Save your life with Lifeline ID

As an amateur triathlete who tries to fit in my training schedule around work and life commitments, quite often I'll be cycling or running during the wee hours of the morning. I've never given much thought of carrying a proper ID with me when I'm out training. I do bring along my driver's licence, mobile phone and some spare cash. But it never dawned upon me that if anything happens to me, no one would know who to contact as there was no emergency contact.

Many thanks to the support of Lifeline ID, myself... and my loved ones, feel much more at ease when I'm out on the road. Lifeline ID is a Malaysian based company, delivering to Malaysia as well as Singapore. There are four models altogether and each model comes in a variety of colours. I'm currently using the Lifeline Pro blue.

The Lifeline Pro is fully adjustable to the size of your wrist. The packaging comes with instructions, which are really straightforward.

The silicone strap itself has segments and this is where you cut according to your desired length. One tip is to cut off at a longer length first and re-fit it around your wrist before cutting off at the next segment. Otherwise, once it is cut too short, it cannot be undone! The metal band, where your personalized information is printed on, is slide-able around the strap to suit your preference.

To be honest, I was a bit apprehensive as to how comfortable the strap would feel. As I tend to sweat a lot when I train, the last thing I wanted was to have the annoying feeling of something sticking to my wrist. Well, I have had the Lifeline Pro with me for more than 3 weeks now. I've used it for swimming, cycling and running. I wear it all the time, even to the office. It is really comfortable and sometimes I don't even notice it is there. My preference is to have it slightly bigger than my wrist but not too big until it bounces up and down when I'm training.

People tend to think that unfortunate events would not happen to them. Just last week, as I was cycling to meet to my training mates before 5am, I was almost hit by a car at the roundabout. I was already in the roundabout going to make my exit, when a car entered the roundabout just before me. The driver did not see me and I was forced to ride parallel with the car instead of making the exit. My left shoe did make contact with the right door of the car, albeit a gentle thud. Had I been a couple of seconds quicker, the car would have hit me for sure.

Fortunately, there was no serious accident. And there was no need for someone to look up my details on my Lifeline ID. But the message is clear. No one can predict accidents from happening. But if it does, Lifeline ID could just save your life.

The Lifeline Pro retails for MYR60. For further information and prices of other models, visit www.lifeline-id.com

Flock to meet Crowie!

It's not everyday that you would get a chance to meet a 5 time world champion. Craig 'Crowie' Alexander - 3x Ironman World Champion and 2x Ironman 70.3 World Champion has once again been appointed the event ambassador for Ironman 70.3 Putrajaya.  Crowie did the swim leg of the relay teams last year and let's keep our fingers crossed that he would be toeing the start line for the individual race this year. This would give our local triathletes the opportunity to be racing on the same course as one of the best triathletes of all time.

Some call him the people's champion, Crowie is a true gentleman and down to earth, always willing to accommodate his fans. So for those of you still sitting on the fence on signing up, here's another incentive!

Interview session at last year's Ironman 70.3 Putrajaya. Picture taken from Ironman.com

For Immediate Release

MELBOURNE/PUTRAJAYA (January 20, 2015) IRONMAN® legend Australia’s Craig Alexander has signed on as the event ambassador for IRONMAN 70.3® Putrajaya for the second year running. The event is supported by Malaysia Major Events (MME) a division of Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB), an agency under the Ministry of Tourism and Culture, Malaysia (MoTAC). Alexander is looking forward to the 2015 edition of the race, after enjoying the time he spent in Malaysia last year.

“I really loved my time in Putrajaya, it was a great event. I was amazed for a first year event the sort of response it got was fantastic,” he said. “The area has a burgeoning triathlon community that was in need of a race and now they have a good one.”

After a career that’s required him to spend half his year racing in North America, Alexander is excited by the growth of IRONMAN® events in the Asia Pacific region, and what that means for his travel schedule.

“There are so many races in the Asia Pacific region now you can pretty much race an entire season and base yourself at home,” he said. “My son Austin starts school in a few weeks so our plan this year is to spend 70 to 80 per cent of our time based at home,”

More than 1400 competitors are expected to be on the start line for IRONMAN 70.3® Putrajaya, on April 5. The IRONMAN 70.3® Putrajaya is an event not to be missed and athletes are urged to take advantage of the special entry fee before a price increase after January 31st.

Athletes can participate as individual competitors or join as a team to compete alongside some of the world’s fittest endurance athletes.

Starting from the iconic Millennium Monument, the one lap swim course is situated in the man made, sheltered canals of Putrajaya Lake. The iconic Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin Mosque, or commonly known as the Iron Mosque, is the perfect backdrop for swimmers to complete the out and back course.

Out onto the bike and cyclists leave transition and head south past some of the City’s most stunning architecture. The cyclists will complete 2 loops of the 45km route along the winding road networks with smooth road surfaces that result in a very fast bike segment times.

The two lap run course around the Core Island, encapsulates the best of Putrajaya including its natural landscapes and modern architecture.

More information can be obtained from www.ironmanputrajaya.com

About IRONMAN
The iconic IRONMAN® Series of events is the largest participation sports platform in the world. Since the inception of the IRONMAN® brand in 1978, athletes have proven that ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE® by crossing finish lines at the world’s most challenging endurance races. Recognized for excellence through distinguished events, world-class athletes and quality products, IRONMAN has grown from a single race to a global sensation with more than 190 events across five unique brands: IRONMAN®, IRONMAN 70.3®, 5150™ Triathlon Series, Iron Girl® and IRONKIDS®. For more information, visit www.ironman.com.

About Malaysia Major Events
Malaysia Major Events (MME) is a division of Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB), an agency under the Ministry of Tourism and Culture, Malaysia (MoTAC). MME was established under the Government’s Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) to identify, promote, facilitate as well as support viable international events to be staged in Malaysia. With its main objective to enhance Malaysia’s economic growth and profile, MME is also tasked to identify and support major event bids for sports, arts, lifestyles and entertainment events and provide assistance to home-grown and homehosted events in order to further strengthen Malaysia’s global appeal as the venue of choice for major events in the region. MME also acts as a conduit between the public and private sectors in ensuring seamless processes are achieved through synergistic relationships with diverse event stakeholders in staging successful events in Malaysia.

For more information, please visit www.mymajorevents.com.my and follow us on www.facebook.com/MalaysiaMajorEvents, twitter @MyMajorEvents and Instagram @mymajorevents.

Putrajaya 70.3 discounted entry ending soon!

As my lead up to Ironman Australia, Port Macquarie in May, I have signed up for Ironman 70.3 Putrajaya. The race date is during the Easter weekend, which suited me perfectly as I do not need to take that many annual leave days for the travel. 

For those of you wishing to progress to the half iron distance, this is the perfect race course to make your debut. The swim takes place in calm waters of the Putrajaya Lake. Fast and flat bike course on wide, open roads with smooth surfaces. A couple of short inclines but these are great to sit up and give your posture a break from crouching down on the aerobars. Finishing the race with a shaded run course through Putrajaya wetlands. 

The discounted entry is ending at the end of this month, so do hurry!

Being the federal administrative capital of Malaysia, Putrajaya boasts some majestic landscaping and architecture. Picture taken from Ironman.com

Event Name: IRONMAN 70.3 Putrajaya

Date: Sunday, 5 April 2015

Time: 7AM

Venue: Millennium Monument Putrajaya Lake, Precinct 2, Putrajaya

Course:  Swim - 1.9KM / Bike - 90KM / Run - 21.1KM

Prize Money: Top 5 winners for Pro Athlete Category. 1st, 2nd and 3rd place trophies for Age Group Categories and teams.

IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship Qualifying Race: 30 qualifying slots to the 2015 IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in Zell am See-Kaprun, SalzburgerLand, Austria

General Entries: Individual and Team

Minimum Age:  All athletes must be 18 years of age or older on race day

Individual Fees: USD265 (Regular Entry before 31 January 2015), USD295 (Late Entry after 31 January 2015)

Team Entry Fees:   USD320 (Regular Entry before 31 January 2015), USD360 (Late Entry after 31 January 2015)

* Entry Fees are subject to 6% Malaysia GST + 6% Active Administration Fee

To register, please click here.

Contact:  malaysia@ironman.com

For more information, visit www.ironmanputrajaya.com

Check out the 2014 IRONMAN 70.3 Putrajaya Highlights Clip:

Best foot forward

Gosh... can you believe it, we're already 11 days into 2015, time sure flies!

I've been back in Brisbane for about a week and a half and getting back into the routine. At the office, most people are back to work too. On the training front, I had a slow start for the first weekend of the year. Cut short my long run by almost half, legs somehow didn't feel that great. And the next day, we went to the market first so when I started my long ride it was almost 9am - it was hot and traffic was pretty heavy, felt totally toast by the end of the 100+km ride that I decided to skip my brick run.

But this week, the Red Dog tri club sessions are back after a two week break. It's amazing how different it is to train with a group. I felt a lot more motivated. The first swim session felt a bit odd, as I was out of the water for about a week and a half. But the next couple of sessions in the pool were great, in fact I felt refreshed and something I decided (or rather got coerced by Coach Trent) to try out was to do tumble turns. This used to be second nature during my teenage swimming days but somehow once I started triathlon, I got a bit lazy. I'm slowly getting the hang of it again, it does make my turns faster but I tire out faster too. Just have to keep on doing it so that it will feel effortless.

Getting a bit better with riding in a group too. But I still get really nervous when I'm descending on a bend in fast speeds and tend to make sudden brakes. We did a nice ride to Cleveland on Saturday in a controlled pace. About 90kms including my ride from home and I did another 30km at UQ campus just to add time on the saddle. Had an embarrassing sideward tumble at the lights with my shoes clipped in. Luckily, I was no longer cycling with the group then. There were two kids in front on bikes and they didn't move although the lights were green. I had to slam the brakes and couldn't unclip in time, what a rookie error! Small graze on the knee and the bike was okay, that's most important! Did a 6km run after, my first brick run in a long, long while. Struggled a bit but it can only get better from here.

The first track session of the year went well too. We did 1km repeats in various effort levels - 70%, 80% and 90%. These sets are important to teach the body to pace itself well. My 90% was 3:41, which was not too shabby, if I say so myself. On Sunday, I ran 20km after not having ran that distance for a while. It was pretty tough mentally and there were a few instances when I wanted to call it quits, especially when I was running laps around the neighbourhood block. But I'm glad I pulled through and can move forward from here. My first race for the year, Hell of the West triathlon is in 3 weeks' time and I'd like to make a good impression for my first race here, first race under the Red Dog banner.

Looking back on my Dailymile training report for 2014, I have to say, I'm pretty proud with some decent miles put in. It's just a pity I wasn't able to cap off the year with a strong Ironman finish. Anyway, we move on. I don't think I'll be able to put in that many miles in 2015. In Canada, although we had some long months of winter, we were pretty lucky to have long days in summer. I was able to ride for over 3 hours after work, something I would not be able to do here. Even though the sun rises early here, I'll only be able to ride at most, for 2 hours before work. But as we all know, it isn't always about the miles. Some of the sessions here are at higher intensity and I'm hoping this will translate to some strong racing for this season.

For the first full week of 2015, I'm pretty happy with a decent 14 hour training week. Putting my best foot forward and looking forward to some great training and racing to come! Watch this space!