I haven't been posting for a week so I guess I'll just have to entertain you all with how I tortured myself trying for the medals. Here we go...
K1 1000m heats (day one)
I went up to the startline quite confident. I mean, I gave myself two full days of proper rest and I didn't exactly have very high expecations of my opponents (they were all the second bests, like me). My race plan at that time was: Sprint 50m to accelerate, then row long hard at about 80-85% for the rest of the thing and out last them, then a 200m last burst, gradually increasing intensity to 100%.
Sadly, it failed. I had to change my race plan. I did my 50m starting burst and maintained at 80-85% but that second best Hwa Chong guy actually managed to pace me longer than Barnabas can (about 500m). After that he fell back and I owned him in the end by almost 50m. I expected a 100m lead and for them to fall back after 300m. Change was needed.
K2 500m heats (day two)
Barnabas and I did some bursts together as warm up before the race. His stroke rate is uber fast. You see, his mentality is: if I want to go faster I stroke faster. My mentality is: if I want to go faster I pull harder. He was killing me with his stroke rate.
Naturally, when it came to the time we went to race, Barnabas did a super fast 30 stroke starting burst... and kept it up for another 30... and another 30... and another 30 (by then my arms were dead and I was doing crap strokes, which also killed our balance)... And for the rest of the race. We lost to some SJI boat and were to go to the Semis. =(
K2 500m Semi Finals (day three)
I was damn sad that day. We screwed up the heats and had to torture ourselves one more time to pay for it. Barnabas said that going to the Semis was good because it would give us one more time to practice before the Finals. I disagreed because it was just another 2 minutes or so of torture to me...
It was better though. This time we lost balance less as Barnabas reduced his stroke rate a bit after the starting burst. He did a last burst though and I couldn't keep pace so we lost balance again and screwed up... got second again. After the race Mr See warned us that if we were not careful we could get 5th.
Anyway, we decided to go for training after that to do some last minute preparation for the finals.
K1 1000m Finals (day four)
I was sick that day, had an MC excusing me from exercise to prove it (actually I only went to see a doctor so that I would have an excuse if I did badly). I slept at 8pm that night before but I kept waking up because I was too nervous. Really, I didn't want one and a half years of training to go to waste. I kept telling myself that I would push to death if it meant me getting a medal (at the back of my head, I knew I wouldn't do that though).
The conditions that day were not in my favour. I totally hate tailwind, because it makes controlling direction harder. Also, it makes me unable to feel my strokes properly. Headwind causes the water to be harder to pull, giving me a better feel. I don't get how Brandon can paddle around before the race and talk to all his competitors like that at the startline.
It was a tough race. My race plan was: accelerate as fast as I can and pace the fastest guy (excluding Brandon). It was killing me. I started hyperventilating at 200m (usually at training it happens at 500m). Brandon's backwash didn't help much either. At 500m, I felt all the pain dissapearing from my arms (they went numb) and I went into a sort of trance, where I was totally focused on the race. Competition was tough. Excluding Brandon (very far in front) and some BP guy (very far behind) the other four of us were practically in one line. At 200m, I had an adrenaline rush as I relished the chance of getting a medal. The trance got broken at the last 50m, and I started pulling as hard as I could. When the race finished, I glanced to the sides. I thought I got third, but they called someone else's boat to check. I was damn sad... went off somewhere and just stoned. My mind was blank, I could hardly move my arms. Time went still. I only went up when I heard someone calling my name.
After that the coach came to talk to me. He said that I could have gotten second if I did a better start, then he told me a got third, not fourth. For some reason, that though didn't register. I paid for the placing with pain. No amount of money can buy that. Happiness? None. Just a sense of conclusion.
K2 500m Finals (day four)
My K1 race was at 9.40am my K2 race was at 2.05pm (but it got delayed, so 2.35pm). The first C div race and the last C div race. I can't get any more rest than that. I got to watch many races before that, including Brandon and Branabas' K1 500m race, where Brandon owned the guys who were so close to me by 50m and where Barnabas got fourth. Before that, Brandon and I went off to the park to eat.
I didn't have very much confidence for the K2 race, plainly because we suck together. But then... I felt this duty to help Barnabas get a medal, since he didn't get one in K1. I told him that if we did our best, no matter what position we get, it would be okay (doing your best also means pushing like crap) and also, I asked him to slow down his stroke rate and go for a harder pull. We also did a fixed race plan for our race, so that we would be prepared for whatever the other person was going to do.
This plan succeeded to a certain extent. Despite Barnabas slipping on the paddle in the beginning, we managed to pace Lucas and ZhiHong until the last part, where they pulled off a bit with a burst. We got third, they got second, losing to some SJI boat. I screamed: YYYYYEEEEEESSSSSS!!!!! at Barnabas after the race. =) It was done.
Prize Presentation
Nothing much to say, except that girls scream damn loud. If you want to see the pictures go to Brandon's blog.
After The Race
We went to Seoul Garden near City Hall to eat a buffet dinner (we as in almost half the team, like 20 people). We had to pay like $26 per person. SJI went there as well. The only difference was that they were sponsored. We were not. We got the top school for both A and B division (A division snached the title from NJC, who, being quite sad, went to train immediately after the race, missing the prize presentation) but second for C div, losing to SJI by one point. The curse continues. If Sean and WeiKeat didn't get disqualified we would have won... They got straight finals, had as much training as me, didn't even have to push to get the point but still failed. Really... That sucks...
Ah well, it's over. Let's hope the Sec ones can do better next year.
Note: I'm not going to bother correcting the mistakes in spelling or grammar in this because I just can't be bothered and it's 9.30am on a Monday. *hints* CYA =)
