Sunday, June 04, 2006

Marathon Charity Swim

This charity swim was GREAT!!!

Woke up at abt 7 plus...had bfast, cleared the bowels...then packed up and took a cab to ECP...was lazy :P
Could have taken 31 there...but still need to cross the road blah blah blah...I'm just too lazy for that :D

Anyway, I got to Pasta Fresca...the registration pt...pretty early...so hanged ard and ate a banana...as I waited for more and more ppl arrived...
Din know most of them (except Gary whom I've met at one of the trainings b4) but have seen many b4 in various other biathlon/triathlon/marathon events...it's always the same faces...hehe...
Made some new frens there...like Angie, Sarah, Shawn, Lily and Grace...I believe all from Trifam :D
Finally at almost 10am...I saw a familiar face...Jerry Wan...hehe...also from Trifam...who introduced me to Smallcircle...and we wondered who's Jellyfish...
Still no idea who's Jellyfish after the race :P

After that we took a group photo...


Can u find me?

Then we proceeded towards the place where the kayaks are...we were assigned to our personal kayakers there :D
My kayaker was Yeehan...a 3-star kayaker!!! Good good :D


A photo of me and Yeehan taken after the swim...

Then we swam out the sea where we waited for the GOH...Mr Teo Ser Luck..again...hehe to start us off...
He was swimming too...so he jumped off the boat after he started us off...
Mr Teo...so wat if u started later than us...u dun have to swim out and tread water b4 the start leh :P

Anyway, the first 2km was ok...even though it was against the current...still had quite a no. of ppl ard me so I know where I'm headed...and I was still fresh...
Took a break at the 2km mark...had some ORS and hammergel...

The next 2km was full of zig-zagging...partly 'cos most ppl have dispersed and I'm a bit tired liao...and we were still swimming against the current!!!
At times I wondered if I was moving as I look at the apartment blocks at Marine Parade...I can't seem to swim past them!!!

At the 4km mark...my kayaker suggested he kayak in front of me to keep me on course...that was a great help indeed...
I'm sure I'm still zig-zagging a bit at times...but much less...
My feet started to get a bit cold after the 4km mark (same thing happened after abt 3-4km swim during last year's NUS mass swim)...so I started kicking a bit more...

Got to the 5km U-turn mark after abt 2hrs...I overtook Angie as she took a break...then she overtook me again at the 6km mark where I took my break (break at every 2km :D)...
From there we took turns to overtake each other...

Finally when we reached the 9km mark...I started swimming a bit faster...I'm almost finishing!!!

After abt 3 hrs 20 mins...I finished my race!!! yippee!!
...greeted by Merey, Eng Wan and Reef...at the finishing pt...thanx for coming and bringing some energy gel along :D
I also found out I was the first 10km female competitor!!! double yippee!!!


Me, Yeehan, Merey and little Reef

Overall, I think the event was pretty well organized...esp considering it's handled mainly by a small group of ppl from SAC...
Swimming condition was great too...current was not too strong and it was only the first half of the race...the second half, we were gg along the current...
Also there were no jellyfish (except the one from Trifam :D)...and very very few sea bugs...got stung by more sea bugs during the recent S'pore Biathlon even though it was only a 1.5km swim :P

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who have contributed generously to allow me to swim in this charity swim....
Also gotta thank Merey, Eng Wan and little Reef for coming down to support me :D
..and my kayaker, Yeehan...for guiding me, watching out for fishing lines and debris in the sea, and letting me hang on to the kayak and getting my gel and drinks for me during my breaks...thanx, dude :D
..and last but not least...SAC...for such a well organized charity event!!!

Oh ya..shall thank my twin for dinner at Kovan too...haha...took another twin photo :D

3 comments:

Vorlacks said...

whao! 10K swim!! Penguin is indeed back in her element there!!

Congrats on finishing first!

Muggs said...

Well done!! *claps*

kops21 said...

well done....*muak*