I Could Have Died Over A Stupid 2.4km IPPT Run
I went for my IPPT at Toa Payoh Safra last Sunday in hope that I can at least fulfil the minimum requirements of passing it before my birthday on Christmas. Passing it was all I hoped for, knowing that this is the probably the weakest point in my life; I have stopped playing weekly football, going to the gym and running for a year!
Time flies when I am slacking!
I had a fast timing for the shuttle run station, clocking 10.1 seconds and did good at the standing broad jump with a distance of 239 cm. I guess I still have power in these legs of mine. Well, either that or the fact that I lost 6kg for the past year. My chin-ups dropped drastically and I could only do 5; sit-ups were no better and I manage only 34 in the space of a minute.
For the uninitiated, the 2.4km runs conducted in Safra gyms are ran on the treadmill and as I stood on the treadmill, I felt pretty confident about passing the run. The timing to beat was 12mins 35secs. It sounded really easy at that point in time but little I know that my fitness level was way below what I expected.
I kept a 5min/km pace initially but quickly lost steam right after the 1km mark. I slowed down to 6.5mins/km for long periods after that. I was struggling to keep my pace on the treadmill so much that I didn’t look at the time at all for the last 400 meters. All I remembered was increasing the speed on the treadmill to about 5.5min/km speed and running desperately to stay on the belt. The belt started to slow down at the 2.4km mark and I immediately let the exhaustion take over my body and fell onto the floor. I was panting very heavily with blurred vision and was fighting to stay conscious. I don’t think I would have noticed if anybody asked for my well being at that moment. I was too busy trying to breathe.
After 10-15 minutes of lying where I fell, I got help from a medic to stand up and my legs could have very well belonged to another person as I tried to stand. Heaving and panting, I managed to collect my results after climbing a flight of stairs and the timing was 12mins 53secs.
I FAILED BY 18 seconds!
I couldn’t catch my breath at all all the way from Toa Payoh to Ang Mo Kio in KuKuNehNeh’s car. She was so worried that I will die on her.
I think my will to run, coupled with the treadmill that forced me to keep my pace up, pushed me over my physical limit. Looking back now, it was quite a frightening experience. I could have just fainted right there and died just because I wanted to pass my IPPT.
Simply not worth it…
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so im definitely going to get one hurray! yeah i’ll go...
December 18th, 2008 at 9:20 pm
Thank goodness you didn’t overexert yourself. Take it easy man – start clocking milage first!!
December 18th, 2008 at 9:22 pm
Next February — KL international Marathon
December 18th, 2008 at 9:36 pm
glad that you are alright. but you are way better than me =) I had my 1st run in 5yrs time today… could only do 1km with 9mins +… and I almost threw out.. ;(
December 18th, 2008 at 11:32 pm
I know the feeling of failing by mere seconds…I failed a mere 3 and 8 seconds before…
enough time to re-book another test?
December 18th, 2008 at 11:44 pm
I like ur persistency. As long as u did ur best, there is no regret.
December 19th, 2008 at 12:09 am
It’s alright. A few months ago I failed by 2seconds. HAHAHAHAHA
December 19th, 2008 at 12:27 am
nvm nxt year try again … chionggg
Err but prepare a bit la
i think too much knuckle cracking got you slacking
December 19th, 2008 at 9:37 am
Cheer up. Train up and try again. Gonna take mine really soon, hope I can pass it.
December 19th, 2008 at 9:51 am
Retry again if there is time else just go RT lor. Dont appear on the news for the wrong reasons. Take care.
December 19th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
Please don’t die like those who died in training :>
December 19th, 2008 at 3:44 pm
I’m bad at running too. But I found a way to pass IPPT. Just do 5km runs at least twice a week for two months before the test. Don’t need to time, don’t need to rush. Just run all 5km. Sure pass one. =)
December 19th, 2008 at 4:27 pm
I failed by 1 sec two years ago
December 20th, 2008 at 1:34 am
Ah Gong arr! You have already tried ur best so it’s ok!!! It’s not worth it to exchange ur life to pass IPPT.. You definately worth more than that… Take care and rest well!!! =D
December 20th, 2008 at 12:03 pm
Exercise more. And before IPPT or wateva marathon, pls train b4 going lo -_-
U think u superman ar! Take care of ur health la! Roar~!
December 20th, 2008 at 4:13 pm
you’re not young anymore… rem that… =X guess it’s about time for you to go back to your usual jogging routine? =)
December 21st, 2008 at 2:51 pm
Brennan> I was too out of shape and thought that I am 5 years younger. Haha
Relax> No way that I can make it for Feb!
Zhane> 1st run in 5 yrs! Of course you will do worse than me dude.
Leonard> My birthday is only days away. I can’t make it man! I have to settle for RT.
Jenny> Thanks! I hope it lasts!
ignorantsoup> You have it worse! 2 seconds! I would have head-banged the wall
uncle sha> I don’t know how much the knuckle cracking influenced this but I will definitely do better next year!
Ravon> I hope the best for you!
ByPassing> You are right. I shouldn’t be so hasty.
ViciousCycle> Still alive! For now. Haha
Benjamin Koe> If only you had told me 2 months earlier. Haha. Else you could help me back getting Rebecca Tan to run in front of me.
Damien> No discount? LOL!
Jiaxin> Yes yes. I am now an Ah Gong. I should be more careful
Regina> I will be more prepared come the marathon!
Ting> Yes I should! And the gym too.
December 23rd, 2008 at 9:51 pm
[...] feel the age catching up on me; friends of the same age/batch getting married, more wrinkles, deteriorating stamina and most of all, the increasing hunger for a superpower to turn back time. That and X-ray vision. [...]
January 14th, 2009 at 2:15 pm
hello there. came across this as i googled ‘how to pass 2.4′. i share your sentiments and want to vent. You see, for the first time in my life, at the twilight of my reservist, i FAILED my ippt. I have since kept it to myself. As a (former) fitness buff, failing IPPT is like being raped in prison. You comfort yourself by saying its not your fault, but you know you shouldn’t have picked up the soap. For the record, i did 45 situps, 235 for broad jump, 11 pull-ups, 9.9 for shuttle run, and an abysmal 14 mins for 2.4km. Its unforgiveable. I know the signs are there when old friends said I look chubbier, when I make funny sounds when sitting up after a long sit, when I favour golf over football. I try to overcome it by doing dead-weights and spending more time at the golf range lying to myself it helps the stamina too. What was I thinking? And running that 6 laps thinking that quick but smaller steps will get this fat-pack over the finish line in gold medal time…. hallucination at its best… too late for regrets now. I’m a failure. Ok rant over.
January 14th, 2009 at 10:47 pm
Hey bobo! I am glad that you can resonate well with the situation. It’s really tougher for those who have been a fitness buff. I hope you are doing something about getting the stamina up again!