My First RRR foray

Was a quiet day at work before x'mas. Did not think there was a lot to do except I had a visitor from Hong Kong which I had to host and thence to see another patient at SGH. Ah the wonder's of public service which allows me the privilege of treating the downtrodden and help those in true need without for regard of money. How do you convince one of unsound mind that he will need surgery for a tumour that is the cause of his unsound mine and possibly what has caused him to be ostracized from his family and friends because of his less than agreeable character? I tried to speak with him to no avail and then tried to contact his family and received a shouting over the phone about how that no good brother of hers is no longer her concern. But treat him we must; not before we get a psychiatrist to see him first which I am sure will be after christmas.

Having cleared up all my paperwork was the best thing that I did too before driving out to RRR for a ride for the first time. Isn't it amazing that you are always blindsighted to what possible training opportunities at your backyard? I had suggested to SE and PK but never done it myself! Oh there was one feeble attempt for which I aborted on SE's last ride before he went for his Sabbatical. I though PK stopped so that he could hang out with me as all the rest have already raced up the hills. I remembered him telling me I probably had a lot of cycling work to do to prepare for the Aviva which I knew was a spot on assessment. It was drizzling a little and I was quietly contemplating about whether today was a good day to tackle this road. I arrived and with tentative steps mounted my bike and it was drizzling slightly which made the atmosphere nice and cool. There was even a sort of a mist at the carpark reminiscent of my 38 km trail running a few months ago. I managed 3 loops of the RRR and on some of the slopes was riding at 10 km/hr which was quite pathetic. A thought flashed through my mind; was this how the elite cyclists must have felt on the slopes at the tour de France? My moment of pain was probably momentary compared to those guys. I struggled up the first loop and was ready to pack up but thought I wasn't going to improve if I gave up that easily and willed myself for the second loop. The term "quads burning" did come to me as I huffed and puffed and at one stage was possibly audibly panting.  With that done completed in 50 minutes(! Gosh talk about snail"s pace!) went to the pool for a decent 32 laps in the pool in 48 minutes where I concentrated on body rotation as a drill to engage my lats and ran through the drills of  the perpetual movement(?) technique.

I thought today was a decent workout; a decent days' work( okay, okay it was a light day as far as work is concerned) and I am able to go home to have dinner with the family.

WIth X;mas and the long weekend around the corner, I do have a quiet resolution not to eat of drink too much and try to wake up in the mornings to take advantage of the light traffic to cycle and maybe get a couple of brick runs as well. Ran into YM who did the Bintan triathlon and of course his marathon exploits are the stuff of legend at TTSH now given that he ran the race in sub 4. I congratulated him on his fantastic achievements and enquired if he was ON for the 70.3 . He said something which I will remember: " Ivan I am not sure if I will do the 70.3 as I am crap at swimming and cycling. I probably could complete it in 8 hours but I thought I will not be doing myself justice." I wasn't quite sure how to respond to that as I thought that goal of completing the race within time would be a great achievement for me! I thought it was precisely I was crap at swimming and cycling that I am do the tri rather than running. Doing something you are decent in and doing it well because God gave you a little more is great but what about facing your fears and the journey's about conquering your fear and facing your inadequacies everyday? I think I started doing multi-sports because I swam like a dog in a drain sputtering and splashing and was not very comfortable in the water. Its precisely I am aware of my sorry state that I want to do better. Ditto with cycling. Its the same with work I guess, when you do what I do, you have to be an optimist and see what others do not see; to never give up on your patients no matter how hopeless it may seem because if you stop trying, then the patient has no chance. You do it because you do what you do with your human resolve and God in His divine will will do the rest. So here's to completing and finishing the Aviva 70.3.

23rd December

Swim    1.6 km( 48 min)
Bike      15.52(  50 min)