2004: 1 2
2005
2006: 1 2
2007
2008: Apr
Somehow, I find the need to describe the entire napfa process to remind myself about the horrors of taking a napfa test. I’ve done this without fail for the past 4 years, since sec 2, when I got a blog, and this year shall be no exception.
Ok so, yesterday my pe teacher asked the fitness class if they wanted to do the test 1 day in advance from the ‘official’ test date the next day. At first, I wasn’t really sure if I was ready, as I was feeling rather sleepy and tired, and it was almost 10am, when the sun would be scorching hot [bad bad bad for 2.4]. Nevertheless, I decided to give it a try.
As most of the people in this batch of retakers felt that their pull-ups is their weakest station, that was our first station. Until then, I’d never reached the 5-pullup mark, which is what I needed to get a D, which is also one of the requirements for getting a Silver, which is what I need to shorten my life in NS. See the implications?
Anyway, I was the last to enter my name in the retest group, so I was to be the last to attempt each station. As I watched the rest do the pullups, most of them successfully, a few of them getting 2 or 3, I started worrying about whether I was just going to fail the first station there and then. But no, I got my 5 pullups. It was a historic moment in the life of Chong Woon Hian: getting 5 unassisted pull-ups. Achievement Unlocked! w00t w00t
Then there were shuttle run and situps which I completed without difficulty. 10.2s and 40 respectively.
It was the Standing Broad Jump station that gave me a rude awakening from my complacency that I could easily get my D [222+] anytime. For the past 4 months since the first napfa test in april, I’ve been training on pull-ups and running stamina and endurance, and paid no[t much] attention to my SBJ. And so it turns out that I got 219cm, 3cm away from the ‘D’ standard needed for a silver. And so, napfa 2008 v.2 came to a braking halt.
On hindsight, I’m thankful that I went for this test, or I would certainly would not have trained for it during the pe lesson then. Right after failing the SBJ station, the PE teacher in-charge of those training in their gym gave me some exercises to improve my SBJ techniques. That included jumping over the seat-height of the chair, the bench used for bench press, and the canoeing machine – individually and consecutively. The first 2 objects were rather intimidating when I was trying to jump over them, and I wasn’t convinced that I had overcome that fear at the end of the pe lesson. Still, I’ve learnt something during that lesson.
On to Tuesday. I warmed up by jogging on the trackmill, pulling at the lat-pull down station, and making some test-jumps on the mat. [I did not managed to get 222cm at that time. I thought it was a bad omen.]
And so, it was 4pm. The bunch of us napfa failures gathered at the track and registered our names on the teacher’s list. My batch was the ‘can get bronze but want to get silver to avoid extra-long NS’ batch. There were Jun Jie, Ali, Roger, Taufiq, Isaac, Joshua Ang and many others, about 20 in all. A quick poll indicated that the batch was weakest in SBJ, so SBJ it shall be to start the test.
This was the very test that I failed at the day before. I wasn’t even sure if I’d recovered from the day before.
The test began. SBJ was to take place at the sports hall. There were those who passed effortlessly, those who barely made it, and those who were told to take a rest and try again later. Fast forward a few minutes later, I found that I met my 222cm target.
SBJ: D – 222cm
Another teacher came to man the next station, sit and reach, so as to get things done more quickly. I kept reminding myself “37, 41, 45. 37, 41, 45″ which are the distances i need to cover for D, C and B respectively. I got 41cm on my first try, and decided not to waste any more energy.
Sit-and-reach: C – 41cm
We made out way back to the stadium for my most-feared station: pullups. Could I do it 2 days in a row, I kept thinking to myself. Roger was before me, and he managed to do 3 before deciding he couldn’t do anymore. Soon, it was my turn. At the 2nd pull-up, I started feeling really really tired. At the 4th, I was extremly exhausted. I mustered all my strength to get that 5th pull-up. Imagine the relief when I heard the teacher say the word “five!”. Achievement unlocked: getting D for both SBJ and pull-ups in a single test. w00t! The other retakers were really encouraging, congratulating me, and those who managed to pass their pull-ups with a D.
Pull-up: D – 5 pulls
Shuttle run? No problem.
4 x 10m Shuttle-run: A – 9.9s
The very last station before the 2.4km run was sit-ups. I don’t know if it’s all in my mind, but my leg and especially my stomach muscles started aching really badly. I must admit I didn’t do proper sit-ups, that is, I finished some of the sit-ups by landing only on half my back.
Sit-ups: C – 39 sit-ups
It was the very last obstacle to that coveted silver. I have done sub-12 for 2.4km a few times before, the first time being Napfa Apr 2005, but that was without the 5 stations before the run. My last few self-trainings on the track was proof that it was almost impossible for me to do so in this run, as I found myself still having a rather low stamina, as I felt really tired after 4 rounds each time.
Mr. Seah, the PE teacher who gave me 1-to-1 trainings for the past 4 months since the April NAPFA to work on my pull-ups, lent me his stopwatch to keep track of time, but I found it to be much of a lucky charm.
After resting for a while to recover slightly from the earlier 5 stations, and waiting a little while more for another group of retakers to finish their run, we were off. We started at the midway point of the 100m stretch nearest to the stadium steps. Mr. Seah was conducting the run for some J1 girls at the end point. He would cheer me on each round as I passed by.
“Remember to pace yourself. Don’t exhaust yourself too early.”
“Not bad. Keep it up.”
“3 rounds already. You can do it.”
“2 more rounds woonhian! Come on come on!”
“*was busy tending to a J1 girl*”
When I started, there was the intial tiredness in me, but eventually, momentum took on and I was breezing through for the first 3.5 rounds, making sure that I keep to my pace of 2mins per round. However, at the end of the 4th round, I found myself losing my pace, completing that round with a time of 8mins despite giving myself a 15-second lead in the first round.
5th round was spent thinking if that was my 11am lunch swirling around in my stomach. It was a really awful feeling. Many times, I felt like slowing down to a walk, but I managed to maintain my jogging pace.
In the middle of the 6th round, after being at the 2nd position since the start of the run, Jun Jie overtook me. I wasn’t too happy, but it was a blessing in disguise as I proceeded to pace myself behind him instead of slowing down, which I almost did. With 150m left, as I made the final bend around the track, My watch said 11.50mins. No more C, so be it. I increased my speed even though I kept feeling like vomiting there and then. I just couldn’t afford to assume that I would able to walk to the end within 50 seconds. [12.40mins is the time needed for a D.] So I increased my speed at that last stretch and finally completed the run. And so I found out that I was 3rd out of the [about] 12 people left in the test, and only 5 people passed the run. “Aiya see la waste my time at the first 5 stations.” – PE teacher who conducted the test.
2.4km run: D – 12:17min
Final tally: DDDCCA 17 points – Silver
To quote myself in my sms-es to fellow Minus Two-ers:
“Operation Minus Two is a success! Hell Yeah!”
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Many people to thank:
Mark, Roger, Jared, and especially Aaron – The participants of Minus Two
Mr. Seah – PE teacher by day, commando by night.
Friends who encouraged me in one way or another
My brother, for mocking me for my inability to do pull-ups, for questioning the authenticity of my PES A status and thus pressurizing me to get my napfa silver.
All those who made it possible in one way or another.
Till the next time, it’s me, woonie, signing off.
