#stateracrew

"I'm making you my protégé. People will look at you and think of me; I'm putting my name behind you." I remember you telling me this on the homeward-bound plane after our first competition together in Manila. I looked up the word protégé because I thought it was one of those douchey words and here's what it means: 'A person who receives special protection and promotion from someone more established in the field.' I think that's exactly what you've done for me. The promises and dreams of two 23 year olds on a plane 30,000 feet above sea level aren't expected to mean much, but I think we've managed to respect, lead and grow each other into the people we are today pretty well, I daresay. Thank you for seeing something in an absolute greenhorn and trusting me with so much. My successes are your successes and I am even more thankful that a deep friendship underlies all of that. Happy birthday @buffalochua, you have changed this life and many others. Be blessed, be brave, be brilliant. #teamsossg #stateracrew

Pre comp ritual: Cupping. Body and mind are hovering around 30% usefulness after a week of 18 hour days in addition to the usual pre-competition burnout training. Will be spending the next three days slowly recovering in Singapore and in Sabah. Seeing His strength in my weakness is something that's been a thing heading into every competition I've been to and this one is no different. These past few days have also been days of conversations about faith and what-inspires-you and I have a feeling the X45 Challenge is gonna be something quite interesting. #stateracrew #faith #life (presso CrossFit Statera)

"I'm not going to hi-five you because you haven't made the last one yet." - @fordeshire just after I matched a 100kg snatch PR on my second attempt and was thinking about the 106kg for the third. Adulation has been such a thing over the week with the victories this weekend, the FHM cover image and the mind battle of "tattoo". And it's such a wanky thing to write about because you sort of deal with it yourself and not in a public space, with the whole "keep your feet on the ground" platitude. It's absolutely insane how a once unfit, kinda strange teenager who spoke a bit too much and who tried to do a bit of everything becomes a kind of an icon and I am very thankful for everything that has come my way. I've never had a brother but in the past two years I've had several people take on that role. And I think this little write up is to thank each one of you in the big ways you have contributed into the growth of this boy. You have challenged me to reach beyond my reach while holding me back lest I get too far. You have shown me mirrors to make me see my flaws before breaking them because a mirror maze is no way to live life. You have inspired me with excellence while showing me that lofty excellence is tied to strong roots of community living. Some of you have led me back to the knowledge and comfort that there is Someone closer than a brother, because humans fail most of the time and He does not. So, thank you for this journey. I'm still stumbling through this whole thing and it's nice to have someone by your side, telling you to not give up, to get up and to look forward, because the best is yet to be. ❤️💙💛 #stateracrew #teamsossg #epn_singapore #lululemonsg #elitesgfittest

To be honest, "Tattoo" was the last way I wanted to end my day of training that went pretty terrible. I woke up this morning feeling absolutely drained and didn't manage to hit target numbers. I watched athletes mentally stronger than me (basically everyone who turned up for class today) go through three rounds of running, muscle ups and back squats without a rack, people who have issues of their own, who didn't make excuses and who did this not for themselves. @fordeshire called me out just as I was about to call it a day to ask if I'd done it and I said no. I felt absolutely terrible because I did the whole FHAG post on the @crossfitstatera page and here I was, giving excuses. I then went straight into the showers to change back into my workout gear. I went into the first round drained and cold and it was just a struggle to keep moving. A 2.4km run, 21 muscle ups and 3600kg worth of squats later, I was lying on the ground in all kinds of pain, but with all kinds of lessons learnt about myself. As with all hero WODs, we do them in remembrance of a fallen person who, like us, have families, friends, hopes and dreams. We do them in a celebration of life, less a mulling over of death, because in its grueling nature we are reminded that we have the privilege of living. We feel pain, we have struggles, we have mind issues and we have a chance to change that. Life has not ended for us and we celebrate our chance to move forward while celebrating a life well lived. I'm glad I went through that. This workout is one of the few ones that make you look into that dark place before you begin and you know it's going to hurt something bad. But facing fears head on is just about the best thing you can do because it builds character like nothing else and I'm glad I overcame this one today. #stateracrew #crossfit #fear #life #wod (at CrossFit Statera)

Started the day by plummeting down to 33rd place overall thanks to two abysmal finishes in events 2 and 3. Clawed my way up with a 9th place finish in event 4, finishing day 2 in 28th overall. The podium was never in sight over the past two days but I don't think that's what I came here for. I won't call them defeats, I'll call them lessons; lessons that act as mirrors for the calibre that I am now. @darylcz told me earlier today that uncertainty is the biggest fear anyone can have. We don't fear an event, for example, we fear the uncertainty of the outcome, somewhere deep down (especially us competitive ones). I think uncertainty is what brings all of us back to this sport of fitness. When we look at our biggest fears head on and say, "I am diving head first into what scares me," and then do it, we win battles that we couldn't have won if we chose to be comfortable. #asiachampionships #stateracrew #vertigo #teamsossg 📷: @mick125 (at Training Ground)

I went out of the gate fast on event 1 and tried to maintain a good pace through the grueling three rounds. Finished first in heat 1 and ended day one by jumping from seed no. 32 to seed no. 19. Tomorrow brings a gauntlet of three events and my improved seeding puts me up with a new group of even more talented athletes. But I've never felt happier. Being able to just be here and to test myself against myself is something I'm very thankful for. Every day brings new and greater challenges but great is Thy faithfulness in the good and the unexpected. #asiachampionships #stateracrew #teamsossg #wodnut #faith 📷: @wod_chaser (at Training Ground)

Bon courage. #stateracrew #teamsossg #asiachampionships