A Famosa International Tritahlon 2007

note to self: gymrama class on the night before a race is a bad bad idea. never EVER do that again.

my Friday night gim class left me with aching arms and legs, a strained back and a very very bruised knee. my body ached at parts which i never even knew had muscles. i think gimrama is a sport that requires far more strength than any other sport, triathlons included. =)

but i digress...

So on saturday morning, with my aching body, i dragged myself to Sri Petaling school at 8 am to coach my girls, like every other saturday. I came home at 10.30 am, was looking forward to get 40 winks, but for some reason i didnt. Cant remember why. packing stuff i think. At 12.45 pm we left for A famosa.

Got myself registered, checked out some tri suits on sale, caught up with some people. My brother thinks i'm crazy coz i speak to people i dont know. To some of you who said hi to me, and i failed to remember your name, your face or you yourself, my deepest and sincerest apologies! i'll remember now i promise! I was just about to go back to the room to get ready for the sprint when Rahimi comes and tells me the new Powerbar tri suit is ready! woohooo~!!!

new suit! new suit! thanks Powerbar!

Sprint Triathlon
I decided to save the new suit for the OD. Coz if that suit went in now it'll come out brown. :)

The swim was ok. The water wasn't cold, so it was fine. I started out behind the pact, as always, because i don't fancy being kicked in the face. I did about 15 strokes of free style, and then i changed into breast stroke. ahahha for this i think i was rather consistent. Halfway after i turned round the island, i kicked and my leg struck some really edgy rocks in the water. i felt a sharp pain but went on, hoping it wasn't bleeding. I clocked about 12 minutes for the swim. Leg wasn't bleeding, only bengkak.

The cycling was alright la. The lack of training was apparent. But ive adopted a die die attitude, die die also i'll finish it! :) Did about 44 minutes for 17 kms plus.

The running was too short. I often wonder why they make the running route so short. 2 km, i can barely get my legs coordinated. at least make it 5 km, man...anyway, completed in abt 12 minutes. So all in all, plus transition, i took 1 hour 8 minutes. Ok la...for zero training. :) I'll do better next time.

Olympic Distance
i was doing the cycling and running only. Mr Cheng was my swimmer. So for the first 20 minutes or so i played Ms Papparazzi, going around snapping pictures unbeknownst to the people i was snapping. :)

Keith did the swim for Uncle Peter. He came out at about T=26 minutes. i followed him up the ramp and into the transition where a very surprised Uncle Peter was found, "wah so fast ar u?". haha...i then started warming up around my bike. fiddled around my bike trying to look as professional as possible, have to ler...got new suit...hehe. I stretched here n there. Then Mr Cheng came. and off i went.

Going out of the transition, Uncle Alex said to me "wah this time must get top 10 ar?". if only they knew what was about to happen. I was actually feeling pretty pumped up. It was as if i was running on solar energy, because the hotter the sun shone, the more energetic i felt. I was doing good. I downed a Gel and i couldn't have felt any better. I figured perhaps the daily cycling to college, despite the super short distance, did some good afterall. I was trudging happily up hills and whizzing ecstatically down them. I came to the outskirts and was admiring the scenic surroundings. then all of a sudden, i heard a phzzzzzzzz sound. the next thing i know, i was wobbling along the edges of the road.

my biggest nightmare happened. i had a flat. you know how sometimes you tell yourself how u must get something done but you never came around to doing it because time n time again everything has been perfectly fine? this is one of those major pain-in-the-arse-head-banging moments. I've always told myself that i should learn to fix a spare tube. I know i should. I know that one fine day i'd have to change the tube in the middle of a race and i had better learn do it soon. but NO. i had to procrastinate. i had to assume that i'd be fine. yes, i deserve a smack.

so anyway, dejected and defeated, i started walking back. i was only 11 kms into the race course. to carry on for the next 30 kms would be insane. i walked a little and then i saw a photographer. I borrowed his handphone and contacted my dad. haha yup, thank God for daddy!

As i strolled slowly alongside the road keeping a lookout for my dad, many riders asked if i was alright. Some offered to loan me handpumps and even a tube. but my ignorance should not serve as a punishment for them. they should have a good race. so i told them its alright.

I was on the verge of crying, quite honestly. coz this would be the 2nd DNF record in my whole entire racing life and ive gotten both in just 2 weeks. how's that for demotivation? but my family took me for roti canai and talked me into doing the run. told me that i should just do it. since i was already there.

So we came back to the transition, where Mori said "yea if you're prepared go for it!". so i did. I ran and managed to chat with several people along the way. i was slightly guilt stricken when i saw cyclists who overtook me on the other side of the road, now finishing their cycling stint. They must be puzzled to see me running already. anyway, i finished the run. and i took the medals too. :P

Ian Peterson. I told him it was a "No Walking Zone" during the running leg. haha funny fella...

quite evil and unethical of me la. But i figured that my swimmer should get a medal la, afterall he did his part. and it was a good thing i did too. because Keith's teammates didnt get him a medal. so he could have mine. :)

next race's resolution:
to learn how to fix a spare tube. pronto.