pass + incentive

So finally had the long-dreaded ippt today. Here's an excerpt of the cool results receipt that they gave at the end of it (cos i don't have a digicam or scanner at hand).

Station: Score (Pts)
Sit Up: 34 (3)
Broad Jump: 225 cm (3)
Chin Up: 7 (2)
Shuttle Run: 9.5s (5)
2.4km Run: 11:46 min (2)

Total: 15
Result: PASS
Award: INCENTIVE

Yup, so if you can't make sense of this, basically, i passed...

Some thoughts:

Didn't realise that ippt taking was so hi-tech now. They give everyone a number tag with a RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification) tag embedded in it, and all the static stations are now fancy machines that severely curtail the possibility of cheating. For example, the sit up machine actually counts for you, so no chance to shake hands with your heel-holding assistant (now replaced by a strap) and submit grossly inflated scores to the station i/c (not that i do that, of course heh).

After months of fretting over whether i'd be able to pass, the Lord even blessed me with not only a pass, but an extra $100 for getting 15 points (see above). Am really thankful. Thanks to all who prayed for, encouraged, ran with, or even chuckled "that poor boy" at me when hearing all my complaints about ippt...

Also, i realise that with the proper preparation, i actually can get a silver next year. From today's results, all i need to do is to do three more sit ups, one more pull up, and run seven seconds faster. That being said, i am more than happy with today's results.

Pretty ironic that almost all of my preparation for today was running, and it turns out that my running didn't improve one bit (in fact i usually am able to get a silver timing) (So this means that i have to run all the more from now on, which i don't mind anyway...). But anyway to clear sit ups, jump and especially pull ups is more than i could ask for... And to run my fastest-ever shuttle run too (though i suspect it's due to the fancy shuttle run machine that does away with the need to pick up any annoying wooden blocks/ bean bags and that detects you as you pass under the finishing gantry).

After the ippt, made my way to ecp to do my quiet time, since conveniently and incidentally, my stuff was all in my bag to begin with. Don't recall ever doing that before, and i must say, in spite of the less-than-pristine condition of the beach, it's a good place to do quiet time. Maybe i'll do that more often, take advantage of the proximity to home... Was really cool too to see the dark rain clouds drift over from Indonesia and overwhelm the clear blue Singaporean sky. Of course that also meant that yours truly ended up caught in the rain, but ah well, nvm...