Powerman Malaysia 2007

*edit* photos added

For those of you who are still under the impression that i chose Genting Trailblazer over the Powerman, well I didn't. I was happily cruising to Seri Manjung, Perak on Saturday morning with Andy, Sue and Chiat, with the Colnago and all. :)

At 5.15 am on Sunday morning, Chiat woke me up. I had an early night (midnight-ish, that's early for me) so waking up wasn't all that hard. I had a tough time deciding what to wear the night before, but I settled on wearing the zoot suit. For the pockets. The plan was to down 4 powergels. :) so a little after 6 am, we set off to the race site which was about 8-10 km away from Lumut, where we stayed.

The place was already bustling. I saw a few other regulars which i missed the day before. The likes of Jason Foo and dad, Uncle Peter, Prof Tee, Mr Cheng, Krishma, Mr Goh Choon Aun (individual wei!), Mr Loke and family, Mr Jason Thiang and family, and many many others were stretching, chit chatting, exchanging luck and what not. I should be worried. I really should. Training was definitely insufficient. Shoes were brand new. Sunnies were not comfortable. Weather didn't look promising. Black clouds were hovering over our heads. But for some reason, i was cool and calm. I somehow knew I was more prepared for this than for my OD Triathlon, eventhough this was a 4 hour plus race for me.
Anywhos, at the race start I was with Fong and Isaiah, and we all 3 set off with a comfortable pace. Isaiah broke off a little later, and Fong and I ran side by side the entire 11 km. I had wanted to go a little faster than her because i knew she would thrash me in the bike easily. But my conscience made me conserve a little energy for later. Coming in from the 1st run, Uncle Peter told me I was in 3rd position. Hard to believe, hard to maintain too.

Fong next to me, looking intensely focused. Note to self: tie hair or risk looking like a lion

sunglasses on

Going into the bike was easy. During the transition i took my own sweet time to stuff the gels into my pockets. Adjusted the helmet on nicely with my hair tucked behind my ears (took the risk of not tying my hair up). Wore the sunnies, which fogged up instantly. And off i rolled. Riding the Colnago was heavenly, as always. :) The ride was long but I could feel that I was going a lot faster than expected. It drizzled a bit, but it didn't pour. The gels helped me with extra spurts of energy whenever fatigue felt like kicking in. People were still zooming past me, but personally I wasn't doing too shabby either! Few people yelled "Keep going, Karen!", which was always a good encouragement. I don't know who they are, but it's good to know that I'm not exactly an anonymous racer in the scene. People actually know who i am. The first lap went by pretty smoothly, the 2nd lap even better. The first lap was about 34 km. But the second lap was shorter so the total was 64.6 km.

sunglasses off...they hurt my ears.

After the bike, my legs were wobbly. I was pretty breathless and exhausted. Again, i took my time to hydrate myself. I walked slowly out of the transition. Friends were snapping photos of me, i wonder how it all turned out because i think my jaws were too tired to manage a smile. Grabbed a drink and gobbled down a banana. Was starving! The weather was no longer drizzling, and the heat was actually building up. There was no sun, but i felt enveloped in heat. When I started running I i felt my thighs cramping up a little. Which was odd, because i honestly never got cramps during races. But the muscles were tightening and I got a bit worried because, though i know what to do should it happen, i've never actually experienced it. i stretched the thighs a little, but it didnt seem to help much. Running along, i made a mental note to stop should i see the next St John's volunteers. 10 minutes went by and i saw none. I had overtaken a few men, saw no women. By now, my pace had eased itself into a comfortable speed. I was feeling quite strong and the cramps had disappeared. I trotted happily along, until about km 4 i saw the St Johns and all of a sudden the cramps came back. Was a bit reluctant to break my momentum, I decided to pummel on, hoping that the cramps would subside. They did. On to the second lap and I actually never felt stronger! I strained my ears to listen out for music and announcements and when I finally did, a big smile was plastered on my face.

Being awfully shy and conscious of the short suit top which was riding up, I pulled it down, smiled my widest smile and ran into the finishing line. I clocked 4 hours 15 minutes which was a 30 minute shave from last year's Powerman. And considering that this year's distance was longer, I have improved greatly if I should say so myself!

Fong commented that my cycling had improved a lot, so I'm guessing it's the RPM and the weekend rides. Chiat snapped a whole lot of photos for me, so I'm waiting to get them. Mr. Tey, as always, was there so i've got photos there too.

Thanks so much everyone! A good race indeed!

*edit* thanks Mr Tey for the photos!

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I got into top 5 of the Ultimate Prom Nite! Tune in to 8tv more often alright peeps? and vote for me!!