Sunday, July 26, 2009

Nasi Lemak Bukit Antarabangsa

Nasi Lemak Antarabangsa!!! U better watch out, there's a new rival in town, and she's loaded with Ribena Berry. Catchy starting sentence huh? Boleh buat iklan kat 'broadband', eh silap, billboard..

Lets go to the report guys...

Had Nasi Lemak at Ikang's house as a reward for him in completing larian Bukit Antarabangsa. His wife Dee, woke up at 5am to cook the rice and then waited through out the whole race to ensure her hubby will get all the support for his maiden run. In fact, as he claimed so often, it was a first attempt for him to do any health related activity after RMC. (Pls Ikang, cake throwing at Hard Rock is not a sport).

Ikang as he is affectionately known by his friends did something that he'd never imagined maybe few months back. He completed 7K of hilly Bukit Antarabangsa terrain and did it in a good 45 mins or so, very, very good for a first timer. And I made it a point to be there and join the race to support him.

But I think his wife was the most happiest. Her effort of persuading him to live a healthier lifestyle has paid off. Eventhough she has been pestered by her ever demanding friends to masak nasi lemak and invite us all to have breakfast at her house after the hubby complete the race. It's so worth it kan Dee?

As for me, a satisfying run and managed to complete it in 34 mins. The only difference for this race was that I got number 26, and top 30 was called to the stage to get a medal. It was so unexpected as I thought I will be slow having had to run sub 5min/km for 5.5K from my house to the venue bcos I woke up late. Had always planned to 'run from house' (my wife hates this phrase), but in leisurely pace as a warm up to the race. But as I mentioned, woke up late and had like less than 40 mins to reach the venue. Apalagi, pulun la, and the heavy rain also did not helped that much. Was happy that Tesa, Noah, Ezan 'Barra' Azira(kesian, couldnt join pasal Dr bodoh tak bagi lari), Ikang and Dee were there to witness it.

After race, ramai2 pergi serang rumah Dee/Ikang for the Nasi Lemak. Were joined later by Atuk(who didn't joined the run pasal bangun lambat), Piche&Ubai, Sahura&Doya, and Farouk&Aff.

Later in the afternoon few of them came to my house for a splish splash session at my condo's pool and Tesa's Kuew Tiow. We ended the day with a Karaoke session at Ampang Park.

All in all, it was time well spent on weekend. Feeling is good to know that more and more of my friends are inclined towards healthier living. Next mission is to get Mantat(in S'pore to see his new heroes - Liverpool) and Black(Piche) to run.

Monday, July 13, 2009

Maiden Triathlon - PD 2009

Apa ni? semuanya 'Maiden'. Well, its better than saying 'lost virginity' kan? as I lost my virgin in triathlon-ing. And did it joyfully.

This event came 2 weeks after KL Marathon, where I struggled to complete. So this time, I dont want to get hard done by again. I vowed to prepare myself better this time.

The real training only starts the Sunday, a week before the race. As this race intially, was supposed to be a warm-up for the half ironman(IM) end of July(postponed to Oct) , I planned for a heavy duty training sessions, fully knowing the risk that I might not be in peak condition for the PD race bcos I would only be in the middle of my 1/2 IM training.

That was also add on to the fact that my feet was still hurting from the Marathon. So the Sunday a week before the race, Bandit was kind enough to accompany me for an 80K ride in Dengkil/Sepang. Chipang was there too. Was sluggish after the first 50K, but was not worried bcos will be doing Olympic Distance (OD - Swim 1.5K, Bike 40K, Run 10K) in PD.

The week leading up to the race, did double sessions everyday. Gym during lunch followed by run/swim at night. By Friday, I think I'm at 60-70% condition. Good enough to pull me thru the race.

On Sat, checked in to PDGC. Then when straight to register for the race, took me bloody 45 minutes. I was actually intimidated a little bit, looking at all the well defined and toned body of most of the athletes, and the bikes, talk also no use, semua power2. But re-grouped my thoughts, I need to focus abt me only, dont get physcoed by this.

Had a trial swim in the sea with Bandit before the sprint event, which was really a good move, cos now I know how it feels to swim in open water. Needed some time to get to use to, as the water was quite choppy.

Later at night, had the carbo loading dinner and briefing at the hotel. Tesa, Noah, Cyrus and Alisha came arnd 9.30 pm. Went for another round of sea food dinner, and joined by Mantat as well.

Woke up at 6am on Sunday, do my usual stuffs, kubab 2 kali. Biked out from the apratment with Stupe and Bandit. They helped me a lot on how to organise my stuffs in the T area. Did the body marking and went kubab again as usual.

Went for a warm-up swim with bandit 30 mins before start. Tesa and Cyrus came to see me start-off, and I told them to wait 45 mins, cos Ill be out of the water by then. Confident je nak cakap mcm tu.

I was not really nervous at the starting line, even when I dont fully know what to expect. Maybe its because I was confident that I did enough training, and the fact that I've done distances more than the OD in my trainings, cuma tak pernah buat continously je la. The only thing that troubles me was how would I react if I have a puncture. Only had that once during training, and itupun Bandit yg tolong. Well, too late to back out now. Belasah je lah.

We were flagged off at 8:15, and what Stupe said was entirely correct, It was a contact sport. Ppl keep on sepak-ing, pelangkung-ing and shoving me left right up and down for the first 200-300 m. And the choppy water was not doing any favour either. It was very hard to keep my strokes, end up that I need to lift up my head every 3-4 strokes to look to where I was going. After the 1st bouy, as I was entering the marina, the strokes were getting smoother and the traffic clearer. Starting to enjoy it.

As I made the U-turn, tried to relieve myself, kencing la...Ok, now I learn 1 thing, susah nak kencing while swimming, kena stop jugak. The route back was excellent, really enjoyed it. I think I did the fastest in this section. But it gets harder again when I'm back at the last bouy as we were faced again with the strong waves. To my surprise, I clocked 47 min to finish the swim and Tesa n Cyrus were still there, keeping to my words that I'll be done in 45 mins.

Ran to T1, takkan nak jln kot, tak macho la. But at T1, relax gile, pakai kasut slow2 and jalan tolak the bike out. As I started pedalling, I remembered Bandit said not to push too hard for the first few K. Did just that. But after 5K, I've been passed by a lot of cyclist. Lembab sgt ke aku ni? Bila ada org potong je, I will look at the crank position they were using and try to emulate that. Tapi tak laju jugak. I even stopped to pump my back tyre as I tot it doesnt have enough air, a reason I was slow. Shdnt have done that.

I wanted to enjoy the ride, but looking at so many ppl passing me, on the route back I tekan sikit. Maybe shaved 5 mins off. But total bike time was 1:37. Terrible. Need to improve. Especially on the techniques.

At T2, sama jugak mcm T1, took my own sweet time to pakai kasut and tukar bib to my running vest. Leceh betul la nak kena pin2 ni. Shd have bought the racing belt the day before. Started off running behind Upiq and passed him few hundred metres after that, and saw Tesa and the whole family there to cheer me on.

Felt my legs very heavy for the 1st 5k, effect of cycling. Kam told me to do bricks to teach the muscle memory not to have this effect. Walked at all the water stations. Probably was doing 6-6:30 in the first 5K. But hit my strap turning back. Maybe it was like 5:30/km. Enjoyed it very much. Passed by all friends during this leg.

As I was entering the finishing line, wanted to sprint, tapi kaki ada rasa keras2 mcm nak cramp, so just maintained the pace. Greeted first by Chipang 30 m from the line, and then by Tesa, Noah, Cyrus, Alisha, and Mantat. Crossed the line in 3:31. Still in a very good spirit, and enjoyed it very, very, very much. Will come again next year.

Timing:
Swim 1.5K = 47 mins
Bike 40K = 1 hr :37 mins
Run 10K = 58 mins
Total Transitions = 9 mins
Total Time = 3hr 31 mins

Target was 3:30. Lari seminit.

*I want to say special thx to Bandit, Stupe, Mantat, Kam, Upiq, Chipang, Cyrus, Alisha and off course my beloved Tesa and Noah.