2010 Under the knife

Post Mortem on the events I participated for 2010.

1. 30K run, January, Pdg Merbok-Bkt Tunku-Hartamas.
Time: 3:15

Good: Manage to complete with minimal training and while carrying an injury.

Bad: 18 mins slower than 2009. Cramped and walked the last 5K.

Lessons Learned : Train and prepare. Dont join a race unprepared and injured. Result will be bad and injury worsen.

2. PD Tri, July.
Time: 2:55

Good: Improved 35mins overall from 2009. Excellent(by my standard) bike time (1:15). Running was OK. (55)

Bad: Swim was slower than expected (39). Was panicky 3/4 of the course.

Lessons Learned : Good prep on bike. Apparently not enough sessions in the pool by looking at the result. Dont try to 'pulun' at the start of the swim. Hard to get back composure.
Run was ok considering minimal time spent training bcos of injury that got me sidelined for a good 4 months. Enjoyed the race overall.

3. Desaru LD Tri, Oct.
Time: 6:40

Good: Improved 1:10 from IM 70.3 PutraJaya. Bike was excellent ( again by my standard 3:07). Hot weather did not hinder my race bcos of acclimatisation sessions. Nutrition timing was good too.

Bad: Run (2:34). 20 mins off target. Struggled in the mid part of the course. Swim was ok-ok je la.

Lessons Learned : Good prep overall. Need to preapare cold coke on the run course to boost spirit. Enjoyed the race.

4. Penang Marathon, Nov.
Time: 4:56

Good: 6 mins faster than my last and only Marathon in 2009. No cramping and pain factor was kept at minimum.

Bad: Too Slow. Not enough speed work. Hard to sustain 6-6:30 pace for the first half of the run.

Lessons Learned: Need to loose some more weight. Need to be sub 70KG to truly perform for Marathon.

Of IM and long road to recovery

Since I started doing the multisports, I have come to a conclusion that being an Ironman would be the pinnacle for one's personal goal. I made friends with many IM, some before they become IM, and some after, so much so that I want to be like them. Not because of the glamour or the the title "IM" that u can proudly place in front of your name, it is simply because of the question that I would like to answer it by myself. "Can I do it?" I JUST NEED to know this...and so the long journey begins.

End of Feb, went to Langkawi to witness the 2010 IM for 2 reasons;
1. To recce the venue
2. To soak up the whole experience

Suffice to say the event was nothing short of inspiring, and now, I also have a better sense and idea on the full distance IM. With that, my goal is getting much clearer, which shd translate into a better training plan. Needless to say, the plan looks very long and intensive. It better be.

However...(mesti nak kena ada however punya, drama...) I need to overcome the first obstacle right from the word go. To begin with, I'm injured (since Jan). Dr diagnosed me of having minor meniscus tear and MCL sprain on my left knee. Need to undergo Physio and few assesments. The next one is gonna be early May, which if it doesnt turn out right, the knee will be put under the knife.

So, my training is limited to swim and cycle, which is actually a blessing cos cycling is my worst decipline and cant say otherwise for swimming too. So this "time out" from doing 'weight bearing' activity has forced me to focus more time on swim/cycle which I think is bearing some fruits now. Now my ass on bike saddle have a higher pain threshold and my swim stroke is looking better than before.

I also started slow runs, but not without problems. The pain is still there but not as bad as before. The bigger issue now is the confidence level. For every step with my left foot, I'm always cautious, which resulted in putting more strain on my right. Not good, need to improve this.

Diet is also another area that I'm focussing. There is a certain weight range that I need to achieve to race effectively. Its always hard for endurance athlete to loose weight bcos u always need to have high level of input(food) to sustain the high level of work without affecting performance. So I'm targeting on 3 areas, the 1-Quality of food, 2-The compositon of food and 3-The Timing of intake. It is showing some result as I've lost abt 2 kg for the last 1.5 months without ever getting starved. Hope to shed few more kilos of fat.

In terms of knowledge, now I have a better understanding of the bike, with the help of Bandit, Stupe, Kam and others. I spent some time browsing the net reading bike articles as I'm also planning to upgrade my current bike to something that can do the job in Langkawi.

In summary, to do an IM is a big commitment. I'm hoping that I'd have the tenacity and strive to achieve my dream.

P.S: Eventhough the post date is Mar 7, I only post this on April 27.I drafted this post in early Mar but only now get to post it. Lazy...

Fat boy

Survived NB 30K, in a disappointing 3:20.
Target 3:15.
Time last year was 2:57.
Pls read report from last year http://jabbeer.blogspot.com/2009/01/polar-bear-on-run.html .

Verdict - 2 reasons
1. I'm fat
2. My legs are not strong enough

Woke up at 4, took the shower and had my ritual 'kubab'. Stomach still feels full from Nasi Lemak dinner binge , instead just had half a cup of coffee. Pushed off with Azmil arnd 4:40 and arrived at 5. Sampai2 je perut buat hal.

Walked from Tugu Negara to Pdg Merbuk. My heart was racing the moment I saw the long queues for the 4 portable toilets. Survival mode kicked in. No choice but to looked for the most isolated longkang to release my bombs there. Was unfortunate as Ikang caught me on the act. Not during the actual bombing, but just before....

At least my stomach felt good for the run. Was flagged off at 5:30. Maintained avg 6min/k for the first 10K. Enjoyed the hill at sekolah Arab cos they were no ligths at all and it was pitch black. Felt like running to Eternity and did not feel like u r climbing a hill as u cant see anything except for ppl few ft in front of u.

Slowed down the pace at the turning of Hartamas as suddenly the left knee felt so painful after running up the hill at Plaza Damas. Tried to put more weight on my right leg, and after 1-2 K, the left knee was OK. Was running at 6:30 avg until the start of Double Hill, probably KM 19. Started to walk for the first part of the hill as fatigue kicked in.

Met Mantat at 21K as he handed me the power gel. Managed to push myself to run 7K/min throughout the hills and came out around Tijani. Was excited to bump into my wife, D, Ezan, Yvone and Nizz at Tijani water station. They were in such a cheerfull mood, wonder why? Walked again for abt 100m just before the climb to go back into double hill. Ezan was there and encouraged me to run up the hill. I sure hell needed that and ran in 6:45 avg untill the start of Jln Sultan Salehudin.

Walked for abt 200m. As I wanted to start to run again up the hill, I start to feel tingling on my right quad. I know well enough that the cramps are coming. Couldnt do much and just walked from there on untill few hundred mtrs before Tugu. Told my self that I need to fight the cramps and slowly started running. As I started to pick-up my pace the cramp tangkap my right calf and left quads, almost stumbled to the ground. No choice but to walk again.

Started runing slowly pass Pdg Merbuk and stopped everytime the tinglings came. Met up my wife and D again at the junction of Bank Rakyat, they tried to give me encouragement and urged me to run. Wanted to run as I'm not really feeling tired but couldnt do much as still having the cramp problem. Sticked to 100 run 50 walk untill the finishing line.

I'm relieved that I can complete the run albeit 5 min off target and 22 mins slower than last year.

Really proud of Ikang from my running group as he clocked in 3:40, 20 mins earlier than target.

But for now;
Immediate target : Recovery and fix the knee
Intermediate target : Strength training + proper diet = Weight loss

To 'tekan' or not to 'tekan'

I woke up late again this morning. 6:20, wont have enough time to do 5K and to be ready behind the desk before 8. This has been a constance battle for me lately. I can wake up to the rings of my alarm clock but I just dont have enough will power to stay awake.

Earlier, I woke up at 5:30, and turn off the alarm. Sedar2 je dah pukul 6:20. Crap...

My plan was to do at least 5K around KLCC park, in the early morning. Looks like now I have to go to the gym instead during luch to make ammend. So to the gym I went.

I never really enjoyed running on treadmill, so I set a modest target of 6-6:30min/K for 30min. Changed attire and dah pakai kasut semua cukup, terlupa pulak nak pakai knee brace. I've been wearing a knee brace on my left knee to give me extra support when running. I suspect I'm suffering from a minor meniscus tear, but Stupe told me not to self diagnose myself.

Anyway, malas nak bukak kasut utk pakai the knee brace so just decided that I will take it easy on the treadmill. But after 4-5 mins, the knee felt right, so i set the speed to 10.5, which will give me the pace of 5:45-6min/K. For some reasons, felt really good. Decided to 'tekan sikit' and increased the speed untill 12 and ran for 42 mins, tertambah sikit time utk genapkan 7K. So average was 6m/K pasal the earlier part lari2 anak.

Was very satisfied with the run as I think now my knee is getting better. Hopefully it will be in a good conditon for this Sunay 30K run. Insya'Allah.

Lesson learnt: When everything feels right, do extra than what u've planned. It will make up for the time when u feel shitty.

Catching up

I have not been writing in this blog for about 6 months. I dont need to give any excuses, this is my blog, I can write whenever I feel like writing, and nobody can say anything about it. That's the beauty.

Many eventful things happened in the last 6 months, Noah turned 1, I completed Half Ironman, Tesa completed half marathon to name a few. But one of the thing that stands out and that I take pride on is making my family and friends to lead a more healthy living. I shared and guided them with what little knowledge that I have to help them kickstart their healthy and fitness journey. It just made feel good that at least I'm making impacts on their lives.

But now, I'm gonna write on something that is more current. There are many things that I wanna do this year, but let me scope it down to sporting goal, as it is mainly within my control. I have 2 attainable goals;
1. Complete KL Marathon in 4:30
2. Complete Half IM in 7 hrs

Basically, its all abt improving the timing for these 2 events that I struggled the most last year.

This month, I'm still charting up the plan to attack this. There are so many factors that will come into place. As planning is very crucial, I'm using as much time as possible to design the most effective plan to me.

In general, There are few things that I need to improve to achieve the goals above.
1. Get into my optimal weight of 68KG.
2. Improve in my cycling ability

So my plan will revolve around the 2 areas of improvement above to achieve my goals.

From time to time, I will update the blogs to share my experience in terms of training, races, nutirition etc as I think ppl can learn as much as what I have learnt from this journey.

Wish me luck guys.

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.

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.