Fresh start

In an attempt to avoid the crowd and traffic jam, darling and I had our New Year's Eve dinner at somewhere close by, Steak Out at Bandar Puteri Puchong.

The food was good and reasonably priced. Service was pretty quick as we were at the restaurant early. Although it would have been better if both our mains came out at the same time.

It has been a while since I had escargot, can't seem to find any in Perth. Which is one the main reasons I chose this restaurant.

I had the pork chop while Li-Ann had the Areeba chicken. Both were tasty and in sizable portions.

After that we went to a friend's house, also in Puchong, for barbecue and watched the fireworks from on top of a hill. I guess age is catching up with me but I seem to prefer having quiet new year's eve celebrations like this rather than being in the congestion at any of the countdown parties in KL.

*****

After a reasonably early night's sleep at 2am, darling and I were at Lake Gardens at 6.30am for Der Pacemakers Network Run. Honestly I slightly regretted signing up for the run and would rather enjoy my new year's eve celebration. Dad and my sis arrived at the same time as we did, and we all took a 10 minute walk to the starting line.

We collected our race bibs and timing chips, did some warm ups. Most of us seemed a bit tired from the night before and gave the why-did-I-sign-up-for-this look. Li-Ann who was doing her first run, seemed a bit nervous and was slightly intimidated by her fellow competitors in their fancy running gear.

We started at 7.40am, with the men having to run 13.8km (6 loops of 2.3km) while the women to run 9.2km (4 loops of 2.3km). I must have gotten too excited with the rush at the start and clocked 9.17 for the first lap.

I thought that I could easily achieve my sub 1 hour target but it was obvious that the lack of sleep and past few days of Ironman training had taken a toll on my body. My lap times were getting slower and slower - 9.52, 10.06, 10.19 and 10.22.


I couldn't even increase the pace for the final lap except for a last 100m. Even that wasn't an all-out sprint. I finished the last lap in 10.13, giving an overall finish time of 1:00.08 (average 4:21 per km).

I managed to sneak myself into 7th position for a trophy, out of 28 runners in my category. My sister had a good run too, clocking 49.22 for 9.2km, coming in at 6th position, grabbing the last trophy.

Dad as usual had a lot of fun. He seems to be the one who has the most friends amongts us at running events now! Stopping the clock at 1:18.59 for 13.8km.

And I couldn't be any prouder for my darling Li-Ann, finishing her first ever 9.2km run in 57.20! And to think I could have finished my 6 loops quicker than her 4 loops. My darling can run man, don't pray pray!

A good start to the new year, I even won myself a New Balance shoe bag as a lucky draw prize. Thanks, Mr Tey for the wonderful pictures and well done, Pacemakers for a successful event!

This would most likely be my last post before I return to Perth. The Ironman logo countdown is up, hope I can maintain the same (if not more) motivation levels to train. Happy 2009 everyone!