’d all be over.

But when we got to the abseil point, we were told the cut off time for the final abseil had been ten minutes before we arrived. We took 6 hours and about 40 minutes and were the 6th mixed team to come in, but we still DQed. Pants.

Team Slack (the husband, Ming and Ken) came in 3rd in the Men’s category, behind Charmaine's superhuman brother, Sam. Team Angels (Ling, Rina and Becks) came in first – Power to the girls =) Meanwhile….

I’m seriously contemplating adventure racing. Do I do it again, or do I leave it at the doorstep? I definitely enjoyed the first 3 hours of it till my knee started acting up – But I’m just wondering if I ought to be putting it through that kind of torture. Maybe I should just stick to triathlon. But then… where’s the outdoor fun in that? Hmmmmm…

I guess I’ll still think about it.

So I got an MSN message from Sara P today that shocked the life out of me.

"Are you on a triathlon poster? I saw one on East Coast and it looked like you. It was weird, I was lying in pre coffee haze in the taxi - Then it was like this flash from Heaven and there you were for a brief second....Very alarming... But in a pleasant way of course (she said belatedly."

I was gobsmacked.

I can't remember doing any shoots for the OSIM Singapore International Triathlon, even though they've been supporting us thus far in other ways. So I emailed the contact I have with them, asking if any of my pictures have been used which I wasn't aware about.... and this is what I got back in my email:

"Hi Janice,

Would it be a compliment to say that you look like Wong Li Lin? Think your friend mistaken la. We didn't do any posters with your photo, only with Li Lin.

Cheers, x"

O_o

Talk about a case of mistaken identity.

all decked up and nowhere to go

I was all set tonight.

The Smurfs had called for a training run tonight equipped with our full load - Harness, helmet, climbing equipment, backpack, full water bladder, the works.. So as soon as I got back from work, I climbed into the gear and clipped everything in. But when I met them down at the void deck, Nik was nearly beside himself with laughter. They didn't mean to wear all the gear, rather just to run with the full load on our back and with our helmets on our heads.

I was the only fool decked out in all my gear, jingley jangling as I moved along. Bah! Took my slings and karabinas off and tucked them into my bag and just felt very silly indeedy. Ah well. We still got stared at for running along the canal in our helmets and backpacks (and I was still in my harness) but the good thing was that my knee didn't act up at all during the entire run - I shall attribute this to the fact that (1) I was using my insoles (2) I had my Phiten knee guard on (3) I warmed my leg up for 5 minutes before the run using the iPamper.

Distance: Just under 5km
Time: 30min
Load: 3kg

On a lighter note... Johnson Duck is just heaven after a workout.

... That's my superhero name if I ever had one.

I ride at the back of the pack and provide the entertainment for weary superheros.

Hahah.. Okay I'm lame. We hadn't intended to do a road ride tonight but the husband was keen to try out his set up - and I was keen to do something. So suddenly we were on the road and on our way to join the TA ride. Hansel and Donald joined the ride too - Except the ride tonight turned out to be just a handful of us, including and another guy called Ken.

I knew I was in trouble right from the start. In my mind I was thinking: The smaller the ride, the more pressure on me to keep up - less leeway for slow pokes and riders who want to 'take it easy'. Thankfully, Justin had just come from another killer ride so he was out to 'recover'.

That's where li'l ol' me came in.

After the husband sped off with the others, Justin and I kept a nice pace at around 28km/hr all the way to the 2nd link and back, chatting all the while riding. He asked a lot of questions and me being me, I told a gazillion and one stories. Sometimes I feel like a friggin' old bag. But it was kinda nice really, especially since our only real form of personal contact has been a lot of to-ing and fro-ing on livejournal and never in real life - Geek girl that I am.

Anyway, on a separate note... What is up with my punctuation tonight!?

Distance: 50km

Alright, time to stretch..

I'm feeling more and more confident in the water as the weeks roll by.

It makes me feel silly 'coz I'm only really in the pool once a week and it makes me think that if that's what one session can do, surely I ought to be doing more. I'm starting to feel like a canoe in the water. I glide along with much less effort and I don't feel like I'm dying as I try to keep up with the others. I like this. So tonight I decided to focus on one aspect of my stroke: Tucking my ear under my armpit when I reach ahead and rotate. The result? I seem to be gliding further and with less effort. The only downside is water is now getting clogged in my ears and is no doubt making my brain go soggy.

Ah well. Learning is a good thing.

The set entailed another 800m but I cramped up mid swim during the 1.6km time trial - Right in the middle of the pool. Had to cling on to the side very unglamly. So only managed 4 x 800m (3.2km) tonight, which I guess is alright for me.

Time for some quality time and laughter: Both of which I have been promised =)

I'm not a big fan of contact lenses.. Or any eyewear for that matter. I've always been told that since the degree in both eyes is fairly low, I could go without glasses/lenses, except perhaps when feeling stressed or driving etc. So I walk around half blind most of the time and god knows how I manage going offroad and such without seriously busting myself up.

So when Johnson & Johnson said they were keen to let me and Hubba try out some of their lenses, I was a little skeptical. Would I finally find a pair of lenses that I'd actually like? I've tried them all.. Dailies, fortnightlies.. I just always felt like there was something in my eye and this bothered me no end. I'd rather walk around blind than feel have eye irritation. I asked for lenses that I didn't have to care for all that much - Low maintenance is key. The last time I got out of the 8 hour adventure race, I was so tired I didn't bother cleaning my lenses properly. I literally had to get the husband to help pry them out of my eyes and they were all dry and battered, they didn't look too good. I'm sure that didn't help with its shelf-life and in no time at all, the ocular cups were in the bin - shorter than the length of time it was said to have lasted.

The bottom line is I'm lazy and dirty.

We both picked up a month supply each of Acuvue Moist on Saturday from First.EyesImage.Com @ Far East Plaza. And I'm wearing them for the first time today - a trial run for Sunday's adventure race in Hulu Langat, Selangor. And so far, I feel naked as can be - ocular wise anyway.

In fact, I felt so naked that I washed my face with my eyes open at the gym this morning. Durh. Not very wise, Janice. I struggled with the dry water for awhile - But once I got some eyedrops in my eye, I was fine. Phew.

So the world is clear as day and I don't feel like I've got a perpetual bat in the cave. Nice! Guess I'll see how they go and give an update once again when the race is over!

Note: They may make my eyes feel good but it don't mean they make them look pretty! Check out the eyebags man!

ickle puppies!

I totally fell in love with ickle baby things today.

The husband and I woke up early for our skills test in Yishun. As soon as I got there, I was distracted by the sight of two tiny pups playing in the sun - Was hardly listening to the refresher session they were giving before the test itself. In fact, the more I tried to listen, the more confused I got. So I decided to stick to the things I practiced on Thursday - They did scare us a little with the details of the race though... Fixed lines across waterfall sections yada yada.. It's going to be slippery and we need to be secure as we might slip and fall yada yada. Crikey!

After I'd proven my competency (yeahh, right), I made a beeline for the two pups who were now lazing under a van. As soon as I stooped down and they saw my face, their faces lit up and they came towards me for some babying. It was just too cute.

The husband and I were definitely in agreement that ickle things are adorable - But that's about all for now!

So I really didn't want to miss the ride with TA (read: Beef) tonight, but the skills test is this Saturday. And rather than be overwhelmed by my fear of heights and freak out on the spot, I decided I needed a bit of practice to suck it up and enjoy the drop. And it was fun! Well, I was a ball of nerves the first time I climbed up the rickety ladder and secured myself to one of the ropes. But soon I was lapping it up - It really is mind over matter sometimes!

This video is about a father's love to his son and which pushed him to enter the triathlon games even though he's not an athlete....Imagine what God can do. Slow Smurf teammate Nik just sent this to us in the mail and it literally brought me to tears. I know I'm a sap but this is really what love's all about.

This morning's workout was a nice way to start the day. Good slow warm-up, lots of stretching followed by much rep work on the lower and upper body and abdominals. I have decided that there's no point working on only my endurance when I can't power up to catch up with the others, be it on the saddle, in the water or on the road.

I need some new music to keep my psyched though. I'm listening to the same playlist over and over at the moment and although it still does the trick, I think it's going to need some changing soon. Anyone got any suggestions for tracks which might get me going? I need stuff that'll make me angry - And no, I'm not into Nine Inch Nails or Marilyn Manson.

I pretty much felt like I struggled through the day today.

Woke up feeling like a truck had run over me - I had serious eye bags and even Aero said I looked like I hadn't been asleep for days. Didn't understand this though since I had slept pretty much 9 hours straight, which is really long for me. 3 cups of coffee throughout the day didn't help either (also a lot for me) and I just couldn't figure out what was wrong. Still, I was determined not to cop out of training tonight. An hour before leaving work, I started munching on a granola bar to get some energy in. Some news touched me greatly (shall blog about this separately as it totally deserves its own post) and the combination with sugar naturally perked me up abit.

So when I got to the pool I was in good spirits. Started to wonder if it was because what I've been working on has been getting me down somewhat (okay, that might be putting it mildly). Felt pretty heavy after the second set but figured if I slowed down or copped out on a set or two, that would have been it for me. I would have probably given up altogether. By set number 4, I was feeling good - very good. The strokes felt long. My arms felt strong. My hips seemed to be doing the work for me too. 100m into my last set, Hubba stopped me and asked me why I was still going whilst everyone had stopped. I have no idea why but I really felt like I wanted to finish it, just for the sake of it. But I stopped and felt good all the same.

Got some pretty bad abrasions under each armpit now, which stung like dilly-o when I had a shower. Boo.

But I feel good. Think I'm going to sleep like a baby tonight =)

5 x 400m
3 x 250m + 100m

Even though I got a full 9 hours of sleep last night, my body is completely shot. Sleepy. As a result, I missed my morning workout and am now wondering if I'm going to survive the Trifam training tonight. I need to wake up!!!!

coming in in new balance