Although Chanel Weng was actively involved and competing in sports from a young age, running was something that she had a love-hate relationship with.
“I was in track & field, basketball, touch rugby, inline skating and I loved sprinting but didn’t pursue it competitively as I thought I was too slow,” the 26-year-old solution sales specialist shared. “Despite the love for sprinting however, I really hated running long distances. I used to have childhood asthma and running long distances scared me.”
Her main sport has always been touch rugby, which she played competitively since Junior College. Last year, she started playing contact rugby and was training with the national team when she got injured and missed a chance at the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games squad.
“I’m not new to injury, but each time I get injured it affects me not just physically but emotionally too,” Chanel revealed. Back in her final year of university, she got into a motorbike accident and broke her finger, which cost her the spot in the Touch Rugby team for the Singapore University Games.
She went through surgery to reconstruct her finger joint and even though the doctor strongly advised her not to engage in anymore ball sport for risk of injuring the same finger, she still joined the Touch Rugby team for the Institute-Varsity-Polytechnic Games.
“I worked very hard to get back in shape. When I was ready to play, I wore a splint and buddy taped my fingers. Every game I played, I fear my fingers getting jammed by the ball. Thankfully, I didn’t get more injuries after the league is over.”
Last July however, Chanel met with a major injury where she ruptured her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) during a game at the the Singapore Rugby Union Club 7s. “All my weight was on my left leg and I was tackled by the opponent,” she shared. “Then I heard a loud ‘pop’ sound.”
Getting sidelined because of her injury was a big blow to her. She chose not to do surgery for her knee and instead worked hard on her rehabilitation. As she gradually came back from the injury, a huge battle she had to fight was her self-confidence.
“When I was training competitively, one of my greatest assets was my speed. After I got injured, my stamina dipped drastically and that naturally affected my speed. I lost confidence and struggled to convince myself if I will ever be good enough again. Thankfully, with the constant support and encouragement from the people around me, I started training progressively,” she said.
Hence, Chanel wanted to join the Outdo Yourself programme by 100PLUS Singapore so she could build back her strength, physically and mentally.
“With the pandemic situation, group trainings have been limited and most competitions are cancelled. Ever since I ruptured my ACL, I haven’t done much running, thus I’m excited to be training alongside motivational runners in this programme. I believe we would spur each other to push our boundaries and most importantly have lots of fun. My goal is to make running part of my lifestyle again. I want to rebuild a strong aerobic base, fall in love with running again and break those mental and physical barriers.”
Photos by Tim Yap
