Those that prefers the Moving Picture version...........
You can catch some Traithlete and PowerMan in this movie as well ;-)
Monday, November 19, 2007
Presidential Ride
Reminders by the powers that be can be a humbling experience. You think that this will be your second long major ride, and you think you had your bases covered. You think that you have inherited a wonderful front shocks for your mountain bike makes you more confident. You think that being more experience and baby sitting a newbie will make the ride easy and laughable. ALL WRONG.
What could go wrong, have gone wrong. Lets start with the injuries, i have scratches and cut from falls from face to toe. I had a tumble in Loop 1 which causes my Spectacles to cut my cheek, I had a major crack in my crown jewels (read nuts) trying to bunny hop in early loop2. I had a major tumble in Loop 2 which causes me to have a bruised ribs, which will take me of biking for a month. I had to walk back nearly 4 kilometer with pain because I could no longer slouch over the handle bar. Thanks to those that help me with my bike nearing Loop2.
Ironically, the day before in FRIM, i found that the bike handled extremely well with the new FOX shocks and I was chuckling to myself watching Adeline trying to handle the simple FRIM trails. Now she has the last laugh having to wait 25 minutes for me at Checkpoint 2. I think I had it coming though and my biggest failure was not listening to Bernard's advice in changing the rear tires as my rear was slipping uncontrollably in the single track.
Anyways, the day started well with a congregation of more then 800 riders. This should have made into the Malaysian World Records Book though.
And the customary "Mari Tolak Basikal" and jam into the first hill climb, a single track.
Its no surprise that they call this hill climb the "Bitch Hill", don't ask me why?
I am hanging up my bike for the month and rest. Won't be biking nor excercising for this month though.
What could go wrong, have gone wrong. Lets start with the injuries, i have scratches and cut from falls from face to toe. I had a tumble in Loop 1 which causes my Spectacles to cut my cheek, I had a major crack in my crown jewels (read nuts) trying to bunny hop in early loop2. I had a major tumble in Loop 2 which causes me to have a bruised ribs, which will take me of biking for a month. I had to walk back nearly 4 kilometer with pain because I could no longer slouch over the handle bar. Thanks to those that help me with my bike nearing Loop2.
Ironically, the day before in FRIM, i found that the bike handled extremely well with the new FOX shocks and I was chuckling to myself watching Adeline trying to handle the simple FRIM trails. Now she has the last laugh having to wait 25 minutes for me at Checkpoint 2. I think I had it coming though and my biggest failure was not listening to Bernard's advice in changing the rear tires as my rear was slipping uncontrollably in the single track.
Anyways, the day started well with a congregation of more then 800 riders. This should have made into the Malaysian World Records Book though.
And the customary "Mari Tolak Basikal" and jam into the first hill climb, a single track.
Its no surprise that they call this hill climb the "Bitch Hill", don't ask me why?
I am hanging up my bike for the month and rest. Won't be biking nor excercising for this month though.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Review Notes on Duathlon
What are the lessons learnt
Duathlon is a sport about preps in equipment, run, biking and transition.
Equipment Prep,
Running Shoes - Choose wisely. My first running shoes that I use for training does not suit me zilch. The Nike SHOX causes me knee pain, the change to the Pearl Izumi help me a lot. Thanks Terry for the loaner.
Nutrition Management - Remember to mix a lot more salt in your water bottle and keep spare if required. There is no such thing as enough water and salt. Note to self: Bring powerGel in bike jersey and not in bag.
RFID Chip - Remember when u run, your leg expand, leave a bit of room for the leg to expand when tying the RFID chip less you want to experience cramp early
Run
Keep to your own pace and not try to follow some race bunny that you do not know. In second run, try to walk briskly if you cannot run. Take ur time at water and banana stop to refill especially if you forget to bring your Powergel. Run more, try to keep 5 km under 30 minutes. Need to loose more weight though.
Biking
Remember not to confuse your number straps and your bike jersey pocket when trying place your pump, pit stop and other biking paraphernalia. Verify before moving bike off. Put your biking glove where u can see them not in ur bag - sheeeesh
Transition
Recover while you are walking out, not at transition. Seating around and staring at people does not help. Rolling on grass trying to fend of cramps is definitely a no no. What were you thinking wasting more then 3 minutes for each transition. Target to cut down transition to less then 2 minutes next time round (if there is going to be a next time)
Duathlon is a sport about preps in equipment, run, biking and transition.
Equipment Prep,
Running Shoes - Choose wisely. My first running shoes that I use for training does not suit me zilch. The Nike SHOX causes me knee pain, the change to the Pearl Izumi help me a lot. Thanks Terry for the loaner.
Nutrition Management - Remember to mix a lot more salt in your water bottle and keep spare if required. There is no such thing as enough water and salt. Note to self: Bring powerGel in bike jersey and not in bag.
RFID Chip - Remember when u run, your leg expand, leave a bit of room for the leg to expand when tying the RFID chip less you want to experience cramp early
Run
Keep to your own pace and not try to follow some race bunny that you do not know. In second run, try to walk briskly if you cannot run. Take ur time at water and banana stop to refill especially if you forget to bring your Powergel. Run more, try to keep 5 km under 30 minutes. Need to loose more weight though.
Biking
Remember not to confuse your number straps and your bike jersey pocket when trying place your pump, pit stop and other biking paraphernalia. Verify before moving bike off. Put your biking glove where u can see them not in ur bag - sheeeesh
Transition
Recover while you are walking out, not at transition. Seating around and staring at people does not help. Rolling on grass trying to fend of cramps is definitely a no no. What were you thinking wasting more then 3 minutes for each transition. Target to cut down transition to less then 2 minutes next time round (if there is going to be a next time)
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
A Humbling Holiday Experience - Powerman2007
The day started reasonably well, though i didn't have much sleep though - anxiety attack maybe. Went into the transition area and could find my rack number, seem that the rain had washed away the number markings, not a good start to the day, i thought.
We made ourselves onto the start line, the elites and the OD started off first at 7:30am . Our sprint section is to start at 7:50am, as some of us were waiting there bubbly like the Powerpuff girls. We were let off at 7:50 sharp and I made my usual 7-8km per hour pace following PK and Margaret (my Gym Buddy). We reached the transition for bike after about 40 minutes. We then pushed off for the 32km bike section. This was covered in about 1 hour 5 mins. Then the screw up happen, I cramped at T2 while trying to put my road shoe on, and I was rolling on the grass in agony and had to calm myself down for about 3-4 minutes.
After that, i just couldn't run anymore, but not wanting to let myself down this way, took stride to the drinking station and had a banana and drinks as I hobbled to the next drink station. I had no choice but to ask the medics to give me a anti cramp spray as I had to walk another 3km before the finished line. I finished eventually in about 2 hour 45 minutes (according to my watch). Will have to wait for official timing to see the final results. It was a good first outing though for me, nonetherless.
I cannot blame some of the participant though, this is how I also felt after finishing the race.
Addendum (Official results out)
First Leg Run (5.5km) - 36.22 s
T1 - 3.18 s
Bike Stage (32km) - 1 hr 04:50
T2 - 3.06 s (including all the guling and cramps)
Second Leg Run (5km) - 53.21 s
Total : 2 hours 40m 59s
We made ourselves onto the start line, the elites and the OD started off first at 7:30am . Our sprint section is to start at 7:50am, as some of us were waiting there bubbly like the Powerpuff girls. We were let off at 7:50 sharp and I made my usual 7-8km per hour pace following PK and Margaret (my Gym Buddy). We reached the transition for bike after about 40 minutes. We then pushed off for the 32km bike section. This was covered in about 1 hour 5 mins. Then the screw up happen, I cramped at T2 while trying to put my road shoe on, and I was rolling on the grass in agony and had to calm myself down for about 3-4 minutes.
After that, i just couldn't run anymore, but not wanting to let myself down this way, took stride to the drinking station and had a banana and drinks as I hobbled to the next drink station. I had no choice but to ask the medics to give me a anti cramp spray as I had to walk another 3km before the finished line. I finished eventually in about 2 hour 45 minutes (according to my watch). Will have to wait for official timing to see the final results. It was a good first outing though for me, nonetherless.I cannot blame some of the participant though, this is how I also felt after finishing the race.Addendum (Official results out)
First Leg Run (5.5km) - 36.22 s
T1 - 3.18 s
Bike Stage (32km) - 1 hr 04:50
T2 - 3.06 s (including all the guling and cramps)
Second Leg Run (5km) - 53.21 s
Total : 2 hours 40m 59s
Sunday, November 11, 2007
A Holiday we will go.....
Its been sometime that I have been to a holiday, so packing up my stuff is a bit of a chaotic event but nevertheless, a holiday we will go to LUMUT. The PCC boys and girls (Don, Andrea, Soh, Wai Lam, Ivan, Annie, Glenn, William and xxx) decided to join us by cycling to Lumut to see Powerman.
They left at 4 am in the morning. Thinking and estimating that they might reach manjung at about 1 pm, i pushed off at 8 am and had planned to catch up with them at Sabak Bernam. Alas, with all the road blocks and also at the speed they were going, Joe, PK and me caught up with them near Telok Intan junction. Joe decided to give them drafting services into Lumut and Manjung.
Here is the video captions as we are going into Manjung.
We arrived in Manjung at 12:30 and managed to check into Lead View Hotel soon afterwards. The Lunch near Lumut Port was heavenly and we then recce the road bike course soon afterwards.
They left at 4 am in the morning. Thinking and estimating that they might reach manjung at about 1 pm, i pushed off at 8 am and had planned to catch up with them at Sabak Bernam. Alas, with all the road blocks and also at the speed they were going, Joe, PK and me caught up with them near Telok Intan junction. Joe decided to give them drafting services into Lumut and Manjung.
Here is the video captions as we are going into Manjung.
We arrived in Manjung at 12:30 and managed to check into Lead View Hotel soon afterwards. The Lunch near Lumut Port was heavenly and we then recce the road bike course soon afterwards.
Friday, November 09, 2007
Deepavali - Festival of Light "headed"
I am so going to suffer. Having turned down other frens request in doing the 200km ride to Frasers Loop, i went to do some private simulation in Kota Damansara of a Run_bike_Run. Outcome: I might as well walk and enjoy the Lumut sprint meeting frens and have a party.
Why: I suffered the first run, went wobbly on the bike and no power on the bike and when i wanted to run again in the second part, my legs were wonky uncooperative. Brain say - run, legs says - are u nuts? I pity this puny legs is trying to carry this sack of potato body for 10 over km and watching all the kids do the Terry Fox run without even much of training makes me rethink my position. Ah well, lets go through the mill and be done with it.
Lessons learnt - Shoes make hell of a difference, i changed from one of the well known brand to another of the Japanese make, it removed the pain from my knee. But, because of the absence of pain in the knee, now I have pain all over the body, screaming for me to stop this torture. Stamina says go, body says "we are having a shutdown today".
Moral of story - Who is going to party with me in Manjung?
Anyway, leaving KL on Saturday morning to accompany as support car to some 9 PCC riders who will be riding to Lumut Saturday morning. They will be providing moral support on Sunday though.
Why: I suffered the first run, went wobbly on the bike and no power on the bike and when i wanted to run again in the second part, my legs were wonky uncooperative. Brain say - run, legs says - are u nuts? I pity this puny legs is trying to carry this sack of potato body for 10 over km and watching all the kids do the Terry Fox run without even much of training makes me rethink my position. Ah well, lets go through the mill and be done with it.
Lessons learnt - Shoes make hell of a difference, i changed from one of the well known brand to another of the Japanese make, it removed the pain from my knee. But, because of the absence of pain in the knee, now I have pain all over the body, screaming for me to stop this torture. Stamina says go, body says "we are having a shutdown today".
Moral of story - Who is going to party with me in Manjung?
Anyway, leaving KL on Saturday morning to accompany as support car to some 9 PCC riders who will be riding to Lumut Saturday morning. They will be providing moral support on Sunday though.
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
Pushing the Envelope
When i first rediscovered sports last year, i couldn't even climb a flight of staircase without feeling tired and wheezing about. I told myself, u need to take it one step at a time and try out new challenges. After all, u are already 45 and there may not be enough years for you to enjoy a bit of healthy lifestyle.
I also remembered being teased by the coach of L2A cycling team when I told him that I have not trained enough to cycle from KL to Penang and I will not be ready to ride that distance. He chastised me saying that, "Its all in your mind, when will there be enough training, if you do not try to test your envelope". Actually, come to think of it, what is enough training, if you are competing with yourself.
With that, i decided to test out new challenges every year and try out new things. Last year was the year of Cycling. This year, I ventured into running when i ran my first 10k in the Mizuno Run. I have never run anything beyond 5 k at that time.
I am already feeling very nervous about the coming Powerman this Sunday. I do get teased for doing only the Powerman Sprint this year as many thought that its a joke for me to do the sprint as I should have taken the Full. I will get remarks like, "What la you, training pergi Cycle to Broga buat 140km, tapi buat Sprint saja". My response to them is that is that, " I am just competing with myself and have nothing to prove to my friends". The way I see it is that: Cycling-->Run 10k--->Run 10.5k+Bike 32k---->future. Anyhow, I need to recover for Presidential ride which is the week after.
I wonder what I will try out next year, its a toss up between swimming and mountain climbing I suppose. Seems that I have committed to go to Kinabalu first quarter next year.
I also remembered being teased by the coach of L2A cycling team when I told him that I have not trained enough to cycle from KL to Penang and I will not be ready to ride that distance. He chastised me saying that, "Its all in your mind, when will there be enough training, if you do not try to test your envelope". Actually, come to think of it, what is enough training, if you are competing with yourself.
With that, i decided to test out new challenges every year and try out new things. Last year was the year of Cycling. This year, I ventured into running when i ran my first 10k in the Mizuno Run. I have never run anything beyond 5 k at that time.
I am already feeling very nervous about the coming Powerman this Sunday. I do get teased for doing only the Powerman Sprint this year as many thought that its a joke for me to do the sprint as I should have taken the Full. I will get remarks like, "What la you, training pergi Cycle to Broga buat 140km, tapi buat Sprint saja". My response to them is that is that, " I am just competing with myself and have nothing to prove to my friends". The way I see it is that: Cycling-->Run 10k--->Run 10.5k+Bike 32k---->future. Anyhow, I need to recover for Presidential ride which is the week after.
I wonder what I will try out next year, its a toss up between swimming and mountain climbing I suppose. Seems that I have committed to go to Kinabalu first quarter next year.
Monday, November 05, 2007
Tiring Weekend of FUN
Saturday 3rd November 2007
Got up at about 5:40, shites..i am late for my Saturday morning ride to Broga. Got off my back and rushed my bike, nutrition and was on the road by 6:20 am. Met the guys at the dewan at Batu 14. Azwar decided to grace us with his new black tri bike all gleaming with Ultegra SL equipment, and the thot of a fast ride makes me tired just thinking about it.
The usual suspect of Azwar, Adzim, Bacin, Dicky, Ariff, MaySenn, Adeline, Andrea , Azhar, Ihshal and myself pushed off for Peres. We met Shazly and Ngae up on Peres just before 9:00 am. Shazly and Dicky turned back at Peres and we continued our journey down to Klawang (actually I forgot that there are two more small hills before Klawang). We reached Klawang Petronas at 10:10 am. Had our replenishment and we then pushed off for Bukit Tangga and then to Broga. We however did a pit stop at Lenggeng for lunch at about 12:00. That must have been the best maggi sup ever. (What was a 2 minit mee took like 15 minutes to prepare).
Being the back marker, we managed to catchup with Ihshal who nearly got lost in Semenyih town. While along the way, MaySenn,Ihshal and me had voted to take the stairway to Heaven route to Batu 14, cutting the 152km journey to about 140km. As we were passing Tekala, we were hailed by Azwar/Bacin and team to stop by for nasi lemak.
We then unanimously agreed to take the Stairway to heaven route going to Batu 14 and we reached the car at about 3:10pm. The meter clocked 139.2 km. I was feeling knackered and the thought of rushing to Armada to pick up the Powerman goodie bag looks daunting.
Sunday 4th November 2007
Got up late again and checked my hand phone, received a text from Maysenn, "Are we doing double hill warm up before Terry Fox run", "nope, my knee is in pain" - i responded.
Went to picked up Adeline and we then made our way to Taman Tasik Perdana and saw Ariff, Jaja and Maysenn already parked. We then pushed up and did the Terry Fox run in reverse route as warm up before the actual run. I think we kinda covered about 4.5 km.
As figured, when the run proper actually started, it was dodging the people occasion with the start going on a slight uphill near the deer park. I have never seen so many people in my life. Met many old frens from the Gym, research days and the PCC cyclist. The most exciting occasion was yet to come, which was the replenishment of carbo at the nasi lemak stall after that. Damn, what a tiring weekend, but ......FUN.
Got up at about 5:40, shites..i am late for my Saturday morning ride to Broga. Got off my back and rushed my bike, nutrition and was on the road by 6:20 am. Met the guys at the dewan at Batu 14. Azwar decided to grace us with his new black tri bike all gleaming with Ultegra SL equipment, and the thot of a fast ride makes me tired just thinking about it.
The usual suspect of Azwar, Adzim, Bacin, Dicky, Ariff, MaySenn, Adeline, Andrea , Azhar, Ihshal and myself pushed off for Peres. We met Shazly and Ngae up on Peres just before 9:00 am. Shazly and Dicky turned back at Peres and we continued our journey down to Klawang (actually I forgot that there are two more small hills before Klawang). We reached Klawang Petronas at 10:10 am. Had our replenishment and we then pushed off for Bukit Tangga and then to Broga. We however did a pit stop at Lenggeng for lunch at about 12:00. That must have been the best maggi sup ever. (What was a 2 minit mee took like 15 minutes to prepare).Being the back marker, we managed to catchup with Ihshal who nearly got lost in Semenyih town. While along the way, MaySenn,Ihshal and me had voted to take the stairway to Heaven route to Batu 14, cutting the 152km journey to about 140km. As we were passing Tekala, we were hailed by Azwar/Bacin and team to stop by for nasi lemak.
We then unanimously agreed to take the Stairway to heaven route going to Batu 14 and we reached the car at about 3:10pm. The meter clocked 139.2 km. I was feeling knackered and the thought of rushing to Armada to pick up the Powerman goodie bag looks daunting.
Sunday 4th November 2007
Got up late again and checked my hand phone, received a text from Maysenn, "Are we doing double hill warm up before Terry Fox run", "nope, my knee is in pain" - i responded.
Went to picked up Adeline and we then made our way to Taman Tasik Perdana and saw Ariff, Jaja and Maysenn already parked. We then pushed up and did the Terry Fox run in reverse route as warm up before the actual run. I think we kinda covered about 4.5 km.
As figured, when the run proper actually started, it was dodging the people occasion with the start going on a slight uphill near the deer park. I have never seen so many people in my life. Met many old frens from the Gym, research days and the PCC cyclist. The most exciting occasion was yet to come, which was the replenishment of carbo at the nasi lemak stall after that. Damn, what a tiring weekend, but ......FUN.
Sunday, November 04, 2007
Surprise - NOT!!!!
As i drove into the parking lot of Picadillly, i spotted Adzim's car in thecar park. Adzim, this side of town on a Friday nite, something is amiss, spotted Joanne's car and also Andy. Hah..I am being setuped.
Anyway, thanks guys for the birthday bash, really appreciate the thought and gesture. Its quite sometime that some did something as thoughtful as this.
Really appreciate that nite of fun, thanks Adzim, Andrea, MaySenn, Annie, Andy, William, Vong, Bernard, Adeline, WongCC and last but not least Joanne.
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