Dreams Come Alive

What a phenomenal day yesterday – work; race; BBQ dinner; work; second dinner.

First, work. Thoroughly enjoyed the two individual sessions with Rachel and Helena; I thought they went terrifically well and both students achieved a great deal of learning and insights. Am truly proud of them.

In between I managed to squeeze in time to pop down to East Coast for my running leg of the OSIM triathlon relay, in a team with Matt Sullivan and DQ. This was a last minute arrangement and came about because the original runner had broken his leg barely a week ago. And during a work retreat at Wendy’s home with the wonderful people of Wand Inspiration, Matt asked if I would step in.

In typical spontaneous fashion, I pondered for all of 37 nanoseconds before saying yes. Always up for a challenge, and partly because I did not want to let the team down, I also felt that I could use this as a training run, albeit only 10km of it. My only concern was that I have been focusing on distance training, and an event that calls for speed may just trip me up.

So I found myself at the transition area in the midday sun, drained and debilitated by the scorching heat and the seemingly endless waiting – for the event to start and for the swimming and cycling legs to be over with. Watching Matt and David set admirable and blistering paces in their respective legs was both daunting and invigorating. Daunting because I wanted to fulfil my end of the bargain and do an equally fantastic job. And invigorating because I wanted to fulfil my end of the bargain and do an equally fantastic job. After all, the point of participating in a race is not to simply pronounce that ‘I’ve done it’; it is to give everything I’ve got as if my life depended on it. That is what racing is about. That is what life is about.

After what seemed like an eternity I finally got my chance to put it all into action. Shrugging off the nervous coughing and tight limbs, I set off on the run, a silly smile plastered on my face and my blazing eyes set on the couple of runners ahead of me.

The run itself was uneventful but blissful. Yes, blissful. Weekends at East Coast sees the many faces of Singapore come together. Families gather to relax; high powered executives learn to unwind; students group for team bonding activities; couples romance each other on skates; girly girls giggle and gossip; macho boys flash their six packs; tourists stroll along the sea front; little children learn to ride bicycles. And such a convivial atmosphere cannot but set you at ease.

The first lap was comfortable and I quickly settled into a rhythmic tempo. Preferring extraversion under the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, I am energised around people and my spirits lifted at stretches where exuberant volunteers and race marshals (thank you all – you are the most under-celebrated group of people but for me at least, you are certainly one of the most important) cheered us on and at the turn around point where lively spectators shout their approval for our nuttiness.

I particularly look forward to the last couple of kilometres of a race and a characteristic of my strategy is to set a target number of people to overtake. Then I pick up my pace and start picking them off one at a time. I draw strength from each person I pass and this accumulates to the ultimate section where I draft off the competitor in front of me and then right at the appropriate time when the course straightens out for the final stretch, turn on the afterburners and blow past every single person in front of me, feeding off the roars from the spectators and the emcee. This manoeuvre always reminds me of Formula One racing and it is a joy to watch and even more fun to perform.    

It is exhilarating. It is glorious. It is beautiful. And I love it!

So what works for me in a race?

For one, smiling and encouraging other competitors and the volunteers. Yes, smiling in a gruelling run. The mere act of smiling releases endorphins and helps reduce pain. And over time it helps you stay young too! Check out an article I wrote about this: http://mindbodyfitness.suite101.com/article.cfm/how_to_stay_young_healthy_and_energetic

And yes, encouraging the volunteers too. The smiles I get in return when I show my appreciation is priceless. And in a course which requires more than one lap, I like to think that I receive a little more encouragement, a little additional enthusiasm, a little extra spray of water, a little more eagerness in that offer of drinks, and a whole lot more love, when I come around the second time. Lesson: You get what you want in larger quantities when you give it out first.

Having an appropriate pace setter also works. Running with such a person establishes a rhythmic stride and a moving target which keeps me running in a disciplined rate. And I find the same in my daily life. Having someone whom I can model speeds up my learning and growth. Better still, having a few in different areas of life gives me the diversity and breadth of learning.

So Matt, thank you for inviting me to be on this team and for giving me the opportunity to learn and to build on yet another success. Next stop: Sahara desert.