SAA competition (A problem I encounted and how you solved or managed it)

24 January 2011

It is a monday night today and i am feeling really tired. The past few days i have been training really hard during my cca, cross country, and now all I want to do is lie down on my bed and go to sleep.

Two days ago, i had a SAA(Singapore Athletic Association competition) and i was very disappointed about my performance then. My position in this competition was 29 and i will have to train harder to solve this "problem" of me being at position 29 in order to help my school maintain the championship title for the C division boys during the nationals.

During this competition, I kept telling myself repeatedly that I had to hold on and not give up. "Think about your team, think about winning, think about the school. Would you want to give up just because your tired? You are trained for this so you had better give it your all." These type of thoughts kept on rushing through my mind as i was running. I felt frustrated and pressurized when competitors overtake me and sometimes irrational thoughts like "Why can't you just stay behind me and not overtake me?" rushes through my mind. I was breathless, tired, sore and my heart was racing. At times when I felt that my heart could not take the pressure anymore , there would be a war between the "angel" and the "devil". My body tells my mind to stop but my mind commands the body to go on.

Towards the end of the race, my body was worn out and I wanted to stop and rest very badly. This was a really big problem because if i stopped, my position would have dropped by alot, but when i saw the finishing line which was about 200 metres away, I told myself that this would be the last hurdle that I have to suffer so I should just give it my all. I ran as fast as my legs could carry me and I sprinted for the finishing line. Within this 200 metres, I managed to overtake five people! The number, five, in a race like this is a big number but I still ended up with a position of 29. Although I had gave this race my best, my best was not enough.

From now on, I will do my best, push myself to the limits, and solve the problem of not getting a good position in the next race that is coming up soon.