What Makes A Champion?

Those who have the chance should try to watch "Nagano '98 Olympics: Bud Greenspan's Stories of Honor and Glory". I caught it recently on ESPN, and it was inspiring to see the kind of spirit and mettle that makes a champion athlete. I am probably over-quoting this already, but John Keating from Dead Poets' Society said "Sports is a chance for others to push us to excel", and this was exemplified by the stories that were shared during the documentary. My favourite has got to be Bjorn Daehlie's triumphant run in the 50km cross-country skiiing event (which came after his medal finishings in the 10km, 15km, and 4x10km relay events within the same week). His sheer mental tenacity, and his humility after all this achievement, are qualities that all of us can learn a thing or two about.

I guess all of us need some form of inspiration to push us forward during difficult times. For those who need the extra spark during ignition, Bud Greenspan should have the answer for you.

Muddy Monster

The Urbanathlon turned out to be more boring that I thought. As Brynner summed it up, it was just a race with "things in your way". And I personally felt the mud pit was unnecessary, especially since the organisers made us queue hours just to get washed up and hosed down after the event. Tsk tsk.

Headed back to training, ran another 4.3km, which made me hobble around for the rest of the day. My mud-soaked shoes served her tour of duty well, and I got myself a new pair of GT 2140 the next day! Too bad it didn't come in the "rad and loud" version I preferred. Regardless, it is time to break into these new shoes in preparation for the Singapore Bi.

Amazingly we were ranked 11th in the team catetory despite my horrible timing; which made us wonder if we should try this again next year, although we felt unanimously we probably wouldn't come back if the organisers remain bent on making us muddy but not giving us facilities to clean up. And there was no finisher tee! Grr...

Fortunately I was on leave on Monday so I had the chance to slack and watch the Grammys, which was as boring as ever. Taylor Swift seems to be getting more awards that she deserves, considering how out-of-tune she was during the live performance. And I can't get enough of Beyonce! Album of the Year should have gone to Sasha Fierce!

Oh dear. Just received an sms that there's going to be another test during this posting. Time to hit the books again! In the meantime, I gotta get myself a new DVD player cos there are 2 seasons of Simpsons still waiting for me in the drawer!

By the way, sports make you crave for the weirdest things. I need my Strawberry sundae fix from Macs, NOW!