Passing The Test

I passed my IPPT today. Like certain moments in your life, these are moments you remember coz you're just so overjoyed about it. I can still remember the moment when I heard that Everton had won the 1987 Premiership. Those were the days when Everton were like Manmchester United now: the best team around, the team everyone feared playing, the champions of England. I was 12 years old and brushing my teeth in the toilet, when the news came on on the BBC that Everton had beaten Norwich 1-0 away through a Pat ven den Hauwe goal. I remember that moment like it was yesterday.... those are the things that hit you and stay with you. I don't remember what I was doing when Everton signed Andrei Kanchelskis (I guess I should have), but I do remember the moment when Dave Watson punched the air in delight when Everton upset all the odds by beating Manchester United 1-0 in the 1995 FA Cup Final. I was doing my guard duty in the Army and watching the small television there with gaping breath and tears rolling down my eyes.

Just like I'm sure all Arsenal fans will remember exactly what they were doing when they heard the news that they had signed Dennis Bergkamp. Yes, you're starting to get the drift now...... But let's not digress too far. Yes, certain moments.... like when I passed my driving test.... when I received the phone call to tell me I got to the finals of My Paper Executive 2013.... those were moments that I remember EXACTLY what I was doing.....

Anyways, passing the IPPT ranks up amongst these things. You feel like you've almost gone to heaven and come back after the 2.4km run. You've got to run fast, not jog; and that's a big difference. I actually scraped through 3 of the 4 static stations, and only crushed the competition in sit-ups when I did 40 and got the max 5 points. But then it came to the run, and I started feeling nervous the moment I entered the vehicle shed to do it. Will you be able to do it or not? Who knows? Heaven Knows? Rick Price? Then you start looking around at the others and see some anxious faces, and you start getting more nervous. And you've got to wait for the earlier batch to finish, which always seems like an eternity. You just can't wait to get it started. You feel like the 15 minutes sitting there statically would affect your performance.

So I start the run, and I started to get a feeling that maybe I could do it. You know sometimes in sports, when you start doing something in particular, you have this strange feeling whether you can do it or not; and if you feel like you can, then confidence becomes a big factor. I realised that I'm actually quite a slow starter, and it took me like 2 rounds (out of 6) to really start sweating and 'getting into it'; like my body needs to get into the groove and really start working it. And it's the last 2 rounds that I really accelerate and basically start sprinting, overtaking people and basically just flat-out going for it. So my last round is definitely faster than my first round, which might be the opposite way for others.

With my legs aching, head spinning and at times just closing my eyes running (coz it takes too much effort to open them), I manage to somehow avoid crashing into anybody or running through the barbed wire. And by some Herculean effort, I manage to get a Silver timing.... passing by a full 40 seconds. Which frankly I thought was quite a miracle, considering I just played basketball for 2 hours yesterday nite and didn't sleep much the last few nites (England v Poland being just one reason). So it definitely wasn't ideal preparation at all. In fact, it's how you should NOT prepare for IPPT.

But after you know you've passed, it's a great feeling. You feel like you're walking on air, high above everything. Like Eminem said, I'm 5"10' but I feel like I'm 6"8'!!! I felt like hugging the Encik in front of me... it's quite a crazy feeling. And even if Godzilla was there, I probably would have hugged him too. This pain is definitely worthwhile. Time to continue with my exercise routine. I'm lovin' it.