things are getting tougher and tougher

training is tiring.. understatement



mon

boat PT and short distance paddling

still wasn't tat xiong



tues

sea swim, 47m plus... failed

guess kelvin and myself were still recovering from the dreaded flu



wed

was O_O!!

morning, we went for 4 super huge rounds

each round consist of one huge round around the INTO side, outside my camp, then round to the 1st transport carpark then back into NDu for 1 or 2 mini rounds

running back into camp often gives us the impression the running is going to end.. but it didn't

msg jimmy even deliberately let us overheard that the run is ending after the 2nd round...



that was seriously the longest run i've runned in my entire life so far

60 mins non-stop at a constant pace covering roughly 10km

it was really mental

i lost count of the no. of praise n worship songs i tried to hum in my head to keep me going

thank God He sustained me thru



my entire PT shirt was drenched after the run that when i wringe it, it can actually fill about 2 cups!

had abrasion between my both thighs

after the run, as usual, push ups, static PT



after lunch, went for 2km boat paddling

wasn't easy, it required lots of teamwork.. and my boat lacked it

we were yelling at each other

and my boat came in 2nd last, out of 11 boats

had to do boat push ups, which is the entire boat crew lift the boat above our heads, with our arms extended..

upon each whistle, we will lower our arms, allowing the bottom of the boat to touch our heads then extend our arms up again.. and that is 1 count

boat march 2 rounds around the parade square to signify the end of the boat paddling session

i was really quite burnt out

thank God, staff Ong allowed us 9pm lights off for an early night rest



thurs

sea circuit

thank God the sea was calm although the tide was low.. i managed to pass sea circuit for the first time

17m44s

was really relieved i didn't have to do a 2nd time, as i did last week when those who failed were required to go for 2nd round

we lined up and cheered on the others who were doing for 2nd time

the overall turn out was pretty good, quite a number of us passed sea circuit for the 1st time

what made the deal better was that those who passed were allowed to return to the cabin to rest before lunch

that 1h 30m was so precious



after lunch it was boat paddling again!

this time "pace to be a winner"

1st boat will secure and rest while the others will race again

i think my boat rowed about 6km

we finally secured as the 3rd last boat out of 8 boats

i was totally exhausted

then as usual boat march, singing songs non stop as we march

everyone around the unit were peaking along the corridor to see what's the commotion about

3 and a half rounds

i figured we will be doing more and more rounds in time to come



fri

which is today, was a relax day

2 talks and area cleaning

thank God for the much needed rest



physical phase

so much emphasis on health,fitness and teamwork

i've been down with a bad bout of flu for the past 3 weeks

although almost fully recovered, i made my way to a nearby clinic to get more antibiotics to get my body tuned back

the medicine in SAF obviously doesn't help much





4 weeks to "Hell Week"

Lord, please give me strength & wisdom

mua-ji



a popular pasar malam finger bite

this sticky gooey dough being cut into small pieces

dipped into blended peanuts and sugar

put it in this small square transparent plastic container

2 toothpicks stubbed into one of those gooey dough

and ready to serve



as it is introduced to us by staff koh

the NDU version

went for 7.5km run last week after recovering from flu

obviously it wasn't such a great idea

i ended up the last few of the lot

couldn't catch up

at the ending point of the run, the slow runners all dropped into pumping position and bear crawl all the way to STC, right in front of the gate leading to the beach

my head was throbbing mad from the run

in the same position, we were hosed from head to toe, drenching our no. 4 camo pants, PT shirt and shoes



dropped for a few counts, then instructions came to roll in the sand by the beach

there we go, 20 over drenched guys with sand from head to toe

headed back to the gate, in the same pumping position, we were hosed again

took the chance to take a few sips of water

then dropped for another few counts, before we were told to get wet...again...but in the sea

the whole lot of us headed for the beach and dived straight into the water

where most of the sand is washed out, but there's still some stuck on the body

running in drenched sandy clothes is quite uncomfortable

joined back the class where we did 500+ pushups



this treatment is aka "wet & sandy"

where we look like a life size mua-ji