every beat of my heart

Thursday, March 05, 2009 @11:25 PM

i feel very happy and accomplished today.
not because school ended quite early today.
not because i'm "enjoying" writing my 16 mark geog essay now.
not because i know that every lesson will be shortened by 5 mins tmr.
IT'S BECAUSE I HAVE FINALLY COMPLETED THE LAST NAPFA TEST OF MY LIFE!!

the 2.4 km run this morning wasn't a breeze. in fact, it was a really really painful one.
but i managed to pull through and it was the feeling at the completion of it (and after my stomach cramps had eased..) that was the sweetest.
and the bonus was i had my personal best timing and got a C! :O
thanks to those who had helped me, guided me, encouraged me and cheered me on and chewps who ran the last lap with me.
and also special thanks to the extremely nice xue en who wrote down and passed her "wu lin mi ji" to me a day before the run.

this is what it says... **beneficial for those who can't run and have weak stamina like me too!**

16 TORCHES TO GUIDE YOU THROUGH THE DARK!

1) THINK ABOUT EVERYTHING EXCEPT RUNNING
2) IT'S THE LAST FINAL 2.4 RUN ALR!
3) NEVER GIVE UP. NEVER NEVER THINK OF GIVING UP.
4) DON'T NEED TO BE THE BEST, BUT U CAN DO UR BEST.
5) SQUEEZE TO THE FRONT AT THE START AND RUN WITH THE VERY FAST PPL
6) TAKE A DEEP BREATH B4 U START AND BREATHE DEEPLY SUBSEQUENTLY WHEN U FEEL OUT OF BREATH.
7) STRETCHING AND WARM UP PROPERLY
8) WHENEVER U FEEL LIKE GIVING UP, LOOK AT THE SKY AND SMILE. THEN TELL URSELF "JIAYOU!"
9) IT IS TOUGH, IT IS TIRING BUT U MUST CONQUER IT AND NOT LET IT CONQUER U INSTEAD
10) COUNT UP, DUN COUNT DOWN (after running 1st round, tell urself "i ran 1 round le" not "huh? still have 5 runs?!")
11) TELL URSELF IT'S THE LAST TIME U ARE EVER GOING TO RUN 6 ROUNDS. after this no more afternoon pe!
12) IT'S PURELY DETERMINATION, NOTHING TO DO WITH PHYSICAL HEALTH
13) BELIEVE IN URSELF
14) U WILL FEEL GOOD AFTER U RUN WITH ALL UR MIGHT
15) DUN FEEL STRESSED OUT. IT'S JUST A 2.4 RUN.
16) THINK OF OTHER THINGS TO DISTRACT URSELF (eg eyecandy, subjects' qns, concepts, gp qns, maths challenging qns etc)

~author: xue en and co-contributed by ah jerm and jia en

i have come to realise that running is more than just what it is.
the concepts of running can be applied to other things in life too.
on the whole, i have learnt three important lessons in life
- i dun need to aspire to be the best but i can always strive to be the best in myself.
- if others can do it, i can do it too! but what if others can't do it.. does that mean that i can't do it too? no! that where my mindset, whether positive or negative, plays a vital part. it dictates the way you think.
- determination does wonders!

:)