The Worst IPPT I Ever Had

I have got to wake up my idea! Clearing the 234cm standard for Category X Gold during my past few training sessions certainly did not assure a Gold on the actual day. Furthermore, I was not familiar with the computerized  testing system (used it only once early in BMT) and allowed that uncertainty to get on my nerves.

I thought sit-ups would pose the least of my problems as I have been consistently training every other day for the past few years but a strain on the abdominal muscles probably during training the other day nearly totaled my chances of even getting a Silver. I had shrugged the pain off during the past couple of days as nothing more than a dull ache but after 30 intense reps today, the pain and sudden weakness was so abrupt that I struggled to 39, the PTI rightly disqualifying several poor and attempts.

I even felt a bit slow on the shuttle run, having gotten my first attempt “unrecorded” by the machine first thing in the day. Pull-ups were not a problem but by the time I got to the 2.4km run, I was feeling rather disheartened. Nonetheless, I set myself a 1:30 lap pace, keeping strictly to the timing on the first couple of laps and on the last lap. I eased off in the middle three laps and finished with a satisfactory 9:25min, the fastest in my detail and almost definitely one of the fastest around. It’s kind of sad and demoralizing to watch how the NSmen slack through their IPPT (and that adds to my inner fear of not able to meet the minimum standards).

I guess the only positive takeaway from this morning was my 2.4km run which I felt had remained quite consistent. In fact, I didn’t have to push myself as hard as in the past. I am probably acclimatized to running much longer distances and keeping at this morning’s pace is not much of a problem. It’s a good wake-up call for me to work harder to achieve better results at the static stations, rather than just focusing on cardiovascular and muscular endurance over extended periods of time.

In the late afternoon, I decided to take a spin at Bukit Timah before meeting Bro at C2C to get his SPD shoes. As if to wrap up the unfortunate day, my rear RD shifter cable gave way at the entrance of BT and I managed to rush down to C2C in time to get a replacement. Since they were minutes from closing, I had to fix the problem myself back home and a blunt wire cutter proved the worse nightmare as the cut was poor, resulting in frays which were a pain to “twist” back. I was only done past 11pm and had yet to pack for Sunday’s ride!

Total distance: 38.3km (on-road); 16.5km (off-road)
Money spent: $4
Participants: LSH