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I had just landed in Australia and I was ready for a week of sightseeing and filling up my iPhone photo albums with blue seas, green lawns full of sheep and cows, quokkas, great food and wine tasting… when I received a text from Cheryl, informing me that I am ROCKstar of the Month for August.

My response: [‘_’]

It seemed like an unenthusiastic response but I was actually humbled.. and nervous. It is so challenging to narrate myself, not knowing where and how to start. It’s been about 30 minutes since I switched on my laptop. So here goes…

My parents wanted the best of me and they wanted me to be sporty. During a time when there were no iPads or Pokemon-Go in primary school, I took up swimming on weekends and Taekwondo twice a week. Memorable moments from my childhood included coming in third in the 4 x 50m freestyle relay.

Following which, I picked up basketball in secondary school and even played in the inter-school tournament. However, I did not take the sport seriously as playing basketball, to me, was more about getting [some] attention from the school beaus. I had some luck in that, fortunately. 😉 But it didn’t last long.

I got busy with schoolwork, which involved late night drafting and model making, so I stopped being active during my polytechnic days and that was when my physique swelled out of proportion. Thank God for the trend of baggy pants and oversized jerseys back then, which helped me to hide my body.

At that time, I was already running. I started running during the slimmest period of my life and I looked to it as a fun way to challenge myself and break limits. I recalled being very happy when I finally hit IPPT-Gold standard time in the 2.4km run and earned an early book-out from camp. I was also constantly involved with the combat unit’s cross-country team, representing it in the division’s games. I even did my first half marathon then. 

But everything stopped again during my time in the National University of Singapore. I put back more than 10kg of my weight, making me even more plus sized than my polytechnic days. The passion of running was replaced by the love of making great architectural designs and late night suppers.

After I graduated and started my career in private practices, I still couldn’t find the discipline of keeping an active fitness routine. It was also during this time that I went through three incidents that knocked me down hard.

First, my dad passed away unexpectedly due to cardiac arrest. I do not have a pretty picture of a perfect family. I recall how I used to get so excited when I saw my dad (four times a year) and then often cried when he had to fly back for work after his brief visit home. So losing him like that, was very painful.

Second, years later, my childhood friend was the only victim in a car crash. Third, I broke up with my girlfriend of seven years after we laid plans for marriage.

All of these caused me to slip into depression. I did move on, I dated someone (it didn’t work out though). Then my ex-colleagues encouraged me to seek an avenue to keep myself occupied. I took up running and gymming, something I missed out on during the peak of young adulthood.

I started running four times a day and did weight training every weekend. Exercise gradually replaced my smoking habits. I found the most joy in running and my friends started to notice the subtle changes in me.

Under peer influence, I joined the Sundown half-marathon in 2014, making a confident comeback after a long hiatus (my last half-marathon was in 2006). And I have never stopped since then. You can see all the different running races I’ve taken part in on my Facebook over the last three years.

Early this year, I came to know of Rock The Naked Truth and I joined ROCKrunners in hope of establishing a network of new friends, and getting to know like-minded people who share similar passions in running.

They became my second family. The close-knit friendships among the members are what make the group so special. We’ve also learnt how to love and be honest with each other.

Over the years of running, my plus-sized physique remains and even till this day, I still get mocked at for my tummy’s trajectory size. However, this time I did not get bigger sized clothes to hid under.

Instead, I embraced negativities and made the best joke out of the naysayers. I am also not a firm believer of eating clean food, thus I am guilt free when I eat. It is about loving and accepting yourselves first for who you are; do not desire to be like someone else. What’s most important is to truthfully being you.

I am who I am today, with God’s grace, my dad’s blessing from above and my mother’s guidance; I am stronger, knowing that I walked though the darkest days; I am still a runner, awaiting more routes to run and discover; I am happier and blessed.

Remember the then-girlfriend I mentioned earlier? We reconciled and exchanged our marriage vows on our 10th year of courtship last year! I am currently more prepared for challenges ahead to come and hey, I am proud to be a ROCKstar! 

Look at this fat kid, a few months prior to graduation from NUS Architecture. I look like a middle-aged man, LOL!

But now, I am happy and here’s to the lady of my life.

Lastly, this T-shirt speaks a lot to me. I give my best at every race and to all my friends in RR, I will always have your back. 

a column by national rower and Olympian Aisyah Gala

I promised myself that when I completed my first triathlon race, I’ll write a detailed account of the experience only because I want to look back at it 10 years down the road to see how it all began. It is always good to remind yourself how far you have come. 

But if you just want to know what I’ve learnt from the whole experience, here’s my reflection on it:

Like every other race that you train for and participate in, it is the journey that eventually matters more than the race itself. The training for my first triathlon took one month, the race itself lasted for one and a half hours. 

I only decided on joining the Tri-Factor Triathlon at the end of June. At that point in time, I have never done a single lap session in the pool in my life, I was not able to complete a 25m lap without resting and I have not cycled on the road since my accident where I dislocated my shoulder in February. I have also not stepped into the open sea since I broke my nose in Sydney in 2013. Here are some photos of my injuries, because why not?

Ok, so I was worried that I was not able to compete the swimming leg, but when the news appeared that I was going to be part of it, I knew that there was no turning back.

I signed up for the sprint distance which was a 750m swim, 18km bike and 5km run. I did not have a target as it was my first race so my aim was to complete it as fast as I can. Since my weakness was the swim, I decided to give more attention to it. I was swimming at least three times a week. In week one, I managed to swim 250m using the freestyle technique without stopping. With the help of some YouTube videos, I learnt that the way to be able to do long-distance swims is to relax. In week two, I completed 500m without stopping. In week three, I lost count of the number of laps I was doing and later found out on my watch that I had swam 1250m non-stop. 

I was pretty confident with my swimming ability until I signed up for the open water swim clinic which was compulsory for all first-timers in the race. It was the first time in my life having to swim amongst other humans. I have to admit it was scary because there were just limbs everywhere and there is the current you have to battle with too.

Unlike swimming in the pool, everyone wants to take the shortest route so when we turn around the buoys, the human congestion can be quite a scene. Arms rubbing against me, feet inches away from my face, people grabbing onto me- it was almost like a war scene. Everyone wants to survive. However, despite how much I am scaring you about open water swims, I highly encourage you to go for one in a group before you participate in your first triathlon race so it will give you an idea of what it will feel like during the race. That way, you would not be caught off guard with the madness of the situation. 

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I finished the race in 1 hour 32 minutes. My slowest leg was the swim, but managed to make up for it on the bike and run. To me, the hardest part of the race was the run. It was hot, I was extremely tired and I did question myself, “Why am I putting myself through this?”

I looked at the race bibs of some of the participants around me which indicated that they were doing the Olympic distance, which is double of the distances I was doing. So on the 5km run, the Olympic distance triathletes were doing a 10km run and secretly, I felt lucky that I only had to do half of what they were doing. When you are in that state, you will take any form of motivation to keep you going- such as looking at how much the Olympic distance people were suffering, that was my motivation. 

Yes, the race, no matter how short or long, is hard. You are going to suffer. You are going to be in pain at some point. But that is why you put in the hours and hours of training before the race so that you know what suffering feels like and get used to it. If you do not enjoy pushing your body to the limits, I suggest you not to pick up the sport. It is definitely not a sport for the faint-hearted. But if you want to challenge yourself to see how fit you can get, sign up for your first triathlon. I definitely did not regret signing up for mine.

After the race, I went traveling and for the first time in my life, I was more confident in the open sea and had plenty of swims in some of the most beautiful beaches in Europe. If not for the experience I have gained from the triathlon, I would not have been able to fully experience the beauty of these waters. I can finally say that I have overcome my fear of swimming in the sea. Life begins on the other side of fear!