Thursday, July 30, 2009

desaru: preview

im not gona lie and say that i have no expectations for desaru.

i do.

my swim has improved my quite a bit, and i've been doing some solid workouts on my trainer. only thing is my run where i ahvent been able to do much training due to my tendonitis.

i intend to go hard on the swim, set up a steady bike ride and then hang on for the run.

stay tuned for the race report next week.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

23:44

thats the timing for a 1500m swim i did today. and i wasnt pushing too hard.

good. finally i see the effects of the training i did during the hoidays.

on an end note, i just got an e-bike today. and im calling her Beth. and i love her. vrrrooommmmmmmmmmmm!

thanks Mok!

Thursday, July 23, 2009

a good piece of advice

"if you put in the passion that you have for your running and whatever into everything you'll do, you'll go far" - LTC Kelvin Lim, ex-CO RSS Valour

Sunday, July 19, 2009

The Ultimate H2O Challenge! (400m swim 4km run)

i signed up for this race for $20, planning to just have fun. it was only after SP bi that i realise that i maybe able to win something here.

the day started slowly. i was sleepy and generally felt lazy. met up with josh and desmond and elston at NYP. i didnt feel like doing too long a warm up, so it was quite chillax all the way and just chatting around with people like jonathan perreira and sham.

the swim was done in quite a funny manner. as long as there was a free lane, they would get people to start swimming. so there were no wave starts, but just a as-and-when-you're-ready kind of thing.

started the swim slightly slower, before picking up the pace after 150m. josh was in the lane next to mine, and he was swimming quite well. came out of the water at about 6:01, (josh at 6:06) did a quick transition, and ran off. josh was right behind me and we went to attack the run route at a blitzing quick pace. it was a 2 loop run with 2 small up slopes and 1 big down slope.

josh overtook me after the up slopes, but it wasnt gonna opening up, so i maintained just behind him. at the downslope where we were beginning the 2nd loop, josh hit this girl who were trying to isue us the bands to mark that we have run 1 loop already. i overtook back and just kept going. by then i was panting like nobody business. i just told myself that its only 4k, almost same as 1 loop around simei.

i just kept going and going and finally finished at the track. for the first time i managed to match josh on the run! he came in just seconds behind. turned out he was feeling some pain in the leg due to his crash last time, so that was the reason he slowed a bit. but well done!

the results came out and i was first! josh second and devanthas third! shioks!

the prizes were amazing. i couldnt believe my ears when i heard them. as my FB status says: I finally made a profit from racing!


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tri 21 models

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tri 21 at h2o!

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likes

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happy

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the podium

Thursday, July 16, 2009

to my dear IM friends

sometimes i still wonder, whether i made the right choice to hold back my ironman exposure for a year, and not doing switzerland with u guys. the camaradrie, fun, and brotherhood we had for the past year was amazing. going through all that pain, sweat, blood and joy together. to miss out on such a life changing event with u guys seems like a void in the middle of all this.

but no, i accept the fact that there are differing circumstances that we all encounter. i have other commitments and plans, and there really is no rush for me to embark on this ironman journey. even though there will now always be a gap of me not sharing this collective experience with you guys, i know that our bond is stronger than just an event alone. as much as i want to be in europe now with u guys, i know that our time will come. and when it does, it will be a day i will always remember.

im really really really proud and happy for u guys. seeing the photos just brings to mind what great friends i have, in the level of self sacrifice that we are capable of for one another. i see the human spirit at its best in you guys, at the moment where your physical bodies are at its worst state of exhaustion.

cant wait for u guys to get back.

patience, preserverance, and love.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

PD results are out!

Rank 17th
Swim - 31:14 (aiyo.... junyang, where got 30s behind dan plews.....)
Bike: - 1:10:04 (i actually predicted this time!)
Run: - 40:56
Total - 2:23:06

ok not too bad... quite pleased with it cause this wasnt a high priority race for me... the swim could have been better had i not gotten lost, and i know my bike needs work... my run was good, but can still be even better. HAHA. trifactor, we'll see much better times!

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Port Dickson Intl Tri 09

didnt really prepare for this race as well as i would have liked, but it was a B class race for me anyway, so not that important...

the ride up was about 5 hours. double decker, which meant our bikes were below while the rest of us were on top. and there were some last min withdrawals, which meant we had alot of room for the remaining 14 of us!

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i spent most of the time on the bus in this position. shiokkksssssss!


after the 1st day of registration, carbo loading (YAY) and race briefing, we went to sleep quite early. (no poker cause nic wasnt around!)

next day sunday was race day! as usual, we had our pre race camwhoring!
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the tri 21 suits make its first appearace in m'sia!

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so that people can see who overtook them =D

the swim was quite good, with me leading the 2nd pack (the elites were all in the 1st pack). that was until me and the second guy got lost, and we had to chase all the way back to catch the pack. wasted my lead!!!!! anyway, junyang said i came out of the swim like 30 plus seconds after daniel plews. cool!!!!!! think i was 10th for the swim...

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the bike was less than ideal. i was quick (39-40km/h) on the flats (but who isnt?) however the moment i hit the slopes i just died-ed, and i was quickly dropped by a number of people like this. josh caught up and overtook me. funny part was josh turned in too early and i managed to catch up with him again as we both entered T2.

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see! i managed to do a good T2! leave the shoes on the bike!

josh and i started the run together (1st time!) until he got his rythmn and i could not keep up with his pace. for some reason, i took longer than usual to recover from the bike, and it was only like 3km plus into the run could i start to pick up the pace. after the U-turn, i revved it up somemore and managed to overtake more of the guys who overtook me on the bike. revenge!

finished in about 2hr 22-23mins. not too bad, considering i had a bad week of tapering before this. i managed to control myself to the post race milo truck. only 7 cups! (but in the end still stomachache)

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zy (lake kenyir champ!) got 2nd this time round, but that was cause the lady who got first is an ITU triathlete!

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the very shiok stopover, where we bought ALOT (read: elston) of snacks.

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the company which made the race and trip great!

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thanks josh for organizing!

Friday, July 10, 2009

BONK!

enough said.

for once i gonna take my own advice. better to under train than to over train.

Thursday, July 9, 2009

its outta my hands

train train train train train

then this flu shit strikes

sometimes just a microbe can destroy hours worth of effort and sweat

hope that PD will still be a reality for me.

Sunday, July 5, 2009

where is my wife?

SP bi today was such a mess. i thought it was one of the most disorganised and poorly ran races that i have attended. i could only think of 2 positives. the actual act of racing itself, and the company. that is all.

spent over 7 hrs at SP. less than 1 hour racing, the rest of it was simply waiting. Josh and i were expecting to get our podium places, then the lousy organisers screwed it up such that Sam Soh (zy's friend) was announced first with a timing of 48+mins. Josh had done a 43 plus and myself a 45 to 46. so in truth it should have been josh 1st, myself 2nd, then sam 3rd.

dun get me wrong, im not trying to kick up a big hoohah here, but this was one of the few times that i could actually be on the podium, and the SP people messed it up for me. thanks a lot man. (NOT!)

anyway, onto the race itself, josh did fantastic on the swim, sticking with me the whole way. i came out of the water seconds before him, both of us went into T1 together, ran out together, before josh as usual killed me with his run. halfway through the run my legs simply wouldnt fire. wait, acutally throughout the whole race i wanted to push harder but i just couldnt. haiz. sian. but o well.

the girls did fantastic as well. 1st - zy, 2nd - mich, 3rd - chermaine, 5th - lala!

norman and JJ were second for the relay as well.

teamNUS came back trophy laden!

i thank God for me in being able to complete the race nonetheless. what i have is a gift that i am thankful for. whether i finish on the podium or i walk to the finish line, i am grateful for what God has blessed me with, the love for triathlons.

the company for the rest of the day was great. really thankful for the friends i have. some came down to see us even though they werent racing. i believe we really have something going on here in the team. and it's called family =D

evening was fun. despite QR's insistence to be emo more than anything else. HAHAHAHAHAHA. and i was really touched today. yay. care bear rocks. =p

now just some pictures to round off the post.

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we are like twins in the racing scene

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tri 21 previews our new suits to the world!

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you will get your asses kicked by the names on these asses

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teamNUS aquathalon at SP bi

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my expert cam-whoring skills

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the topic of the day, and the origin of this entry's title. courtesy of jiajie. =P

Thursday, July 2, 2009

lazy to blog, but i must still log in my training

wednesday morning bike intervals, afternoon swim intervals

thursday rest (sailing)