athletics ghurL no. 11=) -WHEE*

Saturday, April 26, 2008

last wednesday, 23rd of April, was the National Schools Cross Country Championship. come to think of it, it's my first Cross Nats race.

the Team left class at 10am, had lunch and retreated into the Dance Room to sleep. the atmosphere was still quite okay, until 2pm when everyone was supposed to wake up.. gathered, and listened to Mr Irwan announce the team lineups for various divisions.

i think all of us had different emotions within the span of 20-30 minutes. ha, till now i can still vividly remember what Mr Irwan said to me. i knew that he didn't mean to stress me out, but his words almost immediately sent tears down my cheeks.

because i knew how much the Seniors wanted the Title.

even just before warming up, his words kept ringing in my ears. but i managed to calm myself down a bit and went ahead to prepare whatever that were needed for the Race. at the reporting stand, i was already all-set to run. my goal was clear in my head, i did visualisation of the route, and reminded myself of what to do in the event i got tired--to open my strides. really all-set.

the honk went, marking the start of the Race. i was following Melissa and Miaoqun from behind. i thought things would be great if i could maintain it this way. unfortunately, just about 3min into the Race, my head started feeling heavy. and extremely heated. felt the dizzyness, but still continued to run.

slowly, i began to lose sight of Melissa, and Miaoqun was further and further away from me. it's okay, i told myself, keep up with a steady pace. arrived at the upslope and i pushed even harder. it's always there where runners either make or break. i kept thinking of the other 5 in the Team.

went out of Botanics, it was then the 2nd last part of the route. i was really 'burnt out', and could hardly open my eyes. the only moments when i opened my eyes to run were when i needed to ensure i was still on the correct path. supporters lined the edge of the path. screams, cheers..

turned into CCAB, and it was the last 1oom to the end. with the little energy i'd left, i tried to sprint. about 4om to the Finish Line, i heard NJ shouting. that gave me more strength to push. furthermore, at this point in time, Estelle overtook me! :D i couldn't have felt happier. i followed her past the Line. i've completed the race.

that was my last thought, before i fainted.

thank you First-aiders, thank you Estelle for being there throughout, thank you Ningxin for supporting me although you're really too tall, thank you teachers for your concern, thank you Short D people for your concern as well.

thank you Lynette and Qiulin for your cards and bananas, thank you Kahswee for your words of encouragement, thank you Shufang for your reassurance, thank you Melissa for your hug, thank you Aaron for your motivation.

thank you FE12 and Raina for your good-luck messages, thank you junior Carrots for your 'jiayous', thank you Uma, Rasyiqah and Manuel for COMING DOWN TO SUPPORT.

thank you Qimin for your mp3 although i didn't use it, thank you Kheng for your pat on the back. thank you 17 for your your faith in me. thank you Pungpung..

if i've missed anyone out, thank you too, and my apologies..

but i'm really really sorry.. because i performed so badly. especially towards the seniors, it was their last Cross race, and yet i couldn't help them at all. prepared, and yet still fell short of expectations..

sigh. well.. nonetheless, the Race made me even more driven to train hard and harder for Track Nats and for next year. how i felt that day after regaining consciousness was what i never ever wanna experience again. hope to do it together with the rest of the Team, especially the current j1s..

hmm okay. haha here're some of the pictures taken on that day.

hmm. stretching.. haha. just before reporting..

Uma and i (:

after the race, all of us headed to Miaoqun's condo's function room for dinner. she ordered buffet for us! thank you so much! hmm. haha koped most of the pictures from Kahswee's blog tsk. (thanks too haha!)

delicious food, yum! (:

The Three Musketeers :p (Benjamin, Kahswee and Letts)

Hung, Venezia, Ningxin and Aaron (hahahah)

the guys, before dinner.

Estelle, Qiulin and Yiyan supposedly catwalking.. tsktsk (:

Estelle and i found this fire engine at the playground.. cute right! i mean the both of us. haha!

haha okay, that's pretty much about all for this post. sorry for the late update people! take care everyone (:

有时候痛过才知道甜..

7:11 PM