Note:
If you are keen and have queries, please contact Coach Rameshon at 9100 4369 or you can email him at m.rameshon@gmail.com or swift.rameshon@gmail.com. Please refer to website http://flexifitness.com.sg (for more information on him and his programmes)
By Rameshon
Bsc (Hons) Degree in Physical Education, Loughborough University (1992-1994)
Masters in Education (University of Western Australia, 2005-2008)
Dr Ansgar - A lot of potential seen
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| Picture 1 - Wife Moonlake (left) and Dr Ansgar Cheng, a team itself |
Dr Ansgar's mileage is not that high. As such, his programme is different from many of the runners here. He saw me about 9/10 weeks ago and asked me what kind of time he would be able to run by joining me. I thought he was fooling around with me by asking me this question. I always believe that to ask this question, a runner must be prepared physically and mentally to be committed and consistent. However, he proved to be a force to be reckoned with.
Unsure of his formative years in running, judging from his 22min run for 5km for time trial he did at first with us, I told him that he should be able to do, in 3 to 6 months time, a time of 20min flat around there. Then, he told me that he has done 18min plus for 5km when he was young, in his late teen. I told him that, then, he should be able to do 18min plus through me. I had to say this with some reservation in me. However, I had to tell him to go easy in the first part of the run. A month back, his time dipped to 21min plus before going to 20min plus for the 5km time trial. He did not look burnt out, hence I gave more trials. He did 19min 15sec, all of a sudden. This was a real shock for all of us. It was like a miracle.
From a month's 1km time of 3min 09sec, he brought his time down to 3min 07sec three weeks ago. A week back, he did a time of 3min 03sec for the distance. Yesterday, he blazed the tarmac 1km route to do a time of 2min 55sec. He got big applause from our group for this feat. His 200m time was 32 sec and his 500m time was 1min 24sec before the final time of 2min 55sec. That means that in veteran races in Singapore for 1500m, he is capable of coming top 3, if not even first for it. It was pleasing to hear from this veteran runner that he believe that he is capable of 2min 40sec. So, I feel that he has a lot of potential in him.
To tell you the truth, I have brought many students to do 16min plus for 5km, in my past 20 years of coaching. He would have done a sub - 17min 5km if he had come under me, in the past, judging from his recent performance, not as brag on myself but I am telling that this athlete has more in him. I feel that, in his teenage years, maybe, he could have even done a time of sub-16min basing from the mental strength that he as shown recently.
My job as a coach is to fine-tune this fine gentleman to run as fast as possible. He is now capable of doing a sub-3hrs this year or by next year in a marathon race.
Having said this, Dr Ansgar has written me his own essay on hard work to me on why he thinks that impossible is possible. He also shares with us on how he ran in the past. Now, let us have a look at his essay.
Running hard By Dr Ansgar
Time is something no one can work against. As far as we know, there is no time traveller in the history of mankind yet.
On more than one occasion, I have dreamt of the good times I enjoyed when I was running with my high school cross-country team. That mixture of mental suffering and physical pain was part of the resulting joy of running cross-country. The happiness of running together as a team was precious too.
However, the secret in that type of running was Discipline, Discipline, Discipline and with an additional touch of Discipline.
Jo Pavey is a mother of two. Her younger kid was born less than a year ago. At age 40, the British runner won the female 10000m event at the 2014 European Championships. She literally outran runners half her age to win the gold medal.
Another runner in the European Championships representing France, Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad, was disqualified after he crossed the finish line ahead of the field in the 3000m steeplechase event. The reason was that he took his jersey off in the last 100 metres, which violated the IAAF rule that the number bibs needed to be displayed at all times during the competition. This was probably a penalty for ‘un-sportsman-like behaviour’ and being disrespectful toward his fellow competitors while the event was still ongoing.
In 1982, I was running in the age 16-17 school division 1 interschool cross-country race in Hong Kong. It was a very cold day by Hong Kong standards, probably about 5 degrees Celcius. Our school team did not fare well that day on the grass track. Following our 6.5km run was the 18-19-year-old boys run. It felt like forever after they were gunned off but we were busy checking out runners from the other girls' schools. After about 20 minutes plus, far from the horizon at the Fanling Golf Club, a few fast runners emerged. It was a few Caucasian boys and one Chinese boy. As they dashed toward the finish line, it was clear that the Chinese boy (his name was similar to mine and he was known by his nickname as ‘Din Chung’ aka Crazy Chung) was approximately 10 meters ahead of the gang and he was effortlessly running while wearing a big smile. This boy was a record holder in 1500m and 5000m on the track in various age groups. He later went on to represent Hong Kong as a middle-distance runner in the under-19 age group.
‘Din Chung’ was certainly in a class of his own. The other boys were no competition in that cross country run. A few metres before he crossed the finish line, he kicked even harder, punishing the other runners and then he did something unbelievable - he turned his head around, put his hands next to his ears, stuck his tongue out and made a face to the other boys behind him while sprinting even faster. As usual, he crossed the finish line first. He truly lived up to his reputation of being a little unpredictably crazy.
Spring 1983 recorded the highest level of rainfall in 20 years in Hong Kong. I had a great training program and a few excellent training buddies from my cross-country teammates. Some of my training partners from the cross-country team had the speed of sprinters and some were sprinters who could last the distance like middle-distance runners. In the March 1983 interschool game, I attempted to break the 1500m record of ‘Din Chung.’ It turned out to be a disaster for me as I almost did not finish and had to settle for a second place. I outran myself badly.
Hard work never kills. It is hard to teach new dogs old tricks.
By Narayanan
He also has a Coaching group and he trains them on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 7pm at Botanic Gardens. Those interested can call him at 91004369 for coaching assistance, to improve performance. There is also personal training that he does for many in a week. You can e-mail him at swift.rameshon@gmail.com.
Note:
By Narayanan
Rameshon has taught in Hwa Chong Institution, plus several schools, and Republic Polytechnic as well. He has won many accolades and he was awarded Merit Award for 1991 marathon performance in breaking the national record of Singapore, at that time. He has made 22 male athletes do a marathon in sub-3hrs. He has made 7 female runners do sub-4 hours for the marathon, as well. He was inducted to the ‘Roll of Honour’ by the then College of Physical Education, organised by Singapore Olympic Academy, in 1998, for breaking the National record repeatedly 4 times, till he did 2hr 24min 22sec).
He also has a Coaching group and he trains them on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 7pm at Botanic Gardens. Those interested can call him at 91004369 for coaching assistance, to improve performance. There is also personal training that he does for many in a week. You can e-mail him at swift.rameshon@gmail.com.
