Normally I would have my RT sessions booked on a Sunday morning because I guess no one really likes going to RT on Sundays, Sunday sessions are always relatively empty compared to the first weekday session I had attended 2 months or so back, the camp that's hosting the RT would normally have to reduce the range of exercise activities they normally have to offer on Sundays because there's just not enough people who are interested to play games (orange tag) or do metabolic exercises (blue tag)... the latter obviously needs to be removed because no one likes doing metabolic exercises and there is not enough people during the Sunday sessions who are dumb enough to get tricked into picking that like I was on the first day.
Sadly, no test sessions were available on Sundays, so I had to settle for a Saturday time slot, decided since I wanted to avoid a crowd, I should take the least favorable timing possible, and so I did, at 4.30 pm, I think that timing is bad enough to discourage others from actually booking a session because, well, it's too fucking hot to be doing any physical activities at 4.30 pm.
Place was still crowded as fuck when I got there at 4.30 pm, guess no one shared the same sentiments as I did because it was packed, queues were forming at the counter like I've never seen before during my Sunday sessions. But since I was going for my RT IPPT, that queue that I saw as I was walking in wasn't the one I had to join, that was the queue for regular RT sessions, I was there for my RT IPPT, so it's a different queue, its the queue I have to join after everyone in the regular RT session collects their tags and go off to do their training.
Once I had collected my tag, everyone who was having their RT IPPT session were quickly briefed on the standards we had to achieve for each station, after which we did a few warm ups and were send off to join the queues to start doing our test.
Decided since the Push Up station had an insane number of people waiting, I should go for my Sit Up first because it had fewer people. It was really daunting before it was my turn because the guy that was in front me was not doing the standard sit ups, and it so happens a few seconds after he had started, a training instructor decided to walk by just out of boredom probably and monitor his performance, his comments were mostly....
"No count! cup your ears sir"
"No count!"
"No count!"
Which sucks because the other instructor who was present said nothing and then suddenly, BAM, no count to you sir, and to make things worst for the guy, during the last 10 seconds or so, his leg strap suddenly just came loose and he ended up finishing his sit up session prematurely. Talk about bad luck, luckily when it was my turn, the instructor decided to just go else where after he helped me fix the leg straps.
I was able to do 48 for my turn, which was great, that's 8 more than I had targeted, this meant I could score slightly lesser for my push ups and thank gawd I did.
By the time I was done with my sit up, I was pretty much exhausted from doing 48 in 1 minute, I've never done that many in a minute before, so I was huffing as I dragged myself to the Push Up station. The queue was still really long, and I remember being glad that it was, because the waiting would be able to give me some time to rest and restore my energy, but after the first 5 minutes, all that gladness went away and I just wanted to quickly get this push ups over and done with.
During my wait, I remember seeing this one guy who got really impatient when the instructor kept telling him "no count" because his hips wasn't coming up with his chest, and I could see that he was doing a slight gyrating movement as he was doing the push up, the guy didn't know he was doing as such and started getting really pissy.
Guy : "I am doing the proper push ups!"
Instructor : "Your hips are not coming up the same time as your chest sir."
Guy : "It is! I am doing the proper push ups!"
*instructor proceeds to demonstrate how the guy was doing his push ups*
Guy: "That's not what I am doing!"
*instructor proceeds to demonstrate his mistakes again, at the same time telling him he is doing exactly that.
Guy : "That's not what I did, I am doing a proper push ups."
The tone he was using sounds like the kind of tone a brat would use when he or she wants a toy but the parents say no, and they wouldn't accept no for an answer so they just keep repeating themselves until the parents eventually get it for them or just smack them senseless, I actually thought at one point, one of the instructor would go up to him and just scream at his face and just ask him to fuck off, sadly I never got to have the satisfaction of seeing him getting reprimanded, he was just send to another instructor, the one who helped me with the leg strap back at the sit up station, to learn the ways of a proper push ups.
I mean if the instructor says no count, accept it and move on, it's not like the instructor was purposely trying to be a dick, he was actually really patient with the guy, who was wasting everyone's time by trying to justify his floor hump as a proper push ups. I mean it's technically considered a push ups, but it's just not the standard we need to achieve, so just shut up and move on.
So my turn finally came after waiting for probably 15 minutes and I started off as the assistant, this was completely unplanned but I actually managed to get myself someone who was on the heavier side as my assistant, which is fucking awesome because that meant his hands are slightly chubbier than a normal person, which means I don't have to go as low as everyone else, or so I thought.
When my assistant went first, I decided I wanted to give him a bit of help and maybe put my fist slightly higher so he wouldn't have to go too low, just give him a little boost and help him a little, since he will be helping me later as well, unbeknownst to him.
The chap couldn't even do one, he gave up right after going half way down and got a no count, so we swapped and I laid on the rubber mat as I waited for everyone to end their turn. My turn finally starts and when prompted to start, I started off slow and steady before increasing the speed a little to gain some momentum, the guys' hand did nothing, I mean he's chubby but he's not insanely obese, so really there wasn't any difference, I was still doing the regular push ups like everyone else, and then I hear the instructor who was overlooking my push ups going...
"Your hips are not coming up, so no count, your hip must come up as well."
I had no idea the whole time I was training for my push ups, my hip wasn't coming up together with my chest. I was in the same exact situation as the other guy, same instructor as well. I quickly readjusted my body and continued, and for a while I did proper ones, albeit in a relatively odd position, I felt like I was pushing my butt way to high to compensate for the lack of hip movement, then the instructor started repeating himself.
"Your hips are not coming up."
"No count, your hip must come up"
At one point I looked at the instructor while I did my push ups to see if he would correct me, it was at that moment I understood what the other guy was feeling, but I didn't have a mini fit right after.
Technically I did 45 push ups, I had 7 no counts, so in the end, my total was 38 push ups, which is 2 push up short off my target, but luckily my sit ups was able to compensate for that. To think I actually train my push ups more regularly than my sit ups.
The last station was 2.4 km run. I have no confidence in this run because I've never really train for it except for the weekly RT sessions I have been attending, that's 1 run every week, that's not enough to actually improve my stamina. The best result I had achieved during the RT session was 15 minutes, just enough to get a decent amount of points to add to my static stations so I could pass.
The last time I did my IPPT (5 station system) with my friend, I made the mistake of taking the 2.4 km run right after I did my shuttle run, twice, both runs were horrible disasters. I should've joined the next run but I didn't want my friend to end up waiting with me for 15 minutes till I was able to catch my breath, so I decided it would be fine, big mistake because I was exhausted from the first round, and the next 5 were torturous because I didn't actually stop but kept running, it was so stupid because I ended up failing with 13 minutes anyway.
So I was quite hesitant when I headed to the 2.4 km station after my push up station and found out the next group would start in the next 3 to 4 minutes. I thought maybe I should rest first before I actually go and run 6 rounds around the car park, but then after realizing I had a reunion dinner to attend afterwards,which I was already late for, decided to fuck it and just get it over and done with.
The instructor always say the last round is the most mind fuck round in the 2.4 km run because that would be when you would have the least energy and be the most tempted to stop, well that's not true in my case.
The first round is alright because I still have energy to run, not as much as I would like to thanks to the push ups, but normally I would be quite comfortable on my first round.
The second round gets a bit harder, but I'm still breathing normally, I can still maintain my facial expressions.
The third round is when the mind fucking starts, I'm running out of energy but I'm not even halfway done, literally estimating the amount of energy I have lost from simply running 3 rounds, and then thinking of the next 3 rounds I have to run with the energy I have left, that always doesn't feel like it's enough. The biggest mind fuck is simply knowing I still have to run another 3 rounds.
The fourth round is when I'm breathing very heavily, on the verge of wheezing, energy is starting to drain and the unfit people who are running along are starting to stop and walk. Temptation is strong in this round. My facial expression look like someone just shoved a cucumber up my ass.
The fifth round is when the positivity starts coming in. After this round, just one more round and I'm done. At this point, I'm blocking out everyone and just staring straight ahead, I'm not trying to synchronize with anyone because synchronizing with them is just going to fuck me over. The cucumber is still being shoved up my ass in terms of my facial expression.
The sixth round is the round where I think I will sprint, I always think I have the energy left to sprint, but I just don't have any. I'm exhausted and I'm sure if I stopped now, my vision will just turn white. But this is the last round, and it's the best round to be honest, there's no mind fuck here, I'm just done.
Shockingly, I was able to get a 12.50 minute timing for my 2.4 km, 10 seconds faster than the last time I went for a proper IPPT and slightly over 2 minutes faster than my last RT run.
Total points I scored > 72 Points
That's a pass with incentive, I'm not sure if I will actually get the incentive, it's written on the paper that "Payment will be made thru you bank a/c" but I'm not sure. It would be great if I do get the incentive, I can get a microwave with the $200 so I no longer have to melt my chocolates with a double boiler.
So Hurrah to clearing my RT window just a month shy away from getting charged. I have to admit, I actually enjoy the RT sessions.
On to things I've baked.
Lemon Butter Cake as per requested by my Mum.
I don't like making butter cake because I always get this dense almost gelatinous layer at the bottom of the cake, which not only doesn't taste good, but is just ugly as fuck. The cake is also not standing straight because something fucked up on the inside. It is still a butter cake, but it's an ugly butter cake, a recipe I won't be replicating any time soon, or ever again.
A second cake was given to the neighbor because they gave us free eggs, not too shabby of a deal except for the part where the cake is a bit shit. So much good butter wasted.
Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
I was able to tweak the existing vanilla cake recipe I had with a Cupcake Jemma banana cake recipe, added a few personal touches and viola, a moist and fluffy banana cake that's very sweet from the over ripe bananas that I kept and had to make sure the maid wouldn't throw away, she threw away a few once, I was not pleased with her actions.
The second cake was given away to my Aunt because I made too much.
S'mores Brownies baked for my Sister's friend.
Biscuit base, chocolate brownie, torched vanilla meringue. What's missing is a drizzling of chocolate. It's not as sweet as I like it to be, but my sister's friend found it to be just right. Singaporeans and their inability to enjoy sweet stuff.
I bake for my Mum and Sister's friends more than I bake for my own. What a great way to try and start an online baking business, I'm an idiot. Now I've deactivated the Instagram page because it's just starting to get a bit embarrassing.
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