| 4.1.04 |
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my race report...
too tired to blog abt my sucky day... will do so some other day... today's entry would be something i stayed up till 3am last nite to finish... (not considering the fact i started past midnite...) Sawasdee! Though we have been back from beautiful Thailand for some time now, we don’t seem to miss out on any opportunity to flaunt our (lack of) fluency of the Thai language. (Unless you consider being able to count from one to ten as being fluent.) Thailand, however Asian it might seem, was pretty different from Singapore, explaining the culture shock we experienced on the first few days of our stay. Having strangers striking up conversations with you in Thai (and frantically waving your hands saying, “no speak Thai!”), adding condiments such as chilli, vinegar, fish sauce and sugar (!!!) in your already tasty noodles, the obvious lack of rubbish bins in the area, (having to walk the distance of NSC to the nearest bus stop for the bin and back) were just a few of the abnormalities that we soon conformed to. In short, it simply meant that the Thais were amazingly friendly people, the food there was so good you wondered why you only had 3 meals to eat and that you would probably have a mini rubbish bin in your pockets to save yourself from all the walking. On a serious note, training in Thailand was undoubtedly tougher and more regimental that what we experienced in Singapore, (though Coach Andrew will beg to differ about the ‘tough’ part). We literally lived by the sea, with the beach just four lanes across the road. The 4 of us relished the convenience but it also meant that we could never escape training, (not like we tried to). The weather in Pattaya was amazing, the sun never fails to blaze and throughout our 23-day stay, not a single drop of rain fell from the skies, (that also meant that we could not escape training). So everyday, we just breathe sea air, drank seawater and ate seafood (in tomyam, stir-fried, steamed and broiled). But before I give the impression that it was a 23-day holiday funded by taxpayers, I must give credit to Coach Andrew for giving us the whacking of our lives. Days begun at 0540 hrs when my Siemens M55 starts the cockerel ring tone and I begin my treacherous journey to the adjacent bathroom to wash up. By 0630 hours we would already be all warmed up and ready to embark on our ‘25x2-mins’, ‘Pattaya-Park-and-back’ or ‘up-the-hill’ jog. The boys would usually speed up and leave me in their dust, trudging behind with my little shuffles. On hindsight, it was a routine I would not even think possible, much less do, but still am glad I did (without hesitation). Weight training was done every other day, torture techniques, (hanging like a dead fish on the pull-up bar, sit-ups, weights, weights and more weights), you name it, Coach Andrew already thought of it. Winds there are ever so punctual, to an extent that we regard morning water time as our pumping session and afternoon training as our ‘flatten-your-sail-and-sheet-in’ sessions. Winds there vary from the gusty offshores to the constant 12-18 knots northeast winds. The waves there were more defined and were indeed very much easier to ride as compared to those in Singapore. So if there was only one thing I learnt, it was riding the waves on the downwind effectively, (but of course, I learnt more than that). Afternoon training coincides with that of the Thai Olympic squad, was thoroughly amazed by their board speed and agility on the board, and have been trying to copy their stance and reactions to the waves to the best of my ability. After that would be a long 4-person queue to the toilet, then heading out with the locals for dinner and maybe some grocery shopping. Visited the night market at Threpprasit Road as well, and that would probably record as the most “no speak Thai!” exclaimed in a night, especially since we looked utterly local (read: non-Caucasian). Days usually end by 2300 hours and it would be comatose till the next morning. Luck was on our side, (or maybe otherwise) that during our stay there we managed to race the Siam Cup and join one of their club races as well, at Bangsaen Beach, Chonburi. The former saw a fleet of MODs totalling at least 20, though the diversity of nationality was not present, it was a good learning experience racing with the team from Hong Kong and the locals, of course. Though our results struggled behind ideality, it cannot be disputed that we learnt a lot about board handling and sail rigging from the experts we never fail to look up to. These would include Arun Homraruen, Khunthong Saksan and twins Kookiat and Kreaungkrai Sakulkaeng. The latter was raced in incredibly gusty offshores and flat waters. It was probably the first time we raced such a small course ever since we converted from soft sails to the MOD. But as expected, short races meant that mistakes were amplified ten times over, a little struggle would probably set you back by at least several points. At the very least, we experienced the transitions of a 20-knot gust and an 8-knot breeze (and vice versa) all within a couple of seconds; now, we would probably handle such situations more aptly, (no longer swimming in the cold, freezing waters). A full report of the 23 days would probably clog up the server, not surprising because this trip was indeed a fruitful and rewarding experience for the MOD team, (*points to the 2000 baht won at Bangsaen by SIN90). The four of us came back to Singapore with nice brown (or black) tans, team spirit strengthened (or tested), stomachs tuned to the fiery spice of tom yam and pok pok and the calluses on our hands higher by several millimeters now. Many thanks to our dear Coach Andrew who never failed to instill in us the importance of punctuality and efficiency, and bringing up our fitness and strength to a level never before attained. The training stint was trying, both physically and mentally, but one thing for sure we learnt, is that physical limitations can always be stretched further simply by playing with the human mind. (“Just a little bit more!”, however untrue, gets you through the most trying regimes, even if you were telling yourself that for the past hour or so.) ----Stef stopped rambling at 00:53 --Link to Post |
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