As you can see, I DID NOT get my silver award! :( I was so disappointed!

My first attempt at the Broad Jump station, and I jumped 221cm. Which is the minimum for silver, so I thought all was going well. But look at my 2.4KM timing, I deprove by almost a minute! Now that is bad. But looking back, there were a lot of factors that I felt were different compared to the previous few IPPT I took. The weather in camp on Thursday was freaking hot! It was 4.30pm when the run started. During my first two laps, I ran below 4 minutes. But came the third lap, I started to grasp for air. And by the fourth and fifth lap, I was almost dying. My lip and throat was so dry. I wanted to even try swallowing saliva but I had none! And came the final sixth lap, I knew I will not make it for the silver timing of 12 minutes before when I cleared the fifth lap, it was already 11 minutes. No way can I clear another 400m in a minute. But I still had to sprint more else I will not even make the passing mark of 12:40min. So just short of 22 seconds, I did not get silver. So my price reward from $200 drops to $100. Oh and another factor was because I did not drink Redbull and 100 Plus before the run, that I normally do when I took my previous IPPT. Seriously Redbull helps with the sudden burst of energy you need.

So disappointed I am. But at least I am glad I passed! When the officer asked us to raise our hands to that passed, barely a handful out of an entire company of people!

I will be going back to camp tonight and will not be out till Friday. I look forward to completing this ICT! :)

Let me compare both my IPPT I took this year.

The Broad Jump station scared me. When I had my first (and by right only two attempts), I failed to jump the required distance of 221cm at least to attain 3 points. I jumped only 212cm. Hence I only got 2 points and my award of silver was dashed! I was so disappointed with myself. I felt I trained so hard on swimming and running that I overlook my broad jump thinking that because I play basketball, I should be able to leap well. But I was so wrong. I stood around the station a while, thought about it and finally decided to approach the instructor if he could give me another chance to try jump for a better score. Instantly he said, “I can do that.” As glad as I was, he reset my score but I knew I only had two tries. Low and behold on the very first jump, I jumped 225cm! Instantly I was delighted and told the instructor it was good! And with the possibility of silver award again, I knew I had to run well in my 2.4KM.

Weather was dry. And the wind was blowing against the runners. Before leaving home for IPPT, I went online to read about running 2.4KM. Learned that breathing technique is very important. Taking two breathes in from the nose and one breathe out from the mouth. So I tried that. And it was a mistake I made me struggled through the run. Because I have not been training using that breathing technique, hence I should never have tried it on the actual test! Because of that, I was grasping for air even after the first lap. Compared to while running in gym, I would not grasp for air even after laps! Still I had to go on, pushing every step of the way. My mentality was to keep chasing the person in front of me so I know I am always playing “catch-up” in order to run better. And when I cleared my last lap and saw my timing of 11:32 minutes, I knew I made it!

End of the day, I am delighted with my results. Set out to aim for silver and I attained it! Because it also meant free $200 incentive from government! :) While warming down, this guy came over to ask me if I got silver. I replied “Yes” and he said, “Yeah you look so fit.” Haha! I almost died on the track without him knowing. :)

Shuttle Run (4 x 10m): The biggest fear of me for this station was that I fail to pick up the wooden blocks. However since this was electronic system, the worry became if the system will sense that I touched the metal bar. Thankfully all went well for this station. I never fear this station itself whether can I pass or not. 9.2 seconds was excellent! After I finished, some people looked at me as if giving me the look like, “How you run so fast?”

Sit Up: No-problem station for me. In fact when it was done to 10 seconds and I realised I achieved the maximum points, I did not want to do anymore.

Broad Jump: Now this was the biggest worrying station for me of the 4 static stations. I was never good in this station even back in my army days. We were given two attempts. On my first attempt, the system showed “Fault Jump”. So I knew I had to make good my second jump. On my second attempt, I jumped only 216cm! That was not enough to meet the minimum for a silver award that I was aiming for. But I looked at the system again and it apparently did not count my fault jump as an attempt. So I had one last chance! *Bend my knees; swinging my arms; aiming straight ahead; One…Two…Three..; JUMP!* When I saw 221cm, it was a sign of relief! I cleared this station with the score needed to be on track for my silver award.

Chin Up: When I saw the bar so high up, I wondered if I could even reach it. Glad there was an extra step by the side for me to reach it. So up and pulled I went. I stopped at 10 pulls. And when I realised could have just pull one more, which I can, I would have score one more point. But anyway it was still okay for silver award.

Then finally…

2.4KM Run: Besides the broad jump, this was the final run that I knew I am going to struggle with. Frankly, when I saw that I needed a timing of 12 minutes and below to get my silver, I thought it was impossible. Never have I run so fast before. 6 laps around the track, means I have to run an average of 2 minutes per round to get my silver. I was the first three runners to be flag off. Already the computer system gave me problems. It failed to sense my censor in my tag. But I was told to continue to run. So as I run through each lap, I had a +1 lap more than what I was supposed to run. That was mentally draining for me even though I know I just needed 6 laps. But it always felt I needed to run one more. I have always been running on treadmill, and running on track is so different! The wind was blowing strong in my wind, against me. And my throat was so dry. Many times my mind told me to walk. But I knew the moment I walk; I will find it hard to meet the timing. So I ran and jog non-stop for all 6 laps. On my final lap, I burst my last 100m towards the finishing line. I am glad I did because my final timing was 11:45 minutes. Barely 15 seconds longer and I will have failed to get my silver award. But when I finished, I did not know my timing as yet.

I went back to return my tag and collect my final results (seen in the photo), I am so happy I saw “SILVER”! With the silver award, means the army will give me $200 as incentive reward! All the training in the gym, and mostly importantly the constant playing of basketball has definitely helped me to achieve my silver award. First person I called was Louis! Thanks to Louis who got me addicted to basketball. And to Brittany and Rebecca who were supporting me. Most importantly, God who made it possible for me! I am now all sore up but it is all worth it! :)