fri nite: with lack of sleep due to a lot of unexpected events on thurs nite, i was getting a lil scared again. like i wasnt prepared mentally. but images of "facing the giants" kept me going. i code-name Raleigh as Mercedes (cos of its super pro suspension. like merc air-suspension liddat) and yea we sleep at 10pm.

sat morn: 3am wake up. SUPER TIRED. i'm like "SHIT SHIT DIE DIE". eat breakfast, keep wanting to shit, pee, vomit, wtv. anxiety creeps into me. i try to keep a confident face in front of my guys. we set off at 4.15. its now or nvr...

we reach northbrooks at 4.30. from then till 6am: trying to sleep whenever i could. super super tired. and keep going to toilet to shit and pee cos of my gastric pains....

and then God started working His miracles. miracle after miracle.

1) Bing Long suddenly gave me some chinese medicine outta nowhere. told me it works for stomach pain, gastric wtv. i take it. immediately felt better.

2) Kangjie brought red bull. I drank half a can. suddenly fatigue gone.

3) I looked up into the sky suddenly. Saw this bright shining star, shining for me non-stop from 5+ till even the start of the race. It made me confident that God would be with me all the way.

6.35pm: GOGOGOGOGOGO!!!!!!!!!!

the race started off well. we were building constant good pace. out of northbrooks, toward some bridge into some industrial estate. i kept thinking of e song "Lord I lift Your name on high!". we reach our first checkpoint well and good. abt 5km. then...

OH SHIT. i start feeling the bit of knee joint pain that i experienced (read 1-2 posts down). i decide to use deep heat. ahh feels better. den we had to climb along this fence around an industrial building for 1km. damn idiot. easy to sprain foot la. given my knee oso... over long-gangs, pot holes etc...

we're finally outa there and running here there everywhere. things are good. we're persevering well and overtaking teams. run for abt 9km. we're outta the stupid jungle and wtv weird place. i see an mrt track. i was THINKING "yay yishun! near northbrooks". den, i turned to e left, saw YIO CHU KANG MRT. yes u guessed it: 5km LENTOR AVENUE. SHIT!!!

and then my knee acted up. excruciating pain when i bend it. no... faith was draining outta me. things got bleak. but i pushed. for the team, for 60th, for God. i kept telling myself "With God, NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE". "GOD IS HERE. HE'LL TAKE CARE OF ME. PUSH PUSH PUSH!!!" and on we went. stride after stride, jolt after jolt of pain, on we went. metre by metre, we finally reached yishun! and on to northbrooks. by that time we were FIRST! we overtook the 5th coy team (whom we were to know were made up of naval divers and commandos) near northbrooks!

when we reached. i juz collapsed on e floor. (mind u this was onli e first leg. still got 2 legs to go) downed powergel, gulped water like mad, then waterbag spill water all over me. 5min break. we're "ready" (not realli, but no choice rite?) to go. start running. oh no. feeling super super cold. cos of the water spilt over me and the lump of deep heat i spammed onto my knee joint. crap la. we couldnt really run much. shawn started cramping like mad. i din know how to run with my kneecap liddat. sigh... THEN I CRAMPED. all of a sudden. i juz collapsed on the floor screaming in pain. wee pin works miracles. he quickly chionged over, stretched me like crazy, rubbed my calf like crazy and i recovered in abt 15sec. pro anot he?

then the meaning of "Lord I lift your name on high" dawned on me. or rather how i'd interpret it for my race:

"You came from Heaven to earth to show the way

From the Earth to the cross my debt to pay

From the cross to the grave

From the grave to the sky

LORD I LIFT YOUR NAME ON HIGH"

God came down as Jesus to suffer for us. To pay our debts. This race, this pain, how much can tt be if i realli wanna run this race for God? I must run in the name of the Lord and GLORIFY HIM!

i teared. and then continued. and pushed. on we went until the biking point. MS PAN WAS THERE! yay so happy to see her! we got our bikes, and off we went. actl i'd expected some crap. my left knee cannot bend how to bike? so in e end i used my left knee to push wtv i can, and right knee to do most of e work. push and push. for flat road i could onli alternate bet gear 3-4, with occasional gear 5-6 bursts. into sembawang park. and then to BB GB campsite. den wee pin cramped. both legs. i tell u, its e worst when u cramp on a bike. when one cramps he juz collapses in pain, and wee pin has to get off e bike and make sure he doesnt get injured? omg... and then when we went into BB GB campsite. WEE PIN GOT LOST. no la, he cramped again and he came limping back. at tt time i was like "wah shit why am i nt helping my team mate?" dammit....

anyway we went to kayak. 3km. saw 12BR captain. damn nice guy hehe! juz his smile made me feel better lol! den after kayak go back to chiong biking... back into bike pick up point. leg3: 8km in SAT training ground. wah biang i tell u not good to bike in full blast sunlight hot weather and my knee liddat! every few minutes gotta spam deep heat to numb the pain, if nt it'lll hurt like shit. and then trying to keep up and not lag. luckily merc helped me with its good suspension. if nt i die. finally done. wee pin and i were talking abt how we miss our bed and sofa and soft drinks and desserts and wat not... damn funny!

anyway, outta e bikes. i had to run like a crab. like hopping sideways. its damn tiring. sian. we soon had to start walking cos shawn was cramping damn badly. not like i could run much either. at the final checkpoint, we heard we were 2nd. budden... we got overtaken by another open team. shitz. when we saw northbrooks, as weeps put it "can u see northbrooks shining so brightly? like got fireworks saying "WELCOME 60th OPEN!"" hehe!!!

the shitty ting was we were so tired we walked all e way to e finish line. and 5m fr e finishing line, my sole came out. like i jokingly put it "i gave my heart and SOLE for this race!" wahhh finish le. it was a super gruelling race that we took 7hrs 28min to finish. so happy! =)=)=)

post race, i took 2.21L of 100plus and 330ml of green tea within 2hrs. couldnt finish lunch lol! and i was served like a king cos i couldnt walk properly at all, got 6 medical officers, ms pan, mr tye, the AQ team and support team to look after me and my needs. so nice thanks! felt like a king xD

AND WE GOT 3RD! yay!! lost to those stupid commandos, naval divers, and the team tt overtook us final checkpt. but still yay! to a race i nvr tot i could complete, I PRAISE YOU LORD!

the trophies! and my soleless shoe. dang i had to throw my shoes away... sob sob! sentimental... =(

~~~~

sunday: SUMPTUOUS AMERICAN BREAKFAST AND ICED MOCHA AT COFFEE CLUB. and slept for 16hrs.

monday: wah sei today. limping around sch. tmd damn pain. had to take e lift here and there. being baika.. ohwell. and after sch went to seoul garden with sharyn. had so much fun piling food and cooking em! tried all sorts of stupid stuff and finally settled with marinating our meat in egg and garlic. =p ate non stop, damn full but continued to eat ice kachang and ice cream! hehe so much fun! good lunch with a good fren. felt so good! but i felt a lil bad afterwards... i was feeling real tired, and sharyn felt a lil down... all i could do was to accompany her for 30min and sing some Christian songs b4 my white flag came up... SORRY!! =(

i slept damn soundly on e bus. till 2 schoolgirls came up and yakked non stop. freaking irritating. nearly wanted to scold them. idiot.

but anyway yea. VERY LONG POST TODAY. enjoy guys! and remember, PRAISE THE LORD!