The marathon taught me a few things about myself and life.
1) I'm a weak-willed piece of turd.
I was managing fine, all the way up till 38 km, and then my entire left leg (calf + thigh + hamstring) simultaneously cramped up. Of course, the pain forced me to stop and walk for about 30 seconds, which would have been okay, except that 20 seconds after i started running after the walk, i stopped again, unable to conjure up the willpower to do the "mind-over-matter" thing. This occurred a few times until...
2) Ego is good for you.
...until some woman came puffing past me in her pink tights, and i was like "@$@#%@#", and somehow, my ego managed to override the pain, and gave me renewed mental strength. People along the streets would have noticed me grimacing in pain, but hey.... whatever works.
3) It's all in your mind.
So, at the end of the day, sitting around the Padang, looking at the participants, i really think it's all in your mind. I mean, sure, 42km is ridiculously long (roughly the longest diagonal of Singapore), and yeah, 4-8 hours is a ridiculously long time to spend continuously on the move, but 70+ years old can finish just 20 minutes behind me, people who are like 45 kg overweight can finish it in 5+ hours, whats your excuse?
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
662nd Place
i finished in 662nd place out of 9683 participants in the full marathon. I am 595th placing in the male category. Which means that only 67 females beat me. Woohoo!!!
5 min 42 sec per km was my average speed, which is not too bad.
5 min 42 sec per km was my average speed, which is not too bad.
Monday, December 3, 2007
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
The abstract, the obscure, the nameless.....
Its difficult to feel engaged in what i'm doing. Sure, i enjoy the banter with the young ones, but surely that cannot be the reason why i'm here. At the end of the day, its about making a difference, cliched as it may sound. It's difficult to describe the 'difference' that i'm making, let alone quantify it. So if i cant measure it, how do i improve it? How do i make a 'bigger' difference? Can we even judge who is making a 'bigger' difference if we cant even measure it? Some people like to say that the difference we make takes time. Maybe ten years down the road, blah blah blah. Which may or may not be true. More importantly, it will be difficult to attribute the 'difference' ten years down the road to any particular/specific person. So who takes the credit? Or the blame?
Maybe we can try a different tack. Instead of using such a vague, all-compassing phrase, let's try..... 'making them into critical thinkers'. Now that's something that might be amenable to measurement. But in this, education fails miserably. People compartmentalise what they've learnt. Sure, they can solve some problems in social studies, math, and even around their community. But when faced with overwhelming 'evidence' or 'supporters', they fail to consider the other side. One of my pet problems is with people who are convinced global warming is taking place AND also convinced that Earth is less than 10000 years old. On a superficial level, these people probably haven't read any of the research papers, know nuts about statistical science, and jump behind the global warming banner because...well... it SEEMS right. No prizes for guessing why they're convinced that Earth is less than 10000 years old. But here's the problem, global warming SHOULD be based on cold, hard facts - scientific evidence. So when some bigwig scientist comes out and says that global warming is a MAJOR problem (note that i didn't say its not taking place, but whether its a MAJOR problem), based on numerous scientific models endorsed by numerous high profile research institutions, these people lap it up. HEY! Global warming is a problem. But the same (almost) people and the same institutions endorse that Earth is probably a couple of billion years old. So why do these people still believe that the earth is less than 10000 years old!
God may or may not exist. But i'm pretty convinced that Earth is older than 10000 years old.
Now generally, i dont really care what you believe in. I mean, at the end of the day, you dont touch me, i dont touch you. But when your beliefs spill over into public domain, then you have to be prepared for hits below the belt. I do not understand why religion is sacrosanct. I suspect its only so because it has so many holes in it. You'll never see mathematicians going "ok... let's not discuss the BTL theorem anymore. Let's just agree to disagree. I believe its true. But thats my belief."
Sigh.... let me just concentrate on making $.
Maybe we can try a different tack. Instead of using such a vague, all-compassing phrase, let's try..... 'making them into critical thinkers'. Now that's something that might be amenable to measurement. But in this, education fails miserably. People compartmentalise what they've learnt. Sure, they can solve some problems in social studies, math, and even around their community. But when faced with overwhelming 'evidence' or 'supporters', they fail to consider the other side. One of my pet problems is with people who are convinced global warming is taking place AND also convinced that Earth is less than 10000 years old. On a superficial level, these people probably haven't read any of the research papers, know nuts about statistical science, and jump behind the global warming banner because...well... it SEEMS right. No prizes for guessing why they're convinced that Earth is less than 10000 years old. But here's the problem, global warming SHOULD be based on cold, hard facts - scientific evidence. So when some bigwig scientist comes out and says that global warming is a MAJOR problem (note that i didn't say its not taking place, but whether its a MAJOR problem), based on numerous scientific models endorsed by numerous high profile research institutions, these people lap it up. HEY! Global warming is a problem. But the same (almost) people and the same institutions endorse that Earth is probably a couple of billion years old. So why do these people still believe that the earth is less than 10000 years old!
God may or may not exist. But i'm pretty convinced that Earth is older than 10000 years old.
Now generally, i dont really care what you believe in. I mean, at the end of the day, you dont touch me, i dont touch you. But when your beliefs spill over into public domain, then you have to be prepared for hits below the belt. I do not understand why religion is sacrosanct. I suspect its only so because it has so many holes in it. You'll never see mathematicians going "ok... let's not discuss the BTL theorem anymore. Let's just agree to disagree. I believe its true. But thats my belief."
Sigh.... let me just concentrate on making $.
Friday, September 7, 2007
weird
In my new school, for some reason, i feel much more alienated from the students... disconnected. There is some inexplicable and ultimately irrational fear of getting too close. I still msn occasionally with my students from my neighbourhood school. I deny the existence of a msn account here.
I think there is a stronger sense of entitlement in the students here. They feel that they are entitled to certain things, with a strong sense of who is supposed to do what. "But you're supposed to do this! It's part of your job!" One NEVER hears this in other schools. In other schools, any 'extra' or additional help given, like remedial during recess, or staying back after school for remedial, is never taken for granted, here, its obligatory. Maybe its got to do with their family backgrounds. No one ever gave them anything, so any 'good deed' really seems like one. But of course that's overgeneralising.
I think there is a stronger sense of entitlement in the students here. They feel that they are entitled to certain things, with a strong sense of who is supposed to do what. "But you're supposed to do this! It's part of your job!" One NEVER hears this in other schools. In other schools, any 'extra' or additional help given, like remedial during recess, or staying back after school for remedial, is never taken for granted, here, its obligatory. Maybe its got to do with their family backgrounds. No one ever gave them anything, so any 'good deed' really seems like one. But of course that's overgeneralising.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Momentum...
Ran 59:32. Same route. Lost the five bucks that i slotted in my back pocket. Damn. Work proper starts tomorrow. Will be in the same school for the next 2 years. Hopefully will learn a lot of things.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)