Now Officially Cousins! 

swim swam swum

ke wei made us do pyramid training.

1 lap in 1 min
2 laps in 2mins 3osec
3 laps in 4mins
4 laps in 5mins+ can't rem how many secs
5 laps in ( i can't rem how long)
4 laps in 5mins + can't rem how many secs
3 laps in 4mins
2 laps in 2 mins 30sec
1 lap in 1 min

thank goodness xiu li and i made in back on time to clear it and didn't have to repeat any sets.

alot of swimming this week. my brain will be soon chlorinated.

mon: swim training with ke wei
tue: shifu swim training at spe
wed: life saving
thurs: shifu swim training at spe
fri: life saving

hoping i can squeeze into shifu's swim class in july..

oh ya..i was comparing my last 500m timing with that when i first started with shifu..i improved by a whole 40sec! thank you shifu!!!

Races!

Update of race calendar for July

Jul 16 : NUS Race Adventura (with Neo and Chew)

Jul 23 : Mizuno Wave Run

Jul 30 : MMDS II Putrajaya

still apprehensive about the AHM and Real Run in Aug..if there'll be complimentary passes, i'm in. hehe.

the lineup for the rest of the year.

Sep 3: AAC Singapore
Nov 11: Powerman / Eco X-treme
Dec 3: Standard Chartered Marathon
Dec 10: AAC HK

and after AAC HK, my next training goal would be towards IM Busselton! (Dec 2007)

Collage of Punctuality Kidz Camp 

neon's coming

after all the deliberation on what next bike to get.. ti? carbon? alu/carbon?

the verdict has been made.

lynten set it up on a trainer and as i got on it, i could immediately drop my arms onto the aerobars and it felt woooooooooonderful!! i didn't even have to stretch forward, i needn't sit forward to get onto the nose of the saddle coz i can't reach the aerobars if i don't..

the colour is great..black..black...black..

and it's name? Neon.

all i need now is a new helmet to match.

a giro helmet would be absolutely perfect. atmos, better still.

neon!

first the pedals..
add the wheels...

add the pedals and the wheels to what you see here!

捧腹大笑

christin had 1 WHOLE pineapple for lunch a moment ago and nick(nelson's son) seeing that, started to tell her about the 小孩不笨2 movie. inside the movie, a primary school boy thought he fathered a kid with his classmate.

as the conversation went on.. nick (whose chinese is really..erm..not that good) continued,

nick: i see the subtitles in the show. the teacher explaining it to the boy said, " the worm meets the egg." worm..虫子 and 蛋。

josh: it's called 金虫子 in chinese la.

tricia：o_O no la! it's 精子。

nick: ohhh..why is sperm called 镜子？（yes, he said it as jing4 zi3)

christin： laughs.. hahaha..the sperm sees the mirror and becomes a baby!!

tricia: huh!?!?!!?! 镜子????!!!!!!!??!

my bf and my friends

my 8 best friends

1. pool buoy
2. swimming towel
3. swimming cap
4. goggles
5. running shoes
6. fbt shorts
7. running singlet
8. portable radio

talk about social circle? this is it.


tricia the fighter says: i'm getting a new bf soon..
tricia the fighter says: soon..i hope..heaheahehea
efrem! says: oh, you just decided?
tricia the fighter says: but i just can't decide if i shd get him in carbon or alu
efrem! says: haha....
efrem! says: had me there..
tricia the fighter says: or maybe a mixture of carbon n alu
efrem! says: what's wrong with your current ones?
tricia the fighter says: they dumped me
efrem! says: literally?
efrem! says: haha...
efrem! says: i find it strange to have a relationship with a bike...maybe that's why i don't give them names/ call them my wife.. haha..
tricia the fighter says: coz u have someone special in ur life. i don't...so i fill that space with my bikes

wow...tricia the fighter..u do sound kind of pathetic!

lousy tau sa pia spoils my day

next race up the pipeline would be nus race adventura. gotten xiao niu as team mate..and we are still short of 1. he'll be asking around for another one. tony and richard would be away for their ranger course starting 1st week of july to mid september.

penang marathon clashes head on with mmds II putrajaya..and i've decided to take up the latter.

ke wei cancelled swim training for tonight, hence i shall take the time to run down to bbdc and register for my basic theory. and if i'm feeling good enough, probably run back home as well. however, the trade off for running home would mean i won't be able to spin. so.. so... hmm.. let's see how it goes.

i am reluctant to part with $18.90 for the ahm and another $25 for real run. the entry fees to local races are scaling upwards every year. remember those days when i started to do ahm, it was only $5 for non competitive runners. as the hype caught on, it just went up..up...and away!

trying out this brand new marathon training programme to build myself up towards standchart in dec.. i particularly liked the way they build the mileage base for the 1st 3 mths before going onto speed work from week 13 onwards. BUT..BUT.. as i was trying to fit the programme into my timetable.. simultaneously i was converting the programme from miles to kms..and.. i found it almost impossible to fit in so much mileage.. to my horror! when i summed up the mileage for WEEK 1, it was an appalling 92.8km! holy moly!

henceforth, tricia came up with a bright idea of taking all the MILES as KMs. so instead of 58 MILES (which is equivalent to 92.8KM), i'll be starting my week 1 with 58KM. well, i call that adapting to our own needs. -sniggles-

time to start biking again. i haven't rode on my road bike since the accident. gee. time to hop back on.

bought myself some tau sa pia from swee heng this morning..and oh man..it sucks! the skin is so freaking thick.. and the tau sa filling is tasteless. bleah. someone get me good tau sa pia!!!! lousy tau sa pia spoils my day..hahaha

true north!

woohoo! true north came in 5th for open category. -chuckles-

thru crap, True North

ntu atc completed! true north was a blast! race was hideous. bad organisation, poor safety precaution and almost zero first aid support. race was totally crappy. in comparison to last year's atc, this year's atc is pathetic. nonetheless, xiao niu, richard and tony were totally great team mates. team O13..true north!

after the 4 blur musketeers missed their wave and had to do a mad 10mins chase, xiao niu and tricia capsized near the shoreline the moment xiao niu hopped into the kayak. we were struggling to get it going the way we want it to.. along the way we were just.."eh? eh? why we keep going to the left?" (though we were peddling harder on the left) i shall just leave out all the lousy planning of the race..but we had plenty of fun together as a team..with the grumbling of the cramp by richard.. tony laundering his shirt and shoes at the sea side while waiting for the launch off. tony kept saying he smelled like shit after the mud crossing..even gatorade smelled like shit. hahaha..i thought probably the mud went into his nose or something =P we were waiting at the bball court for richard and xiao niu.. when other teams came in looking clean, he was just lamenting.."wa lao! how come they so clean..surely never cross mud." richard and xiao niu came back looking pretty clean and tony was just wide-eyed about it. xiao niu explained they sat in the river scrubbing their shirts during the river crossing..and that was something tony and i didn't do..no wonder we looked like 2 pigs just done with their mud bath. bleah.

hopefully i can get at least tony or richard as permanent team mates.. xiao niu has alot of potential and i do know chew is going to rope him into aac soon.

we took 6:30+..i think it was almost 6:40..but that includes the whole lot of time wasted on waiting for launch off of the kayaks. so they better do accurate adjustments to the timing..

had to rush down to work after the race (without showering)..and then settled for putting my head under the tap to wash my hair and legs up onto the pantry sink just to wash them. i look really uncouthed. but who cares..i was stinking dirty.

in retrospect, i can't agree more that suitable team mates are crucial. like the race was sorely crappy, but because i had a great team, i enjoyed my 7hrs with them thoroughly. we pulled through the crap together! way to go, True North!

follow the True North

team True North has some major shifts..and now comprises of : Tony, Richard, Neo and I.

found out this qx person who was initially asked to join the race, is a real snob head. bleah. attitude problem lor.

well, at least in place of him we've got tony instead.

Richard's bo ge and i'm pai ka. Make Tony and Neo do all the running. The 2 patients can ride all the way..hehehe.. tall hope.

was a little disappointed chew and eng had to pull out as they wanted to join the saca race instead. nonetheless, up till this point, from my scarce interaction with the 2 new team mates, they seem like nice people. this is Tony's first AR and i heard from Richard he's a strong runner. Keep our fingers crossed, i hope all things go well for us.

Go True North!

friday jo would be removing the stitches for me. as i cleaned it today, one side of it still isn't looking too good. hope it will heal well by friday. aunt has gotten me fish essence and i've been religiously taking them for the past 2 days.

contemplating if i should pick up my dip again. after the long talk with james, the piano tuner, i do agree it's a waste giving up so easily just because i failed. pride issue again..how am i going to go back to mr ng?..i really disgraced him ..i must be one of the few students under him who fails. sigh.

yea. i bidded imca goodbye. still finding it hard to swollow and my heart still aches. perhaps let it remind a dream in my life..which i might once again attempt..in the years to come.

to ease the pain, i'll be building my ti bike. ho ho ho!!

pride lesson

i had a heated arguement with my mum just now. i asked her if it was ok if i painted my room today and she gave an insistent no. even as i tried to cajole her into letting me to, her reply still stood firm. "no, 1-2 days more".

i was infuriated by that and i demanded to do it today.

"today! i want to do it today!"

slam. my mum slammed my phone.

that left my heart, mind and spirit in turmoil. should i just stand by what i want to do and go ahead with it? or should i let down my pride, i pick another day?

i wrestled with my stubborness until i gave in and told the Lord, "Father, teach me what to do."

immediately, i felt a sense of peace that calmed my spiritman. and i heard words resounding in my heart like it was speaking right next to my ear.

"there is definitely another day you can do it."

"is it so hard to let your pride down?"

"if you can teach your youths submission, why aren't you doing it yourself? if you can't be teacheable, how can you teach your youths?"

"there is a win win situation. only if you choose it."

i struggled. yes, i really struggled. tricia is a fighter, but she is letting her pride down again. she is allowing the Lord to mould my pride all over again.

i told God.

"Yes, there are other days i can do it. But, wed n fri evenings i want to go down to the pool to observe lifesaving...u know.. (i tried to give myself reasons to substantiate my point. yet for a moment i stopped. and it felt all nullified)"

"yes, it is hard to let down my pride. but Lord, teach me how i can do it."

"i want to be teacheable. teach me so i can teach my youths."

"yes, i want to choose a win win situation. i want my mum to be happy. she means too much to me."

then eph6:1 came to mind.

"Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right."

i picked up the phone wanting to call my mum, but only to put it down again.

struggles again.

i already know the answer. i will do it on wed. i can wait.

picked up the phone and called my mum.

"mummy, can i do it on wednesday?"

"wednesday? yea..i can consider that."

"wednesday la. ok?"

"yea. ok. meantime you don't move around so much. tomorrow we're going to the hospital. remember that. eat your lunch ya?"

"thanks, mummy."

i feel so happy in my spirit, i can't describe it. i feel so happy, so loved and so relieved.

it feels i passed a test God put me through. i learnt another valuable lesson. i know i have taken another step to maturity.

yes, there can always be a win win situation, only if we choose it.

paint-me-happy

i woke up filled with expectations today. will be embarking on my paint-me-happy project a little later in the after noon.

adrian chum would be bringing white paint over so we can whitewash the walls..it'll be a hell lot of moving things here and there but i believe it'll be worth every bit of effort.

tomorrow, after the white paint sets in, we'll give it new coats of green and yellow.

it'll soon look different.

like dw said..it's a fresh beginning.

alvinstar

alvin star.

after i came home from a day of walking, i went to dig out old mails. really old mails..dating from 1995 to 2000.

i found mails from alvin. one of them was a paper on which he pasted glow-in-the-dark stars on a paper and he wrote the mail around the stars.

to a special friend, he wrote.

you were a very special friend who took a special place in my heart too. even now and forever.

i teared. i really miss you. i am sorry i didn't talk to you for 5 years. i yearn so much to call you and just hear your voice. but i know i can never do that again.

packing the mails back into the ikea doggy box, i followed to push it back onto the top of my waredrobe. maybe it'll be another 6 years before i bring them all out to look at again, i thought.

as i went back to my bed, i found something lying on my bed. a star from alvin. it has fallen.

walking, breathing, having fun

i finally got to go out today. freddy did me a favour and brought me out. thank you for walking at the snail pace with me and lending me your hand for support. i appreciate it.

after all the walking, my thigh is now swelling big time. but it is worth every bit the pain. i bought my backpack to run with!! my new toy is the gregory spectrum. 31L. big! i'm such a gregory fan. heh heh heh.

i'm now officially a fan of:

1. kipling
2. gregory
3. saucony shoes
4. mizuno shoes
5. adidas apparel

that's about it for now. but like usual, i'm still a butterfly, lime green, raspberry pink gal. laughs!

what happened?

i guess many are wondering what in the world happened to tricia. since i took a pic of the wound (under wraps), might as well just post it here.

surgery on my left thigh. fell off the bike while mountain biking at bt timah (downhill near diary farm). the left brake lever impaled into my left thigh. they slit open 10cm, washed the wound inside, took the lever out and sewed 7 stitches.

recover soon!

i drew this for myself. recover soon, tricia.

my tears rolled down over and over again.

depend on no one.

i am relearning this lesson again today.

couldn't even walk to the provision shop 2 blocks away. every step was a struggle.

couldn't climb a flight of 7 steps. 3rd step i felt the stitches pull.

i slowly walked 2 steps back down.

and i dragged my injured leg on the ground while my good leg treaded on.

can anyone understand how that felt? i use to run 70km per week, now i can't even walk 2 blocks worth of distance.

my cheeks had been wet over and over again. my heart aches so badly.

the I questionaire

I AM: a fighter; a girl who doesn't give up without a fight.
I WANT: to live each day with happiness and thanksgiving.
I WISH: i can swim, bike and run under the sun right now. but i can't.
I HATE: being a burden to others and not being to complete what i start out doing.
I MISS: the warmth of a hug which made coldness of solitude dissipate to nothingness.
I FEAR: living a life of regrets.
I HEAR: 2 voices in me most of the time. one says "give up", the other, "hang on".
I WONDER: if i'll ever find the significant other. (skeptical look)
I REGRET: not leaving all my regrets at the feet of my Lord.
I AM NOT: afraid to die. but i will not die without a good fight.
I DANCE: best when no one is looking.
I SING: pie jesu, opera-style, in the wee hours of the night when i'm alone in my room. (and i do find it therepuetic to much an extent)
I CRY: when i find pain (physically or mentally) too much for me to bear.
I AM NOT ALWAYS: strong.
I MAKE WITH MY HANDS: , my body and my mind, fulfilment of dreams.
I WRITE: so that i can express what is in my mind.
I CONFUSE: all the diagraphs, trigraphs and whatever graphs. phonics is tough. haha.
I NEED: my Father's love every day.
I SHOULD: love myself more.
I START: the race knowing it is one i will finish.
I FINISH: knowing that the process has made me stronger.
I LOVE: challenges that make it push myself to the limits.
I REMEMBER: my mother stroking my head, telling me to be strong.