Completed and Relieved!

Congratulations to Meng Ee! He completed his Biathlon and in good time. He also managed to attain a PB for his 10km run =o) He was a trooper and raced his best. Well Done!

To be really honest, I started the day a little nervous. I had a responsibility and a task assigned so I had to keep my focus. If you ask me, the morning was quite a blur as I was focusing on getting Meng Ee to the start and finishing the race.

Everything went well as we registered, had our body marked, set up our transition box and went for our short warm up swim. Then the hiccups began... As the saying goes... It's all about race day! Things that don't usually happen tends to only happen on race day. Beats me too! hahaha...

When we started the race, my goggles kept flooding in sea water (Didn't happen during any of our swim sessions). We had to stop a few times for me to adjust my goggles as the sea water was stinging my eye. There was a moment where I thought how am I suppose to continue guiding Meng Ee. I thought to myself that the race has to go on. I took a deep breath and re-adjusted my goggles and press it into my eye socket. And it worked this time. I was very glad to say the least. We carried on swimming fairly smoothly until the second wave of participants caught up with us. We were trying to avoid those swimming breast stroke from the first wave and get out of the way of the fast swimmers from the second wave. Of course, we got shouted at by the fast swimmers (It amazed me how people can still shout while swimming! hahah). Anyway, there was an instance where a fast swimmer from the second wave who swam over Meng Ee. My heart sank for a moment then Meng Ee's head surfaced and he said that he was fine.

I was so glad to reach the shore. For me the worst was over! We changed into our running shoes and friends were there to cheer us on. Which is always nice! We had a few "boo boos" on the run too. There were quite a number of turns and bends. For sighted individuals the turns were fine. But it was a little challenging for us. It was difficult for Meng Ee to gauge the angles of the bends and turns, even though I try to describe them to him before we turn. Initially, we held the towel at the ends. We were each pulling the towel and I ended up catapulting Meng Ee round the bends. Fortunately, we didn't have any accidents or injuries but that was certainly dangerous. We were wiser during our second 5km loop. We held closer to the middle of the towel or I held onto Meng Ee's arm. Meng Ee kept up a good pace throughout the run. Well Done!

I am relieved that we have completed the race safe and well. I have learnt and gained so much from the training sessions and racing with Meng Ee. Today's race with Meng Ee has certainly humbled me. Things I've never thought twice about (like running round a bend) in all my races can actually pose a huge challenge for the visually challenged. It does make me wonder if I would be as strong and determined to be swimming and running if given the same circumstance. Meng Ee's resilient is commendable and an inspiration to all. It was my privilege to be given the opportunity to race with him.

So the next time we are out there splashing in the waves and pounding the grounds, know that we are actually having it ease. Congratulations to all who completed the biathlon this morning! A BIG BIG Thank You to Wai Fung who swam with Meng Ee and I to help me out (last minute) in navigating Meng Ee during the swim. For all who cheered us on, A BIG Thank You too. And of course, our heartfelt thank you to the Navy Biathlon organising committee that made arrangements for Meng Ee and I to have a designated person in a kayak to ensure our safety during the swim segment. Truly appreciate it.