Tuesday 27 March 2012

Lake Kenyir International Triathlon 2012 Race Report

After our floorball league game against Spearhead (which we won 17-2), Sam and I started our grueling journey to Lake Kenyir with the help of GPS. It is our first time going to Terengganu and the road there is not like the Plus north-south highway but a single lane ‘highway’. Thus overtaking cars is not that easy. Even though the distance is about 400+km but it took us 7 freaking hours to reach out destination.

When we arrived there, the carbo loading dinner was about to begin. When the green light was given to ‘feast’, the crowd went for the food like there is no tomorrow. I guess it’s pretty normal for races like this, as it was Sam’s first time; he was laughing away and comparing them to our church’s big party (a community project by our church where free dinner is being offered) because they were filling their plates till mountain high. What a sight.

[The race pack]

Then it was briefing by uncle Chan, as usual his funny jokes cum briefing filled the hall with laughter. Everyone was in a relax mode. He mentioned his objective for organizing triathlon races in Malaysia was for the participants to have fun; he added Chris ‘Macca’ Mccormack (One of the IronMan world champion) comes to his race because he thinks it is fun. =)

After a 5 hours plus sleep, it was time to go. I’ve been stuffing myself with lots of carbs for the whole day, night and morning, thus making my ‘tangki tahi’ full. Just as I was about to leave the chalet, my body was ready to release all the toxic. Thank God the timing was right, or else, it’s gonna come out in the lake or during my ride.

Walked to the race venue, settled “maddog” down, arrange my equipment, food, drink, etc and got by body marked ‘209’. Talked to a couple of Penang tri friends and even made a new friend (who proposed after the race!).

Look at my watch, 30 minutes before the race start, started eating my vanilla powerbar, miss eating it! Green light was given by the MC to warm up in the lake. It was pretty clean, but towards the end, the visibility range was about 1 meter. We had to do 2loops around 3 large buoys. I hate the swimming part the most as this is my weakest discipline.

The race started at 8am sharp, massive splash and traffic as usual. Getting a few kicks is pretty normal. I got a little panic and immediately stop swimming because people were coming from the back, left, right and all directions towards me. I tried to not be bother by all this and continue swimming. After the first 200M, I got the momentum of it. I swam out of course twice at the 2nd buoy, same mistake twice. I really suck at it. I think I took a snail time of 40minutes to complete the 1.5k swim.

I was so glad when I came out from the water as biking and running is more of my strength. I knew I had lots of catching up to do on the bike. Came out, dried my feet, no fancy T1 stuff and quickly get to the road. It was a lonely ride, no one to draft and a few cyclist here and there. At the 15Km mark, I saw a group of cyclist heading towards T2 already. Kind of depressing. But I continue pressing on, told myself to continue to give my best. After the U turn, Max came from behind and told me to follow him, I was glad there is someone to finish the cycling course with. We stayed with each other till the last killer slope which ‘killed’ a lot of cyclist.

gif maker

That is a mental challenge to me, most cyclist start pushing their bike up the slope, one even took of his shoes and start running with the bike. I almost quit, but I told myself, you’re cycling now, so put your ass on the saddle and finish it strong. Seriously I almost cried, it was the most torturing slope I’ve ever rode on. After pushing my body and keeping my head strong for about less than a minute, the ‘hill’ was conquered! Phew…what a relief and I was just ride behing Ah Mong. My goal was to stick with him till the end. Bike time: 1 hour 15minutes

Into T2, I put on my shoes and kept an eye on Ah Mong. He was slightly ahead of me, but I never let him get out of my sight. Pacing and trailing him for the next 8KMs but he was much faster than me towards the end. The hot weather and running across the scenic dam was another mental challenge to me. I knew I had to stay strong and finish the race as fast as possible. Running time: about 1 hour.

I manage to overtake Ben halfway on the dam and finish the race with an unofficial time of 2 hours and 55minutes. Not an impressive result but at least I achieve my personal target which is to complete it in under 3hours. So now I can say that I’ve completed Malaysia’s toughest triathlon. =) I almost missed the finishing line, went to the wrong lane but I was quick enough to realign myself. Things to improve on, my swim and my finishing pose!

Special thanks to Sam for being my driver, bellboy, photographer and a supporter. You made this ‘road trip’ a memorable one. Hope you can join me for PD tri in July. Hahaha!

funny ending ^^


Thursday 22 March 2012

My Dream Comeback

Of course not about blogging. haha. But about my achievements in sports and life. After my knee surgery in September 2010, I thought 2011 would be my 'comeback' year, as I was physically 'normal' enough to start training. But boy' it was a disappointing year. Why?

I was 3rd in the point chart for the PFL Div1, I wasn't selected as All Star due to crappy performance, I only did 1/3 of an OD triathlon, I 'hit the wall' during the round island ride for CFAL Edition 3, I was at 173 placing out of 500 riders in King Of the Mountain, I completed the PBIM half marathon in 2hours and the finisher's picture of me look like sh*t.

[KOM's Result]

[Official Pic, small and bad looking =P]

Life as an external auditor made training time even harder to find. You would be labelled lazy if you don't OT. It would affect your evaluation if you always leave office on time. And the longer you stay in the firm, more workload will start pouring in. I always wanted a healthy balance between work and life but I will never achieve this as long as I'm there.

Fortunately, my wish was granted. I got a new job (will talk about it in another post) and I really believe its God's blessings and provision upon my life. Hence, training is back in full swing yo.

First competition in 2012 is the annual PFL Div 1, as of to date things are looking pretty sweet to me. I've never stayed on top of the point chart ever since Ter Min-asanity begun. It will be hard for me to keep this position throughout the whole league but I'll try. =) Term congratulated me and said that if there is someone above him, he is glad that the person is me. I think he is just trying to be nice, pretty sure he will go out to claim his title. Anyhow, he is an inspiration to me and many floorballers out there.

[PFL Point chart as at 25th Feb 2012]

It's gonna be a tiring weekend for me as I have a game against the speedy Spearhead and an OD triathlon the following day in Lake Kenyir. Wish me courage in the swim, speed on the wheels and strength in my legs. =)