Red Hill Biathlon & Triathlon

Biathlon: 800m swim, 5 km run
I was initially really afraid of the 800m swim. I wasn't afraid that i'd drown, because i was pretty confident i can finish it. I was just afraid of coming out last from the water. But for what it was worth, I had a whole lot of fun splashing in Uncle Chan's "drinkable" lake water. And also for what it was worth, I did not come out last.

I did however, lose my way mid way. I had decided to pull a stunt by swimming a few strokes of my very very newly acquired knowledge of front crawl. I thought i was making good progress, because i really felt like I was going faster. But after 10-15 strokes, i looked up and saw everyone gone! i had to do a 360 degree turn to realise that i have swum off course. Lucky for me, i didn't go very far from the race route la...so didnt lose out that much. :)

The running i managed without issues i guess. Running had always been the leg i looked forward to most. So no matter how tired i was i'd be ever grateful that i finally get to run. :) The sun was merciless, but I guess after a while, you just get used to it. I hate the smell of sun block enough to not apply any. I know, skin cancer.....

ren, eugene, adrian

I clocked about 29 minutes for 800m of breaststroke and 28 minutes for 5 km running. I couldn't have done it any better, so i'm pretty satisfied. :)

jackie, chew wei, mei juan, ren

Triathlon : 40 km bike, 10 km run
I was once again, too chicken to take on an Olympic Distance, so relay it is. My excuse? I didnt get my duathlon fix this year. So i'd have to make do with this. :)

The day started off pouring at 6 in the morning! Yes, I believe certain parts of the brain shuts off when it starts to rain. It's like a natural antidote for insomnia or something. The body just responds to rain by getting even sleepier. but i digress...=)

I tore myself out of bed at 6.30 am. Then we all cycled in the drizzle to the race route. Because we were staying exactly 2.6km away from it. Don't even get me started on how small the little matchbox they stuffed us into was.

swim start, see how the pontoon was tipping over!

My swimmer was Mr Tee. Who fed me durians to fuel me up the night before. Let's just say my bike was the last one on the relay race rack when i finally got to cycle. :) Cycling the Colnago Dream was just amazing. Like Uncle Peter said, one can really start dreaming about it, if not on it. The ride was smooth. The hills were managed easily compared to when riding my Giant. When the meter went past 12 km I felt a moment of relief. Because I only managed 12 kms in A Famosa. haha...:) Anyway, the entire route was only 34 km.

The run, was once again, in the hot scorching sun. But perhaps my skin was already burnt to a crisp. So i didnt really feel the heat. I did, however, feel the ground underneath me feet, a sign that i should get new shoes! yay! =) I dont know if it was really 10 km. I hope it was.

I clocked 1:16 for the 34 km ride and 54.06 for the 10 km run. And i'm blissfully happy. :)

chew wei, ren, christina, mei juan, not sure what's his name, not sure what's his name, hui jean & uncle alex with the flags behind...

Thanks to Andy, Sue and Chiat for putting up with me in the car. Thanks to Chew Wei, Mei Juan and Hui Jean for the company in the room. Thanks to the others for the laughs. I actually enjoyed this tri thoroughly this time around. :)

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