Saturday, August 29, 2009

the straw that broke the horse's back

i had it. i stumbled upon it just now, and thats it. with everything telling me that i should not persist, i shall listen to what i feel is right. it is just a confirmation of what everyone suspected and has been telling me. and an affirmation that i have made the right choice. at first i thought i was being cruel, leading u on in a way. but looking back, wasnt it the same thing for u? i cannot turn a blind eye to it any longer. enough is enough.

im gonna move on. u better do too. for your own sake.

*********************************************************************

now to change the mood a bit.

i gonna be getting the orbea ora next week! yay! hopefully in time for tri factor!

and my macca tri suit just came in! so nice! though the fit is a bit on the looser side, but it's still damn nice!!!!!

Thursday, August 27, 2009

ma food blog

started a food blog for my sociolgy of food module.

http://whatjoneats.blogspot.com

Friday, August 21, 2009

misquoting yoda

green gremlin with a laser stick said: " do or do not. there is no try."

jon ma says: " do, no do not. then u go and TRI."

Sunday, August 16, 2009

AHM

didnt have any aims for this race. in fact i didnt plan to take part at all. after the horrible experience last year i decided not to register for the AHM anymore. so i crashed just to run this time, hahaha...

serene wanted to hit a sub 1:45 - 1:40, so i decided to help pace her for the race. i like her attitude towards training and racing, so i was quite motivated to help a fellow triathlete.

slept for less than 2 hrs last night, before meeting serene at 0330 where she gave me a lift to city hall to meet the rest of TRF for warm up at 0400. gdness, it was like the longest warm up i have ever done. 3 to 4km run, stretching, plus strides. almost an hour leh. but i would feel the benefits later.

started the run my tripping on someone's legs and almost falling flat, but somehow i stumbled for 20m and stayed on my feet without a scratch! Someone must have been looking out for me.

serene's pace for the first few km were quite horridly fast. rather than pacing me, i was actually trying to keep up with her. the 1st km we did 5:29, 2km at 10 min plus. then from there it was a sheares bridge up slope to the 3km mark which we hit at 14 min plus! we went uphill faster than the first 2 km of flats!

we maintained this pace (about 4:50/km) for the rest of the way. we felt really good and at the 10km mark it was 49min. we were on target.

unfortunately, shit happened at about 12km. and a couple more times along the way. but the spirit of never giving up triumphed and we finished the 21km nonetheless. it was a good run, and the experience helped us become better athletes. rather than taking the easy way out and accepting a DNF, the bullish attitude and the will to complete pulled through. there's a beauty in how one will's oneself to the finish despite the many setbacks and difficulties. this determination and human spirit, is what i find so beautiful in our sport.

after the run the Tri 21 peeps met up for lunch and to surprise bear bay with a cake on his bday! the company, as usual, was great and we had a good time just chilling at suntec and citylink.

PS: finally handed over my title last night to shao qi, and tracce to rina. so proud of the pageant contestants and organizers. all the work (not that i did alot) paid off and the bash was a success! congrats and well done to all!

Monday, August 10, 2009

21

our grand plans for this morning was washed down the drain by the weather, raining all the way in the morning till the afternoon.

so we went and watch UP instead and then headed back to my place for lunch.

thanks guys for the presents. i feel really eco-friendly now. hahahahaha.

Saturday, August 8, 2009

post desaru week

after having not running for 1 and half weeks, i did 21k at desaru. this week, i started accumulating mileage, and hit 45km this week. no wonder i died-ed today during adination run. (or was it having to go to the toilet halfway?)

anyway, good week, though im training quite alot even after desaru.i swam everyday this week. but my body feels up to it, so my recovery's not too bad.

got bike back from cycle craft today. and spent some money buying bike related stuff. $$$$$$ no more... =(

anyone up for the challenge of the world's hardest tongue twister? here it is...

Three Swedish switched witches watch three Swiss Swatch watches switches. Which Swedish switched witch watch which Swiss Swatch watch witch?"

Friday, August 7, 2009

base season resolution

every morning. 5km run. or bike.

joined team runfanatics at ngee ann poly today. was a gd track session. will be back for more!

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Desaru Long D Tri Official Results

It's official

Swim: 26:50 - 1st in age roup (Definitely not 2k!)
Bike: 2:44:36 - 12th
Run: 1:43:33 - 10th (quite surprised, i thought i was slower than that. but still slow, crawling speed of more than 5min per k...)
Total: 4:54:59 - 9th in age group (sigh... why this year only got prize for top 6...)


aunty rosa almost killed me today. she's probably waiting for me to go to her a few more times to earn somemore $ before killing me.

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Desaru Long D Tri

I'll cut straight to the chase and get to the race.

The day started as per any usual race day. Had my muesli and cereal breakfast, then went with the rest to set up my transition area. did a bit of run and swim warm up. the south china sea was quite "wave-y", but the tidal stream was not too strong.

the swim start was one of the roughest i had ever been in. there were quite a number of strong swimmers, so even after the first turn, there were quite a number of other competitors fighting with me for postion. it was only till the end of the first loop of the swim that the crowd wore thinner, and i managed to find some room for myself. for the start of the second loop, i plunged right into a wave that was coming in. in my adrenaline, i had forgotten how shallow the coast was, and smacked my face and chest right into the sand. stupid boy. and it was so obvious as i had to stop and stand for a moment to adjust my goggles again. after another loop (definitely did not feel liek a 2k swim though), i came out of the swim among the lead pack, and ran a very LONG transition (250m!) to the bikes.

the start of the bike there was a small but steep slope to the road. i was trying to wear my shoes while attempting that slope. almost stopped and fell over. whew. i hit the bike hard. all the training i had done on the trainer helped alot. after 1hr 45mins on the trainer once, an almost 3hr ride was like nothing. i just kept pushing myself on the bike, telling myself to not give up on the up slopes, and then go insanely fast down, and put the hammer down on the flats. the fun part of this bike course was that it had so many u-turns, so it was always fun to be able to see your friends after the turn and give each other encouragement. about the end of the third loop i saw that it was about 3hr 12min (give or take) and i did a nice T2 and chucked my bike onto the rack while the back wheel was still spinning. it was then i thought that a sub-5hr was actually possible, barring any race-ending happenings. my speedo did fly off though, towards the end of the bike leg. gives me a good excuse to change speedo, which i have been wanting to do.

i had brought my newtons along for this race, and they did not have lock lace on them, so i had to take a short while to tie my laces. my legs felt a tad heavy (which was usual after a bike) so i just focused on putting one foot in front of the other. i was suffering also from the lack of training for 1 and a half weeks due to my tendonitis. to be frank i felt that i was just hanging on in the run. i tried to push, but everytime i did i could only last a short while. after about 16km i actaully felt empty and i was lucky to be near the 100plus aid station to refill. after two cups i could definitely feel the difference. i just hung on for the last bits of the run, my feet felt like they were on fire, i could barely feel them under that searing pain. at the finish line i could not do much to celebrate but just thank God for answering my prayers. time on my watch, 4:55:12.

before the race, i prayed. i didnt ask for podium, or to be in the top ten. i just prayed for a good race, one which i felt good in. prayed for safety, prayed for good weather. thank God for answering them, and for the timing that i had made. really, without Him all these would not have been possible.

the company, as usual, was fantastic. had alot of laughs and made great friends with coach david's friends. as usual, there was lots of camwhoring and joking. and the food for its RM pricing at the hotel was worth the money! thanks coach for organizing an unforgettable experience!

PS: more accurate (or not) timing to be up when the results come out. and photos as well.

PPS: well done to all our first timers! lala, QR, serene!

PPPS: haiz... just spent over $200 to get my bike serviced (it was making alot of wierd noises during the race) and getting a new speedo... gonna be broke... still need to get new helmet..... =(