Trying to Tri

Mind Games - The PD Triathlon Report

2011-07-26T22:41:00.001+08:00

The mind lost the PD Tri way before the race even started. It lost the battle when I signed up thinking, "Yeah, let's just do this for fun. Forget the PB, forget the timing even."

So, going into the race with that mindset, it was no wonder the mind gave up early in the race. In all fairness, it wasn't too bad a race. I was outside my PB here by about 12 minutes so, really, it's all good.

I've always maintained that having good mental strength is the key to finishing any race strong. And this race just proved my point for me. Had I gone into this race with a different goal, then possibly the outcome would have been different. Looking back now, a PB was definitely possible with the right mindset.

But anyway, what's done is done. The important thing was my goal of "just do this for fun" was achieved. And that's all that matters.

So how did the race go?

The usual cam-whoring pre-race

As usual, I started off in the second wave. The BeyondTransition Racer's Guide to PD (which I wrote, incidentally) said to start the swim as far right as possible to avoid the crowds by the bouyline. What did I do? I started on the left, right where everyone was. Practicing what I preach much?

Anyway, by the time I realized I was by the bouyline, it was too late. Commence the kicking and punching. Got a solid breast stroke kick in the chin early on. But for once, I wasn't timid. I was aggressive but fair in the swim, not wanting to give up my space and it paid off. Got to the first bouy in no time and once in the marina, I had some space, save for the occasional swimmer zigzagging.

Was quite surprised to see the turnaround bouy so soon. Turned around and had no contact with anyone whatsoever. After the right turn towards the beach it got a little messy. By then I had caught up with the the mass of slower swimmers breaststroking their way to shore. Frustrating, but managed to sprint past them.

When the water was shallow enough, I stood up and looked at the watch. It said 28-something. PB! First time I broke 30 minutes! But I wasn't out of the water yet, there was about 50m or so to go in knee deep water. Too shallow to swim, but deep enough to wreck your calves running through it.

See how far we had to wade in knee-deep water

So I waddled my way to shore and already I could hear my calves protesting. And this is when the legs said, "OK the race is over. I'm wrecked." And the mind agreed. After about a minute, I finally got out of the water and onto the soft sand for that long run to T1.

Finally, out of the water. Already exhausted from all that wading.

This time, the heart and lungs protested. And the mind went along. Game over. But I didn't come all the way to quit at the swim, so on I went. Into T1, sunglasses on, helmet on, race belt on and off I went.

Out on the bike, I pushed hard early on, trying to maintain a 30+km/h pace. I thought when the fast train from the next wave caught up, I'd be ready to hop on. Just under 10k in, they caught me but I was struggling up a hill, and failed to latch on. The legs said, "You're wasting your time. We'll never catch them." The mind said, "Shaddup!" On the other side of the hill, I tried to get some guys to work together to catch the train. We pushed and pushed, but that train was getting smaller and smaller. The legs said, "I told you so!" The mind tried to ignore it but couldn't.

I knew there would be another train coming along and just after the turnaround, Japanese Sam's train caught up. I jumped on and managed to stay on. While enjoying the free speed, the mind teased the legs, "Nyeh nyeh!".

Legs said "Just you wait!"

And sure enough, with about 12k to go, we headed up a hill. And I got spat out the back. "Told you so :p" said the legs. Damn you, legs!!!

Luckily, there was a guy in a Garmin Cervelo jersey with me and without saying a word, we worked together to get home, each taking a turn at the front.

Relieved that the bike leg is almost ending.

I was quite surprised to see the time when I got to T2. The 40k was done in about 1:16. I thought it would have been at least in the 1:20s. It could have been quicker if I had managed to hang on to the packs but I'm pretty happy with the time considering there was not that much drafting.

Fly!

Now it was off for the run. But the legs said, "Dude, I had to work extra hard on the bike, now you want me to run?" I said, "Uh huh, let's go!" But the legs refused. Ended up walking the first 500m. When I got to the main road, the legs relented and we went running.

Up until the new section of the course, that is. "The new section took us on to the beach, across a little bridge to an island then back on the beach before joining up with the old course again.

This is when the legs just said "Forget it, dude. I ain't running on that sandy shit! Remember how much pain I was in at the swim exit?" And the mind complied. So it was about 3km of trying to coax legs and mind into running but to no avail. We would run a bit and then walk. It was like this all the way till we got back to the main road.

Once we got the the main road, the mind simply said, "Ok, we're on the road now, can we go?" Reluctantly, the legs agreed. Got to the turnaround, over the hill and, according to the Racer's Guide, hit the gas. And promptly ran out of gas. But I knew we had 2km to go, so we ran on fumes for the last 1.5km.

Run form going off. Just wanted to get back to the finish.

Never was I so glad to cross the finish line. Couldn't even muster a sprint at the end. Just an easy jog back to the finish. Crossed the line in 2:52 which was only possible thanks to the short run course. If the course was 10k like it should have been, I wouldn't have been able to break 3 hours.

Finally over. Just a few more meters...

See how important it is to go into a race with the right mindset? Without it, the mind will easily give in to the legs' requests to give up. I knew this was going to happen and I let it happen, so it's all good. And most importantly, I did have fun during this race. And that, ultimately, was the goal.

Pictures courtesy of Paul Lee, Maybel Chung, Hsing Ling, Reza Ali, Leong Kwan Weng, and Janice Chan.

Energizer Night(mare) Run 2011

2011-04-18T00:07:00.007+08:00

Whoa!

Just whoa!

What the hell was that? Was that supposed to be a world-class international event brought to us by a world-class international brand? I've been to primary school sports days better organised than that.

What happened last night at the Energizer Night Run was just plain shameful. The way the organisers handled the situation was beyond shameful.

Most people who know me know that I don't normally complain about race organisation, not so publically at least. This is because I believe that race organisers are actually doing us a favour by hosting these events. Having been on the organisers side before, I know this is a thankless job.

Without these organisers, we wouldn't have any race to participate in, so we owe them at least some support. By all means criticise when things go wrong, but make sure it's constructive so they can learn from it and improve. And when they do, they improve a thousand-fold. I've seen this happen before. And that's how the sport has grown so much these past few years.

However, last night's run was so badly handled, I cannot keep it quiet. These goons who organised the Energizer Night Run don't deserve anything but the scathing comments they've been receiving on Facebook. As of now there are is a boycott group, a boycott page and a we want justice page (I'm on all of them!).

It was shocking considering all the pre-race hype. Even the race kit collection was smooth, giving me a false sense of security that this was going to be a well-run event. But as soon as we got to the circuit, my friends and I saw that it wasn't to be.

First off, parking. How bad was that? I've heard that the parking fees were RM10! Highway robbery. And not all were charged apparently. My friend, Keni, who drove us there, was just waved in. He had already wound his window down to pay, but the jagas just waved him in. We were the lucky ones.

We walked to the circuit and everything was fine. Till we saw a bunch of runners being shepherded into a tiny door, which led four floors down into a narrow tunnel under the track. Having been to the circuit before, I know there are a few other tunnels that lead to the paddock, but they only opened the one. Now, if you know you've got 10,000 eager runners coming through at roughly about the same time, why the hell wouldn't you open the other tunnels?

I soon found the answer. After going the crowded, stuffy tunnel (which has been dubbed "Tunnel of Death" by the way), we found that it led to a small room where the headlight collection was. And it was utter chaos there. I couldn't see where the collection table was but apparently there was no one manning it. Keni braved into the crowds and grabbed one each for him, Shifa and me.

We left that room into a large open space wondering why the hell they didn't do the headlamp collection there. It was much more spacious and a hell of a lot cooler. But these smart bastards just had to inconvenience everyone and do it in a small confined room. Bloody brilliant. I also heard that when things got out of control, the volunteers and organisers high-tailed it outta there leaving the participants to fight it out like wild animals.

Unfortunately, as Malaysians, we don't know how to queue so the situation got very chaotic very quickly. They should have had some kind of system in place to ensure order. But instead, they ran. Useless.

Anyway, after that I went off to look for the baggage handling area. Senn was coming later to pick me up so I didn't want to leave my stuff in Keni's car. There were no direction signs telling me where what is, you just have to go scout around and if you find it, you find it. Otherwise you're shit out of luck.

I finally found it after going round and round the so-called carnival area. Another chaotic scene. After standing in line for about half an hour, I finally got to the front to see that there was no one manning that booth either. I saw loads of runners just tagging their own bags and dumping it in the room so I did the same. Suddenly I heard someone shout, "Everybody! Get the hell out of here! GET OUT ALL OF YOU!" Ahhh.. so that's where the volunteer was, busy yelling at people. Well, if you were doing your job efficiently, we wouldn't have to go in there to do your job. I mean, how difficult can it be to take the bag, tag it and pass the baggage claim tag to the runner? Seriously? A lot of full marathoners missed the start because they were still in line at baggage handling!

Anyway, I dumped my bag in plain sight so I could (hopefully) retrieve it easily later and went off to meet Emma and the RoE gang to begin our run.

The first kilometre or so was not too bad. It took us from the track, to the paddock area and out to the main road via the paddock access road. This is when it got a bit scary. Understandably, because it was a main thoroughfare, they couldn't close the whole road. So they had us running down a busy road with cars coming from behind. What they could have done was create a contraflow on the opposite side so the runners could have the whole two lanes to themselves. Running down that road with cars whizzing past your shoulder just inches away was bloody scary.

Emma and I skipped past the first water station and proceeded down the dark road that serviced the circuit's car parks. We were doing an ok pace (slow by Emma's standards, I'm sure) and soon came to the second water station. Chaos again! Volunteers there weren't ready. Cups were still in their packaging as the volunteers were busy trying to retrieve the cups from the packaging and pour the water. In their panic, they just threw the cups, packaging and all, onto the table, leaving the runners to take the cups out themselves. Runners were pouring water for other runners, while the volunteers stood idly by! What the hell are you there for, son?!

Emma was smart, she just grabbed a Gatorade from the ice tub and we were off. Soon, we got to another water station. More of the same. Were these volunteers not briefed before the run?

When we completed the outer loop, we were supposed to grab a wristband then enter the circuit. I moved to the left where I saw three volunteers standing there with the bags of wristbands in their hands. The first two did absolutely nothing. Nothing. Just stood there with their mouths agape. Again, what the hell are you there for, son?!

I grabbed two wristbands from the third guy and passed one to Emma and continued down to the circuit. We were directed to go down the pitlane then make a u-turn onto the start/finish straight. Now the track is so wide, one of the widest in the world in fact, yet we had to funnel into a narrow section to cross the timing mat. Again here, there was chaos. 5.5k runners, having completed their run, were just loitering around the area, getting in the way of the 21k runners. Also, we were given more wristbands here, which turned out to be of no use because no one checked them at the end. We navigated through the chaos and found some open space and ran down to Turn 1.

This is where I saw the ugly side of runners (oh yes, runners, you are not going to be spared from my scathing remarks either!). There were a whole bunch of runners cutting the corner at Turn 1. They shamelessly ran on the grass cutting the whole corner and rejoined the track at Turn 3. Those of you who took the shortcut and think you're being sooooo clever, you're not. You're a total disgrace to the running community. They cut Turn 1, Turn 4, Turn 9. They would have probably cut Turn 14 too if the water station hadn't been positioned on the outside of it. If you feel the need to cut corners, please stay home next time. You're a waste of space.

Speaking of water stations, the map had shown two station on the circuit: One at Turn 6 and the other at Turn 14. Guess what? The one at Turn 6 was just there for show. There was no water, no Gatorade, nothing. Just two volunteers sat there twiddling with their cell phones. Once again, what the hell are you there for, son?!

The water station at Turn 14 was slightly better. But only just. They had water and Gatorade, but like the earlier water stations, the volunteers just weren't ready for the onslaught of thirsty runners. And because the volunteers were ineffective, runners had to resort to getting their own drinks from the ice tub. Runners were grabbing 1.5 litre bottles of mineral water, taking a few sips, and dumping it to the side of the road. What a waste.

As we finished our first loop on the circuit, we again had to go through the chaos at the start line. If you're done with your run, get off the track, people! Don't impede those still running. Apart from that, the second loop went without much incident, save for the useless water stations. The worst part happened after crossing the finish line. Total chaos. There was no one to tell us where to go, there was no water available, nothing. Just a whole bunch of people looking important but without a clue.

We crossed into the pitlane and saw a long queue of people. We found out that it was the queue for the goodie bags. We waited in line for a while and saw that it wasn't moving, so I decided to go get my bag instead. This was the only part that went smoothly. Because I put my bag in plain sight, when I got to the counter, I just pointed at my bag and the volunteer went and got it. There were no queues (mainly because everyone else was on the other side queueing for the goodie bags!) and I got out of there in under three minutes.

After that, we decided to try our luck with the goodie bags again. We had waited in line for only about five minutes when we heard the announcer rudely announce that no goodie bags will be handed out because of the riot earlier. All goodie bags will be couriered, now please disperse!

Can you believe that?! No apology, no sympathy, nothing. Just a terse get-out-of-the-area-now-you-hooligans! So we left. I found out later that the bags were just left on the floor for anyone to take. And when it got crowded, volunteers were throwing the bags at the runners. How utterly disgraceful. To top it off, they gave the wrong bags to the runners. Some of those 11k runners were probably delighted to discover they had gone home with 42k finisher t-shirts and medals!

Now, all those disappointed runners had to leave but the only way out was that horrid Tunnel of Death. By now, the runners were all sticky and sweaty and had to go through that narrow, stuffy tunnel to get out. If someone had fainted, there'd be no medics around (not that I saw any medics the entire night). Even if there were medics in the tunnel, with the throngs of people going through, they wouldn't be able to get to there on time. Good thing there was no stampede, else things could have gotten really ugly.

Luckily for me, Senn had parked her car at the Paddock entrance, so I was spared that trudge through the tunnel. I walked in the open air, cheering on the full marathoners who were now making their way onto the circuit. I feel sorry for what they were about to face. After busting their asses for 42k, they would not be getting a medal, a t-shirt or even a drink. In fact, by then, I heard even the organisers had left.

The company responsible for this shamble is called Expose. How appropriate for on this night, they had exposed themselves as being incompetent, money-grabbing fucks. A friend told me they charged RM3 for a bottle of mineral water after the race! Who brings money to a run? And those things were supposed to be given free!

Beside the organisation, or lack of, the MC, a Josie Huang, I believe here name was, was utterly rude. No professionalism at all. She flat out called the runners hooligans and claimed that the runners were the ones causing a riot. And she did this over the PA system for all the world to hear. Fact is, had she gotten her shit together, none of this would have happened. And instead of being apologetic, she chose to instead shift blame to the runners, the very people that helped fund the event. Professionalism at its best.

I have been to many races in the past 5-6 years. Some have been well organised, some badly organised but I have never been to one this badly done. Even the KL Marathon of 2009 wasn't this badly organised. I worry about how the backlash of this will affect future running events in Malaysia. Already a lot of people are turned off by running events here and this may lead to less participation, local and international, which in turn will lead to the number of events decreasing and the growth of the sport stunted. I hope it doesn't happen, but we are well on the way.

Thanks a lot Expose, you have single-handedly ruined running for Malaysia.

Good-bye Ironman... for now

2011-01-22T11:45:00.000+08:00

Ironman Langkawi. On? Off? Who knows.

Whatever it is, I've said good-bye to Ironman racing. If it's off, it'll be a shame. I was looking forward to going and lending support to my friends who were going to race. After four years of getting continuous support from friends while I was participating, I figured it's time to give back.

I've always enjoyed racing in Langkawi. Many have complaints about how it's organised but I have to say, with the exception of 2010, it's been one of the best organised events in this country. 2008 was exceptionally good (I guess they had to step it up there because Faris Al-Sultan was racing and the ESPN TV crews were covering it). Maybe I'm just easier to please than most athletes here.

I have very fond memories of Ironman Malaysia. My first big-time disappointment DNF-ing on '07. The biggest high of finally crossing the line in '08. The camaraderie of athletes and supporters. The makan at Wonderland. Istana Condo. The list goes on.

Having since done an Ironman in Australia, I have to say, nothing beats racing at home. Sure, Busselton was great, well-organised, great support from the community, etc, but it still felt cold (and I'm not just talking about the weather). You don't get the warmth of having your friends around cheering you on.

This post is not meant to eulogise the demise of Ironman Malaysia (we don't even know if it's gone yet). The good-bye is from me to Ironman itself. I've done 5, finished 3, and I've not gotten anywhere. My times have always hovered around the 15:30 mark and it seems to all be in vain. I need to make massive improvements everywhere before I can even begin to think about doing another one.

For the first half of this year I will focus on improving the run while enjoying the bike. Sub-4 marathon is the goal. Impossible? Maybe. But we try. Then if that is achieved, the second half will focus on improving the bike and enjoying the run. Will get a turbo trainer and possibly a powermeter, if I can afford one. Swim, we'll just throw it in there.

If all goes well, I'll reacquaint myself with Ironman in New Zealand in 2012, which will coincide with my 40th birthday. If it doesn't go well, I'll just find another way to celebrate the big four-oh.

So, for now, it's good-bye Ironman. If you do show up in Langkawi in May, I'll see you there, but I'll be there supporting my friends, and not to face you. But I'm sure I'll face you soon enough...

With A LIttle Help From My "Friends" - The Busselton Report

2010-12-10T20:34:00.007+08:00

In the four years we've been going to Langkawi, we've always enjoyed the support of our friends, who would take the trouble to travel all the way there to cheer us on. They would cheer, motivate, run along with us in those moments when we've hit the wall or when we've abandoned hope. They encourage us to go on when we're about to give up, they help keep our sanity while we're doing something completely insane.

Pre-race: The whole town gets ready for the Ironman.

Going to Busselton to race in Ironman Western Australia, I knew we weren't going to get that level of support. It was too much to ask of our friends to come along for the ride. So, we just had to make do with what was out there; watching people cheer for others. It was going to be a lonely race for us with no one to cheer us on, no one to motivate us.

I was wrong.

The 1500 volunteers and the supporters lining up the run course were great. They cheered everybody on, regardless of whether they knew them or not. They called you out by name. They kept you motivated. They kept you going. In the absence of our friends, this was the next best thing.

Pre-race: Sofian and I goofing around. 12 meter draft zone is looong.

If it wasn't for the great crowd support, I'm not sure I would have been able to finish this race. It was a tough race, for sure. I had known from about 100k on the bike that the target I had set would not be met. From then on it was a case of damage limitation and just finishing in the shortest time possible. In fact, even a PB looked out of the question. When it mattered most, my legs didn't have it.

I had a decent swim. It was the first time swimming in a wetsuit so it felt a bit weird. I think I didn't put it on properly because it felt tight around the shoulders. Ezer helped to hike it up a bit in an attempt to loosen the shoulders, but only the right side loosened up. The left side still felt a bit constricted. Sure enough, 100m into the swim, my left arm went dead. It was just so tiring to try and move the left arm. At one point, I was even swimming with just my right arm toe give the left one a rest! Not funny.

Pre-race: The famous jetty we had to swim around. It was a long way to the end.

We got to the turnaround and I was afraid to check my time. Didn't want to cause myself any unnecessary panic if I were too far behind. I looked around and there were quite a few heads bobbing around me so I knew I was ok. By now the left arm was already numb from tiredness and didn't put up much of a fight. Water was a bit rough on the way back and at one point it didnt look like I was making any forward progress. But since the water was sooooo clear, I could see the floor and that assured me that I was, indeed, moving forward.

Race: This wetsuit makes me look fat!

Finally got out or the water in 1h34m. Now comes the difficult part: getting the suit off! Luckily, I had practiced this the day before and got out of the top part relatively easily. A quick run through the showers, grabbed my T1 bag and I was met by helpers in the change tent. These guys are great. They helped take the rest of the suit off, emptied your bag, and set about putting your stuff on. Before I knew what was going on, my race belt, helmet and shoes were already on! One guy was putting sun screen on, and another one was packing my swim stuff into the bag. And just like that, I was ready to go riding!

Out on the bike, I was going at a good clip. Within the first few kilometres, I was already passing people. I was averaging about 32-34km/h without exerting myself too much. With such a flat course doing a 6 hour bike shouldn't be a problem, right?

Wrong.

As I approached the 15km turnaround, I was pedaling along at about 35km/h. Hit the brakes for the very narrow u-turn, turned and suddenly my helmet was filled with the sound of the wind. I got out of the saddle to power on the pedals and the bike just didn't move. This must be the nastiest headwind I've ever encountered! I was pushing on the pedals like I was doing 40km/h but the speedo said, "Sorry, it's only 25!"

Race: Heading out towards the first turnaround, before facing the headwinds.

And that really was the story of my bike leg. Nice tailwinds heading east and north, nasty headwinds heading west and south. And the more I tried to pedal through the winds, the more tired my legs were getting. It was the same for everyone, but my legs just couldn't cope. The worse part is, the winds got stronger and stronger with each passing loop.

Race: End of first loop, can still smile.

At 100km, my legs cramped up. At this point, I was on pace to do a 6:30-6:40 bike. But now, I could no longer push the big gears without my my legs seizing up. I took salt tablets but it didn't seem to help. I had to just get through the next 80km and hope the legs don't completely seize up.

Race: Starting the second loop

The last 10k was probably the longest 10k I've ever had the pleasure of cycling. The headwinds heading back to town had really picked up and I was pushing on the pedals to just do 20km/h. I swear if I stopped pedaling, the wind would push me backwards! But it was difficult to keep pedaling because then my legs would seize up. I put the chain in the small ring and tried to spin all the way back. Anything to get home.

Arrived at T2 after 7h01m on the bike, and I couldn't even manage a flying dismount. As it was I couldn't even lift my legs over the saddle! Again, the helpers were wonderful. They held my bike while I slowly tried to get off. In the change tent, same thing. The helpers unpacked my bag, put my stuff on, repacked my bag and sent me off.

Race: First loop of the run leg, when I can still run!

Now this is where it gets exciting. I ran the first km ok then my legs cramped up again. That was the story of the run: run, cramp, walk, repeat. But throughout the 42k journey, the supporters lining the streets kept me going. At the beginning of every loop, you have to go into the town centre, right next to the finish line where they've erected grand stands and a large screen. The atmosphere here is electric! You hear the Voice of Ironman, Mike Reilly, announcing the finishers, you hear and see the crowd in the grandstands cheering on all the athletes, calling your name like they know you!

Race: Start of the last loop, reduced to a walk.

I wondered how this was possible: how did they know my name? Did I meet them during these past few days and, in my delirium at the time, forget who they were? Then it dawned on me: my name was on my bib! So I responded back, slapped their outstretched hands, joked around with them a bit. And this happened all throughout the 42k, save for that lonely 4k stretch by the beach. When we ran (or walked, in my case) past the houses, the residents would come out and give us more of the same. On my last loop, one family even took out a string of coloured lights to mimic the finishing arch. I crossed it like I crossed the finish line and high-fived the whole family. Another household was blaring music and encouraged us to sing along. And when they saw you walking, they offered words of encouragement: "keep going", "you're going in the right direction", "you're still moving, that's all that matters". Here, the crowd would probably tell you to get on the bus!

Race: The finish line. Finally!

And so it was, with the help of my newfound friends, all of whom I don't know their names (though they certainly knew mine!), I finished the Ironman Western Australia in 15h20m, a personal best by 5 minutes but nowhere near the 13h32m target I had set for myself. I ran down that finishing chute, slapping high fives to every outstretched hand as I heard Mike Reilly yell, "Nik. Arif. Sidek. You. Are. An. Ironman!" over the PA system. I crossed the line and let out a primal roar. This was probably the hardest Ironman I've ever completed. The cold weather, the strong winds, the cramps didn't make things any easier.

Race: The finisher picture

But it was certainly one of the ones I enjoyed the most. The only thing that would have made it better was to have all my friends there to support as well. To the 1500 volunteers and countless supporters that day, this one's for you!

Post-race: All that money and effort for a towel, a t-shirt and a medal!

Post-race: The medal I worked so hard for

Post-race: "WE DID IT!" The Malaysian contingent

Photos courtesy of Claris and Finisherpix

Race Week

2010-11-29T10:44:00.004+08:00

This Sunday, I'll be toeing the start line at Ironman Western Australia in Busselton. It'll be my 5th time starting an Ironman race, my first one overseas.

The final week heading into a race is always a tricky one. Without fail, my head will go through the same motions:
"Finally! Can't wait for the race!"
"Woo hoo! It's race week!"
"Taper time!"
"By this time next week, I'll be done!"
"Let's get this over and done with!"
"OMG! It's this week ah???!!!"
"Shit! Didn't train enough!"
"Oh no! I'm gonna die!"
"Die! Die! DIE!!!!"
"Taper?! What taper?! Didn't even train, want to taper ah!!!"
"Ok, still got one week, let's rack up more mileage!"

This last thought is the dangerous one. This is the week you're supposed to be resting and carbo-loading, workouts to be kept short and low intensity. And yet, your mind is saying, "Dude, you haven't trained enough, let's go get that ultra-long ride in, let's jump in the pool and do 5000m, we need that 35k run done."

Don't.

The temptation to go out and whack a the long miles will be strong this week. Especially when you know you haven't done enough. But at the same time, you also know you don't want to tire yourself out. And you want to stay injury-free (yesterday's short 10k run already put a strain on my left calf. Thankfully, it's all good now). I was already warned last week that I was heading towards burnout. A friend sent me a long email, saying she saw some of the danger signs I was displaying. The funny thing is, you don't see it yourself. You need someone to point it out for you. She also gave me some really good training advice. And when that advice comes from a Kona qualifier, you listen!

Now that race week is here, I'm going to do myself a favour, I'm going to do what I do best: be lazy! This Sunday will show whether I've trained enough.

Wish me luck!

PB at PM thanks to SSS.

2010-11-15T14:32:00.012+08:00

I know the title of this post seems a bit weird, but read on and you'll be able to figure it out.

I just scored a personal best at one of the races I usually suffer at. In fact, I gave Powerman a miss last year because the mere thought of suffering through that second run was enough to make me wish I'd never started running. But for some inexplicable reason, I let my mouse wander over the registration button on the Powerman website and clicked it. Next thing I know, I'm registered for this year's event.

This year, I had the bonus of having my kids, Shafeeq and Shaqeel, come watch me race. And Senn was more than happy to give up racing to help babysit them while I was out there suffering.

Having them there really made a difference. For one thing, I didn't want them to see me fail again like what happened in Langkawi this year. So that gave me an extra incentive to do well. For another, having them there made it feel like we were on holiday, so I was completely relaxed the night before and didn't feel any pressure. And also, having them there made me want to hurry back to the stadium so I could see them and I knew the boys were going to be restless waiting, so I knew I needed to hurry through the race to save them from prolonged restlessness!

Shafeeq and Shaqeel with me at the start.

I was one of the last ones to start the race because I was giving instructions to the boys to listen to Senn when the gun went off. The first run was in cool conditions from the rain that just stopped. Within the first k I found Azmar and Fadil, so just paced with them throughout. We were running a decent pace, about 5:45min/km which may have been just a bit too fast, but I felt good and we continued. At the end of the first loop, there were Senn, Shafeeq and Shaqeel waiting for me. Boys looked quite happy to see me and that made me feel good. High-fived them and it was off for another loop. Another half an hour before I see them again.

More of the same on the second loop and we finished the run in one hour flat. A little faster than I had intended but it was ok. Off with the running shoes, on with the helmet and grabbed the bike. And there, at the bike exit, were the best support crew in the world: Senn, Shafeeq and Shaqeel. Another round of high-fives and I was off on the bike. One hour before I finish the first loop and see them again.

The first loop was pretty uneventful. Was going at a steady clip of about 32-36km/h. Legs felt good, aero position felt good. Got over the bridges without drama and headed back. Azmar passed me going up the bridge and I just couldn't hang on to him. But no big deal, just run my own race. Fadil, too, passed me on the way back to Manjung and again, I didn't even attempt to chase. Got back to the stadium and saw the boys and Senn again. Gave them a wave and I was off on the second loop. Another hour before I see them again.

Really getting into the spirit of the race!

Second loop wasn't so smooth. I could feel my calves starting to cramp up. Squirted some water on them and the cramps went away. Then I heard a thud behind me and AJ yelling I'd dropped something. At first I thought it was a water bottle, so I went on since I didn't really need that. Turns out it was my gel flask. That I need! So had to stop, lay the bike down, and run back the 20 or so metres to retrieve the bottle. Cost me a minute or two and about 10 riders passed me. Got back on the bike and it took a while for my legs to get back into the rhythm. Once I did, I caught up with the riders who passed me and was going back and forth with this lady on a Cervelo S2, being careful to stay out of her 7m draft zone. We were like this all the way back to T2. I gave it all I could since I knew my second run was going to be screwed anyway, thanks to the cramps that were developing in my legs.

After 2h07m I was back in transition. And as usual, there were my SSS (Senn, Shafeeq and Shaqeel) support crew out by the run exit. Gave the boys a quick hug (much to their disgust!), and I was off for the second run. Senn told me she was going to take the boys back to the car to rest. That was my cue to try and finish as quickly as I can. Wouldn't want the boys to get too restless.

The first km was quite tough and I was thinking, "Oh no! Here we go again! This is why I don't like to do Powerman." The crampy feeling had moved up to my thighs and it was getting really hard to run. But I refused to walk, walking would have been the end of it and the SSS support crew would have to wait two hours for my return. Not gonna happen. So I shuffled along to the first water station where there was a medic holding up that spray, so I told him to give me everything he's got. I swear that's a miracle spray because after that, the pain was gone. I just had to tell myself to run to the next water station, take a drink, then run to the next. And that's what I kept doing. Saw SSS by the car at the end of the first loop and gave them a wave. By now my pace was between 6:15-6:30min/km. All I had to do now was maintain this pace and I'll be able to see SSS in half an hour.

Waiting for their slow-ass dad to finish the race.

It's quite amazing what the mind can do. By now, the sun was out in full force, and my legs were getting really tired. But I just kept telling myself to run to the next station, run to the next station, run to the next station (it also helped that there were more water stations this year!). My mind refused to let me stop and walk. Just wanted to go see SSS as quickly as I could. And before I knew it, I was rounding the final corner and heading into the stadium. As I turned into the finishing chute, I saw, just beyond the finish line, SSS. It was all I needed to pick up speed and cross that line. Nailed the second run in 1h06m for a total time of 4h17m. A PB by half an hour.

Finally! Can we go home now???!!!

And I owe it all to having the boys there and to Senn for having to put up with their restlessness. Please forgive her if she wasn't as chatty as usual, she had to put up with my boys' boredom. And that was not an easy task to do. Thank you, baby, for putting up with that so I could go racing. I owe you big time!

In case you haven't figured out what the title of this post means, it means Personal Best at PowerMan thanks to Senn, Shafeeq and Shaqeel.

Pictures courtesy of Senn.

Fellow Triathlete in Hit and Run

2010-11-11T15:47:00.002+08:00

Esmenn Mohd Mokhtar, a local triathlete, was hit by a taxi last night in Cyberjaya. He has a fractured collarbone and some head injuries.

Esmenn is warded at Ward Neuro 4 A2, Hospital Kuala Lumpur. Visiting hours :- 12.20pm-2.30pm and 4.30pm-7.30pm.

It's a dangerous sport we partake in, and unfortunately, sometimes things like this do happen. Please be careful when you're out there guys, especially when riding solo. Be vigilant of your surroundings, take off your ipods so you can hear traffic better and always assume the driver is not going to see you. Also always carry some form of ID and emergency contact number (this reminds me I need to get my RoadID ASAP).

Here's hoping Esmenn recovers soon and is back in top form in no time.

Hill is "Hell" Mis-spelt

2010-09-29T13:48:00.004+08:00

The title of this post just about sums up the Newton 25k Challenge. It was all about hills and the hills, yes, they were hellish. Combine it with the heat, then you have one of the toughest events in Malaysia. Frank of Runnerz Circle had already warned us that the usual Bukit Aman - Hartamas loop was just an appetizer compared to the Newton route. Guess I was hoping he was exaggerating a bit. He wasn't!

The run started well enough but within 4k, we hit the first hill. Legs still fresh, the first series of hills were not too bad. And the sun hadn't come up yet.

When the hills were not a problem... yet.

It was after the 12k mark that hell came. By then the sun was out in full force. It wasn't that the hills were particularly steep (ok, some of them were) but they were just long and relentless. I was beginning to think the 140k ride the day before maybe wasn't such a good idea.

Before hell came!

By 18k, I was reduced to walking. Walk up the hills, and try to run down them. At this point I was wishing I had just done the 12k!

With about 3k to go, Emma caught up with me (feels funny saying that since Emma is normally miles ahead, but today she was just having some fun and taking it reeeaaaallly easy) and saw me walking. She kept urging me on, telling me it's all in the head. When she found out it wasn't my injured knee that's making me walk, she said, "C'mon Arif, baby steps." So from there on I mustered up whatever I had left and just followed Emma and Lydia home. Thanks for the encouragement, Emma.

Almost there!

And so I crossed the finish line in 2h47m. One of the toughest races I've ever done. And I was lucky enough to get a medal for my troubles. And a pretty medal it was. Hard-earned too!

Just glad it's all over!

Senn did quite well. She did the 12k and finished in about 1h45m. Not too bad for someone who hasn't been running at all!

I must say Uncle Chan loves to inflict pain on athletes. Who else would organise a run in such hilly terrain? It's kind of reminiscent of his Lake Kenyir triathlon. Anyway, it was quite well organised with some lovely freebies.Traffic management could have been better though and the water stations could have been closer together, especially with the heat. But other than that, everything went well. Once again, another good job from Uncle Chan.

From this run, I can see that I still have a long way to go to hit my target in Ironman Western Australia. Bring it on...

Pictures courtesy of Emma, Tey and Julie.

Ironman Western Australia Target

2010-09-01T15:00:00.004+08:00

I normally don't set specific time goals for any of the races I do. My target has always been to PB or do better than last year. But since this will be the first time in Busselton, there is no benchmark to measure against.

So now I'm going to put it out there, I'm going to set a time goal for IMWA: to finish the race before nightfall. Sunset at Busselton on 5 December is 7:17pm, last light at 7:46pm. The race starts at 5:45am. That gives me 13h32m to finish the race, almost two hours under my best IM race.

Which means I'll need to shave about 10-15 minutes off my best IM swim, an hour off my best IM bike time and an hour off my best run time.

So that's it, it's out there: 13h32m. 13h32m. 13h32m.

Maybe I'll get it. Maybe I won't. But now that it's out there, I have no choice but to work my ass off towards it. Full time Ironman training begins after Raya.

Shit... What did I just get myself into?

Pedal Away Polio

2010-08-30T15:58:00.001+08:00

Ride for a good cause, guys...

I got my mojo back!

2010-07-26T10:54:00.009+08:00

I lost my mojo in PD.

During the 2008 PD International Triathlon, on my way to a personal best, I hit a pothole and crashed hard onto the tarmac 1.5km from transition 2. Among the things scattered on the road was my mojo. As i got going again, pushing the bike to transition, I must have left my mojo there.

In 2009, I returned to PD to look for my mojo after a season of dismal results. It wasn't to be. Thanks to a knee injury and some drama that had me driving all the way back to KL and back to PD again in the middle of the night, my mojo was nowhere to be found.

Fast forward to the PD International Triathlon 2010. The search for my mojo continues. A friend said, after screwing up in PD two years in a row, you better do well this year. Talk about added pressure! I was more determined than ever to find that elusive mojo.

But already the dramas had begun. On the way to PD, the airconditioning in the car broke down. Not a big deal really, except that since the aircon runs on the same belt as the water pump, and other vital systems, it made the problem terminal.

As I sat there waiting for the car to be fixed (courtesy of a bunch of mechanics who roam the highway looking for car trouble), I started to wonder whether it was a good idea to race the next day. Could today's incident be a sign of things to come? Will I never find my mojo?

Or is this simply a case of getting all the bad luck out of the way today, so I can have good luck tomorrow?

Four hours and RM800 later, we rolled into PD. At this point, I have to say I was really glad I had Senn with me. She kept calm the whole time and helped keep me from pulling my hair out. She said that whatever I wanted to do the next day, she will support. Thanks, babe, I needed that.

We skipped the carbo load dinner. As much as we wanted to catch up with old friends, the thought of fighting for food with 1200 other triathletes turned us off. So we had a quiet dinner near the apartment and then went to go buy water and breakfast for the next day. On the way, we found a mamak shop that was showing the Tour de France final time trial on TV (earlier I had been fretting about how I was going to catch this). What luck! And while walking back to the car, Senn found a RM10 just lying there on the road. Even more good luck! Maybe I had gotten rid of all bad luck. Maybe my mojo was coming back to me. Maybe I should race tomorrow. Funnily enough, these two good luck incidents happened a few metres for where I crashed two years ago!

So race I did. And I have to say, it was the best race I've ever had.

We got there late so didn't really have time to mingle. Set up transition and headed straight to the start. Managed to take this picture though.

The swim was decent. I was in the battles all the way. Which meant that I was keeping pace with the others. When I had calm water, I thought I had strayed off course. As it turned out, I had dropped the group of swimmers I was battling with and was moving towards the next group for more battles.

Out back onto the beach and only 33 minutes had elapsed. 35 by the time I crossed the timing mat (running on the beach is not easy).

On the bike, I started looking for a train to latch on. For about five or six kilometres I kept looking, then I realised there was a short train behind me! OK, game on. As soon as a faster rider overtook me, I latched on and so did my little train. We went forward, tagging on to the next train in front of us, then the next and the next. Pretty soon, we had a decent sized pack. From then on, It was an easy ride back to transition.

Off the bike in 1:09.

A quick transition and it was off on the run.

My legs felt a little jelly like and I had trouble finding a rhythm. The athletes in the train I was with were starting to drop me one by one. And the side stitches came. I thought this was going to be a tough run. Fortunately, the weather was overcast, so that helped things quite a lot.

3km in, I started to find my rhythm. Stomach cramps were still there but not to severe. I started passing people again. Coming back I saw people who would normally be ahead of me on their way out. That gave me the motivation to push that little bit more.

Crossed the line and my watch said 2 hours and 40 minutes. The run had been done in 52 minutes. A personal best! I was shocked! Elated! Happy!

I had found my mojo.

Photos courtesy of Aileen/Stupe, Yit Thing/Zabrina and Keni K.

What a week!

2010-07-11T16:24:00.001+08:00

Monday: run 6.4k
Tuesday: swim 1500m, bike 27k
Wednesday: run 12k
Thursday: swim 1200m, bike 36k
Friday: swim 1200m
Saturday: bike 115k

Wow! I haven't had a week like this since the buildup to IMMY08. All in all, 4000m swimming, 178k biking, and 18.4k running. I was so beat up after saturday's ride, I decided to skip Sunday's run.

Hopefully, this is just the beginning. If I can keep this up and slowly add more quality mileage as the weeks go by, I'll be in good shape for IMWA.

Ironman training has begun!

Not the Best of Marathons...

2010-06-28T15:07:00.006+08:00

Thankfully not the worst either.

If anything, the 2010 Standard Chartered Kuala Lumpur Marathon taught me the importance of training. Without which, be prepared to suffer.

And suffer I did, from about 25k all the way to the end.

But before I get into my race, let me just say that this year's edition was a marked improvement over last year's. There was plenty of fluids at the water stations, the route was great and the medal collection was excellent. It's good to know that the organisers learnt their lessons from last year and made efforts to improve.

There were still a few issues though: traffic management was ok throughout but there were a few intersections where it could have been handled better. Particularly at the Jalan P. Ramlee/Jalan Ampang intersection but you can't really blame the cops when the motorists decide to ignore them and almost run down a few runners. Another issue was that there was no water given out at the finish line. If there was, it must have been hidden somewhere because I didn't see any. They should have given us water together with the medal/finisher t-shirt. Would have been a lot better that way for runners.

Anyway on to the race: it started wet. Really, really wet. But after a few km the rain stopped. I was doing a pretty decent pace, a pace I thought I'd be able to sustain for 42km. Hit the first 10k and I was going slightly quicker than I thought. My first 10k was 1h03m.

Continued on. By now the thighs were starting to feel the burn. Thought I'd slow the pace a little. But apparently, I didn't. Second 10k was 1h04m!

Now was when it started to unravel for me. At 25k, I lost it. Just couldn't run anymore. So I walked/ran. It was painful. Runners were passing me left, right and centre. It was quite demoralizing. At this point, I was wondering if I called it quits, how would I get back to the start line. Then Sofian runs by. He must have sensed my agony because he yelled out, "C'mon Arif, don't give up!"

That really helped. I went on till the 28km water station. I had some of my EFS gel, rubbed some ointment on my legs and took some ice from the nice medic there. This gave me a bit of a second wind. I managed to run till the 31km marker. Saw Jason going around on his bike, he asked if I needed anything. A taxi back to the start line perhaps, I wanted to say. But I kept on going.

Finally hit Jalan Kuching. Sun was up and blazing by now. This is one mentally challenging stretch. It goes on for only about 2km but it feels damn long. Meng, the 5-hour pacer, caught up with me now, and urged me to run with him. Made it as far as the 34km water station before I had to walk again.

At 35km, Adeline passed me. She looked damn strong. Guess all that distance/endurance training has paid off for her (she achieved her first sub-5 marathon!). She motioned me to tag on but at the pace she was going, there was no way I could. At this point, I couldn't tag on to anyone, no matter what the pace!

Shortly after the 36km water station, there was some welcomed relief. Kash, Rais and Uncle Allen were there with a mobile kedai runcit. Rais gave me some Counterpain, Kash offered me a Gatorade and Uncle Allen offered me encouragement. Thanks guys, you really helped! Thanks to them, I managed to run all the way to the bottom of that steep hill near the little roundabout.

After that steep hill, I knew we'd have a nice downhill stretch. I love going downhill, you can pick up speed with hardly any effort at all. But it was not to be this time. There was just so much lactic acid in my legs that each step was agony! And to make things worse, at the bottom of the hill, they made us go up another hill just to u-turn midway up. Cruel.

From there it was a slow run/walk all the way to the last turn at Pertama Complex. By then we had maybe about 800m to go so I threw all caution to the wind and ran all the way to the finish. It was painful, but it had to be done.

About 100m from the line, I saw Senn cheering me on and I knew I couldn't stop now. Passed a few other runners along the way too and finally crossed the line. Felt like collapsing right there and then.

The race clock showed me finishing at 5h10m. For a while I thought I'd come in closer to six hours, maybe even after six hours. I guess when I hit that wall at 25k, I knew sub-5 was out of the question so then it became a matter of limiting the damage. I hadn't set a target for this race as I knew I was unprepared for it. Still I wanted to do the best I could. And If I could go under 5, all the better. So doing a 5h10m was ok. Painful, but ok.

Lesson learnt. To run a marathon, you must get the miles in. Last year I was running 40-50k, sometimes even 60k, a week in the build-up to the marathon. This year, I was lucky to get in 20k a week. So for me, to finish itself is a result.

But I couldn't have finished it without the help of friends. Special thanks to Sofian, Eugene Teoh, Jason Hue, Dr.Sya, Kash, Rais, Uncle Allen, Bro Md Nor and a whole bunch of others for pushing me on in one way or another. That percussion group in front of Pavillion, all the medics and volunteers, you all were a great help.

And finally, a big special thank you to Senn, who was there for me after the run and took care of me when I could barely walk. Love ya, babe!

NB15k

2010-05-17T15:45:00.006+08:00

The NB15k run this past Sunday was probably my best race so far this year. There were minimal dramas and no injury issues. The only drawback was that I hadn't done a long run since the Energiser race back in March.

There was a bit of drama the night before when we heard of Ngae's passing. Ngae was a legendary character in the runners/triathlete's circle. He always ran barefoot in a sarong, was always humble and always had a smile on his face. He's never one to forget his roots, always telling stories of his days as a young boy in the kampung. He was loud and witty, and always a joy to hang out with, ready to dispense some friendly advice if it were needed. We were amazed at how quickly he got back into action after having gone through brain surgery to remove a tumour last year. Within a few months, he was running again. His passing was a big shock. Ngae, you will be missed.

The morning started with a one minute silence to remember this great man. A few were running in sarongs.

My personal best at this race was a 1h30m. Thought I might be able to improve on that but the question was by how much. The dinner at Laif's house the night before certainly wasn't going to contribute to any improvement. But really, on a day like today, it wasn't about the time. It was about honouring a friend.

In the end, I managed to better my PB by almost 5 minutes. It was as if Ngae's spirit had come to join the run and was pushing me on. My finish time was a 1h25m58s. As I crossed the line, I pointed up to the heavens, at Ngae. This PB I dedicate to him.

PCC Inter-State of Mind

2010-05-06T12:20:00.016+08:00

Wow! What an epic 3 days.

So much to tell I don't know where to start.

The annual PCC Interstate this year took us through Perak, Kelantan and Terrengganu. All in all, a little over 480km over three days. Tiring? Yes. Painful? Yes. Fun? Hell yeah!

Before I go on and on and on, I'd just like to thank PCC for organising such a wonderful ride. This is my 4th Interstate and like every year, they've worked tirelessly to bring us a great event yet again. Kudos to James, Ivan, Dennis, O'Neil, Christina, Annie, Sellina, Don, Vong, Ashley and the entire organising committee. It was a great route and the organisation was perfect. Thank you.

To the support crew, especially Willie, Joanne, Patrick (half of day 2 and all of day 3), Wong CC (half of day 3) and PK and family (day 2 and 3), thank you for bringing us home each and every day. We wouldn't have made it without you. I know how tough it must have been for you guys to wait for us. And Patrick, the spray bottle was genius!

And to my little peloton: Amanda, Azhar, Clarence, Patrick and Wong CC, you guys rawk!. Thank you for letting me in on your little group. You guys made the torture fun. Couldn't have completed the distance without you. Thanks for the pulls, the pushes, the camaraderie and the laughter.

Anyway, on to the report:

Day 1 - Kuala Kangsar - Pulau Banding (140km)

Woke up to the sound of pouring rain. Half contemplated sleeping in but heard the cyclists gathering outside the hotel room. Looks like the ride is on, rain or shine.

Got out and there was a mass of riders in the resort carpark. The mood still seemed chirpy and festive, despite the rain. Well, it is day 1 and the riders were rearing to go.

All smiles before the start.

After a quick briefing, we were off, crossing the bridge over Sungai Perak. By now the rain had stopped and left us with some cool, comforting weather to ride in.

I was settling myself in towards the back of the pack, not really knowing which group I'd end up riding with. Then, not 10km in, I saw Amanda pulling off. She had a flat. I stopped to help, as did Azhar, Clarence, Patrick and Wong CC. This would eventually be my little peloton over the next three days.

As we worked on changing Amanda's tube, we saw the whole peloton passing by. Once we sorted out the tube, we were off, in chase mode. We were now the tail-enders and wanted to catch up with the main pack.

So focused were we on the chase that we actually missed a turn! Actually, we were too busy posing for the cameras to hear the marshalls yelling out, "Turn left!"

Back on track, we continued the pursuit...

All smiles still. Three hours later, the smiles would be gone.

As this stretch of the route was flat, it was easy to give chase. In fact, as the picture above shows, we were still smiling. We were making good time, so good that we didn't notice that Vong's pack had stopped and we had passed them. It was only when we stopped, at about 90k, that we realised we did.

As we refilled our bottles and refreshed ourselves with Patrick's spray bottle, we saw Vong's pack coming. We quickly latched on and got a free ride for a while. At Gerik (100km), Vong's pack stopped to refill. Our little peloton decided to go on ahead, since we had just stopped 10km earlier, no point stopping again. Also, Vong's pack was pretty big and that could be a little dangerous, so it was safer to go on our own.

This was when the smiles disappeared. This was when we started climbing. The first 10k was rolling so it wasn't so bad, then then it was 20k of hell. The climb was relentless and by now the sun was out in full force. Our little pack slowly got separated, with the faster climbers like Azhar and Clarence moving on ahead. I was struggling to keep up with Amanda and eventually got dropped.

The climb begins. Smiles all gone now. Amanda still smiling as she drops my sorry ass!

As we went higher, I found my legs working again and soon caught up and passed Amanda. Further up, Clarence had stopped because he ran out of water and was waiting for the support car.

The peak never seemed to come. Each time the road went down, I was filled with a sense of relief, thinking the climb was over. But no, the road would then point skywards again. This went on a few times, and i had just about given up on seeing the final descent.

Then it came. And it was a steep, fast descent. Almost too short because just as I was starting to enjoy it, I saw a marshal saying we have to go up this really steep hill to get to the hotel. One last kick up that hill and day 1 was done. Just in time too, I felt the cramps coming in on those last few pedal strokes.

Day 2 - Pulau Banding - Kota Bahru (180km)

Day 2 started early, before the sun came up. It was the longest day and we had a 30km climb to start the day. It was nice of the organisers to want us to clear the climb before the sun came out.

An early start to avoid climbing in the sun.

We started by crossing the bridge into Banding, then out the other side before the climbing proper started. Hardly enough time to warm the legs up before we went skywards.

The start of the climb on Day 2.

It was good to start the climb so early. The weather was cool, there was a nice mist hanging in the air. The mist helped disguise how steep the climb really was.

Reaching the top.

Clarence, Wong CC and me at the top.

Our little peloton regrouped at a rest stop at the top. After a quick refill, and something to eat, we were off again. This section had some nice downhills but there was still a bit of climbing to do. It was only when we crossed the border into Kelantan the the road dropped. It was an exhilarating descent, all 30+km of it. Some sections were so steep that some riders hit speeds of up to 65-70km/h.

We regrouped again at the bottom and made our way to Jeli. At the Petronas there, we were treated to a little surprise. One of the Bukit Jelutong boys owned the Petronas and his mum runs it. So they had a little kenduri for us there. Since our team captain, Azhar, was one of the Jelutong boys too, we were treated to a scrumptious lunch of nasi berlauk. We let Vong's group go, and enjoyed the little makan.

By now, PK and family had joined us in their car. They had driven from KL that morning and was now here to lend us their support. After lunch we continued on our way. The road here was flat and windy and really tested the mental strength.

Doing my share of the work.

As we were riding along, PK had gone ahead to see where the rest of the peloton was. He came back to report that Don and Vong's group were only 5km ahead. He motorpaced us for a while to try and catch up but we gave up when we saw a air kelapa stall. By now we were still another 30km away from KB and it was really, really hot.

Approaching KB, we got another surprise. Amanda had suddenly got a second wind (it was the power gel, she claimed) and started pulling us all at 36km/h, blowing our little pack to pieces!

Amanda killing us all with her sudden pace.

After a lot of yelling and begging for her to slow down, we got into KB town. We rolled through town and to our final stop for the day, the hotel. End of day 2.

Day 3 - Kota Bahru - Kenyir Lake (160km)

Captain Azhar's mission to us: Get in ahead of Vong today.

The score between our little pack and Vong's was one apiece. We won the first day, they won the second. Now to move in for the kill.

The last ones to leave.

We started late because Azhar had to change a flat but didn't take long to join the rest of the pack. At the 40k mark, we broke away. It felt like a real cycling race: breaking away and the four of us working together to stay away from the pack.

But we had to stop 10km later when we realised Amanda was still stuck in that pack. We waited for the pack to arrive, she joined us and off we went again, well behind Vong. It wasn't long before we saw them stopped at a petrol station, so we picked up the pace and pushed on.

Working hard to accomplish our mission.

So eager were we to accomplish our mission, we made our stops as short as possible. A quick refill and spray from the spray bottle and we were off again. Each refill stop lasted no more than 10-15 minutes. Thank God for support cars. Patrick, Wong CC, Joanne, Willie, PK and family were always there when we needed them.

Pushing really hard now.

At 130k, we heard that Vong was about 20k behind us. Later we found out from Vong that had we been any closer, he would have picked up the pace and given chase. As it was, we were safe so we could have eased up. But we didn't. We were further bouyed when we saw Don sitting at a roadside stall with about 15k to go. Double bonus! Get in ahead of Vong AND Don. So we pushed on even more.

This proved to be a mistake for me. Little did we know there was going to be a huge mother of a hill coming up. Not the hill we usually climb during the Kenyir tri, but one that was steeper. Much much steeper. And to make it even worse, the hill was covered in gravel and rubble.

As we approached the hill, you could hear the cussing from the riders. I zig zagged up the hill to try and reduce the gradient, but at one point I felt I had to stand up to pedal through. Big mistake. I lost traction, the rear wheel spun and I almost bit the dust. After that, there was no way to get back on the bike. Frustrated, I threw the bike down (I was looking for a longkang), threw my helmet down, and just collapsed. Luckily Joanne offered to pushy my bike up the rest of the hill for me, saving me the indignity of pushing up the bike myself!

At the top of that hill, I got back on my bike and continued. I was totally spent by now. Fortunately, we were at the entrance of the resort already. Just a couple of short, steep hills to go and we were done. We passed the resort gates, and sprinted up the hill to the lobby. It felt like the uphill finish of Flech Wallone! I got to the lobby and raised my arms in triumph.

That's it. Ride done. Mission accomplished. Three grueling days in the saddle.

Koyak-ed at the end.

By far the toughest Interstate I've ever done. But also by far the most fun. The company, camaraderie, the little friendly unofficial competitions is what makes the Interstate such a fun event. This year's was no different. Let's do this again next year!

Pictures courtesy of Jamie, Janice, James, Patrick, Mac and Miow Chin. All taken from Facebook.

Race Calendar

2010-04-13T13:02:00.004+08:00

Lately, I've been feeling kinda demotivated and put off by this whole multisport malarky. Could be that I'm jaded already, having been doing this without much significant improvement since 2006. It doesn't help that I've not had a single good race this year. Not a one.

So in hopes of turning my season around, I thought I'd sort out my race calendar. Hopefully, this will give me something to aim for and help motivate me to get off my ass and start training. So without further ado, here goes:

May 16: New Balance 15k
Jun 27: KL Marathon
Jul 11: Siemens 10k Run
Jul 24: Malakoff University Duathlon Series Round 1
Jul 25: PD International Triathlon
Jul 30: Malakoff University Duathlon Series Round 2
Aug 7: Malakoff University Duathlon Series Round 3
Nov 14: Powerman Malaysia
Dec 5: Ironman Western Australia

Also, I've found a new running group who put the fun back into training. They've had me set up an account at dailymile and I'm enjoying the banter that goes on after we've all posted our workout for the day.

Dailymile also helps keep me going as I can't stand to see an empty day on the calendar!

So there it is, my race calendar for the rest of the year. Will I be motivated enough to go through with it? Will I finally have a good race this year? Find out...

Dee En Eff

2010-03-01T09:48:00.004+08:00

A DNF is always hard to swallow. Especially when it's your A-race, the one you've been gearing up for all year long. Making that decision to quit, to DNF, to retire wasn't an easy one. What made the decision tougher was the fact that for the first time, my parents and my boys were in Langkawi to watch me race. I didn't want to disappoint them, having dragged them all the way here just to watch me fail.

But looking back, I suppose quitting and having them disappointed was a better alternative than having them worry about me while I lay in hospital had I chose to go on. Yes, it may sound dramatic, but it certainly looked like it was heading that way.

Here's the story:

The swim was a killer. Even before the swim, I was feeling a little gassy in the tummy. I put it down to nerves, but little did I know how much of a big part this little problem would play later on in the race.

At the gun, I was swimming briskly. There were swimmers all around me and after the first 50 metres or so, I got into a rhythm. I felt my strokes were long and smooth, and I was gliding well. Being surrounded by other swimmers gave me this false sense of confidence, that my pace was good.

At the 1600m mark, I looked at my watch. 1h04m! WTF! I usually hit the turnaround at 50-55 minutes. Now I'm at 1h04m and I still have 300m to go. Not good.

Hit the turnaround at 1h10m and started wondering if I was going to make cutoff. It looked marginal. My strokes were now shorter but the push was stronger. Breathing was getting laboured. Short and abrupt inhaling and exhaling. Currents kept pushing me away from the bouys, so it was a bit of a struggle just to get back on track. While I felt I was swimming in a straight line, the currents were actually making us swim at a 45 degree angle away from the swim lane.

Finally made it back in 2h01m. The last time I swam this badly was my first IM, back when I didn't know how to swim. I was completely winded by the time I got out that I was barely able to walk to the change tent.

By now I was feeling bloated. But because of the seawater taste in my mouth, I just downed any liquid I could find. Water, Gatorade and even Coke became victims of my thirst. That would prove fatal later on.

Spent more than 10 minutes in the change tent. Most of it trying to get my arm coolers on. Grabbed my bike and saw my dad, yelling words of encouragement. But I couldn't really hear what he was saying, my mind was just a blur. Mounted the bike and went about 100m before I saw my boys. Stopped to get a hug and kiss from them and moved on, being very careful not to push too hard.

Started on my nutrition plan. Took a bite out of my EFS bar and then it happened. All the liquids I ingested in the change tent was starting to rise. AS I chewed on my bar, trying to swallow it, the liquids started coming out the other way. Puke number one, while I still had the bar in my mouth!

I later lost count how many times I threw up but it's safe to say I decorated the road to the Padang Lalang roundabout with my sick. At 20k I decided to stop a while and just get rid of it all. Spent 20 minutes puking my guts out till I was sure there were no more liquids in my tummy. This worked last year when I had the same problem and I was able to continue after that.

This time, however, it wasn't to be. Any time i took a sip from my bottles, whether i twas Gatorade or water, it all just came out again. By now a couple of other problems were starting to creep in: I started getting chills and every time I stopped pedaling, I started to fall asleep. Not good.

I decided to stop at the 40k aid station to shower so I can get the sleepiness out. Another 20 minutes spent. But then the chills kept getting worse. Continued towards Bukit Malut, shivering and sleepy. A nice ice cold Coke would probably help wake me up and get rid of the gassy feeling.

Saw Bandit as I apporached Malut and asked him to buy me a bottle of Coke. Shortly after, saw Mac taking pictures of riders going up the hill and stopped. I needed to take a nap!

I laid down and took a nap while waiting for Bandit to return with the Coke. Right there on the grass in the hot sun! The Coke came and I downed it. I felt the burp coming and I let it out. Unfortunately, it came out with all the Coke too. All over my white tri top.

It was at this point I contemplated a DNF. I had heard over the SMS grapevine that Ishsal had called it quits and that there was no more water on the bike course. Do I really want to continue? The foremost thought in my head was that I didn't want to let my parents and boys down. They came all the way to watch me finish. I wanted them to be proud of me. I couldn't possibly let them down with a DNF.

Bandit suggested I take an easy spin through Malut towards Kuah and see how. I took off my arm coolers (which were giving me the chills) and changed my aero helmet for a normal ventilated one (thanks Mac, for lugging my spare helmet around and switching the helmet stickers) and continued. I felt better slightly and was able to hold a good pace. Started passing some riders (probably unlapping myself). But the puking continued.

Then I reached the dreaded Bukit Hantu. I started climbing it but midway, I felt a big one coming. Stopped and let it out. Continued riding up the hill, but was now feeling quite woozy. I think dehydration and lack of nutrition was setting in. I was wobbly at the top, so I decided to ride on to the next aid station and try to eat. I was scheduled for a bar anyway.

I got to the next station and tried to get off the bike. But cramps started to set in. Bandit was there and passed me some water and ice, made me sit down by the side of the road and gave my leg a massage. I tried to drink the water but I coudn't even swallow, I was dribbling like an idiot. I looked at the time and decided I wasn't going to make the intermediate cutoff and it would have been foolish to try. I told Bandit to call Mac to pick me up. I had no choice but to let my parents and kids down.

I passed out while waiting for Mac to arrive. Apparently, the temperature had hit 46 degrees at that point! Senn came by after I woke up, needing a new watch, hers had run out of batteries. Bandit passed her his and she passed a message through him that she loved me. That was comforting.

Mac arrived shortly after and I got my phone out and called my Dad. With tears in my eyes, I had to tell him I couldn't go on and that I was sorry I dragged them all the way to Langkawi just to let them down. My dad comforted me and told me it was ok. Shafeeq, my eldest, called me soon after to find out what happened. He said he wasn't disappointed and that made me feel better.

Surprisingly, I wasn't too disappointed with this DNF as I was with my first. I guess already having two finishes under my belt meant that I could let this one go. I knew that if I couldn't keep anything down, I was going to end up with a massive bonk and severely dehydrated. It was a risk not worth taking. Better to call it quits and live to fight another day. I think my parents were glad I pulled out. Only Shaqeel was a bit disappointed. I thin he really wanted to cross that line with me. And really, that was the only thing that made me sad: not being able to run across the line with my boys.

I did some research the next day and it turns out that I swallowed too much air during the swim. If you don't exhale completely before inhaling, the excess air that you take goes to your stomach, causing bloatedness and subsequently vomiting. The tough swim made things worse. I have to learn to breathe properly before tackling my next Ironman.

Speaking of which, I don't have to wait a whole year till the next one. I've signed up and paid for Ironman Western Australia in December. I'll be looking to redeem myself then. Hopefully I can coax my parents and kids into going for that one so they can finally see me finish.

As for Langkawi, I'll be back next year. But as a supporter. This was a decision I made even before the start of this year's race so this DNF had nothing to do with it.

Langkawi this year was truly a race of attrition. Of the 538 registered, a whopping 116 did not finish. Nine of those didn't even make the start! It really was a tough day out there. Congratulations to the 422 finishers, especially the first timers. You survived on a day many did not.

Special shout out to Senn who finally had an incident-free race and Emma for finally getting her Kona slot. And a big big thank you to Bandit and Aileen for fussing over me like I was a prissy little princess and to Mac for taking care of me pre and post race. You guys rock!

4 days to go...

2010-02-23T17:41:00.002+08:00

Tomorrow I leave for Langkawi.

The bike has been packed up and sent to Langkawi. Most of my race gear is in the bag. Just a few things more to pack.

The training is done... well, not really but there's not much I can do about it now. Let's just hope that what is done is enough. I do feel stronger than last year, I've spent more time in the pool (even got a coach!), the cycling legs feel strong, the running legs are feeling ok.

But there's still a nagging doubt in the back of my head. Come race day, I'll need to try and shove this doubt out of my mind and send it away somewhere. Just gotta remember to think positively and have happy thoughts (how you're going to have happy thoughts while suffering in 40 degree heat is another matter altogether!)

On the plus side, this year, for the first time, my kids will be coming to cheer me on, so that is definitely motivation for me to finish. Hopefully, the rule about bringing your family down the chute to the finish line is not enforced here so I can cross the line with them.

To all those participating this year, good luck and all the best. Stay safe and enjoy the race. To all friends who's taking the effort to fly up and lend us support, thank you from the bottom of my heart. Your support is greatly appreciated.

See you all in Langkawi!

A little gem :)

2010-02-16T23:25:00.002+08:00

came across this little gem going through my hard drive. enjoy :)

The Longest Half

2010-02-08T15:15:00.003+08:00

That's the best way to describe my Putrajaya Night Marathon.

I only ran the half but it was probably the longest half I've ever run.

I pretty much konked out at kilometre 4 when I stopped at the water station to get a drink. Suddenly felt like I couldn't breathe. My lungs were burning and I just couldn't seem to get any air into them. My head was spinning, and I felt ready to pass out. I was ready to quit.

Then Mac came along. He yelled, "C'mon Arif! Move it! Just walk!"

And so I did. Till about kilometre 7.5 where I saw Senn giving encouragement to other runners. Was she a sight for sore eyes! Sat with her for a good 10 minutes, contemplating giving up. It was quite a sight: she yelling encouragement to the other runners, me next to her half dead, with my head in my hands.

After puking my guts out, I decided to just continue. Slowly. And so I set off to finish the next 13.5 kilometres. It was going to be a long night.

But it was like Senn breathed new life into me. I was actually able to run! I couldn't hold the pace I was doing earlier but at least I was running again. Lungs were still burning but it was more manageable than before.

Soon I was passing people who passed me earlier. I still couldn't run all the way though, still had to walk a bit up those nasty hills.

At the top of the last hill, there was Senn again. Abu was with her this time and they looked like they were having a picnic. I stopped and joined them. After a few gulps of water and some grapes, Abu and I set off to finish the last 6 kilometres. We were keeping a steady pace and talking about aero helmets and aerobars for Langkawi. Of course, I wasn't able to keep up with Abu's pace, so I guess he must have ended up talking to himself!

Finally got down to the Boulevard. But the race wasn't over yet. The organisers, who thought we hadn't suffered enough, gave us a little detour round the back of the Palace of Justice. So close, yet so far away! Never mind, just keep on going.

Finally there it was: the finish line. I crossed it, grabbed my post-race goodies and found a spot to just collapse and lay down. That finish was like coming back from the dead. Literally. I don't know how I did it, from a near-collapse at kilometre 4 to a finish 17 kilometres later. It must have been the angel on a pink bike named Tortue that helped breathe life back into me. Thanks babe.

It's now three times in a row that I haven't been able to put together a decent long run. I've either had to cut short the run, or suffer some kind of ailment. With Ironman looming just a little over two weeks away, this is worrying. Some people tell me I'm fatigued, but how can I be fatigued when I took the whole of last week off (see previous post)? So if I can't put a decent stand-alone 20-30k run together, what hope do I have of putting a full marathon together after a 180 kilometre bike? I suspect this year's target of having to run the entire marathon will be scrapped.

I'm worried...

Non-Starter

2010-02-04T21:52:00.002+08:00

This week was a total non-starter.

Monday's planned 30k run was cut short. First to 20k as I started then finally at the 6k mark, I called it quits. Nothing was working: legs, lungs, heart, mind all refused to cooperate.

The only other training I did this week was a two-hour gym session on Wednesday. That's it.

Tonight's turbo class and tomorrow's spin class will have to be called off because my son fell ill. Not that I'd have the strength to go through with it anyway.

I shudder to think what this Saturday's half marathon will be like. Hope I'm rested enough for it.

I guess the 19-hour week (including Saturday's monster 200k ride) last week is taking its toll.

Ironman Langkawi is three weeks away. This does not look good.

Bittersweet Singapore Marathon.

2009-12-07T13:04:00.003+08:00

"Targetted 4:30. Attempted sub-4. Big mistake. Majorly cramped at km35 and finished with a 4:46. Shouldn't have been so ambitious"

That's what my facebook status and twitter said. And that pretty much sums up my Singapore Marathon.

At 5am Sunday morning, Senn and I found ourselves among the throng of runners out on Esplanade Drive. I was feeling nervous and my breakfast hadn't quite settled in yet. So here I was among the thousands of marathon runners and all I could think about where I was going to puke and will I get fined if I do it here in public.

I was also worried about hydration, as I felt I hadn't quite drank enough water in the week leading up to race day. Will I have hydrated enough to last me the 42.195km? No time to think about that now, the race is about to start.

And off we go. I started well enough, running at just below 6min/km easily. As usual, I started towards the back, so was weaving myself through the traffic. At this point, I still had my 4:30 target in mind.

By the first km, I had caught up with the 5:15 pacer. So I was looking good. 3km later, I caught the 5:00 pacer. I kept on running, trying to look for the 4:30 pacer. I started thinking there was no way I was going to catch him because if he was running towards a 4:30 finish and so was I, we'd be running at the same speed. I must have been about 5 minutes behind him (that's how long it took me to get to the start line) and at the same pace, he'd be impossible to catch. So I eased up, just a bit.

At about the 9km mark, I saw him: the 4:30 pacer. I eased up and ran with them for a while. 4:30 was the target and if I stick with them, I'll surely get it.

Then I got restless. I started thinking, "If I caught up with them this easily, surely, if I put in more effort, I'd be able to reel in the 4:15 guy and even the 4:00 guy."

Marathon tip: this kind of thinking is delusional and dangerous!

So off I went, hunting down the 4:15 guy. I picked up the speed a bit and finished the first 10k in 57 minutes. Hit the East Coast Park. Kept on running. And running. And running. Still no sign of the 4:15 guy.

Got to the turnaround. Still couldn't see him. Downed a PowerGel and kept on going. Hit 20k in about 1:55.

The return trip through the East Coast Park was a bit mind numbing. By this time, I can star feeling the lactic acid build-up in my legs. By km25, I was beginning to think whether the sub-4 was possible. I said to myself, keep going till 30km then decide. At km28, I started feeling the onslaught of cramps. Downed a salt tablet and it went away.

I hit 30k and the time on my Garmin said 2:57. If I put in a bit more effort, the sub-4 was possible. But my legs were already shot. At this point, I gave up on that and just wanted to get back to the finish line, hopefully in under 4:30.

35km. Bang. The cramps hit. It was everywhere. Both calves, the thighs,even the inner thigh on my right leg. I seriously thought my balls were cramping! Had to start walking and downed yet another salt tablet. By now I was stopping at every medic asking for the ointment or spray. 4:30 was gone.

Km36 was the longest kilometre ever. Every time I looked at my watch, it said 36.something km. And I looked at my watch at least 10 times! I also noticed the distance on my watch, and the distance markers were off by about 600m. My watch would read 36km, then 600m later I'd see the distance marker. That was mental torture. At this rate, going under 5 hours seemed impossible.

Finally, after what seemed an eternity, I hit 37km on my watch. By now the legs were feeling better. So I started running again. But every time I get into some kind of rhythm, the cramp would come back. So that's what it was like for the next five kilometres. Run a bit, cramp, walk. Run a bit, cramp, walk.

At 38km, the 4:45 pacer passed me. Now it was just a matter of survival. The 5:00 pacer couldn't have been that far behind.

At 4 hours 30 minutes, my target time, I had just passed the F1 pit buildings and still had 2km to go. Maybe, just maybe, if i suck it up and start running I might just be able to go under my PB of 4:52.

I started running again. It was like a second wind. It was a pedestrian pace but at least I wasn't walking. Crossed the Esplanade bridge. Turned right on to Anderson bridge. Now feeling in awe that I'm running on part of the F1 circuit. Turned the corner and there it was: the long straight leading to the finish line. No way was I stopping now.

The clock at the line read 4:50. My watch said 4:46. A new PB either way. Happy about that but disappointed that I missed my target and that I hadn't managed to run all the way. A bittersweet race.

Lesson to learn here is to not be greedy. I think I could have gotten the 4:30 had I not spent a whole lot of effort between km9 and 30 chasing the sub-4. But then it was one of those things that you have to try or you'll never know. In the end, I didn't get anything: no sub-4, no 4:30.

I guess I can console myself with the PB.

And the fact that I had run in one of the best organised races ever. Really well organised. From the race pack pick-up, to the expo, to the route markers, the excellent volunteers and marshals, the enthusiastic supporters all around the course, the adequate aid (drinks and medic) stations, the beautiful medal and finisher t-shirt, etc. It was a wonderful experience. Kudos to the organisers and everyone involved. Just to be able to experience such a well organised event was worth all the pain and suffering.

Gone Too Soon

2009-07-27T01:16:00.002+08:00

Once in your life, you will meet someone that will have a great impact on your life. I first met Yasmin Ahmad at my job interview for Leo Burnett back in 2000. It was the longest interview I've ever had.

That's the thing about Min. She has such presence and yet she makes you feel comfortable. Unfortunately, I wasn't very comfortable that day. I was nervous as hell. Here was the greatest creative director in the country asking to see my humble work. As my shaky hands and quivering voice took her through my book, she interrupted me, the way only Yasmin could.

"Nervous ah?" she laughed, "No need to be nervous lah. This is good work."

That still didn't comfort me though. I was still nervous, especially so when she brought Ali in to show him my work. "Ali has to see this," she said. "Don't worry, he won't bite. He only looks fierce because of the janggut!"

She kept laughing about how nervous I was. The interview lasted almost three hours.

She called me on the Friday the week after and told me my offer letter was ready. I went over to pick it up and she showed me around the office, pointing out the hottest girls there!

My first day at work, she brought me to an offline session for a MAS commercial. It was the one about the two boys saving up money to watch the Malaysian hockey team play at the Sydney Olympics. The music track was Man Bai's "Kau Ilhamku".

I sat in a corner and watched as she made comments to what I thought was an already perfect spot. Then she turned to me and asked me, "Eh... What do you think?"

What? The great one asking me for my comments? Wow! I was honoured! Unfortuntaly the only thing I could muster up was, "It's nice..." Damn, I must have looked like an idiot! Not a good start to my career at LB!

But that was Min. She was always excited about any new commercial, script, idea. She would get the entire creative department in and eagerly show them and get their feedback. She was like a kid with a new toy. And her work was always brilliant.

My first assignment and I nervously walked in to her office to show her my headline and first draft body copy. She liked the idea and immediately went to my desk to fine-tune the copy. She was always brutally honest with her feedback. If she liked something, she'd get really excited and sit down with you to see how we could take it further. If she didn't like it, she'd say some thing like, "Boring lah... Try this or that." Honest, but always willing to give a guiding hand.

Over the three years I was at LB, as I got to now her, I slowly managed to overcome my nervousness whenever I had to see her. She was larger than life, yet down to earth at the same time. She was charismatic, charming, funny, witty. And this helped me calm my nerves.

She never encouraged late nights at the office. She believed we were all adults and knew what our responsibilities were. She only asked that deadlines were met and the work was decent.

She loved movies. We'd be sitting around the office, brainstorming and she'd just walk up to us and invite us all to go watch a movie. At 3pm on a workday! She believed no good ideas can come from sitting around the office. We have to go out, experience life, then and only then, can we create advertising that people can relate to.

She taught me about advertising. She taught me about life. She taught me how to write. "Write from the heart," she'd say, "not the head." The one piece of advice I thought made me a better writer.

She was my boss, my mentor, my friend.

I left LB in 2002, seeking greener pastures. I rarely saw her after that. But she continued to make an impact on me through her work and her movies. I wish now that I had kept in touch more.

Today, I heard Man Bai's "Kau Ilhamku" on the radio, played in tribute to her. And I found myself crying. It reminded me of that first day at LB, the day I started to get to know this truly wonderful person.

Good-bye, Min. You will be missed.

Who's the DRAMAthlete now?

2009-07-13T10:27:00.004+08:00

A couple of weeks ago, Senn labeled herself DRAMAthlete in her blog. At the PD tri yesterday, I proudly took that title off of her.

PD has always been my drama stage. I've raced there four times and only once did i have a drama-free race.

My first year, I got completely disoriented on the swim course (the swim course that year was complicated, zig-zagging through the pier). I was so winded after the swim that my bike and run suffered. Finish time 3:26.

My second year was drama-free. And I went on to record my personal best Olympic distance tri. Finish time 2:48 (a PB that still stands today).

My third year (last year), I crashed on the bike with about 2km to go to transition. Adrenaline got me going, pushing the bike back to transition and continuing on to the run. With blood dripping down my legs and arms, I managed to finish it. Finish time 3:02.

This year, everything was running smoothly pre-race. Got to PD early, had lunch, went jalan-jalan (not that there's much to see in PD), picked up race kits, caught up with old friends, went for carbo-load dinner, laughed at Uncle Chan's race briefing, etc.

Then the drama started.

I was setting my stuff up when I took out my bike shoes. It didn't have cleats on it. I had accidentally packed my old shoes.

Panic stations.

Thought about what to do:
1) I could do the bike in run shoes. But the Newtons and its lugs at the forefoot don't quite gel with the KEO clipless pedals.

2) Call around to see if anybody has spare cleats. But it was already 11-something at night and I seriously doubted anybody would have spare cleats lying around in PD.

3) Race back to KL, pick up the correct shoes, and drive back down to PD. But would take at least two hours and I'd only be back in PD at 1:30am. I'd have not enough rest for the race the next day.

At this point, the most viable option was option 3. Senn, bless her soul, was sweet enough to accompany me on the drive. We made it to KL in an hour flat. The drive back to PD was a little slower as I was getting a little sleepy. Kudos to Senn for not dozing off during the trip. Must have been a first for her!

Got back to PD close to 2am. Prepped my stuff, took a shower and went to sleep. Only, I couldn't sleep. Adrenaline from from the drive, mixed with pre-race jitters plus a very violent sleeper (no, not Senn) on the bed next to me made for a sleepless night. Next thing I knew, the alarm went off and it was time to get up. Damn, no sleep at all.

Patrick went out to the balcony and said it was raining. At this point, I really didn't want to race at all. I was sleepy, It was raining, and I still didn't know how well my knee would hold out.

But then I thought about the drive to KL and back. It would have been such a waste of a drive if I didn't race. And Senn would have killed me for dragging her all the way for nothing!

So we got ready, had our breakfast and moved on to the race site. Set up transition, got body-marked, wished friends good luck and off we went to the swim start. Drama's over, let's just get this over and done with.

But then oops, during Uncle Chan's last minute briefing, I realised I could hear him. I normally can't because I have my earplugs on. So, how is it that I'm hearing him now?

Damn!

Left my earplugs in transition. Ran back to get and the earlier question about the knee holding up was answered: it wouldn't.

Got back to the start line and I was winded, completely winded. Looked at the sea and it was a lot rougher than in previous years. Oh well, let's get it on.

Off we went. I made it a point to swim on the outside, away from the line, to avoid the mass of arms and legs. After a few strokes, I was back on the inside, swimming over people, people swimming over me, getting my feet, calves and ass touched. It was a mess. It didn't help that the sea was rough, bouncing us up and down like rag dolls. Kept telling myslef that this was only till the first bouy, after that it gets a bit more strung out and there'll be space. Water will be calmer in the marina

Rounded the first bouy and found some space. Thought I was swimming quite well. Got around the turnaround, then back to rough seas, and onto the beach. Looked at my watch: 44 minutes! 11 minutes slower than my average time here. My slowest time in an OD swim. There goes my sub-3 race!

The only consolation was that Stupe was right behind me. Year in, year out, Stupe and I have always exited the swim at the same time. So maybe it wasn't that bad a swim, just that the conditions slowed us down a bit.

By the time I go on the bike I was winded. Just didn't have the legs. Struggled for about 10km or so then, as if right on schedule like in previous years, Azmar shows up with a long train behind him. I catch on, hoping to ride the train all the way home like in previous years. But, unlike previous years, I couldn't hold on. They accelerated up a hill and I suddenly puked, right there onto my top tube! I had to let them go and stop at the side of the road for a while.

That was the story of the bike. Trying to catch on to other people's wheels but failing to hang on. Stupe tried to drag me along, Dicky tried to drag me along, Patrick tried to drag me along. I just couldn't hang. After a while I gave up and just coasted home to a 1:28 bike time.

In T2, I sat there contemplating whether to continue or not. It was already going badly and I knew my knee couldn't handle it. But I learnt my lesson about quitting during Ironman 2007, so I continued. I decided to walk the 10k.

I've run marathons, 30Ks, half marathons, etc, but to walk 10 is damn far. Not to mention damn long. It took me 52 minutes, just to get to the turnaround. I tried running for a bit, because I was getting impatient with the slow pace. I saw some of my first-timer friends passing. I cheered them on, tried running with them, but the pain got too much so I went back to walking.

Senn passed and gave me words of encouragement. When I ran to keep up with her she scolded me, telling me not to be stupid and risk permanent injury. So I walked some more.

Finally, got back to finish line. Bandit was catching up so I tried to put in a final burst to stay ahead. Couldn't do it. We crossed the line side by side. After almost four hours on the go.

I honestly don't think I deserve the medal, not after a performance like that. Sure, I had the injury, but that's no excuse. It didn't affect my swim or bike, and those two legs were just plain slow. And don't tell me about off days. I know all about them and I know that this was just one of them. Just allow me to wallow for a while, ok?

A big thank you to friends who offered words of encouragement along the way. It really helped. Also a big thank you to Big Mac, who accompanied me on his bike during my long, slow walk. Thank you for your support. Stupe, too, who came out on his bike after his race was done.

And of course to sweet, sweet Senn, who waited for me at the finish line after her race was done and walked with me the final few metres. Seeing her there was a sight for sore eyes after a long, painful walk.

So there. I've always said my races were always low-key and drama-free. Just put the head down and get on with it, just like a triathlete would. On Sunday, I got to see what it's like to be a DRAMAthlete.

I'm back!

2009-06-30T12:39:00.004+08:00

It's been a while. Lots have happened since the last post. The latest is the fiasco that was the Standard Chartered KL Marathon.

I have mixed feelings about this race. Happy because I finally broke 5 hours in a marathon (although this was only my second standalone marathon, the first being a 5:50 at Penang Bridge Marathon in 2007). But also disappointed because the race organisation left much to be desired.

The Standard Chartered Marathon series is a world renowned event. The best organised event ever. Sadly, when it arrived at our shores, the standards dropped. Should have been called the Standard Tarak KL Marathon instead.

From the shambolic race kit collection, to the waterless water stations, to the long queues for the medals and t-shirts, to the oversized finisher t-shirts, to the lack of drinks and support at the finish line, the whole thing smelled of bolehland's inability to stage a world-class event.

They even ran out of medals for the late finishers! And they promised anyone who came in under 9 hours would get one. After 6 and a half, the medals were all gone!

Luckily for me I got mine. And a hard-earned medal it was too. I woke up that morning still unsure I would make it through the marathon. My knee still had some pain and as of Friday, I was still limping.

The race started and i could just feel the pain behind my left knee. Never mind, once properly warmed up, it will go away, I thought to myself. I had packed along some anti-inflammatory pills, just in case.

Surprisingly, the knee held out. The pain never came back and I managed to run the entire distance, walking only at the water stations to drink. Apart from a toilet break somewhere in Cheras, which cost me about 5 minutes, and the water stations at 27.5km and 32.5km running out of water, my race was pretty much incident free.

In the end, I crossed the line in 4:52 which I thought was quite good, considering the knee issues I had over the week. I really enjoyed the race.

My enjoyment didn't last. There was no drinks for the finishers at the finish line. Luckily Ishsal was hanging around the finish line and gave me a bottle of 100Plus, which I shared with Abu.

Ok, thirst quenched a bit, where's my medal? Patrick told me I had to go all the way to other end of the field to collect it. What? I've just come in from a punishing 42k run and I have to walk all the way there? So walk I did, only to find a looooong queue of people waiting to collect their medals. Surely, there's got to be an easier way. Organisers must be thinking, "Well, they've done 42k what's another few hundred metres and a long queue?"

Anyway, I got to the front of the line and the volunteer looked at me with a look that said, "what do you want?" D'uh my medal, you idiot! Then I found out that they only had L and XL sized finisher t-shirts. Apparently, when asked how come they ran out of the smaller sized t-shirts, a runner was told, "Nasib awak lah! Apasal lari perlahan sangat?" (Too bad for you, why did you run so slow?)! How rude!

By the time Senn came back, around 7 hours, two hours before their promised cutoff for finisher medals, they had run out of medals. There were about 20 of them at that time that didn't get their medals. Apparently, some of the earlier finishers had helped themselves to 2-3 medals since they weren't verifying the finishers at all. Very poor form. And the organisers tried to excuse themselves by saying this is their first time! That is no excuse!

Very badly organised. Don't think I want to do it next year. Funny how the t-shirt says "I'll be back in 2010." No, I won't.

Instead, I'll go do the Singapore Marathon. Just to see how a world-class event is really supposed to be like. I've heard so many great things about it and was hoping to experience the same here but alas, that was not to be. Such high hopes dashed.

My target in Singapore? Sub 4:30. There, I've declared it. Now let's get on with it.

Best Birthday Ever!

2009-03-15T22:55:00.003+08:00

I turned 37 on Satuday in what was the best birthday anyone could have.

It started with my sons' sportsday where I was invited to run in a 4 x 100 parent vs teacher race. Being used to longer distances, doing a flat-out 100m sprint wearing tennis shoes and cargo shorts is pretty painful. I can still feel the pain today. With the help of fellow LeTuanger Yusran, we won the race.

Then my kids took me for a birthday surprise. Half an hour in a fish spa. We spent the first five minutes daring each other to put their feet into a tank filled with lots of hungry little fishies. Once we put our feet in, the next 10 minutes were spent giggling away as the tiny fish started nibbling on our feet. It was very ticklish, especially when the fish got between our toes and under the soles. When we finally got used to it, we only had about 10 minutes to enjoy it before our time was up. It may seem disgusting to have little fish nibbling at your feet but once you get over that and get used to it, it's actually quite therapeutic. It felt a little electrifying, like those vibrating massage chairs.

The day got even better after that. My beloved Senn took me out for high tea at the Saujana where we "bumped" into AJ and Julie. They were apparently on the way to go flying but decided to stop at the Saujana to wait the rain out. While having tea, AJ invited us to join them and me, who has dreamed of being a pilot ever since I was 9, couldn't refuse.

We drove out to the hangar at the old Subang Airport and there it was: a Cessna with a big Happy Birthday banner strung across its wings! AJ, Julie and Senn had been planning this all along! I suspected that it was more than coincidence for us to bump into them at Saujana!

The deal was I was to fly the Cessna with an instructor and Senn, while AJ and Julie would tail us in another aircraft behind. I was actually going to pilot an aircraft! A lifelong dream come true!

We took off and took a hard right towards Kapar, where the instructor showed me how to do some maneuvers. We did a long left turn, then we pitched up, then did a stomach-lurching pitch down, which almost threw my lunch out! Then the instructor showed us a couple of stalls before we headed back to Subang. Then the instructor said, "I assisted you on the take-off, and those other maneuvers, now you're going to assist me on the landing." What?! He wanted me to help land the plane? The last time I tried that in a simulator, it wasn't very pretty.

Anyway, I lined the aircraft up to the runway using the instruments and pretty soon we were on the approach. We got lower and lower and then he eased off the power and asked me to pull back on the yoke. And before we knew it, we were back on terra firma.

Man, what a rush! I finally flew a plane, an actual plane! I was just speechless throughout the flight and after I was grinning ear to ear like a Cheshire cat on the way back in the car!

But the day hadn't ended yet. There was still the satay feast with the LeTuangers at Restoran Malaysia in Kajang. It was a long drive but the food was worth it. And the company was priceless.

So a big thank you to all LeTuangers. You guys have made my special day even more special. Especially AJ and Julie who made a lifelong dream come true. And a big, huge thank you to my darling Senn, who painstakingly made this all happen.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! You've all made me enjoy birthdays again.

Why I Love Ironman Langkawi

2009-03-03T15:03:00.005+08:00

For three years now, I've been making a trip, a pilgrimage so to speak, to the mystical island of Langkawi at the end of February for what is billed as the toughest show on Earth.

The Ironman Langkawi.

The reason I make this trip every year is not for the race. Yes, the race is an integral part of the trip but it's not the most important.

The most important part of the trip is the trip itself.

Going to Langkawi, to me, is akin to going on a company trip. Except the company is called triathlon.

From the moment you arrive in Langkawi, you meet up with like-minded people. When you land, when you check-in to your hotel, when you register and pick up your race kit, when you attend the briefing, when you check your bike in, when you check-in for the swim, you are reacquainted with your mates from the local triathlon scene.

It's like a big party. A party that goes on for a week.

And it's not just participants. It's also the supporters. The first time I went, we had a handful of friends who were there to support us. The numbers grew the second year and this year, with the formation of the LeTuang group, the numbers grew even more.

The atmosphere is always festive. Local eateries, who have gotten to know us over the years, are always looking forward to our arrival. They know we can really eat. Yusran has taken the extra effort to do some major PR with the owners of these establishments to ensure the we enjoy only the best culinary delights in Langkawi. One restaurant even makes us autograph the Ironman poster every year which he will then display proudly in his restaurant!

Of course there's the small matter of the race. But like I told Stupe, we're going for a holiday but, since we're there, we might as well swim 3.8km, bike 180km and run 42km!

Speaking of the race, mine was not as heroic and inspirational as Senn's or Stupe's. Nor was it as dramatic as Ishsal's or Barath's or Bean's.

The day started slow. The swim was slow, not because I was struggling, in fact I thought I had a good swim, but I was just slow.

My bike leg was painful. For the first 50km, I couldn't hold any liquids down. I basically redecorated the Langkawi landscape with my puke! I had puke on my arms, my legs and down my chest. At 35k, I stopped by where Mac was parked to puke my guts out.

At 50k, I had to stop to pee. After that, I started feeling a bit better but still didn't have the legs. I was secretly wishing for a flat, or a broken chain, or a snapped cable so I could pull out.

But I had to beat Bukit Hantu, my nemesis from two years ago. I was not going to quit until I had conquered it all three times. Then something happened after the third time I climbed it, my legs suddenly realised they were in a race! After that, I was flying.

After going all out in the last 40k, I thought I'd be walking the marathon. And the first 1k was difficult. 3k in I caught up with Senn who'd been racing with a one-inch gash in her right foot, and did a run/walk with her. At 8k, she told me to go ahead. She would continue to set her personal best by 48 minutes! That is an Ironman!

Because of the run/walk at the start of the marathon, I was able to save my legs for the end. And that saved me a good 13 minutes from last year's marathon.

In the end, I crossed the line 8 minutes faster than last year. It was a tough race, and one I thought I didn't deserve to finish, what more set a personal best, but I'll take it anyway.

In truth, all that didn't really matter. What really mattered was the spirit of camaraderie and friendship that prevailed throughout the race week. It was this spirit that kept me going, even though my race was not as inspiring as the others. And it is for this reason, that I'll be back in Langkawi next year. And while I'm there, I may as well swim 3.8km, bike 180km and run 42km.

Oops.. They Did it Again

2009-02-11T12:29:00.003+08:00

Three different bike courses in as many years.

I've been to Ironman Langkawi three times and this will be the third bike course. In fact, in 2006 it was a different bike course too as well as 2005, so make that 5 different bike courses in five years.

Anyway, this one looks to be the mother of all bike courses. It looks like it combines elements from all the previous years' courses. It's got the Bukit Malut climbs from 2005 (albeit in reverse), the flat out blast along Air Hangat Road from 2006, the steep, short climb along Padang Gaong Road from 2007 (the one that killed me back then), and the airport roundabouts from 2008.

One thing it doesn't have (and I'm quite thankful for that) is the LISRAM Highway climbs.

Here's what it looks like:

Ironman 2009
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And the route profile:

Looks tougher than previous years' but at the end of the day, we still need to cycle the 180km anyway, so no point worrying about it now. Just need to remember to take it easy, don't push too hard, especially on the flats, and spin up slowly up the hills.

And be glad that I have a 27t cog on the back :p

The Weekend Report

2009-02-03T14:01:00.002+08:00

Ouch!

I can still feel the lactic acid in my legs and the saddle sores on my crotch! This being the result of a pretty heavy weekend with long rides on Saturday and Sunday.

Saturday took us around the Fraser Loop: HOA - Genting Sempah - Bentong - Tranum - Gap - KKB - Batang Kali - Ulu Yam - Batu Dam - Batu Caves - HOA.

Fraser\'s Loop
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The morning didn't start out too good. As I left the house, it started drizzling and by the time we got to batu caves, it was a downpour. Called everyone up and we met for breakfast at McDonald's.

Soon the skies started to clear and at 8:09am, Senn, Adeline, Azmar, Kam, Mo and I started riding.

Overall, the ride wasn't as tough as it was the first time I did it. I think the weather, which went between overcast and light rain, certainly helped. If we had done this ride a couple of days earlier, I think we would have all suffered in the heat. As it was, the climb to the Gap was pleasant with a light drizzle and by the time we got to Batu Dam, we weren't as beat up as we expected to be.

Mac and Jim joined us at the Gap. They were there to drive support and take pictures for SK's photo album project. They also provide some much needed sustenance in the form of ikan bilis and kacang goreng!

We finally rolled in to HOA at about 7:15pm, the last 10 kilometres or so in total silence. It had been a long day for everyone and I don't think anyone was in the mood for conversation during the closing stages of the ride. Most likely everyone was thinking about food!

That all changed when we got to HOA, however. Suddenly everyone was alive, most likely elated that the ride was over!

Well done to everyone, especially Kam (he had a minor spill coming down from Gap, but soldiered on like the brave Ironman that he is), and Mo (he thought the ride would be over by lunch, he had no idea what was in store for him when he mounted his bike!) for finishing what is probably one of the toughest rides around.

Senn and I, along with Mac and Adeline, went straight to Tony Roma's after the ride to fill up our empty stomachs. We would be needing it for Sunday's ride.

Sunday, we did the all-time favourite Broga Classic Loop: Batu 18 - Tekala - Semenyih - Broga - Lenggeng - Bukit Tangga - Klawang - Perez - Batu 18.

Broga Classic
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From yesterday's group, only 3 of us, Senn, Adeline and me, were crazy enough to do this ride. Everyone else opted for the Malakoff ride, a run or rest. We were joined by Mac, Elaine, Adli, Don Haider and Kannan.

The ride started off slow enough. From Batu 18 to the T-junction, we just cruised along. Once we got to Tekala, we let Don, Kannan, Elaine and Adli go. We were on recovery pace and just didn't have the speed to keep up with them.

SK was around this time, taking pictures with his crew. He took some lovely shots which I hope to post up when I get them.

Anyway, the ride was fairly easy, my heart rate not going up to Zone 5 at all. There were a few hairy moments, like going down one of the hills after Lenggeng at 72km/h with the crosswinds throwing me about as well as descending Bukit Tangga with very strong winds.

Of course, we had the mandatory stop at the Peres Waterfall Spa and Resort. Although, again, the weather was kind to us, a dip in that waterfall is always welcomed.

We finally got back to Batu 18 around 4.30pm. I still had enough in my legs to do a nice 10km time trial from the T-junction back to the car. I had a blast blasting down that road.

Kudos to Mac for finishing this ride when he didn't have the confidence to. It took some coaxing but he did it. Well done!

That's it for long rides. This weekend is all about the run, and then it's time to taper. These back-to-back long rides are just what I need to boost my confidence for Ironman. Finishing it suddenly seems possible now.

Now, let's not do these back-to-back rides ever again.

First Race Report of 2009

2009-01-20T11:22:00.003+08:00

GE30k.

The organisers were a little sadistic this year. There were hills, hills and more hills. According to Mac, there were 34 hills in that 30k stretch. More than one hill per km.

Anyway, it was a good race for me. Going in with a 4-hour target, I was pleasantly surprised when i crossed the line in 3h13m. Surprised, but in a lot of pain.

It seems everyone bettered their personal bests on Sunday. Senn improved her time by almost an hour while most others improved by about 15 - 30 minutes. Congratulations and well done to all the finishers, both 20 and 30k.

How to Survive Ironman Langkawi 2009

2009-01-16T01:25:00.003+08:00

No, this is not a post dispensing tips on how to get through an Ironman. This is an actual question I'm asking myself.

Come February 28, I will be attempting my third Ironman Langkawi. The first one, I DNF'ed because I just plain gave up, using cramps as an excuse. I came back the next year with a vengeance, finishing with a decent 15h33m.

Overcome with joy of having finally crossed the finish line, I decided to come back this year, with a goal of going sub-15.

Forgedaboudit.

There's just no way. The 2008 season started promising enough, with personal bests at A Famosa and Kenyir. Then came PD. And the crash. And the wrist injury. That put me off the bike and out of the water for six weeks.

Then, just prior to Powerman, I had to deal with knee issues, my ITB reminding me that I'm not all that young anymore. That made running impossible.

After Powerman, I took a two month sabbatical, to rest the knee and also to go to the Holy Land to perform my Hajj.

I just started training again. Slowly trying to build up some mileage on the bike and the run. And I do mean slowly. Swimming? Not even close.

But really, it's much too late. There's just not enough mileage and not enough time to achieve the volume required to do an Ironman.

So what to do?

Guess I'll just plod along on race day and see what happens. One thing for sure, bettering last year's time ain't going to happen. Finishing within the 17-hour cutoff also looks unlikely. Maybe I'll DNF again. Or maybe even DNS. Or maybe I'll go sub-13! Yeah... right!

Whatever it is, I'll be there in Langkawi come February 28. And come what may, it's going to be all fun in the sun!

Not So Powerman (now with pictures)

2008-11-09T22:36:00.004+08:00

I was not in the right state of mind for this race.

The events of the past week had made me physically, mentally and emotionally unfit for this race. And I knew it. Yet, like a stubborn old git, I went and did it.

Before the start, already not in the mood to race.

Race morning and my strategy was simple: race as hard as you can, harder than you've ever done, so hard that it hurts. Not the good hurt, mind you, any kind of hurt. If it hurts, maybe, just maybe, it'll take away the hurt from my heart. That's what I really needed to do.

I figured with this strategy, I'd end up with a personal best or in the hospital.

The first run went ok. No, better than ok. I was running at approximately 5:30 pace the entire 11k, and felt good. This go-harder-than-usual strategy seems to be working. And the hurt was coming fast too, but so far, it's been the good hurt. Gotta keep it up.

Going hard, faster than usual.

Pain is good.

Arrived in T1 in about 58 minutes and change, 4 minutes faster than last year. So far so good.

Got on the bike. New race wheels, new position, I was determined to go faster than last year. Last year I had to battle cramps from kilometre 10 onwards. So far this year, no cramps.

I was going as hard as I could yet, could not put out the speed I was hoping to. This seemed like the beginning of the end. And I was hurting too. My right knee was starting to stiffen up, and my neck and shoulders were killing me.

Hurting real bad up that bridge.

Still I went as hard as I could. Just kept pushing it, but the average speed was getting lower. Got off the bike in about 2h12m, 5 minutes slower than last year.

Thank God the bike leg is over.

To make things worse, when I got off the bike, my knee completely refused to work. It just wouldn't bend. I hobbled into T2 in pain and considered calling it a day.

Then I remembered the strategy, go hard till it hurts so it can take the hurt from the heart away.

So I hobbled out of T2. Perhaps not the smartest thing to do but hey, I was physically, mentally and emotianally unfit, remember?

I tried running, but it just wasn't happening. This guy sprayed something on my knee and rub it down real hard, and that seemed to work. For a while.

Suffering.

I was soon walking again. Just beyond the first drink station, I stopped and stretched my ITB. That helped, I was able to run all the way to the next water station at around 6:30-7:00 minute pace.

But as soon as I got back to the stadium, I was walking again. On the second loop, Vong showed up on his bike and gave me an ice cold can of 100Plus. Thanks Vong, you're a lifesaver.

I was later joined by Bean, Ishsal and Omar. We would walk a bit, run then walk again. Towards the end, Ish and Omar went off, and I managed to put some space on Bean. I crossed the line in a miserable 4h48m, 8 minutes slower than last year.

Hobbling to the finish line.

What a miserable 4h48m.

So did my strategy work? Of course not! I neither got a PB nor ended up in the hospital, but I was much closer to the latter. There were a couple of times out there when I thought I was going to faint. I was seeing spots and everything was spinning. And while I did hurt a lot, it never took away the hurt in my heart. Oh well, can't say I didn't try.

As I type this, my knee is in a lot of pain. As such, I will be skipping the Penang Marathon next week. I don't think my knee can endure a 42km run and I don't think I can endure another weekend like this one.

I'm also thinking this could be my last Powerman, because I'm not so Power after all...

WTF??!!

2008-10-20T12:52:00.002+08:00

It was the last two metres of the Mizuno Wave Run. Quite a number of runners were finishing about the same time, so there was a queue down the finishing chute to cross the finish line and timing mat.

I got there and patiently waited in line. However, there was a guy behind me who kept nudging me forward, as if he couldn't see the queue.

Never mind, I thought. Maybe just adrenaline.

Anyway, as we inched forward to the finish line, I sensed the guy was getting agitated. When we finally arrived at the timing mat, he snuck his foot with timing chip attached in front of me!

WTF???!!! How kiasu can you get?

We're both way out of the running to get any podium positions, our times weren't all that impressive, so is there really a need to jump queue ahead of your fellow competitor just so your name appears before mine in the official results? Would position 893 be better for you than position 894?

Frankly, I don't give a shit but I just had to blog about it because I thought it was plain rude, the running equivalent of cutting queue, and I hate queue jumpers.

Anyway, enough with the rant.

Overall I had a good run considering I had done very little running since Desaru. As usual I started at the back of the pack and I kinda enjoy this. Passing other runners makes me feel like I'm running fast.

For a while, I was pacing with AJ and Laif, but lost AJ at the water station when Laif and I stopped and AJ went on.

We caught up with him again in the final few km and Laif went off. By this time I had nothing left so just paced myself to the finish line. I did, however, maanage to pass AJ in the final km so that made me happy.

As i got into the queue, I stopped my watch at 56m04s. The official timing may say something else as I lost time at the start (from the back, it took me 3 minutes just to get to the start line!), and at the finish while queuing to get to the finish line.

This is probably the fastest I've ran a 10k, so I'm ecstatic! The route was quite challenging, double hill in reverse is a lot tougher than I thought it would be. Sure, there are more downhills this way, but the uphills were short and killer steep.

Anyway, I enjoyed the run. But woke up this morning with really sore calves. Definitely need more running mileage if I am to survive Powerman and Penang Bridge Marathon next month.

Summary

2008-10-06T15:18:00.003+08:00

Selamat Hari Raya everyone!

I haven't been updating this blog much recently so I thought I'd just put everything down in one post.

Intersate Day 3 - The Cruise into Kuantan
Having rested the day earlier, I started the day off in the front pack. It was ok for a while but when the marshall's car let us go, the speeds just went up, up, up! Senn and I were barely hanging on when all of a sudden a herd of about 20+ cows stampeded across the road. Being at the back, we had to back off and let the cows through. Senn had a near miss when the rider in front of her hit the ground. It was quite a scary experience.

We were quite glad that we lost the front pack because keeping up the speed for another 80km would have been killer. We continued on our own for a while before the next pack came to pick us up. We stayed in this pack till we got to Pekan, about 90km from the start.

After a short break, we took a leisurely ride with PK's pack, enjoying the sights along the coastal road. It was leisurely until just outside Kuantan when PK found out that Don's pack was behind us. Determined to finish ahead of Don, we cut short our rest stop in the cool confines of the Petronas station and hammered to the hotel, sprinting for every traffic light. We did get in ahead of Don, but little did we know, Don was taking it really easy that day, stopping for cendol along the way. All that effort for nothing!

Another Interstate done, here's looking forward to the next one.

Genting Ramadhan Runs/Rides
As has been tradition, the fasting month sees us back at Genting doing the night runs. There were a lot more participants this time around as the popularity of these runs is growing. On any given night, we had at least 20-30 runners, riders or walkers.

The first week, I walked but had to cut it short about 6km from the summit because my knee was in pain.

The second week I ran, but did a run/walk towards the end. Still finished the distance in about 2h40m so I was quite happy.

The third week, I rode my bike up. It was more painful than I remembered it to be. Then I found out why. From Gohtong till about 2km from the peak, I was grinding up in the wrong gear! I had three more gears to spare!

Unfortunately, there was no Fraser's midnight ride this year. Well, there was, but it rained that day so I didn't go. Oh well, maybe next year.

Hari Raya
As usual, Raya was spent in KL and the first day was quite busy. I drove more than 200km that day in and around KL. My first day had me driving from Damansara Perdana to Damansara Heights to go to the mosque and my mom's house, then to Valencia in Sungai Buloh to pick up the kids, then back to Damansara Heights to my grandmother's and auntie's house, then to PJ Section 16 to my uncle's house, then to Sungai Long to my grand-uncle's house, then back to Valencia to drop the kids back at their Atuk's house then back home. I managed to skip going to my grand-auntie's house in Ampang Jaya because I had to drop the kids off by 6pm. The best part of driving during Raya is that it is traffic free.

On the second day, my parents invited the relatives to the house. This time, there was not much driving but I was still busy playing usher, waiter and dishwasher.

After the "Open House", my parents checked into a suite at the Ritz Carlton to get away from the Raya rush. I brought the kids to stay with them on Friday night. Unfortunately for me and the kids, all the rooms were taken by my siblings, so we camped out in the den of the suite. It was quite fun staying in a hotel in KL. It made us feel like tourists!

Training Resumes
On Sunday, went for my first daytime ride in a long time. Went from Bt18 to Peres to Tekala and back to Bt18 for a planned 60k. When we got to the top of Peres, the rest of the pack decided to skip Tekala and head back to Bt18. I went on solo to Tekala to catch up with Senn, her dad and Mac who skipped Peres. It turns out the stalls at Tekala were closed so they went to a stall near Nirvana, another 4-5km away.

I met them there and we headed back. Had a good time blasting back to Bt18 from the t-junction taking turns with Senn pulling Mac back. Definitely a good ride. Can't wait to get back into training full-on.

Physio
Today (Monday) went for physio and a check-up of the wrist. Doc says wrist is fully healed and I can begin training in earnest again. Woo hoo! See you guys out there!

Tough Work Being a Route Marshall - Interstate Day 2

2008-09-08T21:50:00.001+08:00

Day two of Interstate 2008. My injured wrist took quite a beating the day before, especially going down that last, rough, bumpy descent.

I decided to rest the wrist today and ride on the final day.

So the day started with me looking for a car to ride in. I had a few offers but chose to go with Jenny in one of the Route Marshall's car since she was driving alone. But that meant I had to do some work.

Man, it's tough being a Route Marshall. Sitting in the air-conditioned car, waving your arms to show the riders wear to turn, waiting for the last rider to arrive at the critical junctions. Tough work. Made me wish I was out there riding on the relentless heat instead.

Watching the faces of the riders during the ride was interesting. At the 51km critical junction, I managed to observe all the riders as they came through.

The first pack had intensity written all over their faces. Same as the second and the third. But the later riders were all starting to show fatigue. And they still had 130 km to go!

A couple of riders were so intense that, despite a big flashing red arrow pointing let, about 10 marshalls waving and shouting "turn left!" they still went straight!

Got to the hotel in Kuala Rompin at about 12.30pm, 15 minutes after the first pack had arrived. Imagine that, I was in a car and I still arrived after the first pack. They took only five hours something to finish 178km. Apparently, they didn't make any stops at all, not even to refuel. Nutters.

With my wrist fully rested, I am now prepared for Day 3's ride.

To be continued...

The Interstate Ride Report

2008-09-04T22:41:00.003+08:00

So many things to report, I don't even know where to begin.

Let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start.

Day One
Late!

We were supposed to leave at 5am so we can get into Kajang safely by 6. We woke up at 5:15am.

Panic!

Quickly got up got ready, made alternative arrangements with Mac and Joanne in case we missed the luggage truck and headed down to Kajang. In our rush, I left my wallet and Senn hurried through putting on her contacts, which would lead to some dire consequences later.

Got to Kajang with plenty of time to spare, fortunately. The ride started and soon the rain started too.

All the way to Semenyih, we were drenched. Don took out his raincoat and it was the noisiest thing around, flapping about in wind.

By the time we got to Tekala, the rain had subsided. I managed to hang on to the front pack till we got to the dam. At the first hill, I got dropped.

The climb up Peres was quite pleasant There was a light mist hanging just above the road. A few corners from the top, I saw the front pack stopped at the side of the road. Abby, driving her dad's truck, had swerved into the drain, and the riders had just finished pulling the truck out. The only way I was going to catch up with the leaders is if they stopped.

The descent was prety scary stuff. The roads were wet and it was cold. A bunch of us decided to take it easy. Good thing we did too, because just a few corners down the road, a rider had gone into a bend too hot and went straight into a retaining wall.

By the time I got there, he was lying on the ground beside the drain, face covered in blood. Not a pretty sight.

I hung around for bit to see if any help was required. When things looked like they were under control, I made my way down, even more cautious than before.

On the flats towards Titi, I had a mountain biker in sneakers sucking my wheel. I was pedaling furiously at 40-45km/h and here he was, just tagging along. Pretty damn strong. When I opened up to let him work, he just looked at me and smiled. OK. Looks like I'm gonna have to do this on my own. Found the front group refilling at the 77km mark and stopped to join them.

By now I had found out that Senn had stopped just after her Tekala. Her contact lenses were infecting her eyes and she couldn't stop tearing. She would take the contacts out and continue, but would end up in a support car at the 66km junction.

Continued to Spg Pertang, the 91km mark. Only 40km to go. Stopped there to eat and wait for the others. Slowly, they started rolling in: Patrick, Maria, Ishsal, Clarence, Mac, Adeline, etc. Decided to join them for the rest of the journey to Bahau.

We got going again and we were faced with this bitch of a climb. It just seemed to go on forever. Just when you think you've reached the peak, you turn the corner and the road goes upwards again. And when you have a tough climb like that, you're normally rewarded with a nice descent. Not this time. The roads were rough and bumpy and all that rattling couldn't have been good for my recovering wrist. And soon we were climbing again! With already 100km in your legs, this had to be one of the toughest climbs around.

And when we finally got to some flat land, we then had a strong headwind to contend with. By now, even maintaining 25km/h was a real chore. I had nothing left and got dropped by Ishsal, Maria and Clarence. 20km to go and I was left all by my lonesome.

I caught up with Clarence with about 15km to go and we started working together. Till he had a flat. He had no spares (i used mine fixing a flat on that rough descent), so he abandoned and waited for a support car. I pushed on ahead, fighting the wind by myself. It was the longest 10km of my life.

When I got to the hotel in Bahau, I just parked my bike and lay down for a while. The wrist was hurting, the legs were stiff. I made a decision right there and then to give the next day's 178km ride a miss.

To be continued...

Confessions of a Relay Runner

2008-08-17T23:00:00.005+08:00

I did my first relay triathlon over the weekend.

Not because I wanted to. But because doc said, "No swimming or cycling while your wrist heals."

"How about running?" I asked.

"Running ok," he replied.

How heartbreaking was that? Knowing your favourite race was coming up and you can't compete.

But all was not lost. Senn came up with this brilliant idea: let's do a relay.

She swims and cycles. And I run. And we'll all ourselves Fast N Fuyoh!

And so it was I began my first triathlon as a relay runner.

Our target: 1h00m swim, a 3h30m bike, a 2h00m run for a total of 6h30m.

It was a bizarre experience. For once, as I looked upon the waves crashing along the Desaru beach, I did not have the usual butterflies in my stomach that normally appear before a swim.

Even packing for this race was bizarre. Running shoes: check. Lucky visor: check. And that's that. No bike, no cycling shoes, no goggles.

The race started with the mad rush going into the South China Sea. And I was glad I was not part of that rush. Yet, at the same time, I was wishing I was.

Senn did a respectable 59 minute swim (much better than my 1:09 last year) and things were looking good.

Off on the bike and I was starting to get very nervous. It's very nerve-wracking knowing that whatever happens out on the bike is not within your control. I really don't know how the other relay athletes do it.

Her first loop she clocked a 1h09m. Very good. We were on target.

Her second loop was a 1h14m. Oh-oh, it was beginning to slip away. The good news, though, was that she was closing in on CK, who was seven minutes ahead at the end of the first loop. He was now only one minute ahead.

Her third loop was a stormer. This was when she decided to drop the hammer. She finished the third loop in one hour flat for a bike split of 3h23m! We were way ahead of schedule.

Buoyed by her brilliant performance on the last loop, I grabbed the wristband from her and sprinted through transition. I set off at a pace way beyond what I was capable of. I knew if I kept this pace up, I would be in trouble towards the end.

But for some reason I kept it up. I was pacing with two other runners and we made it the turnaround (about 1.5k) in under 7 minutes. At 3k, only 15 minutes had expired. I was running a 5 minute pace! Unbelievable!

I slowed down just a tad because I knew if I kept that pace, I'd be crawling across the finish line.

Yet, there was this pressure to keep going. Because I didn't want to let Senn, who did a brilliant job on the swim and bike, down. So I kept going. Adzim later remarked that I looked like I was hunting someone down!

And so, I kept going, passing runner after runner. This too was an unusual experience for me. Very few passed me, yet I was passing people left, right and centre. Of course, the fact that I had fresh legs probably had something to do with it.

I finished the first loop in 56 minutes and wondered when it was going to all fall apart. I thought the hill at the far and of the course would do it, but it didn't. I just shut my eyes and gave it all I had. And before I knew it, I had gone over the hill.

The final four kilomteres. I kept going. It was tunnel vision. I only had the finish line in my mind.

Finally, I heard the music from the finish line, I could hear MC Lan welcoming the runners back. Then Senn was running alongside me. Then I saw the finishing chute, the finish line. I picked up the pace. I sprinted and it was all over. 1h55m21s. A personal best by a good 23 minutes!

So that was the story of my first relay tri. And hopefully, my last.

It was probably too long and not very good but I just had the best run of my life so please humour me!

Proud Daddy!

2008-08-14T17:08:00.006+08:00

Shafeeq, my eldest, came back from computer class today and said he wanted to show me his movie on YouTube.

I'm like, "You have a movie on YouTube?"

He's like "Yup!"

He wrote, directed, shot, edited and constructed the props. And he's only 9 years old!

So without further ado:

Pizza Battle

(Sorry, can't embed the movie, so please click on the link.)

adidas King of the Road... not!

2008-08-11T13:13:00.002+08:00

The adidas King of the Road was nowhere near worthy of being a King.

It was a badly run event. No water, no distance markers, very few medics.

Before the race started, we were herded into the kandang like a bunch of schoolchildren. Even the short briefing given was like a headmaster addressing his students.

The race went underway and as usual, I started off the back. We came to the first aid station and they only had isotonic drinks. Never mind. Downed a couple fo cups and went on my way.

Pretty soon, it looked like there was going to be no water at any of the aid stations. They alternated between 100plus and sponges. And the sponges weren't even cold.

I got to one aid station and it said 12km to go. I was happy. 10km in 55 minutes. Not too bad. If I can keep up this pace or even do a negative split, I may just come in under two hours. Or so I thought.

When we got to the next aid station, the sign there said 12km to go. Eh??? WTF? Apparently, the earlier sign was wrong. It looked like the organisers were really fucking with our minds. By now 1h10m had elapsed. So much for coming in under two hours.

Then at the next aid station, I was really thirsty (the previous one only had lukewarm sponges). But alas, that station had run out of drinks! Luckily for me, Rashid was with me at the time and he had cash, so we crossed the road to the Shell station and got a can of 100plus and a bottle of mineral water each. Thanks Rashid, I owe you one.

We must have been about 12 - 15k into the run at this point (I couldn't tell, there were no distance markers, remember?) and I still hadn't seen any medic teams. Not that I needed medical help but it would have been assuring to see some.

By now, the splint on my left arm was starting to get heavy. So were my legs. I could feel blisters on my left foot. Maybe taking the Zoot shoes sockless wasn't such a good idea.

Caught up with Abu in the final kilometre. The boy was pissed off that there was no water throughout the run course. "Korang pergi dululah. Aku dah tak semangat nak lari," ("You guys go ahead. I have no mood to run anymore!") was his words when I met him.

At last, there was another distance marker. It said "500m to finish". So I picked up the pace a bit.

Bluffers!

It was more like a kilometre to go. Should have known. That final roundabout just saps your energy and the finish was on a slight uphill.

Crossed the line with a 2h22m22s. Picked up my medal (which was still wrapped in plastic) and my cert (which I had to fill in myself). How absolutely motivating! Yu run 22.7km and you still have to fill up your cert yourself. The least they could do was put your distance in. But no, they left the distance portion blank, so you can pretty much fill in whatever distance you like.

Last year's event was much better organised. There were distance markers every 5km, and water was plenty. If they are going to keep having this event, they better buck up.

Having said that, there were some positives. For one, the weather was good, overcast the whole time. And I did get a good workout.

But really, an event with such a world-class brand at the helm could have been much, much better.

rant

2008-08-06T11:34:00.002+08:00

injuries suck.

going for physio sucks.

paying for physio sucks.

staying off the bike sucks.

/rant

Rancangan Tergendala

2008-07-28T18:16:00.005+08:00

So I go to the KL Sports Medicine Centre to have my wrist looked at. Met Dr. Ranjit, a hand specialist, and he recommended an MRI and an X-ray.

I go down to the imaging department to do an MRI. If ever you need to do mental training for an Ironman, get an MRI done. It was the most mental thing in the world. Imagine, you're lying there and you can't move.And they put you in the most uncomfortable position. Then there's the noise, this mind-numbing, throbbing noise. And this goes on for at least half an hour.

It's also good training for your aero position. You have to stay put no matter how uncomfortable it gets.

Anyway, the first scan was no good because i apparently moved. So I had to do a second scan. By the end of it I was begging for it to stop.

After about 50 gruelling minutes, it did stop. Went out for lunch and then back to the doctor for the diagnosis. Bad news. Doc wasn't happy with the MRI and I had to go do it again.

So anyway, after three MRI scans, I was told that, yes, my wrist is swollen and that i tore a tendon. It was a peripheral tear of the triangular fibrocartilage (TFC). It was most likely caused by the hard impact of crashing on the tarmac at 40km/h.

For it to heal properly, I have to limit movement to my wrist. So now my left arm, up to my elbow, is in a splint. That means no swimming, no cycling.

For three months.

So there goes Desaru. And there goes Interstate. Hopefully, I can be back in time for Powerman.

But by then I would have lost three months of training for Ironman. Great. Just when I'm about to start training for it.

And it looks like Josie's new shoes debut will have to wait. Oh ya, here's what they look like:

And to rub more salt into the wound, my team CSC cycling jersey and bibs arrived today.
Sigh...

Deja Vu (The PD Race Report)

2008-07-21T20:07:00.005+08:00

The Port Dickson International Triathlon 2008 played out like last year. You can read about that here.

It was like deja vu. Thought I had a bad swim but, like last year, was pleasantly surprised to see a time of 32m36s when I came out of the water. Like last year, I exited the water with Stupe and ran with him into T1.

Coming into T1. Happy at the 32:36 swim. A PB there.

Had a quick T1, then was off on my bike. Again, like last year, I caught on a train at 2km, this time led by Stephanie Chok, and got dropped at 5km. Then rode solo for 10km before a big, big train came by. I caught this one, driven by the illustrious Sam Pritchard, alnd followed it all the way back up until the last km of the bike.

That's when it happened.

We had just gone round the roundabout and everyone was jockeying for position for the final dash to T2. We were going about 40km/h+ when, unsighted by the rider in front, I hit a pothole. Next thing I knew I was flung forward and I felt my hands slip off the bars. At that point, I still thought I could save it but then I felt my torso on my aerobars and my right foot clicking out of the pedals.

Next thing I knew, I was in the air and hit the ground hard. I have no idea what happened to the bike but I was sliding on the tarmac on my belly. I could actually feel my skin being scraped off my elbows and knees.

Once I stopped, I was sitting on the ground right in the path of the other cyclists. Afraid I might get hit, I raised both my arms, trying to warn the other approaching riders. When it was clear, I got up and looked around for Josie.

Surprisingly, my first thought wasn't "How's the bike?" Nor was it "Shit! Am I injured?" Instead it was "Damn! There goes my personal best!" You, see at that point I was on target for a PB. The swim was fast, my bike was going to be under 1h10m and my legs were still fresh enough for a potential 50 minute run. But all that came crashing down along with me and Josie.

I got up. I was a little disoriented by the whole thing. A traffic policeman was talking to me but I couldn't really make out what he was saying. Of all things, I was asking him to get my water bottle which fell off the bike. He said don't worry about the bottle, worry about yourself first.

I calmed down, assessed the damage and decided to continue, at least back to transition. But the cop wouldn't let my bike go. He kept asking if I was sure I wanted to go on. I insisted on continuing and he relented. He went to get my bottle and I was off again.

Got on the bike and started riding. But the bike felt sluggish. I thought, that's it. Josie is terminally damaged. But then I realised it was only a flat tire. I took off my shoes and ran the bike back to T2. By then I had wasted a good 15 minutes.

Running the final kilometre into T2. If you look closely, you can see the exposed skin on my left knee.

Got into T2 and I was furious. Furious at myself for crashing, furious at the time lost running back to T2, furious I lost any chance of getting a PB. But screw it, I was going to get that medal. Threw my bike on the rack, threw my helmet into the basket, got my shoes on and left. All in 35 seconds.

Powered by fury and adrenaline, I ran. By the first kilometre, the wounds were starting to sting. I wanted to wash it with water at the first water station but they ran out. Up the hill at the highway and I was in pain. So I started walking. And that's how it was for the first five kilometres, when the road pointed upward slightly, I walked. When it flattened out or went down, I ran.

At the turnaround, there was an ambulance. I decided to stop there and get my wounds treated. Another 10 minutes gone. But, after that, there was no more stinging pain. I managed to run all the way back to the roundabout and that was it. I had nothing left. It was a slow walk/run slog back.

Finally, I got to the finishing chute. Whatever I had left, I put it into the final dash to the line. I even managed to overtake someone in the final few metres.

I crossed the line in with a 1h13m run for a total time of 3h08m, 28 minutes slower than my target.

Finishing the most painful race I've ever done.

It was the most painful medal I've ever earned.

After the race I went to the medical tent and found out that a lot of people had crashed in the same spot, including Randy. Randy's injury looked a lot worse than mine and his bike sustained far more damage than Josie. And he still finished in 2h31m. I'm telling you, that guy is from a different planet.

Well, that about sums up my PD tri. Looks like the PB is going to have to wait another year.

Battlescars

2008-07-20T18:37:00.004+08:00

Following my crash at the Port Dickson International Triathlon, here are the damages done to me and Josie.

To me:
My left knee.

My left elbow.

My right elbow.

To Josie:
Shifters

Saddle on the left.

Handlebar.

Saddle on the right.

Rear Derailleur.

Apart from that my left wrist is a little swollen, and there are scratches on both my palms and left thigh.

What can I say? Shit happens during races. Anyway, stay tuned for full race report to find out what happened.

Allow me to introduce you...

2008-07-16T00:19:00.003+08:00

... to Josie.

She'll be making her debut in PD. Do say "hello" when you see her.

Three Hours... Almost (The Kenyir Tri Race Report)

2008-07-07T14:53:00.004+08:00

The Kenyir Lake International Triathlon or KLIT (I dare you to read out that acronym) has been around for four years now and I've participated in all of them except for the inaugural one in 2005. Billed as the toughest Olympic Distance Triathlon in Malaysia, it certainly lives up to its name with its undulating bike and run course.

My results there have been less than stellar, clocking in times on the high side of three hours. In 2006, I came in at 3h27m, 2007 I recorded a pathetic 3h33m. In 2008, I again didn't manage to break three hours, but I was a lot closer this time around.

Swim
For some reason, the bouys looked further apart than in previous years, which led most of us into thinking that maybe the course is slightly longer this year. Whatever it is, all 150 or so of the participants had to do the same course so might as well just get on with it.

Normally, my slow swim means that I'll be in the battles at the beginning of the swim leg, then as the faster swimmers get ahead, I'll be left all by my lonesome. Not this time though. I got kicked, shoved, pushed throughout the 1.5km, which meant that I was keeping pace with the pack. Good news.

Then I got out and saw my time. Bad news. 37 minutes. Two slower than last year. And I thought I had a good swim. Never mind. Forget the swim, concentrate on the rest of the race. This is when I hit the stop button instead of the Lap button on my stopwatch. I only realized it later, which means that about 3-4 minutes of my race weren't recorded.

T1
As I entered T1, I saw the likes of Shazly, Adzim and Michelle, fast swimmers as far as I'm concerned. They were leaving T1 as I got to my bike. Which meant my swim wasn't all that bad at all.

Bike
Off on the bike, and the first thing we had to do was climb this massive hill. I normally leave my shoes on the bike but because of that hill, I decided to put them on in T1. I may lose some time in T1 but at least I didn't have to pedal on top of my shoes up that hill.

By the time I got to the top, my thighs were burning. Not a good way to start a 40km bike, followed by a 10km run. Got onto the main road and Zabil zipped by me, inviting me to draft his wheel. I immediately jumped on and followed him for about a kilometre before my legs said, "Wei! What are you trying to do?! Still got to run after this you know!" So I eased off.

Played cat and mouse with an elderly Thai guy. Riding a tri bike, he naturally got dropped when the road pointed upwards, but when the road was flat or downhill, he would promptly overtake me again. Finally managed to drop him on that long, sustained climb before the turnaround.

Hit the turnaround at 46 minutes. The trip back was definitely quicker. Got back in about 36 minutes. Somehow, somewhere I hit a max speed of 72.2km/h. Must be going down one of those steep hills.

The journey back was without incident, and I finally got to that final hill before T2. Man, was I glad I brought the American Classic wheels with the 27t cog. Even with that, it was still a grind up that hill. Got to the top, took my shoes off and coasted into T2 with a 1h22m bike split, a whopping 20 minute savings from last year.

T2
Ran into T2, racked up the bike, took off the helmet, put on my Zoot Ultra Race shoes and ran out. The whole thing played out in a mere 35 seconds. Thank you Zoot for making such a wonderful shoe.

Run
The plan was to run the entire first loop, then maybe allow myself to walk up some of the steep slopes on the second. Plan was going good for a while.

Saw Shazly just ahead of me approaching the first water station then overtook him as we passed the entrance to the resort. I thought to myself if I keep this up, I might finally finish ahead of him. The I got to the final hill on the loop and as much as I wanted to run up it, my legs just couldn't do it. I saw people ahead of me walking and I still couldn't catch up to them while running so I decided to just walk/run up it. Finished the first loop in about 29 minutes.

On the second loop, Shazly passed me at almost the same spot I passed him earlier. There goes my chance of beating him in an Olympic Distance race. By now I was forced to walk up the hills because my legs just couldn't take it anymore. The mind was willing but the legs just said "stop!" Anyway, the second loop took me about 31 minutes to finish. I was a good 16 minutes ahead of my time last year.

I crossed the line and my watch said 2h59m. Add to that the extra 3-4 minutes that wasn't recorded means I did the race in about a 3h03m. Just three minutes over the golden three hour mark. Arrrrghhh...

All in all, it was a massive improvement from last year. And i didn't feel as beat up. I'm very happy with my performance but a little disappointed that I didn't manage to run the entire run leg. And I'm also a little disappointed that I didn't manage to break three hours. So close yet so far. Oh well, at least I have an excuse to come back next year. I need to beat this run course.

Way Out of My League

2008-06-23T12:35:00.002+08:00

My exact thoughts when I rolled up to the start line of the Malaysian National Road Race Championship.

Here I was, an average rider at best, lining up against the state riders from all over the country! At that moment, I knew I was in over my head. What the hell did I get myself into?

The race started and I had trouble clipping in my left foot. I looked down for a split second to get my foot in, looked up and the peloton was gone. Just like that.

I chased them down and managed to catch them before the first corner. Shifted into the big ring and tailed them comfortably at 40km/h.

Then came this short, sharp hill. And the peloton was still traveling at the same speed. I held on for dear life till we reached the top, then it was down the highway off-ramp towards Sepang. The peloton made the right turn, then everyone got up and sprinted away. I was following them, my legs turning the pedals furiously. I looked at my speedo: 56km/h! Holy shit!

And yet, the pack was pulling away from me. I was doing more than 50km/h and these guys were still pulling away! What the hell?!

At this point, I looked around me and saw some familiar faces: PK and Mong among others. We decided to dial it down a bit. At this intensity, we would not survive the 140km race distance.

So there we were, dropped at 3km!

PK, Mong, two others (sorry forgot your names) and I started working together in a paceline. We were pulling each other at a steady 35km/h. The race course took us through some really scenic countryside but we weren't able to really enjoy the scenery. We went from Bandar Baru Salak Tinggi, through Sepang, Kg Sg. Pelek, Bagan Lalang then back towards Salak Tinggi.

When we realised that we were doubling back, we decided to just head back to Salak Tinggi and call it quits. We weren't tired or anything, just decided that we've had enough. At this point, we had also lost our support car, Senn had apparently missed a turn and was headed to Morib! Very poor marshalling and route marking by the organisers, which happened to be the MNCF.

When we got back to Salak Tinggi, we found that a lot of other riders had the same idea we had. They were all sitting nicely at the coffee shop waiting for their teammates to finish the race.

About an hour after we stopped, the first of the riders arrived. It was a bit of an anti-climax to be honest. There was no bunch sprint. The three leading riders rode past the finish line side-by-side.

Apparently, there was absolutely no strategy invloved in this race. The peloton simply chased down every breakaway. Didn't even look like there was any teamwork, it was each man for himself. While I'm impressed by these rider's speed, their race management and tactics need to be worked on. Their tactic seemed to be attack from the start.

So that's how my first bike race ended, with a DNF. Having said that, I did record some personal bests, including:
Fastest ever speed on flats: 56.3km/h
Fastest 40k: 1h11m
Fastest average speed: 34km/h

Plus I had a good workout and a good ride. In all we covered 63km, which is pretty decent for a Sunday ride.

For sure it was a new experience for me, a humbling one at that. But I'm not sure it's an experience I'd like to repeat.

My 15 Minutes of Fame

2008-06-16T11:29:00.000+08:00

I was in the papers on Sunday. Have a look
here.

Climb Every Mountain...

2008-06-09T17:58:00.003+08:00

Three different climbs over four weeks.

Genting, Cameron, Frasers.

That's what you get for hanging out on bicyclebuysell.com. For those who don't know, that's a website where you can buy and sell used bike parts. The webmaster, Kevin, is a mountain goat who simply loves it when the road points upwards. Forget King of the Mountains, this guy is the God of Mountains!

Anyway, my legs are tired.

Can we go somewhere flat next? Please?

Punishment

2008-06-04T14:27:00.003+08:00

To punish myself for skipping two 21km runs two Sundays in a row, I went out on a 16km run on Monday.

Man, that was painful.

The first 12km or so was okay, but stupidly, I didn't bring any water or money so I could buy drinks along the way. The last 4km, I was knocking on the doors of Bonk City. Throat was dry, muscles aching. So desperate was I to quench my thirst, I had actually considered drinking from a puddle. But refrained I did and finally made it back to the car for some much needed refreshment.

Part two of the punishment came last night. Tuesday night ride was rained out so I headed to Bike Boutique. They were having an indoor training session so I joined them. I have never ever gone for spin or RPM classes so this was a new experience for me. And boy, was it a painful one.

Hooked my bike up to the indoor trainer and off we went, with Terry, Lim, and Chin Hoe yelling instructions. Every once in a while, they would yell out the cadence we were supposed to spin, and which gear we were supposed to be in: 70rpm, 90rpm, 80rpm, 100rpm, big ring, 70rpm, shift down two gears, 110rpm. The session lasted 45 minutes. 45 minutes of pain.

Today, I can barely walk. But I still went to the gym for an easy 15 minute treadmill run at a 6:00 pace and am contemplating a 10k run this evening.

I think maybe I've punished myself enough.

DNS

2008-05-25T14:12:00.002+08:00

For the first time since I started this swim bike run madness, I did not start a race that I had registered and paid for.

There are many excuses for my no show. One of them was my stiff right ankle, which started giving me sharp, shooting pain on my treadmill run on Friday and got worse 2km into my Double Hill run on Saturday.

Another excuse was that this weekend was one of those rare occasions that I had the kids over for the entire weekend and I'd much rather spend Sunday morning with them instead of slogging it out running 21km.

Both legit excuses, but in reality, I was just plain lazy. I woke up at the requisite time, then lay in bed contemplating whether to go or not. Before I knew it, it was 5:30am and it was just too late for me to go. So it was back to dreamy-dream land for me.

All wasn't wasted though. I woke up at 9:30am, and Senn and I took the boys to the National Science Centre. The boys enjoyed themselves even though most of the exhibits weren't working. In the end, I spent some quality time with them and that is far more satisfying than getting a personal best at a half marathon.

Personal Best

2008-05-20T10:25:00.009+08:00

A new, easier route this year. The target was to beat last year's 1h41m and I managed it comfortably with a personal best (according to my watch) 1h30m. This despite the congestion early on in the run. Quite happy. Especially since i finished ahead of Adrian, something I've never been able to do.

Thanks to Tey for the pictures.

Something interesting happened during the run. While huffing and puffing up one of the hills in Bukit Tunku, I was greeted by a reader of this blog whom I've not previously met. I felt honoured because I didn't realise that my blog was read by anyone else apart from my friends. Eugene, if you're reading this, thanks for dropping by and please do leave a comment once in a while. I hope you did well on your run.

Season Opener

2008-05-12T11:24:00.007+08:00

The 2008 tri season started over the weekend.

But it wasn't the best of starts to the weekend. As I was leaving for Malacca, I got a phone call from Shazly telling me of a massive traffic jam on the way to Alor Gajah. Apparently, a truck had overturned and was blocking the highway. Traffic was at a standstill all the way to Nilai. Not good since I was registered to do the sprint at 4.30pm.

Fortunately, thanks to my new GPS and Mac's intimate knowledge of the back roads, we managed to get to A Famosa in good time. Mac, Adeline and I arrived at about 2.15pm, which gave me plenty of time to register, check in and prep for the race.

There were a lot of kids at the sprint, which is only good for the tri scene in Malaysia. They were given a five minute headstart and only had to do one loop of the bike course instead of two.

After they were let off, it was time for the adults to go. The swim was extended 100m from last year to 500m. The water seemed a lot filthier than years past, and a lot smellier. I had a stuffed nosed and could still smell the stench! (How filthy was the water? After the Oly distance race, my trisuit was filled with debris from the water, including a snail shell!) Anyway, having not done much swim training, it was a bit of a struggle for me to finish the swim. Got out in 13m20s.

Out of breath, I couldn't even run to transition. After a quick 2m30s T1, I was off on the bike. The bike course took us two rounds around the resort. The first loop was easy but the second loop got a bit tough. Winds were strong out on the main road which made it a bit tougher. Finished the 18km bike leg in 32m42s.

Spent 1m32s in T2 and I was off for the 3k run. Struggled a little bit for the first km. Legs felt like jelly and my calves felt like they were going to cramp. But about 5 minutes into the run, I started getting into a nice rhythm and managed to finish the run in 15m24s, giving me a total time of 1h05m40s and 13th place.

The official results say 1h10m36s but i think they didn't subtract the five minute headstart for the kids. Anyway, it was pretty much the same time as last year but with an extended swim and run loop. So there was a bit of an improvement.

The next day, it was the main event. There were more people this year than in previous years which can only mean that triathlons are gaining in popularity. I rolled into the transition area seeing familiar faces and not-so-familiar faces.

Because of the increase in the number of participants, the swim start was chaotic. There was bumping and shoving and kicking. It was scary stuff.

After about 5 minutes, I managed to find some space and got into a nice rhythm. But that wouldn't last long. Every time I got to a turn bouy, the crowd would come again. And the kicking and shoving would start again. I managed to draft off of Dicky for a while and that helped quite a bit. Finally got out of the water in 39m40s. Slow, but ok.

A quick 2m40s T1 and it was off on the bike. The course was rolling for about the first 7km and I struggled a bit up the hills. But going down hill and the flats, I managed to average out at about 38-40km/h. Thanks to Mac for loaning me his Continental GP4000s tyres for the weekend. The weather was good for racing, with a little drizzle falling during the bike leg. That made the going easier. Having said that, My legs were quite spent and I wondered how I was going to do the run leg.

1h19m06s later, I rolled into T2. Spent 1m26s in transition and I was off for the run. Again, it started very dlowly but I gradually got into a rhythm. I was surprised that I was actually passing people on the run, not something I'm able to do. Sure, I got passed as well but I was passing people more than getting passed! What a strange new experience. Most notably, I passed Abu. In his defense, he had stomach problems, but I'll take it anyway I can get it! Under normal circumstances, this would never happen, he's just too fast for me.

Anyway, as I came back into the resort, I found out we had to run that extra bit to the clubhouse (during the briefing Mr. Chan said no need, so now I'm wondering if there's any point going to the briefing). At this point, I kissed my sub-3 hour goal good-bye. There was no way I could do the extra loop and make it to the finish line on time. Fortunately, the last km was downhill, so I managed to pick up my pace a bit and finished the run in 55m39s.

Total time (unofficial) was 2h58m33s. I still managed to go under 3 hours! But only just. It was a 12 minute improvement from last year but honestly, I was hoping for a bigger improvement. Just goes to show how important training is. Admittedly, I didn't do much of it, preferring to concentrate on running And even then, I didn't do much running Post-IM laziness, I suppose. Having said that, my run had the biggest improvement among the three disciplines.

Later, Shazly, Azmar, CK and I went out to look for Upiq, who was starting his very first tri. I first met Upiq last year during the nutters' run up to Genting. He was overweight and I was thinking, "No Way!" But he persevered and against the odds, managed to go all the way up to GohTong Jaya, 11km uphill. At A Famosa, he had lost a lot of weight but he still had that determination and perseverance that brought him to Genting.

We saw him at about 4km to the finish. He looked beat but was determined to go on. He was struggling but, against all odds, he did finish. Upiq, if you're reading this, you are truly inspiring.

P/S: A big thanks to Big Mac for the pictures and for driving me home yesterday.

The 2008 Tri Season is Here at Last!

2008-05-07T13:46:00.002+08:00

A Famosa Tri is this weekend. And I'm not prepared at all.

Being overly ambitious, I registered for both the sprint and the Oly. I foresee a weekend of suffering.

For all those going, good luck and race safe. See you there!

Giselle's Debut

2008-04-21T08:41:00.002+08:00

There's no better place to introduce Giselle to the world than at our happy hunting ground, the Broga loop. Since PCC, KOTRT, MKH, P2K and a whole bunch of others were out there on Sunday, it would make a fitting debut for her.

Unfortunately, what may sound like a good idea at the beginning may not always be at the end.

We started at Tekala and as I took Giselle out of the car, there were some oohs and ahhs. She looked splendid in her all-white livery and because it was her debut, i kitted her out with the Zipps and the 23t cassette on her feet. She started blushing as the compliments flowed in.

We rolled out of Tekala, and she was all business, sticking to the front pack all the way to Lenggeng. At this point, Giselle was brimming with pride, and so was I. Never before have i rolled into a regrouping point with the front pack. I'm pretty sure Giselle's used to it. Pretty soon, the other riders who started from Bt14 showed up and Lenggeng looked like a Village Depart of a Tour de France stage. We felt it was getting crowded, so we left early.

This is where it started to get pear-shaped though. For this is when the road started pointing upwards. Up the first short, steep climb, Giselle performed brilliantly. Up the second, I started to fade. Giselle was urging me on, but my legs couldn't take it. She started to shake her head, embarassed. As we peaked the second climb, she insisted on showing me what she can do, taking me down the descent at 70km/h!

But the final straw must have been going up Bukit Tangga. As I was struggling up this climb, Giselle urging me on, I was given a push by William Mok on his scooter. It was a nice gesture, immediately bringing my speed up from 13km/h to 26 but Giselle just couldn't take it. She was embarrassed beyond words. I'm sure she must be thinking, "My siblings get to ride with Credit Agricole. I get stuck with this loser!"

So embarrassed was she, that we zipped down the descent at break-neck speed and maintained a steady pace all the way into Kelawang. This has not been a good ride for either of us so far.

After a quick refuel and refill, I headed off towards the dreaded 14km climb that is Peres with three others. As the road to the Peres foothill was relatively flat, with some slight undulations, I used this opportunity to let my legs recover and burn off some excess lactic acid. As soon as we hit the foothills, I began dropping my three companions with ease. Giselle's head suddenly propped up! "What's this?" she said, "We're finally dropping people now!"

And so it began, her ruthless climb up that hill. Sure, we still got passed by the likes of P2K and Letua, but that's alright, we were doing some passing of our own. Giselle was relentless, chewing up the riders who were falling by the wayside. The heat and fast pace earlier on had taken a toll on many riders and now they were paying for it.

We breezed up to the Peres Spa and Waterfall Resort. We took a quick stop there so that I could refresh myself. A lot of other riders had the same thought and there was a little party going on there. Feeling better, Giselle and I continued. We started catching and passing riders who passed us while we were stopped at the waterfall. We just kept going and going, even passing her twin, which made her feel even better! The highlight must have been passing a certain bike shop owner. The pride she must have felt!

Finally, we reached the top. We stopped for a quick drink before she decided to reward me with one of the best descents I've ever experienced. She was so smooth around the corners, gripping them like she was on rails. There was no wobble, no shakes, just smoothness rounding every corner. She just gave me the confidence to not even touch the brakes as we headed down. I was duly impressed.

We finally arrived at Tekala before 2pm. Senn was already there waiting for us. Unfortunately, she and Miss Diva had to pull out of the ride early because she wasn't feeling so well. So she took on the duties of support car driver and did a good job, picking up riders who couldn't continue anymore.

In the end, we were both pretty satisfied with the ride. This being my first long ride since Ironman and the fact that she should have been wearing the 25t Ksyriums instead of the 23t Zipps, there was not much more we could have done. I was amazed at how well she handles, I've never experienced anything quite like it before. Today, my legs are feeling the burn, but I hope that soon I will be the rider worthy of Giselle's prowess.

Finally!

2008-04-19T12:36:00.002+08:00

I finally broke the one hour mark for Double Hill today.

But only just.

59m39s.

Previous PB was about 1h05m. Very happy!

The Reluctant Run

2008-04-14T12:49:00.004+08:00

Woke up to the sound of pouring rain. And SMS beeps enquiring as to whether we should still go for the Orange Run since it was raining. None of us really wanted to go but since we were up already we decided to go anyway, but instead of running there as planned, we drove there. Stupe picked us up in front of my guardhouse and away we went.

By the time we got there, the race had already begun. We had about three minutes of catching up to do. Fortunately for us, most were already walking early on, so we caught up with the main bunch just after Tesco.

Stupe kept an easy pace throughout but I was pushing like mad to keep up. We were chit-chatting most of the way, although Stupe was the one doing most of the talking, I was out of breath!

We stopped at the water station at 5k to wait for Senn. We continued the run at about the same pace, winding through the roads near Tropicana, then through Bandar Utama.

As we approached the finish line, we saw PM Tey snapping pictures, so we doubled back to have our picture taken! Such cam-whores!

Finally, we crossed the line in about 55 minutes, which was kinda disappointing for a 9k run. But after checking the distance on Stupe's Ipod and another Garmin 305 as well as mapmyrun.com, we found out the distance was actually 9.9km. So the time wasn't all that bad after all.

Orange Run
Find more Runs in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Overall, I'm getting happier with my runs. I used to average about 7min/km but I can see an improvement over the last few runs. I'm actually able to get under a 6-minute pace for shorter runs and my KLIM half marathon pace was just above 6 minutes. If i can keep this up and maintain a 5.5min/km for those olympic distance tris, 6min/km for half ironman distance and 6.5min/km for ironman distance, I'll be a happy puppy.

Living Vicariously Through My Kids

2008-04-07T10:06:00.002+08:00

In my two years doing triathlons, I've never made it to the podium of any race and I most likely never will. So when Shaqeel got second and Shafeeq third at the TriKids triathlon at UPNM yesterday, I was ecstatic! I think I was happier than they were!

Must have been the proudest moment of my life. Well done boys, I'm proud of you guys.

LOOK at what the cat dragged in...

2008-04-05T15:21:00.002+08:00

I ain't complainin' :)

Better than Expected

2008-03-31T11:15:00.003+08:00

Last week's panic attack about the KLIM half proved unfounded. Surprisingly, I didn't suffer as much as I thought I would.

I'm also quite pleased with my time. Although I missed my initial target of 2h10m, I managed to meet and exceed my revised target of please-let-me-just-finish-within-cutoff by quite a margin.

Some notable observations:
- Senn ran with angel wings on her back. She was playing guardian angel to Mac and Jo.
- Some dude showed up in a Spiderman suit, complete with mask! Dude must have been hot as hell!
- Another dude ran in tight-fitting jeans and Doc Marts.
- The 5km mark wasn't really 5km. It didn't take into account the extra 2km loop we had to do at the beginning.
- Ditto the 7.5km and the 10km mark.
- The East-West link highway after Menara Seputih is uphill. Always felt flat in a car.
- The Sungei Besi airport runway is damn long! We were running alongside it and it just seemed to go on forever.
- Running near a cemetery during Qing Ming is not a good idea. The traffic was so bad that we had to run between cars sometimes.
- Overtaking Stephanie Chok at Jalan Imbi was a highlight. Though it must be said, she was probably taking it easy and I was going flat out!
- The adidas climacool shower on Sultan Ismail was a welcome treat.
- There was a traffic jam of runners from Jalan Imbi onwards where the half route merged with the 10kand the 7k route.
- The guy at the last water station said "last 3km" but it was actually a lot less than that. It was more like 1km to go.
- The 10k runners' finish was an anti-climax. Instead of powering through the line, arms raised, they had to line-up to cross the line.
- The organisers really discriminate the 10k, 7k runners from the half and full marathon runners. I sat down to dip my feet in the post-race recovery area but they wouldn't even let Senn (who ran the 10k) into the area.

So, I've survived the KLIM half. What's next?

Uh Oh...

2008-03-25T11:04:00.005+08:00

I'm in trouble.

Went for a one hour run on the treadmill yesterday. And got my ass kicked big time.

Stepped off the treadmill and the room was spinning. Got back home and almost passed out. Not good.

Although I did manage to cover 10k, I was left exhausted and in pain the whole day. I guess this is what happens when you do absolutely nothing since Ironman.

I'm now re-adjusting my KL Half Marathon target from 2h10m to please-let-me-just-finish-within-cutoff!

On Top of the World

2008-03-21T10:51:00.012+08:00

That's us at the top of Mount Kinabalu, the highest peak in Malaysia, but it could have been the highest peak in the world as far as we were concerned.

On March 14, 20 of us from PCC decided to do something a little different. Instead of the usual 70km-150km bike ride, we decided to abandon the bikes and shorten the distance to a measly 10.7km. Although the distance was a lot shorter than we were accustomed to, we also had to put up with over 2000m of vertical ascent. That's what it takes to get to the top of Low's Peak, the highest point on Mount Kinabalu. The 20 intrepid adventurers were: Bunny, Cass, Brandon, James, Christina, Ivan, Annie Chee, Demi, William, Jesster, O'Niell, Soh, Selina, Annie Soh, BK, Alice, Alex, Jaime, Senn and me.

But before the serious business of Kinabalu, we had some fun.

On Day One we went white-water rafting. It was my first time doing it and I was really nervous. On the bus to the river, they showed a video of the wild rapids and rafts capsizing, throwing it's occupants like lifeless ragdolls into the water. Scary. So I psyched myself up to get dunked. In fact, I started wishing to get dunked.

When we got to the river, the water level wasn't very high, therefore the rapids weren't as wild. Phew! In fact, it was getting a little boring. We got wet, but it wasn't the soaking I was anticipating. That would change soon, however. While negotiating one of the rapids we went towards the riverbank. We hit a rock and flipped! For a split second, I didn't know which way was up, which way was down. I didn't know how deep I was. I didn't know how much air I had in my lungs. It was a scary moment. But soon, my head broke the surface and I started body rafting downstream. It was quite an experience and one I would gladly do again.

Day Two, we went island hopping. We visited two islands whiche were supposed to be part of a marine park. Unfortunately, it was filthy! There was rubbish strewn about; Senn even saw a used diaper floating in the water. It was rather disappointing.

In the afternoon, we went to the Poring Hot Springs. Having had enough of water, Senn and I decided to skip dipping in the springs and hike up the canopy walkway instead, to sort of prepare od for the assault on Kinabalu the next day. It was a nice hike, especially when we got to the suspended walkways. The highest point was about 90m off the ground.

After the springs, we moved on to the Mesilau Nature Resort. This is where we will be staying for the night and is our starting point for the climb the next day.

The next morning, we woke up, had breakfast and went to the gate for the briefing. This first part of the climb is around 8km long and will take us to base camp at Laban Rata. The guides estimate we would be doing about 1km/h, so our ETA would be about 4pm or so. The reason for taking the longer Mesilau trail, as opposed to the Timpohon trail, was Mesilau was a far more scenic route.

Didn't really matter to me, though, I just wanted to get to the top.

The first part of the climb was ok. At 1.5km, the trail went downhill. Then at 3km, it went upwards again. We were maintaining a steady pace all the way to the 6km mark, where our trail merges with the Timpohon trail. This is where things got a little tricky. The terrain gets rougher here and to make matters worse, we had a torrential downpour. Senn and I had forgotten to buy ponchos, so we had to tough it out. All we had to protect ourselves against the elements was our windbreakers. Since I had nothing to cover my head, Senn asked me to go ahead and not wait for her. So i moved on, and finally reached at 2:40pm, six hours after we started. The last two km must have been the longest two km of my life! It was cold, wet and miserable. And to make things worse, the porter that was hired to carry our bags hadn't arrived yet! So I had to wait in the dining hall, in 9.8 degree weather, in wet clothes. Not fun at all.

Senn arrived about half an hour later, and she was near hypothermia. Her lips were turning blue and she was shivering non-stop. Luckily our friends were there to lend her jackets and socks and gloves. When our porter finally arrived, we had more bad news: one of the mineral water bottles in Senn's bag popped due to pressure and left all her clothes wet! She had no dry clothes at all! Good thing there was a laundromat up there so our guide took her clothes to dry. Meantime, she had to borrow one of my shirts, while I hung around in a sleeveless top! Not a very good idea at 3500m above sea level.

Anyway, we were in bed by 8pm so that we could wake up at 2am to begin the assault to the summit.

We began climbing to the summit at 3am. All was still dark but the sky was full of stars. Millions of them. I've never seen so many stars in my life.

Unfortunately, we left the hostels about the same time everyone else did so there was a traffic jam at the narrower bits of the trail. It was quite frustrating. Some people would take two steps, then stop to catch their breath. All the while, holding us up behind them. Our guide managed to navigate us through the slower climbers and pretty soon, we wer going at a steady pace. However, the higher we got, the thinner the air was and the harder it was to breathe. We were ok up until the Sayat-Sayat checkpoint but after that, the going got tougher. We had to stop every few steps just to catch out breath. We thought we'd never get to the peak in time to catch the sunrise.

When we found out that sunrise was at 6am instead of 4.30am, we had renewed hope. It was only 5:20am and we were about a km away. Surely we could make the last km in under 40 minutes. We laboured on, stopping every few steps to rest and catch our breath. Finally, our guide said we were near and we could see Low's Peak silhouetted against the starry sky. When we got there it was packed with people, so we decided to stop midway up the peak to catch the sunrise.

We hung around there for a bit before enough space cleared up for us to get to the peak.

As the sky brightened up, we took in the majesty of it all. The view sure is different from 4095m above sea level.

We were even treated to the sight of Soh proposing to Selina at 4095m above sea level.

Of course, she said "Yes!"

On the way down, we had a good look at the terrain we climbed and it was amazing how steep some of the sections were. Good thing we climbed in the dark or else most of us would have turned back.

Of course the trip back to Laban Rata did not go without incident. Senn was going down some steps about a km away, when she slipped and slid down the stairs on her butt. She was lucky not to have sprained anything but she now has a bruise the size of a tennis ball on her butt. This slowed down our progress quite a bit.

We made it back to Laban Rata at about 10am, quickly changed, packed our bags, had breakfast and were off to the Timpohon gate. We left at 11:15am, the last ones to go. At 2km, we had taken 2 and a half hours, waaaay slow. I asked Senn to pick up the pace a bit and we managed the last 4km in 2h15m. Yeah, yeah, it's not a race but I didn't want everyone waiting for us. As it was, we weren't last so it was all good.

That night, we stayed at the Shangri-La Rasa Ria Resort. After roughing it out the past few days, the pampering the Shangri-La offered was most welcomed. We slept in luscious beds with fluffy pillows and had nice hot water to shower in.

The next day, we played beach volleyball and relaxed on the beach before flying off to KL.

Kinabalu was certainly a new experience for me. We had a lot of fun but it was tough. I'd sooner do another Ironman or two before I attempt to climb it again.

Empty

2008-03-05T16:49:00.002+08:00

Now that Ironman is over, I can't help but feel empty.

Before the race, there was excitement, anxiety, a sense of the unknown. There were those long training rides on the weekends, the long runs, the (not-so-often) swims. There was a sense of purpose.

Now, nothing.

After the euphoria of finishing an Ironman has subsided, a feeling of emptiness has taken over. It's back to the daily grind of work, work, work. And all the while, the bike hangs in the bike room, the running shoes chucked away into a corner somewhere (come to think of it, where are my running shoes???), and the calories pile on.

Sure, there is next year's Ironman to look forward to (yes, I've decided to go for it), as well as the regular OD races, but for now, they just seem so far away and there's no real reason to jump on the bike or go for a run or swim laps.

Judging from the lack of updates on everyone else's blog, looks like they're all feeling the same way too.

I guess this is what they call the post-race blues. Maybe we should set up a support group, like triathletes anonymous or something. Who's in?

Revenge is Sweet

2008-02-27T09:33:00.003+08:00

First of all, my apologies if this post is long. But there is just so much to tell. So please bear with me.

A year ago, I returned from Langkawi disappointed and depressed.

What a difference a year makes!

This year, I approached the race differently. Despite all the pre-race stress and the psyching out my team-mates were dishing out, I was determined to stay positive and have fun during the race. And as the race unfolded, that made all the difference.

Pre-Race
We arrived in Langkawi on Wednesday evening. Some of our friends had already arrived by then. Although there were a lot of smiling faces, you could sense the tension in the air. Everyone was hiding how nervous they were.

On Thursday, more friends arrived and we went to register. Went through the medical and got our race kits. The wristband this year was much nicer than last. Saw a lot of friends and the Ironmonyets at registration.

In the evening, Edwin got a call saying that Faris' bike needs to be looked at. We thought it was some Malay feller's bike. Turned out to be 2005 World Champion Faris Al-Sultan's Cannondale Slice!

Anyway, we went for a ride with the Ironmonyets after that to check out the course. We didn't do the entire loop, just the Airport highway. It was hilly, exposed and windy. We thought we were in trouble.

During race brief on Friday, the race organisers decided to make our lives even harder. They introduced intermediate cutoffs on top of the regular swim bike run cutoffs. If you're not on your third bike loop by 3:45pm, you're out. If you haven't started your final run loop by 11:15pm, you're out. Thanks guys, you just added more to our stress.

In the evening, we checked in our bikes then it was back to the condo for an early dinner and bedtime. Tomorrow, we meet the Ironman...

Race Morning
Up at 4am, breakfast and downloads. Then it was off to the start.

This year's body marking was more sophisticated than last year's. Instead of just handwriting the numbers, the organisers used stamps.

Pumped up my tires and just walked about the transition area, trying to calm the nerves. Ugly thoughts about last year kept popping into my head. Had to try and push them out and stay positive.

At 7:30am, the pros were let loose. We then made our way to the pontoon for our start. With two minutes to go, I jumped into the water and made my way to the startline.

Swim
At 7:45am, the gun went off and the chaos ensued. I stayed at the back to avoid the kicking and punching. By now, adrenaline had taken over and the nervousness was gone.

We swam for what seemed like forever and the turnaround bouy was nowhere in sight. I had an off-course excursion, which cost me a little time and a lot of effort but was soon back on course again. At this point I saw Senn, so I thought I was doing alright. But where the hell was the turnoraound bouy?

Finally, I saw it. I swam around it and looked at my watch. Despair! It was showing 56 minutes, 6 slower than last year. And I thought my swimming had improved a bit. Felt like quitting there and then. "Think positive, Arif," I thought to myself, "Think happy thoughts and keep going."

Swam back towards the pontoon. No off-course excursions this time around. Just kept going and going and the next thing I knew, the pontoon was in sight!Picked up the pace a bit and reached the pontoon. With a little help, I climbed out of the water and looked at my watch. 1h38m! A 25 minute savings from last year! There were definitely currents helping us on the way back/

T1
Picked up my bike bag and headed into the change tent. Looked like a party going on! Last year, I walked into an empty tent, this year, it was crowded! Alex (Powered by Jesus) was already in there. So were Stupe and Jeffery. We started chit-chatting, congratulating each other on finishing the swim. Then Azmar and Dicky walked in. It was like a reunion! I was enjoying myself so much, I stayed for more than seven minutes!

Bike
Left the change tent and went looking for my bike. And couldn't find it! I was starting to panic. I had counted the number of racks to my bike the day before, but where was the bike? Did someone accidentally take mine instead! Would I have to do the entire 180km on someone else's bike?

Turned out I had miscounted and overshot my rack. The bike was there all along. I just missed it.

Got on the bike and started riding, making sure I take it easy in the first few kilometres. Passed Senn in front of the SeaView hotel. Unlike my transition, hers only lasted two minutes!

Soon I got to the first big challenge of the day. The daunting climbs up the LISRAM highway. This was where I overworked myself a year ago, ultimately leading to my blow-up. I made sure I took the climbs very, very slowly. No attacking, just ride it out. Got to the top of the first hill and blasted down the other side on my big ring. Immediately after was the second shorter but steeper hill. Shifted down to a lower gear and slowly went up. But the bike felt heavy, for some reason. Went all the way to my 27t cog and still it felt heavy. As I reached the top, I looked down only to discover I was still in my big ring!

Again, negative thoughts started entering my head, "Stupid, Arif," I head a voice say, "Now you've gone and blown the whole race." And if this happened in 2007, I would have listened to that voice.

But this was 2008, and I was determined to go through the whole race feeling good. So I ignored the voice and just went on.

At this point too, I changed my bike target from seven hours to seven and a half. Might as well take the pressure off a bit and enjoy the bike ride.

So off I went on my merry way. I didn't struggle, I didn't suffer. I didn't feel the need to chase friends like a little puppy. When someone passed me, I let them go. No point wasting the energy.

I even stopped for a shower at the 140km aid station. The imcyclist.com van was there so I stopped to chit chat a bit. I would have stayed longer but Patrick reminded me that the race was still on. So I got on the bike and continued. At 150km, a referee pulled up to me and asked me how I was doing. Told me to keep it up, only 30km to go.

I was really enjoying the bike. I think I was probably the only one who thought it wasn't as tough as last year's course. I was singing songs and talking to myself to stay positive. And I think that made all the difference. I could have pushed a bit more, I think, but what was the point in that? As it was, I rolled into T2 in 7h04m, just four minutes slower than my initial target time. And more importantly, I got my revenge on the the bike course that killed me last year. And I was still feeling good. So good, I even managed a flying dismount, just like the pros.

T2
There was another party in the change tent. Abu and Stupe were already in there and we were soon joined by Mejar Kalam, Bacin and Yusran. The atmosphere in the change tent was festive. Being the slowest runner among them all, I decided to leave the party earlier but even so, T2 took more than seven minutes. Apparently, Stupe was enjoying the party so much, he stayed for 27!

Run
Run strategy was simple. Run to every aid station then walk while drinking then run to the next, essentially breaking the marathon down to 42 one-kilometre runs. It's amazing how this strategy works. Before you realize it, you've hit an aid station. Then another. And another.

I did this for the first 20km resisting the urge to walk. I kept telling myself that unless I had two wristbands on, I didn't deserve to walk. And even after I acquired the two wristbands, I still felt i didn't deserve to walk. But by then my legs were starting to feel the pain of having gone over 200km. So i walked a bit, then ran, then walked a bit.

By the time I hit 30km, I was reduced to a fast walk. I still could have run, but I was beginning to feel the cramps and the soles of my feet felt like one giant blister. Plus I wanted to save energy for the last ditch effort at the finish line! The last 12k took me close to two hours but it didn't matter. I was still full of energy.

I got to the final kilometre. And I got my second (actually by now it was probably the third of fourth) wind. I started running again. Then I heard the music from the finish line and I started thinking about last year's failure. And I felt the tears welling up in my eyes. I've been waiting for this moment an entire year, and now I was finally going to taste an Ironman finish. That last kilometre was very very emotional.

Finally, I turned the corner and saw the finish line. Out of nowhere, my pace picked up. And I heard my number being called out. I heard my name. I saw the crowd. I saw hands reaching out to me from the crowd. I gave them all high- fives. I saw the finishing tape. I ran up the ramp. I grabbed the finishing tape and held it high above my head.

I crossed the finish line.

"You are an Ironman!"

I fell to my knees in tears, still holding on to the finishing tape. I wanted to stay there forever and savour the moment.

15h33m58s.

I got my revenge, yet I was humbled.

Post-Race
After the race, I was still feeling fresh. My secret target of 15 hours had not been met but it didn't matter, it was still 15 hours and something.

I got weighed at the medical tent and showered and had some hot soup. then went back to the finish line to wait for Senn. There was no need for an IV drip.

While waiting for Senn, I sat on the podium, dancing away to the music. It was starting to get tense though as the cutoff time was approaching and there was no sign of her. I last saw her in front of Kondo Istana on my last loop when she still had 8k to go. That was about an hour ago.

The clock kept ticking away and still no sign of her. By now, almost everyone had finished. Her father was getting anxious, asking everyone who crossed the line if they had seen her.

Then we saw Soffian coming in, but wait... who was that behind him?

It was Senn.

She had toughed out the last few kms and was now within cutoff. Her finishing time: 16h48m03s. Well within cutoff. She ran past the finish line ino the arms of her very proud father. Her dad wasn't the only one proud of her, I was too. And so too was everyone else at th finish line. Looks like she'll have to change her blog title now.

In the end, almost everyone finished on this gruelling day. There were some casualties unfortunately. And to them I say come back next year. Your finish will be that much sweeter.

And to those who took the time to come to Langkawi to lend your support, I say thank you. Your support meant a lot to those of us racing and really spurred us on to give our best. It meant a lot to us.

So that's it. I'm done with the Ironman. Unfinished business is finished. Will I do it again? Probably not. The pre-race stress, the distance, the hours in training, the sacrifices were just a little too much.

But then again, the feeling of crossing that line is priceless. So ask me again in a month.

I did it!

2008-02-26T21:21:00.002+08:00

Just got back to KL after being stranded overnight. The imcyclist.com van broke down and we had to spend the night in an empty rental house in Tapah.

Anyway, like the title of this post says, I did it. I finished an Ironman.

Race report to follow soon, as soon as I'm rested and get my thoughts in order.

Watch this space...

The Ironman is Here

2008-02-19T08:11:00.002+08:00

As I write this, I am about four days away from facing off with the Ironman. The training and planning is done. Whether I've done enough, we'll know on Saturday.

Since this will most likely be the last post before the race, I'd like to wish all Ironman hopefuls the best come raceday. Enjoy your day in the sun.

To those coming to Langkawi to cheer us on, thank you for taking time off to do so. It really means a lot to have someone in the crowd rooting for us.

And to those who have given support but cannot make it to Langkawi, your well wishes will drive us on as we make our way to the finish line.

My next post will be the race report. Will it be a tale of truimph? Stay tuned...

Junior Veteran

2008-02-13T16:37:00.003+08:00

Registered for the KL International Marathon today. Found out I'll be in the Junior Veteran category.

VETERAN!!!

I feel old.

P/S: no offense to the veterans out there. I've just never been regarded as a veteran before...

Injured... Dayem...

2008-02-12T15:31:00.000+08:00

That 20k run on Sunday was definitely not a good idea.

Something is wrong with my right calf. Can't put any weight on it. Can't walk properly. Been limping since Sunday afternoon.

Damn...

The Big Bang before Ironman

2008-02-11T15:14:00.000+08:00

Just finished my last week of training for Ironman. In total, I did about 340km cycling and 45km running. Probably my highest mileage week ever. This is how my week unfolded:

Monday - 10km run.
Nothing much to report. Just a fairly decent 10k from Taman Tun to Damansara Heights and back. Finished in approximately 58 minutes.

Tuesday - 1 hour swim
Went to Sri KDU pool with Adrian and was introduced to coach Peh. Didn't take any coaching from him then but went ahead and swam for an hour. Plan was for a non-stop swim, but stopped many many times. Probably covered about 1.7km, lost count of the number of laps after a while.

Wednesday - 16km run.
Ran from my mom's house in Damansara Heights to Taman Tun, made one loop in the park then back to Damansara Heights. Nice, easy pace. Finished in 1h42m.

Thursday - 193km ride
Did the Fraser loop with the mutant monkeys. What a ride. The first two climbs (Genting Sempah and Gap) were long but easy to manage, the last two (Ulu Yam and Batu Dam) were real bitches. They were short but steep and under the scorching sun, they were not a lot of fun. Ever get that feeling of just wanting to throw the bike into the longkang? Well, I did while going up Batu Dam. Good thing I couldn't find the longkang...

Friday - rest
Was supposed to do a brick in Putrajaya - 50km bike, followed by a 10 or 20km run. But I was so knackered after Thursdays ride, I decided to sleep in instead. And had Nasi Kandar for brunch. Yum.

Saturday - 145km ride
The Classic Broga Loop. A ride many fear. 140+km across 4 climbs. We decided to make it 5 climbs by going through Bukit Hantu a.k.a Stairway to Heaven from Batu 14. Took this ride way easy. I've done this one before and climbing up the 14km Perez reverse when your legs are knackered isn't funny. In a way, I'm glad I decided to wait for Senn to fix Jaja's flat coming into Lenggeng. If I had followed the mutants, I would have probably blown up during the climb. As it was, I managed a nice easy pace. And when I got to the climb, I managed it with relative ease, not even having to engage my lowest gear. Of course, the stop at the waterfall midway was welcoming.

Post-edit: The Broga debate still remains unresolved. Senn found reverse to be the tougher loop and based on this particular ride, I'll have to agree. More on that in another post.

Sunday - 20km run
Perhaps not the best of ideas but I woke up early anyway to finish off my high mileage week. I ran from Bukit Aman to Hartamas and back, incorporating that small loop after Petronas around the playground. Not as many people running this time around. I suppose it's because of the CNY break. Finished that in about 2h18m, then went to Kampung Baru to tapau Nasi Lemak Mak Wanjor.

Monday - I'm in pain...
My right calf is in terrible pain. Sunday's run definitely not a good idea. I've been limping since last night. I guess this is good practice for the day after Ironman, when we'll all be limping! Thank God it's time to taper. Hopefully, after a couple of days rest it should be ok.

Now, there's nothing to do but hope and pray that whatever training (or lack of) I've done will be enough to take me through Ironman. I'll still do a couple more rides and runs but they will be short and easy ones, just to remind the legs of what they're supposed to be doing. My next scheduled run will be next Thursday (21/2) morning, covering one loop of the Ironman run course. Anyone game?

Lessons from an Ironman Dropout

2008-02-05T12:33:00.000+08:00

Well, this is it. Ironman is a little over two weeks away. There's nothing much else to do. Just one more week of big miles then it's time to taper and hope that what little training was done is going to be enough.

Now is also the time to reflect on what happened last year. Review what went right, what went wrong, look at the glaring mistakes and learn from them.

For starters, nothing much went right. The swim was decent (in that I made the cutoff time) but everything went balls up after that. So now we move on to what went wrong, what mistakes were made. And how this year will be and should be different.

1. Respect the distance. Respect the Ironman.
I guess I took things a little too lightly last year. I was still partying the week of the race which probably contributed to the severe cramping I had on the bike. Also, I didn't have enough mileage under my belt. My longest ride prior to Ironman was a 120k done during Interstate 2006 which I suffered massively.

This year, things are a bit different. I've stopped smoking, will refrain from partying and I've got more miles in. I've done over-distance rides, I've done long 6-7 hour rides, I've done a marathon and regular 20k runs. The only thing that's still slacking is the swim.

2. Never try anything new on race day.
A rule that's even more important in a big event like Ironman. I went to Ironman last year on a new bike. I only had roughly 100km on it, the longest being 50k. Position wasn't dialed in. Result: I couldn't get comfortable on the bike.
Another "new" thing I tried was having ribena during T1. Never done that before but thought it was a good idea to rinse the saltwater off my mouth. Bad Idea. Ended up puking it all out at about the 10km mark on the bike.

This year, I'm going in with everything old. I'm using my old beat up tri-suit, my old cycling shoes which are getting tight, even old socks for the run. The only thing new are my running shoes but I've put in more than 100km in them already so they should be ok. Nutrition-wise, everything has been tried and tested on long rides before this. I'll be using Clif Bars and vanilla flavoured powergels. No Ribena, nothing funny. I'll keep one of those vanilla cream buns in my special needs bag, just in case.

3. The race is long and it's only with yourself.
I have to admit, the ego got to me at the beginning of the bike leg last year. "Go faster," it said. "Look, there's one of your mates pushing the bike up the hill. Attack!" it taunted. And so I did. I went into an Ironman race with an Olympic distance mentality. Wrong wrong wrong. I spent too much time calculating what my average speed should be in order to finish within cutoff then spent too much effort trying to go over that average speed. My race was over in the first 10k. How I managed the next 120 after that, I don't even know.

This year, I'm going to take it easier. The trick to surviving the Ironman bike leg is to go slow. I will find a pace I feel I can sustain, then go even slower that that. Then (if I make it to the run this year) I will tell myself to run to each water station. I'm only racing myself, forget what the others are doing. That is the strategy for this year, hopefully it will see me through the race.

4. Pay attention to nutrition
I didn't have a nutrition plan last year. Thought I'd just eat when I felt like it. Felt too bloated after the swim to take a powerbar. Then drank something I shouldn't have. Told myself, "It's ok, I'll eat later." But then later, with all the frustrations going through the head, I forget to eat.

This year, I have a plan. Half a bar at T1 (bloated or not, just down it), gels every 20k, half a bar every 60k on the bike. Then gels every 10k on the run. Special Needs bag will have a High Five Vanilla Bun each or a peanut butter jelly sandwich, just in case. Of course, I will be flexible enough to alter this plan if the need arises, but I will try to stick to it as much as I can.

5. Think positive
Ironman is as much a mental game as it is a physical one. Last year, when things started to go wrong, when I couldn't get comfortable on the bike, I got frustrated. And instead of moving on, I let the frustrations dwell inside my head. Not good. I kept telling myself I want to quit, i want to quit. You say that enough, your body listens, and it will shut down.

This year, I need to learn to control my emotions. I need to let go of the whatever frustrations that come my way and just move on. It's not going to be easy, but i have to boost my mental strength. When things go wrong, I'll just have to shrug it off and move on. I can't let it ruin the whole race. I need to think positive.

These were just some of the lessons I learned from last year. I know I made more mistakes but these are the ones that stood out the most. I'm sure I'll make more this year but let's hope they don't give me another DNF.

Now I'll just keep my fingers crossed and hope for the best. See you guys in Langkawi!

Driving the Broom Wagon

2008-02-04T09:45:00.000+08:00

Saturday was a whole new experience for me. I still went out for a long ride, but this time I did it in the comforts of my car. I drove the support car for a 200km ride to Lumut.

One of the broom wagons, called such because it sweeps up tired and fatigued riders.The other was a Toyata Wish.

At 6.30am, four brave souls (suckas!!!) gathered at Centrepoint in Bandar Utama to embark on this epic ride. Driving support was me and Shen.

The four brave souls: Adeline, Ishsal, Senn and Alex

By 7am we were on our way. The first 40km of the route, up to Ijok, were fairly rolly, but once you hit Ijok, it's flat all the way. And believe me, flat for 160km isn't as easy as it sounds.

The route was rather scenic. After Ijok, you go through plantations, then along the coastal road, you have swaying palm trees and on the road to Lumut, there were padi fields. Nice if you're driving, not so nice if you're pedaling.

Some of the scenery we traveled through

But alas, it was a ride of attrition. None of the four riders finished the distance. The first casualty was Adeline, whose night light had broken loose and shattered on the ground, causing a puncture in her front wheel. Shen stopped to assist her in fixing the flat, then drove her ahead of the pack to catch up, but when she got her bike out of the van, both tyres were flat. So ride over for Adeline. For now.

When we made our first stop, at KM60, Ishsal (who, for some reason, brought four spare tubes) lent her two so she could continue. So as the rest of the riders continued, I set about fixing her two tyres (as support vehicle driver, you have to do mechanic duties as well). Got both tyres inflated, dumped everything in the car and off went Adeline and I to chase the other riders. I dropped her off about two KM ahead of the rest and she was on her way again. It was quite exciting, pulling the car off the road, jumping out of the car, putting her bike together then pushing her off as the other riders went by. I felt like a mechanic on a Protour team!

The next casualty was Senn. She was trying out attire for her Ironman and had settled on a pair of Descente shorts that she uses for Olympic distace tris. Good for Olys, unfortunately not so good for anything longer. The shorts started chafing at about 100km. As we rolled into Sabak Bernam for lunch, it got unbearable. So, she rolled into the broom wagon. It was quite unfortunate, she was feeling strong and riding quite consistently. She probably had the legs to go the distance. Anyway, good to know that those shorts won't last the distance. Imagine if this was Ironman...

After an hour and a half, we set off again. I could tell that Ishsal was starting to fatigue. He wasn't staying in his aerobars for long, his elbows were locked, pedaling inconsistent. But he kept going. We went through a 15km patch of road construction that couldn't have been very nice for the riders. It was dusty and bumpy and it left them all feeling shaken.

After the construction, we made a right turn at the Hutan Melintang cross junction. Here the roads were wider and it even had a dedicated bike lane!

We then made a left turn to cross the Perak River. There was an R&R stop here so we made and unscheduled stop because Ishsal was feeling knackered. Here he was given a choice of saving his pride, or riding in air-conditioned van with two chicks. Like all cyclists, he chose his pride.

But it wasn't to last. As he climbed the bridge across the river, his calves started cramping. He fought valiantly through the pain, cresting the top of the bridge and coasting to the end of it. He started pedaling again, but then starting coasting to a halt. Cramps were too much. He hopped aboard the broom wagon.

Now this stretch was a pure test of mental strength. You've ridden 152km, the sun bearing down on you, and the flat, straight road just seems to go on forever. You could tell the riders were struggling, speeds dropping from 40km/h to 20km/h. Driving behind them, I was wondering what was going through the riders' minds. They were probably cursing me for taking them out on this ride!

At 192km, we came to our last refill stop. As Alex and Adeline rolled in, you could see the fatigue in their faces. When I told them they had less than 20km to go, Alex said, "No thanks." His thighs were starting to get stiff. And with that, we packed the remaining two bikes into the broom wagons.

Total distance covered by the riders:
Alex - 192km
Ishsal - 152km
Adeline - 136km
Senn - 122km

Although none of the riders completed the distance, they can be proud to say they attempted it. It was a tough and grueling ride, physically and mentally. Kudos to them all! Even I didn't have the guts to ride that day.

We all learned that day that flat isn't necessarily good. With rolling hills you at least get to rest a bit when the road goes down. With flat roads, you have to pedal all the way. The second you stop pedaling, you're down 2-3km/h.

For me, it was a whole new experience. Driving support can be exhausting as well. Driving long distance at 30km/h by yourself can be mentally taxing too. Not as bad as what the riders went through, of course. But I had fun, playing directeur sportif, soigneur, and mechanic at the same time.

That said, all the riders want revenge on this course, so we will definitely be doing it again. And maybe this time, I'll ride and get swept up by the broom wagon.

Return to PCC

2008-01-29T09:31:00.000+08:00

It's been a while since I've been on a PCC Sunday ride, and since I didn't go riding on the Saturday, I thought why not. This particular Sunday, they were heading to Malaysia's own Gold Coast, Bagan Lalang.

The ride started at approximately 7.40am because the two Dons (Chan and Haider) only rolled into the car park at MTDC Bangi at 7.30am. Before that, we were joined by Lim (Rain), Adzim and a whole bunch of riders who started from BikePro in Taman Megah.

The ride got underway Lim setting the pace up front. It was a nice comfortable pace at first but picked up as we were 10km into the ride. The pack stayed together as the speed picked up, no doubt taking advantage of the draft. One or two riders did drop off as we headed to the rollies between Salak and Sepang but the main bunch held it together. I barely managed to hang on as we rolled into the Shell station at Sepang, our first regrouping point. 32km completed in 1h02m for an average of 30.4km/h.

We hung around at the Shell for a lot longer than usual. One of the newbie riders, Weina, still hadn't rolled in yet and we started to worry. New rider, new route, was she lost? Senn was on the phone trying to call her but to no avail. Big Mac valiantly got on his bike in search of her and backtracked for about a kilometre with no sign of her.

After a while, she finally rolled into the Shell stations with Wong CC and Mac. Apparently, she dropped her chain at the beginning of the ride and had to play catch-up. Luckily Wong CC was there to show her the way.

Soon we were rolling again. This time the pace was definitely ramped up and we got to Bagan Lalang in just under half an hour. The surprising thing for me was that I managed to hang on to the front pack the whole time and only lost them as we entered Bagan Lalang. That was quite a feat for me.

After a quick meal of roti canai, we started the journey back. At this point I was in two minds: should I try to just stick to the pack and take advantage of their draft or should I hang back and take it easy, having subjected my legs to the fast and furious pace during the first half of the ride.

I wanted to take it easy but the lure of the peloton was too tempting. So I hung on for dear life.

However, when we got to the rollies after Sepang, riders were starting to drop off the back. One by one, the peloton was getting smaller. Then I dropped off which was a bummer because the winds were really strong at this time. I managed to get into a four-rider pack, each taking a turn braving the strong headwind. Then I took my pull, tucked down low in my aerobars. When I pulled out to let Rahim lead, it was just the two of us left.

And so we worked together to the end, each pullling for about 2-3km before recovering in the slipstream. About 15km from the end, Rahim spotted a coconut stall so we stopped. Unfortunately, the stall had no ice, so no air kelapa for us.
We had a quick refill of 7-Up and soya bean and we were off again.

We got back to MTDC Bangi at noon. By then, the group that started from BikePro had already buggered off. As we were packing up, we heard news that Annie had severely cramped up and had to take a cab back to MTDC. It was quite a sight when she got back, she couldn't move at all! And you can really see where the priorities lie for the different genders: the guys were busy with her bike while the gals, Senn, Perli, Joanne and Adeline, were helping Annie out of the cab!

Anyway, I enjoyed my return to the PCC Sunday ride. The company was good and the pace a lot faster than I remember. But it's all good.

30k

2008-01-22T10:42:00.000+08:00

To the person who found my legs and brought it back to me (see post below), thank you. It really helped during the GE30k run.

My legs took me down to the Lake Gardens at 5.20am, with plenty of time to warm-up and mingle before the start, unlike last year when we arrived 5 minutes after the gun went off and ended up chasing the pack!

This year, the gun went off a little early (according to my watch). I was still chit-chatting away when it went off, forcing me to cut short the conversation and begin running. As we went up the hill, I could still feel the 140k PD ride from the day before in my legs. Well, i wanted to see what it was like to run on tired legs, so can't really complain.

It took a while for the legs to warm up, probably because it was still in shock of going missing the day before. But once hit Jalan Parlimen and took my first pitstop, they started cooperating.

I settled into a steady rhythm, reminding myself not to push so hard at the beginning. Finished the first 10k in about 1h10m, a little faster than I expected but it was all good.

While the legs were feeling good, the tummy wasn't too happy. It was churning something horrible. I thought maybe I should pop into Lake Club to ease the tummy but that was too far off course and would take too much time. So I held it, afraid to even fart in case something undesirable came out! So held it I did for the next 10k. I figured I can try to hold out till at least the Petronas station.

Got to Petronas at around 2h15m. Thought I'd sneak in there but was caught by Mejar K. "Oi!" he shouted. "Pi berak ke?!" Sheepishly, I nodded.

Got to the toilet, and there was someone in there. D'oh! Had to wait. And wait. And wait. A part of me was thinking, "Dude, you've held it this long. What's another hour or so?" Just as i was about to run off again, the door opened. Salvation!

All in all, i think I wasted about 10 minutes at Petronas. But at least I was comfortable now.

At this point, the internal battles started. Last year, I had managed to run for about 22k before starting the walk/run thing. I was determined to go further this year. So at the 23k mark, I started debating with myself about when to start walking. On one side, I said, "Well, we've passed last year's mark so we can start to walk now." But then, another voice said, "Nah... let's go another km and see how."

Another km went by and the same debate played out in my head. Again, we decided to wait another km. This went on until one of the voices said, 'Ok, Jalan Parlimen is uphill, we'll walk that than sprint to the finish line." To which the other voice retorted, "What?! Are you nuts?! The legs feel good. There is absolutely no need to walk this thing!" The first voice kept quiet.

And so it was I ran all the way to the finish line. Finished the run at a slow-ish 3h44m, four minutes off of last year's time, but I was happy. Happy because I didn't walk (except at drink stations) and happy because I felt like I could do another 10km.

I guess if i didn't have the toilet break at Petronas and if the course was the same as last year's (this year's was slightly longer) I could have gone under 3h30m. But as it was, I didn't, so there's no point trying to justify the slower time.

Nonetheless, I'm happy with the overall result. I was initially worried I didn't have the legs for it but they didn't let me down. So once, again, whoever it was that brought my legs back, thank you...

Lost!

2008-01-19T16:01:00.000+08:00

My legs.

Last seen in Lukut, Negeri Sembilan.

If found, please return to me immediately. Need them for the GE30k run tomorrow.

Can't... feel... legs...

2008-01-07T15:01:00.000+08:00

"How are your legs today?" asked Adzim over G-Talk.

"Legs? What are those?" I replied.

My legs are shot. Here's why:

4.30am on Sunday morning, I found myself outside my apartment with Adzim loading our bikes onto Laif's truck for the two-hour drive to Simpang Pulai. The menu: Simpang Pulai - Tapah - Ringlet - Tanah Rata - Brinchang - Kg Raja - Simpang Pulai.

Approximately 180km with 60+of those uphill, +/-3000m elevation gain.

Sounds yummy, no?

I thought so too.

7.30am, we rolled on what was to be a long long long day.

WARNING: because it was a long long long day, this post will be long long long too.

Simpang Pulai - Tapah

It all started friendly enough. We rolled out of Simpang Pulai and headed south towards Tapah. Terrain was flat with some small rollers. The pace, initially, was an easy 30-32km/h. Nice and friendly.

At about 15km in, I was thinking, "Wow! These Ipoh and Penang boys sure are friendly. Back in KL, the pace would have been murderous by now!" Ooops... thought too soon. That was when the pace really picked up. They started hammering away at 40-45km/h. I was losing ground fast. Then Vong Vong Vong picked me up and helped me bridge the gap. Behind was Laif, Andrea, and Adzim.

As we caught up to the front peloton, Adzim said, "You realise this is a recipe for disaster."

I nodded. With 60km of climbing still to come you don't want to blow your legs up trying to keep up with the leaders. So, we let them go and were cruising along at a more comfortable 30-32km/h. Until...

A motorcycle came up to us and offered us a pull to Tapah. We were about 15km away. I hadn't realised all this was happening, happily sucking wheel and sucking on my Powergel. I looked up and BAM! the speed was up again at 40km/h! I hung on for dear life, but with about 5km to go, I let go. Just couldn't hang. "Oh well," I thought. "I'll catch you in the mountains.

At Tapah, we stopped at a petrol station for a quick rest and refill. Ride stats so far:

Distance: 45km
Time: 1h27m
Avg Speed: 31.5km/h

Tapah - Ringlet

From here, we got only about 5km of flat roads to tease us before the big climb. So we happily pedaled along, enjoying the scenery, chit chatting away. But as soon as the road pointed upwards, I went backwards. There was no way I could hang with likes af Adzim and Andrea. They just dropped me like I was standing still.

I laboured on with this dude on a Specialized Tarmac for company. It was complete heads-down-just-pedal-your-way type of riding. No conversations, no nods of the head. Just pedaling and huffing and puffing. Found the rest of the gang waiting for me at the waterfall at Lata Iskandar. Kinda felt bad for holding them up. As soon as they got on the bike, they disappeared. Man... how do they do that?

This time, I had Laif for company. I suspect the hard efforts earlier had taken a toll on his legs. We struggled up to the Perak/Pahang border. At this point, I still refused to shift to my 25t cog, insisting on going on my 23t. But with about 3km to go, I relented.

These kilometres just seem to go on and on and on. There was no letting up. It wasn't particularly steep, it was just long and relentless. With about 1km to the border, Laif disappeared up the road, I just couldn't hang on. I was standing up, sitting down, standing up. Just couldn't make up my mind. Finally, I saw the sign that separated Perak from Pahang, and boy, what a relief! It was now just a downhill cruise to Ringlet.

Ride stats:
Distance: 46km
Time: 2h35m
Avg Speed: 17.8km/h

Ringlet - Kg Raja

We had a quick stop at Ringlet, refilled the water bottles, emptied our internal water bottles and we were off. This is where the climb gets really steep, especially the last 4km before Tanah Rata.

As usual, as soon as the road pointed upwards, Andrea and Adzim were gone. And Laif had dropped back to fix a puncture. The climb was painful but scenic. Some of the scenery included those riders who had blasted off the pack at the beginning, now, they were struggling to make it up the hill. Seriously though, it was some gorgeous scenery riding high and above the tea plantations. No pix though, didn't bring my camera. Even if I did, I wouldn't be able to snap any anyway, since I was a bit too busy climbing.

It was a good thing I didn't bring my camera because as soon as I arrived at Tanah Rata, it was raining. I had contemplated waiting for Laif but it was too cold just standing still so i continued to Brinchang. I've done the climb from both ends so I know what it was about but this short 4km stretch between Tanah Rata and Brinchang was an unknown quantity for me. Fortunately, It wasn't too bad. Just cold, cold, cold. I can't believe some were riding in this weather in trisuits. They must have been freezing!

I got to Brinchang, then climbed up to the Equitorial Hotel. There were riders turning back at this point, saying it was too wet to descend to Kg Raja and they were going to wait the rain out. I just wanted to get to a lower altitude so it won't be so cold.

So I continued on to Kg Raja on what must have been the slowest descent in the history of cycling! I was constantly on the brakes. At times, I was going 12km/h! Downhill! That 23km from Equitorial to Kg Raja took me close to an hour and it was mostly downhill. I was shivering, my nose was running and I had absolutely no feeling in my right hand. I had to look at it to make sure it was still there.

I got to Kg Raja and I was like a block of ice on wheels, at least I felt like it.

Ride stats:
Distance: 30km
Time: 2h01m
Avg Speed: 14.9km/h

Kg Raja - Simpang Pulai

After some hot tea, and some nasi goreng, I was ready for the home stretch. Laif had caught up with me after fixing his puncture, so we started the long 64km trek home.

But first, more climbing! It's a 3km climb just getting out of Kg Raja! And once we hit the T-junction at the top of that hill, we still had to climb some more! But as soon as the roads pointed downwards, we had some fun. Luckily the roads were dry too, otherwise it would have been a very slow descent. As it was, we coasted down and picked up some good speed even without pedaling. At one point, on a long, steep, straight section, I hit 70.2km/h! Fastest I've ever been.

We got into Simpang Pulai a whisker after 5pm. I was tired and dirty. Angel looked like we had been through Paris-Robaix, so dirty was she.

Ride stats:
Distance: 64km
Time: 1h55m
Avg Speed: 33.4km/h

When we got to the carpark, Adzim and Andrea were in the back of Laif's pick-up, waiting for us. Andrea looked fresh, like she hadn't been on the bike all day. Superwoman.

Overall ride stats:
Distance: 184km
Time: 7h58m
Avg Speed: 23.1km/h
Total elevation gain: +/- 2900m
Knackeredness: 10/10

It was a long slog. This was supposed to be my one over-distance ride before Ironman, to see what 180km feels like. This was also the longest ride I've ever been on. I dunno how I'm supposed to do a full marathon right after a ride like this. I'm so going to suffer at Ironman.

But then, isn't there fun in suffering?

Would I do this ride again? Ask me again next week.

Big Weekend Ahead

2007-11-29T16:59:00.000+08:00

There's the Ride for Life, the Singapore Marathon, the Phuket Triathlon and, of course, Adzim's recovery ride to Bagan Lalang.

To all those taking part in any of these, have fun and stay safe.

How Weird is This?

2007-11-28T00:26:00.000+08:00

For the past month or so, the camera and navigator function on my phone hasn't been working. I've brought it back to Nokia (still under warranty) and they said they could fix it but I'll lose all my data. They said they had no facilities to back up my data. So i said thanks, but no thanks. Then I went to another shop, and they said they'd back up my data and reset the phone for 100 bucks. I said I'd think about it.

Tonight, while out riding, I try to answer an SMS and the phone drops and hits the tarmac. Battery cover and battery flies off upon impact. I stopped, picked up the pieces, check to see if the phone is working and go off on my merry way. Got back to the mamak shop and check the phone properly. And guess what...

The camera and the navigator function are both working properly.

Guess all the phone needed was a hard knock.

Isn't it wonderful how technology works?

What the hell...

2007-11-20T14:31:00.000+08:00

... is this world coming to?

First, a friend of mine gets mugged by rempits while cycling.

Then, this very friend's friend gets harrased by rempits while out running.

Something is seriously fucked up when a person can't even feel safe when they're out exercising.

And what are the cops doing? Arresting and fining jaywalkers.

Geez...

The Broga Debate... Still Unresolved

2007-11-18T23:11:00.000+08:00

Saturday, November 17, 2007. The day the Broga debate will finally be resolved. For on this day, Senn was to ride the Broga Classic loop, then decide which of the two loops, Classic or Reverse, is tougher.

But it wasn't to be.

We started the ride as usual at Batu 14. Present to settle the debate was Senn, Azmar, Adzim, Bacin, Faaisal, Sofian and Dicky the domestique. At Batu 18, we picked up Stupe and Shazly and we happily made our way towards Tekala. A quick stop there to regroup and we were off to Broga for the first refilling stop.

That's when disaster struck.

We pulled into Broga, had our drinks and food, and were happily chit-chatting away. Senn, however, had not arrived yet. Getting worried, I got on my bike and backtracked. I didn't have to go far, maybe about 500m, when I saw the familiar pink jersey. "Whew!" I thought, "She's alright." As she passed she yelled out that she had got lost along the way.

"Ok, it's all good," I thought as made a u-turn to head back to Broga behind her. Then it happened. Right before my very eyes, she flipped over her bike, flew a couple of metres, hit the ground and slid for a couple more metres. In that moment, rider and bike became one, a tangled mess of flesh, lycra and carbon. She looked like a ragdoll being flung across the road.

I was horrified. She lay still, lying on her front, as I rode up to her. As I got off my bike, she wasn't moving.

"Omigod! The impact knocked her out!"

As I turned her around, she yelled, "OW! Don't touch me! Leave me alone for a while! How's the Diva?"

WTF!!! You just had a serious crash, you could have broken something and you're asking about the bike?

Anyway, I lied and told her the Diva was fine (upon inspection later on, it only suffered from torn bar tapes) but she wasn't. Blood was dripping from her elbow, and that seriously needed to be looked at. Slowly, she got up. By now, the rest of the gang had arrived at the scene.

As luck would have it, she crashed right in front of a clinic. She got up and casually crossed the road to the clinic, unaided, as if nothing happened, while the rest of us were fussing with her bike.

At the clinic, we found that she had severe road rash on her left elbow, torn skin on her right pinkie, as well as minor grazing on her knees and thighs. Fortunately, nothing was broken. As she was being treated, we asked the rest of the gang to continue, it was getting late and we didn't want them to be climbing Perez when it was too hot.

Then came the issue of getting back to the car. Senn, being Senn, wanted to continue the ride. But I didn't think it was a good idea. If we did, we'd have about 100km to ride with four climbs to contend with, including the daunting Bukit Tangga and Perez. I volunteered to ride back the way we came and get the car. But she wouldn't have it. She reckoned it would take at least three hours and she didn't want to wait at the clinic by herself.

So we decided to ride back slowly. Along the way, she analyzed the accident. She was riding along and was about to get onto the aerobars. At the precise moment she eased off her handlebars, she hit a bump which caused her arms to slip off the elbow pads. This, in turn, caused the balance to shift, which then threw her off the bike.

It was a long and painful 50k ride back to the car. Because of the torn skin on her right hand, she couldn't hold on to the handlebars so she was riding one-handed most of the way. We stopped at Tekala for some nasi lemak and burgers, then took the shortcut through Bukit Hantu back to Batu 14.

When I asked her how she felt when we got home she said she felt cheated that she didn't get to finish the ride. A true cyclist she is. As of writing, she's feeling much better now, she says most of the aches and pains are gone, except for the one on the elbow.Having said that, i think she'll be off the saddle for a week or so, at least till the wound starts to dry up.

As for feeling cheated, well, there will be other rides and I'm sure these guys will be doing the Broga Classic loop again soon.

And maybe then, we'll finally get the debate resolved.

Powerman 2007 in Pictures

2007-11-13T14:22:00.000+08:00

The pictures tell the story. For detailed race report, scroll down some more.

Race start. All still smiling.

Senn's new running technique. She's actually running!

Adrian, my race companion for the day.

Having a laugh during the first run.

Still looking strong. But not for long.

Time to kick ass on the bike.

Trick photography makes me look superfast!

Senn, still smiling, as she launches her attack on the bike.

Sneaking up on Adrian at T2.

Getting out of T2 ahead of Adrian. The look of shock on his face when I passed him was priceless!

Shit! Left Powergels in T2! Oh well, let's make do with a banana...

The return of the cramps!

Cramps gone, it's time to run! Was soon back to walking though.

Not smiling anymore. The face says it all. It was a painful race...

Thanks to Ivie and PM Tey for the pics.

Powerman 2007

2007-11-12T12:14:00.000+08:00

I have mixed feelings about this race. I don't know whether i can classify it as a good race or a bad one. It was kinda of a bit of both.

The good: Despite it being a longer course than last year, I recorded a faster time this year.

The bad: Cramps. Really slowed me down, especially on the bike.

The story: The 1st run started out good for me. Target time was around 1h10m, just the right pace to save my legs for the 64km bike and the 10km run after.

The gun went off, and I was going along at an easy pace. The run route was flat. Flatter than flat. As the run progressed, I saw Azmar and Laif pulling away. I could never match those guys running. I soon caught up with Adrian, and we started running together. Edwin and the rest of the imcyclst.com guys then caught up with us and it became a social run.

As we got close to T1, I started to pull away from them. Hit the timing beam at around 1h03m, seven minutes faster than the target time.

Had a super quick T1 and was out in 51s.

The bike started out good enough. I left transition with Azmar and Laif and we were basically cruising for a bit, enjoying the flat bike course.

Then I started to feel it. The ever so slight tightening up of the left calf. "No," I thought. "Not now. We're just starting to have fun."

At 10km, it hit. My left leg just cramped up. I was doing real well at the time, keeping up with Azmar. I had no choice but to slow down. Unclipped the left foot and started stretching it. Poured water on it. Did everything I can to get rid of it. And as quickly as it came, it went away.

But this wasn't the last I was going to see of this nasty cramp. It kept coming back for more. And each time I'd do the same thing. Pour water, stretch, spin. Then it would go away again.

By now, Adrian had caught up with me, Edwin was catching up, so was Adeline. Meantime Azmar and Laif had pulled out a huge gap. I rode along with Adrian for a while finishing off the first loop with him. Then , the cramps got really bad. I had to pull off the road, stop the bike and give it a good stretch. This was when Adrian pulled away, and Edwin whizzed past me. Got back on the bike and Adeline then overtook me. I dunno where she came from, but dayem... she was fast on the bike.

The cramps came on and off for the rest of the bike leg. Despite all this, I managed to finish in 2h07m which was four minutes faster than last year's, ran on a shorter course. But in hindsight, if it wasn't for the cramps, I could have gone under two hours. It was a nice flat course, perfect for blasting.

Took my time in T2, so that I could rest the legs a bit before the final run. Saw Adrian at his rack still putting on his shoes so I grabbed the opportunity to overtake him in transition. Sure surprised him!

But it didn't last long. As soon as I left the stadium, it was the return of the cramps. Stopped, stretched and was soon off again at a very sloooow pace. Meanwhile Adrian was pulling away. In my efforts to blast out of T2 ahead of him, I had left my Powergels on the bike. As I was already delpleted of energy, I had given up on trying to run the whole way and was now just picking points where i can stop running and start walking. Caught up with Edwin who had completely given up running and walked with him for a while. Sockless running didn't help either, I had developed three blisters on my left foot.

The rest of the leg saw me, Edwin and Adrian, yo-yoing from one another. In the end, we all just decided to walk/run together. As we approached the finish line, Adrian picked up the pace a bit, no doubt spurred by the sounds of the celebrations. I tried but I just couldn't keep up. Edwin dropped further back.

But finally, I saw it in all its glory: the finish line. Spurred by the sight of it, I managed a little sprint to cross in 4h40m, 9 minutes faster than last year, but with an oh-so-slow second run of 1h27m.

All in all, I guess I could classify it as a good race. I suffered, yes, but that was due to my lack of disclipline than anything else. I dould have possible gone under 4h30m but again my lack of disclipline got the better of me. I guess I've learnt my lesson:1) no piss-ups the week before a race; 2) hydrate, hydrate hydrate, don't skip the important ritual of ORS every night for three nights before race; 3) salt sticks are you friends.

With these lessons learnt, let's move on to the next race: Ironman 2008.

Pissed

2007-11-08T19:28:00.000+08:00

Took the staff out for a piss-up last night, a bonding session after a long day of brainstorming.

Result: got too pissed to ride this morning's epic 190km Frasers loop.

Now i'm pissed off....

The Broga Debate

2007-11-03T19:37:00.000+08:00

Senn and I once had this debate: which is tougher, Broga Classic or Broga Reverse?

At that time, she had only done Reverse and I had just finished riding Classic. Neither one of us had ridden the other.

So the debate ended in a stalemate. We talked about starting at Bt 14 one day, and splitting up at the foothills of Peres, she to go on Classic and me Reverse. This was we could decide once and for all which was the tougher loop.

That never happened, of course. And today, as luck would have it, Broga Reverse was on the menu. Finally, I'll be able to see for myself which was the tougher route.

The verdict?

They are both equally tough.

Ya, ya. Cop-out answer, right? But seriously, Broga, either way, is tough. But they both present very different challenges.

On Classic, you're on flat to rolling terrain for the first 60k. Then, you start climbing. Two short but steep hills, followed by the medium-length Bukit Tangga, and then when your legs are spent 110k in them, you get the pleasure of going up Perez, a 14k killer. At this point you're no longer thinking, you're just pedalling. With all the climbing towards the end of the loop, Classic proves to be a very physical challenge.

On Reverse, however, by the time you hit 90k, you're done with all the climbs (unless you want to take a shortcut through to Bt 14 at the dam, like we did today). But what is left after that is 60k of flat to rolling terrain. The stretch between Semenyih to Tekala, however is where it all kills your mind. it's about 12km of straight, flat road and can be mind-numbing. You're pedalling along for what seems like ages, and you seem to never see the Nirvana Memorial, much less the picnic grounds. I was riding today with Bacin and Adeline and we just rode on in complete silence, wondering when the end would come. This is when you start questioning yourself: why are you doing this? are you nuts? etc. So in this respect, Reverse is more a mental challenge.

So it boils down to basically physical vs mental. Sure, it's a cop-out answer, but that's just my opinion lah. Still, for those of you going out to do Ironman next year, Broga, either way is good training ground. Classic because you're going to need the strength to go up that same damn over and over again. And Reverse because once you're out there on the bike, at 130k, under th blazing sun and your legs are cramping, you're going to be questioning your very existence. And you're going to need every ounce of mental strength to pull you through it.

Again, this is just my opinion, I'm sure others have theirs. I'm not sure my debate with Senn is over yet though. She may want to do Classic herself and maybe only then can we settle it once and for all.

Time to get off my arse

2007-11-02T19:44:00.000+08:00

Last night went to Putrajaya to do a brick. Powerman loop x 1 followed by a short run from the mosque to Palace of Justice and back.

Verdict: feels good to be back on the bike. Not exactly all that fast: 27km in 1h03m for a 25km/h average. But still push like mad. After that, run approximately 5k in 28 minutes. Legs felt good, no pain, no injury, although there were signs of cramping at the beginning but the cramps never came.

Woke up today, no soreness.

Tomorrow long ride along the Broga reverse loop, followed by double hill + Terry Fox on Sunday.

Talk about last minute training for Powerman!

Decadence

2007-10-29T13:24:00.000+08:00

That's the only way to describe the last week.

Five days straight of partying like a rockstar.

Absolutely zero training. No swim, no bike, no run.

A week of killing my brain cells and letting my muscles atrophy,

I'm sooooo going to die at Powerman.

The 3km Ride to Port Dickson

2007-10-20T21:04:00.000+08:00

That's right. What was to be a 120km ride, my first long ride since Raya, was cut short to 3km. Or 2.71km to be precise.

The day started out good enough. Was up at 5.45am, and left the house by 6.30. Packed 3 bottles of water (2 Powerbar Endurance, 1 plain water) for what I thought would be a fairly long ride, as well as Tuptim (the Cervelo) so I can feel what it's like going long on that bike.

Got to MTDC in Bangi at 7.15am with plenty of time to set up. Present for today's ride was ride leader Adzim, Laif, Fadzil, Jaja and Andrea. At about 7.40, we pushed off.

Barely 10 minutes into the ride, I felt my front wheel hit something. Followed by the familiar flop-flop-sound of a flat. Pulled out of the paceline and stopped to change the tube. Not a big deal, or so I thought.

Tube changed, I proceeded to inflate it using CO2. But for some reason, the inflator sisn't want to pucture the canister to let the gas out. While fiddling with it to get it inflated, I inadvertantly snapped the head of the valve stem off. No matter. Sometimes these things happen and it'll steel keep the wheel inflated.

Thinking my inflator was busted, I borrowed Laif's inflator. This time the canister did puncture, and my tyre was being inflated. Oh joy!

Bu the joy was shortlived. Air was soon rushing out of the broken valve.

And because I was using my Zipp wheels, I couldn't borrow another tube from Laif. I needed tubes with an 80mm valve stem to fit the deep dish wheels and I didn't bring any valve extenders.

End of ride.

I was about to make the 3km walk back to MTDC when Laif volunteered to ride back and pick up the car. I guess he figured the rest of the group was a long way off, and riding solo to catch up would be a waste of effort. So off he went.

So that was it. The ride I had been so anticipating since before Raya ended with a pfftttt. And I still had three full bottles of water!

Lesson learned. The Zipps are meant to be race wheels and should be used just for races. Next time take the Ksyriums for training rides, less complications.

Was supposed to run tomorrow but since I didn't get to ride today, I'll join PCC and do their chicken loop. And I will be bringing Angel (the Trek), complete with Ksyriums, instead.

I have to apologise to Laif and thank him as well for sacrificing his ride to help me out. I owe you big time, dude.

Selamat Hari Raya

2007-10-11T12:08:00.000+08:00

Maaf Zahir dan Batin.

Night of the Nutters Part 2

2007-10-02T22:48:00.000+08:00

(At Adzim's request, I've finally got round to writing the ride report from the Genting ride)

Saturday, 29 September, 2007, 10pm.

Having run up Genting the week before, this week it was biking up. It was a very small group this time, only Zabil, Azmar, Puzi and me. Most notably, the Chief nutter himself, Steve, was absent. Among the four, I was the only one with a road bike. Whatever advantage I had in weight, I lost in lack of gearing Believe me, to climb Genting comfortably, you need mountain bike gearing.

Anyway, off we went. McDonald's hill was first. Normally after a long ride, this hill would be a killer, but with fresh legs, it wasn't that hard. I watch the others spin up the hill, envious of their lower gearing. They were doing at least 90 RPM while I was already grinding my lowest gear at about 70 RPM.

After McDonald's hill, the gradient didn't let up. Imagine doing Mccdonald's hill 5 times over. That's what it was like. Fortunately, at about 5.7km, the road started going downhill. And it continued like that, with a couple of short inclines, all the way to Gohtong. Arrived in Gohtong in 47 minutes. That was the easy part. The haard part was yet to come.

After a quick refill of the bottles, we were soon off again. The first two kilometres were not too bad, it's after you get past Awana that the road gets steeper. So you slog it out at around 9km/h, turning the pedals at 45 RPM. 45 RPM! And I was on my lowest gear. The last time I did this climb I swore I would switch out to a 27t low gear when I attempted it again. But alas I didn't, and now I have to pay for it.

As I approached the dreaded 4.4km to go mark (how appropriate "die.die") my legs were already burning. The switchback here is killer. Take the inside line and you may end up on your back. That's how steep it is. Coming up to the switchback, I took a quick look behind me, saw Puzi trying to slow any approaching cars, then I took a wide line into the corner. With a primal scream, I stood up and just hammered throught the switchback. My legs screaming to stop, my heart saying "Shut the f**k up! Harden the f**k up!" After I got through the switchback, the gradient didn't let up. It just kept going up and up and up. My legs so desperately wanted to stop, but I coaxed it to go on, just a bit more, just a bit more, I urged.

I continued, watching Puzi fly by me and disappearing into the distance. By now, i was doing 100m per minute. I wasn't riding the bike anymore, I was just balancing it, while inching it forward slowly.

Just when you think it couldn't get worse, it does. The last kilometre was even steeper than before. But that could have been my imagination. I got out of the saddle, I sat down, stood up, sat down, counting the kilometre markers as i went along. 0.5km, 0.4km, 0.3km, 0.2km, 0.1km, 0.0km. Finally I was there. I felt like throwing my arms in the air, like a ProTour rider celebrating a mountain stage win in le Tour de France. But I was just so beat, and was going way too slowly to even think of taking my hands of the bar. Instead I just slumped over the bars and rolled the bike to a halt near the taxi stand. Puzi was alredy there, drying his jersey off and putting on a sweater. Total time from Gortong for that 9 kilometres was 1 hour 5 minutes. Total ride time so far, 1 hour 52 minutes.

After a short rest, it suddenly got cold. I put on the windbreaker Senn lent me but it didn't help much. I was shivering. The ride down is going to be miserable.

If the ride up was tough on the legs, the ride down was tough on the hands, having to constantly feather the brakes to scrub off speed down the steep descent and sharp switchbacks. It was scary. Zabil and Puzi, with their mountain bikes and wider tyres, just flew down the road while I was going down as slowly as possible. You know it's a steep descent when the smell of brake dust from the cars lingers in the air.

Just before coming in to Gohtong, I came across an accident. A head-on collision between two cars. It looked like the guy going up was trying to do a fast and furious tokyo drift when he drifted too wide and smashed into the oncoming car coming down. Both cars were damaged beyond repair. I saw one of the drivers sitting at the side of the road, moaning. Not sure whether he was moaning from his injuries or moaning from looking at the damage on his car.

Anyway, the rest of the ride went on without incident. We finally got back to Genting Sempah at 2am. Total ride time was 2h35m. After close to two hours ascending, we only spent about 45 minutes descending! Total ascent was 1210 metres in 19.6 kilometres.

That looks like the last of the nutters' adventures this Ramadhan. The chief nutter will be in Singapore this weekend, doing a 5k swim race and the rest of us will probably be riding Putrajaya or something. Although, the possibility of doing Genting again, whether on bike or on foot, is still possible. Stay tuned.

Night of the Nutters

2007-09-24T13:40:00.000+08:00

Friday, 21 September 2007, Genting Highlands.

Once upon a time, Chief Nutter, Steve, decided it was a good idea to run up to the top of Genting Highlands from Genting Sempah.

That's right, run.

So during the fasting month of 2006, they gathered at the McDonald's at Genting Sempah and began running. And ran they did all the way to the top. Since then, they've decided to make it an annual Ramadhan affair. I missed last year's run, but having heard all the stories from last year, I vowed to experience it this year.

It was quite an experience. A painful one.

The weather was nice and cool as we gathered at McDonald's around 10pm. By the time we got ourselves sorted out, we began actually running around 10:40pm. Almost immediately, we were faced with the daunting McDonald's hill. We ran in total darkness with no streetlights at all. The only source of light was the blinking red lights us runners had attached to our clothes.

Before long, the rest of the group had gone, so fast was their pace. I hadn't run since Desaru and my legs kept reminding me of that. So i took it easy and accompanied Senn.

About 5km from Gohtong Jaya, the road went downwards. As it went down, we were greeted by a beautiful sight, Genting Highlands in all its splendor, brightly lit against a dark sky. I tried taking a picture but it didn't coume out so nice. I only had a camera phone.

At this point, we caught up with Shazly who was accompanying his friend on hid first run. His freind was about to give up and get into the support car. After some gentle persuasion from Senn, he decided to continue. It was, after all, downhill all the way to Gohtong from here.

And because it was downhill, I picked up the pace a little bit. It was a bit of a lonely run, which gave me the incentive topick up the speed even more. By this time, the legs felt better having already run about 8km. Finished the 11km to Gohtong in 1h41m.

This is where the fun starts. Approximately 9km and twice as steep as the roads before. After a brief regroup, we headed out again. I got as far as Awana, about 2km from Gohtong when my legs gave up. So I started walking. Forunately, I had Kam for company, his legs entering the early stages of cramping. When the road wasn't so steep, we ran. When it got a bit steeper, we walked. Then at one point (I think it was at the really steep switchback. It was so steep if you were to put your hands on the road, you'd still be upright), we just stopped running altogether.

After that, it was just a matter of coming around the bend and seeing the top. Problem is there are so many bends and they all look the same. You round one bend hoping to see the end but all you see is another bend ahead. We just kept walking and walking round the corners, occasionally seeing the Tokyo Drift wannabes speeding up the road.

Finally, I saw the 700m to go sign. Bouyed by this, I decided to start running again. So off I went, but it didn't last long. I soon felt the onset of cramps. But i was determined to not finish walking, so i pushed some more, adjusting my stride a bit to avoid cramps. Slowly but surely, the numbers on the road markers dwindled: 0.7km, 0.6km, 0.5km, 0.4km, 0.3km, 0.2km, 0.1km, 0.0km.

I made it!

But i wasn't at the end yet. Our regrouping point was the Starbucks at the lobby of the First World Hotel, another 500m away. Luckily it was all downhill from here so it wasn't so bad. I arrived at Starbucks a little after 3am, almost two and a half hours after leaving Gohtong.

It was quite an expereince. Painful, yes but at the same time, fun. I guess what eases the pain is the people. Doing crazy things with like-minded people, knowing you're not the only one out there suffering helps make it a lot less painful. And these nutters are genuinely good company: Steve, Azmar, Karoline, Puzi, Doc, Kam, Ngae, Lee Nya, Ishsal, Senn, Alex, Shazly and his two friends, Rahim and a few others. If you ever feel the need to do something crazy like this, you gotta make sure these guys are around.

And the nutters will be at it again this Friday, if you're interested.

That dude is dope

2007-09-21T16:34:00.000+08:00

I mean he's a real dope for taking dope.

In case you didn't know, 2006 Tour de France winner, Floyd Landis, was found guilty for using synthetic testosterone to boost his Stage 17 comeback in le Tour last year.

He is now officially the first ever cyclist to have his Tour de France title stripped from him. He is now officially a doper and a dumbass.

And here I was thinking his Stage 17 victory was heroic.

Saturday Night Live!

2007-09-18T13:03:00.000+08:00

What do you do when it's fasting month but you still want to get a decent ride in?

You do it at night. And you do the KKB-Gap route.

So it was that five of us gathered in front of the 7-11 in Kuala Kubu Baharu to begin this journey into darkness. Present were me, Senn, Steve Azmar and Zabil. Senn and I were the only ones on road bikes while the rest were on their mounties. Azmar was on his touring bike.

We started at 10:30pm and made our way up to the dam. Zabil pushed the pace a bit and I was barely hanging on. Looked back to see the other three had dropped off. So we backed off a bit and made sure everyone stayed in a group.

This is one ride where it's important to stay together because once across the bridge, it was total darkness. Now, this is one place you wouldn't want to be alone at, it is seriously scary.

Anyway, we rode at a leisurely pace of about 15km/h, chit-chatting all the way to the top. It was a very nice and easy ride, and the conversations helped the kilometres go by a lot quicker.

We hit the Gap at about 12.30am and had a little picnic there. Steve took out a wedge of watermelon, Zabil brought some sandwiches. Our tummies filled, it was time to head back.

This was the part I was dreading. Gap during the day is nice and cool. At night, it was freezing. I put on a spare long-sleeved jersey and stuffed newspapers down my chest to help keep me warm. No good. I was still shivering. Need to get me a windbreaker.

The pace going down was cautious, rarely going more than 30km/h with Azmar leading the way. I dunno how he does it: we had benefit the taillight blinkers of the bikes in front to follow, he had total darkness. Still, he led us down confidently. But unlike on the way up, we rode in total silence, each of us concentrating on the road ahead.

When you descend in these conditions, it's very easy to let your mind wander. The red blinking lights in front of you can be hypnotic, causing you to lose concentration. Your mind starts to wander and you start wondering why you can't feel your right hand. I realised that my hand had gone numb. So my concentration went there, clenching my fist to get the blood flowing again.

When the feeling came back, I looked up and saw darkness. No one in sight. Not one single blinking red light.

Panic.

It was scary. I know all the hantus are supposed to be tied up during the month of Ramadhan but still, being all alone in complete darkness, your heartrate goes up a few beats.

Had to pick up the pace a bit. Cranked it up, went through a few of the corners faster than i would have dared, then I saw it. First one, then another, then another. Blinking red lights! I'm saved.

Caught up with the rest of the pack and stuck to them for dear life all the way down. My right hand went numb again, but I ignored it this time. No way am I going to get dropped again.

We picked up the pace a bit when we got to the dam and continued all the way back to KKB. Except for my hitting a pothole and dropping my waterbottle as a result, the rest of the way was pretty uneventful.

We reached KKB around 2:30am, loaded up the bikes and went to the mamak shop nearby for some sahur.

A late-night ride to Frasers may seem extreme but it's really great fun if you have the right company, people who are as insane as you. This weekend, the plan is to run from Genting Sempah to Genting peak on Friday night and ride the same route on Saturday.

I seriously recommend these type of rides. It's different, it's unexpected and it's a lot of fun. Midnight train to Broga anyone?

Selamat Berpuasa...

2007-09-13T12:30:00.000+08:00

... to all the Muslim readers out there.

Broga... Finally

2007-09-10T18:30:00.000+08:00

150km. 4 mega climbs. That's the legendary Broga loop. People say doing the reverse loop is tough. The classic loop even tougher.

Never having been on this route before, I decided to join Adzim on this ride. And it was an epic ride.

We gathered at Batu 14 Hall at 8am Saturday morning. The day did not begin well for me. First, I discovered that I forgot to bring the wheel magnet for my computer. Luckily, I had a spare. Then, I discovered I had travelled all the way to Batu 14 with my wallet at home. So I'll be riding with no money, no ID.

Fortunately, I managed to borrow some $$$ from Mac. Doing 150k with no money to buy water and 100 Plus is never a good idea.

The crowd that gathered that day for the ride was a bunch of power riders. We had superstar triathlete Kimberly Yap, Jasmine, Elaine, Andrea, Bacin, Alex "Jesus is my Powergel", Dicky, Bacin, Faaisal, Jeffrey, Mac, Bernard, ride leader Adzim, and a couple of others. Looking at the calibre of these riders gave me an inferiority complex.

We pushed off heading towards Batu 18. The pace, driven by Kim and Bernard was an astonishing 35kmh! I was thinking, "Whoa guys!! Take it easy. We still have 150k to go!" As we turned the corner at Batu 18, Adzim reminded me that the front pack were only going as far as Tekala then heading back. So I eased off the pedals a bit and let them go.

We went through the dam area at a more leisurely pace before making a stop at Tekala. After saying good-bye to Bernard and Mac, we proceeded to Broga.

That was when the pace picked up again. Superman Simon Cross, Randy Tan, Sam Pritchard and one other rider happened to be on the same road as us and everyone wanted to follow their pace. As expected, I was dropped like a bad habit. I went all the way to Semenyih watching the pack get smaller and smaller in the distance. And I was still doing about 32kmh. At the rate they were pulling away, they must have been pulling 40+.

Luckily for me, Dicky noticed I was missing and slowed down to wait. I managed to get a draft from a scooter and soon caught up with him. Then Dicky pulled me all the way to Broga. Thanks Dicky. He was a super domestique that day, having slowed down to pull Bacin when he dropped his water bottle earlier, then slowing down to pull me to Broga. I owe you one bro.

At Broga, we said good-bye to Kim, Simon, Randy and their gang. And now it was down to just the 10 of us.

The came the climbs. The first one was short but really steep. Jeffrey attacked early on but the lost it, inching his way slowly up the hill. Andrea and Adzim went up the hill like it was flat, disappearing into the distance. I laboured along slwoly with Elaine for company. We finally made it to the top and were rewarded with a nice descent.

The second hill was more of the same. It wasn't as steep but it was still tough.

A quick rest before we came to Bukit Tangga. 4km of pure torture. It was long, labourious and hot. It just went on and on. 4km felt like 40. But what goes up must come down so when we finally hit the top, we had a good time going down. I caught up with Jasmine at the end of the descent and we worked together all the way to Klawang.

At Klawang, we had a break. Got myself two bottles of 100 Plus and two bottles of mineral water to refill my bottles. And a vanilla bun for fuel. We were all gearing up and psyching ourselves up for the 14km climb that is Peres. The extra bottle of mineral water was meant to be kept in my pocket so I can pur it on myself if I feel like I'm overheating. As it turned out, that was a very good idea.

We started the climb and I was glad I had that extra bottle. It was hot. Adzim and the ladies, again, just pulled away like it was flat. Bacin, Alex and I kept yo-yoing up the hill. First Bacin would pull away, then we'd catch up and I'd pull away, then Alex would catch up and pull away. We went like this all the way up.

Being super domestique had take its toll on Dicky's legs and he dropped back. As did Jeffrey, who clearly hadn't fully recovered from Interstate and was pushing very hard early on in the ride.

Finally, after climbing for what seems like forever, I saw the UMNO sign. At that point in time, it was the most beautiful sight ever. I was soo happy to see that sign I let out a scream of joy, much to the amusement of Alex, who was a few metres behind me.

We waited at the peak for everyone to show up. One by one, Faaisal, then Dicky appeared over the crest. While waiting for Jeffrey to come, a yellow truck pulled over. The passenger door opened and out popped Jeffrey. He really took his legs too far.

After that, we descended Peres and rode to the nearest kedai runcit to refill. Everyone had used up all their water supply on the climb. After filling up, we were supposed to have a slow-slow ride back to the car so that Jeffrey (and the rest of us) can recover. Hah! Slow-slow was 36kmh! I shudder to think what a fast pace back would be.

We finally got back to the car around 3-something. Tired, beat, hungry, but happy. It was tough but I have finally completed the legendary Broga loop. And the tougher classic loop at that. What a feeling.

Kudos to Adzim for organising such an epic ride. Now it's time to conquer the reverse loop.