Today, I participated in the North West Run. The run, organised by North West CDC, was held in conjunction with Youth Olympic Games last year. My coach decided to support this event once more and the Hwa Chong Cross Country team participated again. We have been training very hard for this competition and we were prepared for the run. However, things were not as smooth as they should have been. I was down with the flu since Monday and I could not give my best in the run. The 5km run started today, at 7.55am. The weather was fine, very cloudy and this weather would be the best for running. Things were pretty smooth in the first kilometer in the race, I was in the lead pack with my CCA mates. After 2 kilometres, my flu started to kick in and I could not breathe in air properly. My coach advised that if something cropped up in the race and if I am unfit to continue, I should slow down and not force myself. I might get injured if I continued so I decided to run slowly. I was really disappointed with myself and I wondered why I was so unlucky to catch the flu, effectively wasting my time and sweat during training. In the end, I reached the end point at about 23 minutes, pretty far from the usual sub 19 minute I can do. Nonetheless, I must reflect on what I have done wrong and prepare better for the next major race I might take part in. I should not let this small setback affect me and I should continue training hard. I will do better next time !
That is the right spirit! We should not back away when we face an obstacle, and must have the determination to carry on and do better next time. It is not actually your fault that you caught the flu, just that you were unlucky. Determination is part of our lives, to help us get up on our feet when we fall. To help us persevere to the end and complete what we set out for.
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