Wet Blanket On A Bright Sport
It's interesting how we should pay more attention to our gut and instinct, than what we tend to hear when we are already at the point where excitement, anxiety and immediate release all comes together. Perhaps, I was dazed and not paying attention as I thought I did. But I knew from the NUS Triathlon race route details that the Bike Segment required six laps. I had even reminded others of this.
But as we stood at the shoreline, before the flag-off, I distinctly heard the MC say it was six laps, but five around the counter. This I really thought, meant that the distance to and from the mounting and dismounting lines would account for the final lap distance. So I thought.
With that in mind, I was already doomed, and did not know it. It did not help that the triathlon system did not have an electronic display after the counter to show participant ID and lap counter. In any case, I counted five and moved with steely confidence back towards the race event area.
And therefore, I disqualified myself immediately. It is frustrating when race organisers also do not do enough to ensure that the enjoyment of participants - who pay for their experience - is not let down.
But I am grossly disappointed and let down. It does not matter what we say now, for it is an error and it does significantly subtract from the whole effort. Now, I again must know how great athletes must confront their failures, too.
The race times and details are otherwise of casual pace, which I intended was not never at any point pushing myself. I was genuinely having fun then. It is not quite so funny anymore when you have soaked in the pleasure and gratification which actualisations affords you, then only to discover to your embarrassment that you did not qualify to have finished the race event.
I cannot fool myself to take-back all I have said about doing this event, short of just one bike lap, which even on a broken bicycle, it would not have prevented me from doing. That is exactly what makes the mistake foolish, and preventable.
But the fact that I was sharing the experience as a whole with so many friends, past associates and the Salomon athletes (who all went on to win top spots in their own categories...), does make the memory still invaluable and sweet.
It is back to training... and this time, perhaps, I will find myself more careful and less laissez-faire. But perhaps, again, the sport demands that I just enjoy it at face value. Either strategy is good and works; perhaps balancing it dynamically and not sticking to just one idea.
By the way, the kind young man who spoke to me at the flag-off, Kenneth Kuo, was none other than the WINNER of the NUS Men's Closed Category. Look at his race results:
1 4038 KUO WEI KENNETH Men's Closed SWIM 00:09:45 6 BIKE 00:33:42 RUN 00:21:06 TOTAL LAPSED TIME 01:04:32 RACE POSITION 1.
And my results, incomplete though, just for the record:
6054 BEIRON ZHENG Veteran's SWIM 00:12:35 5 BIKE 00:37:49 (0 Fail in BikeLap Count)RUN 00:25:25 TOTAL LAPSED TIME 01:15:48
As Dexter Jr advised me (a good mentor in turn he is in such matters, above second from the right): This is only the beginning and there will definitely be more races to come. So keep up the good work and race when you feel like it. For me, every time I participate in a race, it's really just for the fun of it. I know I'm not going to finish amongst the top few, so why bother. It is really just a challenge to myself to do better than the last time and a gauge to measure my fitness. I guess I did alright this time, a few minutes better than the last. (E-mail of 5.17 pm, Tuesday, 16 August 2005) That is true, and this time, I believe I heard it well. To more races to come, then. Well, I am surrounded by the comfort of wisdom, and the consolation of good mates! See you all out at practice...
It's interesting how we should pay more attention to our gut and instinct, than what we tend to hear when we are already at the point where excitement, anxiety and immediate release all comes together. Perhaps, I was dazed and not paying attention as I thought I did. But I knew from the NUS Triathlon race route details that the Bike Segment required six laps. I had even reminded others of this.
But as we stood at the shoreline, before the flag-off, I distinctly heard the MC say it was six laps, but five around the counter. This I really thought, meant that the distance to and from the mounting and dismounting lines would account for the final lap distance. So I thought.
With that in mind, I was already doomed, and did not know it. It did not help that the triathlon system did not have an electronic display after the counter to show participant ID and lap counter. In any case, I counted five and moved with steely confidence back towards the race event area.
And therefore, I disqualified myself immediately. It is frustrating when race organisers also do not do enough to ensure that the enjoyment of participants - who pay for their experience - is not let down.
But I am grossly disappointed and let down. It does not matter what we say now, for it is an error and it does significantly subtract from the whole effort. Now, I again must know how great athletes must confront their failures, too.
The race times and details are otherwise of casual pace, which I intended was not never at any point pushing myself. I was genuinely having fun then. It is not quite so funny anymore when you have soaked in the pleasure and gratification which actualisations affords you, then only to discover to your embarrassment that you did not qualify to have finished the race event.
I cannot fool myself to take-back all I have said about doing this event, short of just one bike lap, which even on a broken bicycle, it would not have prevented me from doing. That is exactly what makes the mistake foolish, and preventable.
But the fact that I was sharing the experience as a whole with so many friends, past associates and the Salomon athletes (who all went on to win top spots in their own categories...), does make the memory still invaluable and sweet.
It is back to training... and this time, perhaps, I will find myself more careful and less laissez-faire. But perhaps, again, the sport demands that I just enjoy it at face value. Either strategy is good and works; perhaps balancing it dynamically and not sticking to just one idea.
By the way, the kind young man who spoke to me at the flag-off, Kenneth Kuo, was none other than the WINNER of the NUS Men's Closed Category. Look at his race results:
1 4038 KUO WEI KENNETH Men's Closed SWIM 00:09:45 6 BIKE 00:33:42 RUN 00:21:06 TOTAL LAPSED TIME 01:04:32 RACE POSITION 1.
And my results, incomplete though, just for the record:
6054 BEIRON ZHENG Veteran's SWIM 00:12:35 5 BIKE 00:37:49 (0 Fail in BikeLap Count)RUN 00:25:25 TOTAL LAPSED TIME 01:15:48
As Dexter Jr advised me (a good mentor in turn he is in such matters, above second from the right): This is only the beginning and there will definitely be more races to come. So keep up the good work and race when you feel like it. For me, every time I participate in a race, it's really just for the fun of it. I know I'm not going to finish amongst the top few, so why bother. It is really just a challenge to myself to do better than the last time and a gauge to measure my fitness. I guess I did alright this time, a few minutes better than the last. (E-mail of 5.17 pm, Tuesday, 16 August 2005) That is true, and this time, I believe I heard it well. To more races to come, then. Well, I am surrounded by the comfort of wisdom, and the consolation of good mates! See you all out at practice...
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