Army Half Marathon

Ran AHM this morning, with SMU RunTeam. All 21 km of it.

Quite happy that I managed to complete it under 2 hrs because I didn't really trained for it. Only did a few runs that were not longer than 6 km before attempting the half-marathon.

I was very close in giving up near Nicoll Highway, when the sun started to come out. But when I saw this signboard saying, " Tough times don't last, but tough men do", I smiled to myself and carried out. After all, had come too far to give up.

The feeling of crossing the finish line was exhilarating. Despite having cramps on my calf by then, it was quite surreal to finish with hundreds of other runners.

And I discovered one of the simple joys of life: Having a 100 plus drink at the end of a marathon.

So it is yet another milestone in 2007. More exciting events coming right up.

Continuing from Monday night's entry...

Run 1 thus came. I thought operationally Run 1 went very well, with no major screw-ups. Camp atmosphere was quite dull but I thought that the many of the facilitators did very well. Some of them were "thrown into the deep end of the pool" but they really rised to the occasion. I saw a few potentials for next year's head SF.

Run 2 was one of the most happening runs. Facilitators were a lot stronger this time because many were repeats from run 1 but the freshies really made a difference. They were a lot more rah-rah but a lot more playful at the same time. Well, we need diverse characters at times to spice up things ain't it? Haha.

Run 3 was quite good too. But I was a bit disappointed in some of the facilitators because so much were expected of them but they failed to deliver. I thought some of us in programmes (including me) got a bit complacent in conducting the activities but it was inevitable given the mundane nature of the camp activities.

In my opinion Run 4 was the best run of all. The atmosphere of the camp was fantastic, largely thanks to many facilitators who managed to rah their groups. It was simply a breathtaking sight when many groups stayed back at leaking barrels to cheer on their fellow section mates. I was quite touched at that point in time.

I guess FTB has changed the lives of many. It has certainly changed mine because I think I'm beginning to look forward to FTB 2008 already.

Haha.

The finish line is a good place we could start

Haven't updated in a long long time so I shall do it today.

Been quite a while since I have the luxury of time to pen down my thoughts and feelings over summer hols; I guess this holidays has been one of the most fulfilling ever in my life.

Getting involved in FTB 2007 was something that I had never really planned into my holidays. Kelvin told me one day that he couldn't be part of the programmes committee because of SIFE and he asked me of I would like to take over him. Maybe it was the fear of having nothing to do during the holidays, I said 'yes' without hesitation. I do not think I have regretted since.

Yes it has been a long journey to this ending point, from the very first training camp that I had attended. I was hesitant to join it because I only knew about the camp 4 days before it occurred. But I'm glad I didn't miss out on it. It was a great experience going through it because I wouldn't have learnt so much about team-building and facilitation without the training. And not missing the fact that I made friends there with so many senior facilitators, which proved important in the camps because it made things work a lot easier.

Initially, I feared that joining programmes team later than the rest would have rendered me an outcast. But I'm glad most of them are easy-going, plus I know many of them beforehand from classes and that most of the pple are from accountancy so I had an easy time integrating into the team.

And there it started a journey of endless hours in the SMUSA Lunch Talks room, planning, deliberatin, discussing, debating what activities to incorporate, how we should do it blah. One of the low points did happen around the planning time when many members were not around. Things didn't seem to move then and I think a few of us felt very despondent. I could remember the few hours I slept every night for 2 weeks, trying to come out with the ops manual. On hindsight, I thought that was a test of mental strength and I'm glad that I showed some. Much as I hate to say, but the Lunch Talks room really holds many memories for me, good or bad. It would be a place I will miss when school starts.

Mock camp came and went within a few days. It was one of the lowest points in the entire FTB experience, but it was also one of the highest. Our planning seemed very good on paper but when the activities started, there were so many uncertainties. I think some of us felt helpless on the first day of the camp. I did. But we proved our mettle by adapting to the varying circumstances on the second day. I guess we showed the facilitators that the organising committee is truly committed to the vision of FTB.

Then after 2 weeks of hiatus, planning for the actual runs started again. Every single detail was ironed out this time, thanks to everyone in programmes. I was quite guilty that I was not around to "tah" all the shit after mock camp (because I was enjoying myself in Melbourne =P). It was also at this moment it hit me that Stephen's training could actually apply to real life when he talked about attention to details. We were so lacking in details for mock camp that this time, we were quite ready for Run 1.

Oops getting tired so I shall talk about this another day. Part 2 is coming right up...