Wow! We did it.
Through the Swim for a cause fundraising drive and my own Aviva Ironman 70.3 Singapore swim, we managed to raise a total of S$3,083.88!
In under a month, we exceeded our target amount of S$2,000 by 54%, which is pretty impressive. Here is the breakdown of where the proceeds will be going:
To all those who donated, you can give yourself a pat on the back. Here’s a special mention for you:
Thank you to all of you and whether your donation was big or small, it has made a difference to people who need it.
Wow, another Aviva Ironman 70.3 Singapore behind me and it seems to have flown by me in record time. Every time I watch it, I am in awe of the triathletes that are the true Ironmen and women who swim 1.9km, cycle 90.1 km and still have energy to do a 21.1 km half-marathon run. The weather was especially grueling this year as the heatwave didn't seem to let up in spite of two days of rain before the event ((Apparently the organisers follow local superstition and have a virgin plant chilli padis on the race course to ensure good weather. I think they either put too much chilli padi or they used extra virgin oil!)). My respect goes to all the athletes that took part yesterday whether it was as part of a team or an individual attempt.
So how did my swim go? I have mixed feelings about my result this year. I made my cardinal mistake that betrays my sprint tendencies and enthusiastic over-confidence took me in the lead pack at the start ((my Nike 10k run suffered the same error)). This was not where I wanted to be as a breaststroke swimmer. In my training, I had been keeping a wide berth from crawl swimmers since I had no wish to injure them but this courtesy meant that I hadn't actually trained to be in the centre of the pack. So I started to panic as I needed to be at the side of the pack and when I couldn't get there, my OCD tendencies began to come out - my swim cap wasn't on properly, my goggles began to fog up, the Aviva-branded top became too constricting.
All these things culminated in my nearly bailing out after the first leg of the race. I lost my rhythm and I could feel myself involuntarily hyperventilating. I managed to pull to one side and surface swim with my head above water for a few meters. I saw a lifeguard move towards another competitor that was close to me, who was doing backstroke. Was he bailing? My mind started to also rationalise that same decision, even though I had not made it yet. There's no shame in knowing your limits. Even the best athletes call in no-joy every now and then. I'm a mere mortal, what can I hope to achieve? I was going to tap out and enjoy a nice ride to the safety of the beach.
I realised that a great deal of the panic came from the pressure I was under too. My colleagues had been training hard and there was a strong air of competitiveness about the proceedings. My girlfriend was stood on the beach watching. There were people watching her watch me. My whole team was watching, both race team mates and work team mates - two folks from another department that I had egged on to turn up to watch the swim. My entire social circle was watching as I've not been shy about sharing the details of my training or this swim. And whats more, people had actually committed donations to my cause because of their faith in me. Not a good day to be letting anyone down.
For some reason, panic turned to action. I wouldn't take the option that was all too easy to take and quit. I was determined to make it through and started to find my rhythm again that reduced my breathing from short staccato breaths to long drawn out ones, increasing the oxygen to my brain. I could think again outside of the blind haze of panic. I was embarrassed and shamed by the episode but I stripped out all those things and focused what I needed to do and swim the distance in the best possible time I could do. That's not to say the all the support (and pressure) wasn't there to drive me - I think it helped as a catalyst to bring me out of the state of inaction that I was in. But so many people were relying on me to deliver what I said I would do.
It was tough though. The panic attack had cost me energy, determination and more importantly, time. I went at a pace that I felt would last me the distance. The markers were so far away it made me hesitant to burn out my energy stocks too soon. But I was struggling as I started to feel a stitch on the second long straight on the first lap of two. I blamed my own lack of fitness and sufficient training for that stitch and the doubts almost came again. Instead, I powered on ahead despite trailing back from the pack.
People asked me later whether this year was tougher than last year as I looked knackered as I came out of the water each time. My panic incident hadn't gone unnoticed and my fellow colleagues swimmers were way ahead of me. What I found out later, to my delight, was that it was tougher this year as I was going out like the clappers - when I exited the water I clocked a time of 46' 12", and my officially logged race time was 47'03". Either way, I was chuffed as I had beaten my personal best from last year's Ironman 70.3 and also in my lap pool training of 48'. Unfortunately, I had placed amongst the lowest for the Aviva teams taking part - one colleague was behind me and another had pulled out after the first lap.
Thankfully, my team mates who did the cycle and the run helped to make up the time. We won first place in the Corporate Challenge Mixed category and won glory for Aviva. Of course, it helps if you are competing in a small category made up of your own company but nonetheless it is a small victory.
What the swim, and even the Aviva Ironman 70.3 Singapore teaches me, is that you'll keep pushing yourself to be better and rise to the challenge. Was I satisfied with my result? Satisfied, yes but not content. I think that with these things you'll keep pushing yourself to stay out of being just content with your performance and satisfied is the best you are ever going to get. I look forward to next year's attempt.
Donations are being accepted until the 26 March. If you are having any problems with the payment on the donating platform, please contact me.
For some reason, the night before a race is always exciting. I suppose it is the anticipation of delivering everything that you've been training for into that one event that actually counts for something. I have swam these distances before and its not new to me. Despite what they say, the swim portion is as much about the other person as it is about yourself, as anyone who has had the privilege of being at any open-sea swim start.
Today I've taken it easy and I have been feeling a little under the weather with the sudden changes in climate. Plenty of rest, water and fruits to help me load up, in my opinion, on complex sugars that will build up my energy reserves. Of course, this is probably preparation for doing marathons and actual triathlons but I figured I would take any help that I can get.
I'm a little stressed as my girlfriend can attest to. I spent a good thirty minutes running around the apartment trying to figure out where I put my jar of Vaseline. It was where it was supposed to be but I just missed it each time I looked which was about 15 times. That, or we have ghost in our residences. Aside from ethereal friends hiding my gear, more of a worry is the interesting statistic my PR agency told me about the Ironman - out of 15 triathlon deaths, 13 have been in the swim portion. Something to think about before taking on the challenge of an open-sea swim. Having said that I am confident and competent enough, so I doubt anything will happen. One hopes that the jellyfish will stay away that early in the morning.
Thankfully, the flag-off session for teams is the last heat at 7.40am. This means I won't have to deal with the individual competitors that are trying to overtake me with freestyle. I'm quite confident about my breast stroke and hopefully I can keep up with the rest of my colleagues who have been training fanatically over the last months.
A little disappointed that I haven't managed to reach my target of S$2,000. I'm about 20% shy of the target amount and so I am hoping that this is going to be made up on pledges. The charity drive for the UNHCR and AWWA ends on March 26, 2010 to allow for pledge donations. I'll be posting up my times once I have them up via twitter no doubt. If you want to get a last minute donation in regardless, please do donate. Ironically, I'll be swimming in UN blue cap as this is the colour coding for the Team category.
Right, off to bed to rest. Wish me luck everyone!
This week is race week and my team and I are scrambling to get the Aviva Ironman 70.3 event together (well, more my team than I really). First of all a big thank you to everyone who has donated so far whether it is a big or small amount, it really is encouraging to see even the smallest of donations.
I will get around to thanking all of you who I know personally for your help. For those anonymous donations, I'm not able to see who you are but I respect your reasons for being a private benefactor. Thank you anyway!
Last weekend I took part in an open water sea preparation clinic organised by Yellowfish training and sponsored by my company, Aviva. Unfortunately, someone died in swim portion of the Osim triathlon last year. What was surprising was that he was super fit but it served as a reminder that we need to respect open sea swimming, and the inherent dangers with water.
Apparently on the 2km simulation, I beat my time of 48mins by coming in at 42mins. I have my doubts as I don't think that I would have had such an improvement on my time just because of current and bouyancy. Regardless, I enjoyed the experience as it gave me a feeling of race conditions - the hussle, the competitiveness and the camaraderie.
It's all a matter of psychology as well. The distances are sometimes hard to chew (yet, I seem to do plenty of swallowing of sea water!). It sounds corny, but it was a real help with having all of your support behind me. Last year, I was doing this to prove to myself that I could do this. This year, the danger was me turning complacent as I had already proved that to myself. When you think you are crazy for being out there, it did help me tremendously that there were people out there expecting me to do my best through their donations and what it represented.
I have to keep going the distance. It's the final hurdle after months of preparation. I'm keeping the pace up for D-day. All I ask is that you keep the donations coming!
This was posted on my profile but I think that this should live more comfortably here as it was all of you who donated:
"We at the UNHCR in the UK wish to thank you for your support! It's great to see people committing their bodies and minds to raise money for good causes and we feel honoured that you chose us. With an estimated budget of $3.2 billion US dollars for 2010, and with over 95% of our funding coming from donations, your cause is a great asset in our bid to help the 34.5 million people around the world who rely on our services and support.
Thanks!"
Copyright © Ammado AG, 2012
