Home in 5 days

After 5 years of spending Chinese New Year away from home, I'm really looking forward to this trip. Can't wait to dig into delicacies like bak kua, lou sang and pineapple tarts, soaking up the festive atmosphere in Raub, my dad's hometown and just catching up with closed ones.

My last weekend of training here in Perth before Ironman Langkawi could not be any better. For my Saturday bike ride, the clouds were shading me from the sun and it was cool at mid 20 degrees. The winds were mild in the morning, but it soon picked up as midday came. I completed the 120.2km in 4:05:16 (average 29.4kph), my fastest training effort ever for that distance.

After the ride, I dropped my bike off at Runner's World, Northbridge for a service. I've also got myself some valve extensions for my new wheels. Phil is very nice to give me a discount each time I purchase something from the shop.

This was followed by a dim sum lunch with the SLB gang at Dragon Palace. One final meet-up before some of us head home for Chinese New Year.

Sunday morning, darling joined me for the first loop of my 21.7km run. We jogged the first 4.35km loop in just under 31 minutes. I ran the remaining four loops in negative splits - 20:00, 19:38, 19:24, 18:18 (sprinted the last loop). Completed the 21.7km in 1:48:16.

Over the week, I've received news that I was unsuccessful in getting into Powerbar Team Elite for 2010/2011. I was a bit disappointed as I thought I was pretty close to getting it. But I won't let this put me off. If anything, it would inspire me to work harder to not only excel at the sport, but to also contribute by raising awareness about it to my fellow peers. I would continue to use Powerbar products, but would probably have to limit them to my own expenses.