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!

Turning the page...

We're about 10 days until the year 2014 ends... how time flies!

I can't help it but the first thing I reflect on was how my triathlon year went. For the first time in 6 years, I went through the year without completing an Ironman. Not that I planned for it to happen that way, but I have put that behind me now. I do have many positives to look back on. I did get personal bests in the half iron and Olympic distances this year. Marginal improvements, but improvements nonetheless.

My small time coaching business took off with a storm this year. Never would I have thought that I would coach 9 athletes into achieving their Ironman dreams. I think I pretty much have my hands full, with another 3 more new sign-ups before the year ends for next year's goals. Knowing that I had somewhat contributed to each individuals growth put things into perspective, that this sport is more than just myself now.

This year also brought on a couple supporters to help me through this journey as a non professional but competitive athlete. My heartfelt appreciation to Compressport Malaysia and Hee Hong Cycle, official distributor of Boardman bikes in Malaysia, and many thanks to everyone involved in the linking arrangements. Again, reinforcing the fact that triathlon is more than just training hard and racing harder. I am truly humbled and will give my best as an ambassador to my supporters and to the sport as a whole.

The Boardman Air 9.8 at Moreton Bay this morning

Our two year adventure in Canada came to an end in 2014 and on to a new one in Brisbane. Although there are many similarities, as we have after all, returned to Australia. There are many things that are quite different to Perth - our home for over 10 years before moving to Canada. Not good or bad, just different and needed some getting used to. But I am looking forward to making this place home for least the foreseeable future.

My new job is offering me some growth in my career. Which is great, but it comes with challenges. But that's okay, it's been a while since I've been taken out of my comfort zone at work. It builds character and will make me a stronger person. Perhaps this would transfer itself onto the race course, making me a better athlete as well.

I'll be on board a flight home to Malaysia in about 3 days time. I know, it seemed that I have been making a lot of trips home lately. But it's the holiday period and the office would be shutting down anyway. Li-Ann is already home and we both look forward to sharing some laughter with our family and friends during this silly season.

Last but definitely not least, wishing all my blog readers a very Merry Christmas and a fantastic New Year! Thank you all for following my thoughts and writings. May 2015 bring you many great opportunities and offerings!

27 days later...

So it has been almost 4 weeks since I've arrived in Brisbane. I'm loving it so far! I'm getting used to the sunlight coming through my window blinds at about 4.30am. Most of the days, I'm in bed by 9pm so I'm still getting plenty of sleep. It's nice and sunny on most days with a humidity of around 75%. Not quite as humid as Malaysia but enough to have you sweating buckets after a 30 minute workout. Not a bad place to be to be preparing for races in the tropics.

I've had 3 weeks of work + training routine now. Actually, now I really welcome the early morning sessions. Gives me ample time to get to work on time. My office is located about 20kms south from where I currently stay. The journey is pretty smooth as I go against main traffic during peak hours. At work, I'm still getting my head around things and I'm learning something new each day. Slowly but surely.

One thing that isn't going slow are the club training sessions. The distance covered in the swim sessions are shorter than what I normally swim but with plenty of speedwork. Also, swimming with others does give extra motivation, forcing me to work harder. Something I've not done for the past couple of years and I think I've gotten complacent with my swimming, resulting in slower swim times lately.

Where I'm at every Tuesday 5.30am. And there's an earlier session at 4.30am! But I'd like the extra sleep!

The Tuesday track sessions are great and so are the Thursday tempo run sessions. Both involved running in laps, something which I found mentally challenging at first but now I welcome it as a good check of my progress each lap. We did a 5km time trial at the track this week. My Garmin measured each 400m lap to be slightly longer, by about 20m or so. So I knew I had to work a bit harder to meet my target for the official results.

Just met my minimum target of sub 20 minutes. Not great but good enough for now.

We did a cycling time trial too for 20km around the Murrarie bike tracks. No, not the velodrome type - much to my relief! But on concrete road, made specially for bikes, how cool is that! It was about 1.4km long, so we had to go through it 14 times. I'm not that great at corners, so that slowed me down a bit. Speaking of corners, I got told off a few times today when riding with the faster group (I've been joining the slower group the last 2 Saturdays). I get really edgy each time we come to a roundabout at high speed and tend to cross over my pace line. Something I need to learn and there is no short cut, just keep on practising.

It's been raining these few days, and today too in the late morning. I was at the back of the ride group when I had a flat. I yelled out but the group didn't hear. No matter, I took my time to fix it but I pinched the spare tube and used up all my CO2 canisters. The culprit was a sharp twig which I later pulled out. Luckily, a cyclist passing by gave me his spare tube and canister. I can't be any more grateful, otherwise it would have been an expensive ride home in the taxi! The rain came in the remaining 20kms home and I took a few shelter stops when it got too heavy and managed to get home safely with the help of Google maps!

Li-Ann arrives tomorrow and I can't wait to see her! It's been about 5 weeks since we've been apart. I better do a bit of tidying up before she arrives...

Week 25 of 26 - home is where the heart is!

I was pretty excited from the start of the week. I had only two days of work, the lady I was covering for returned from maternity leave, so a very brief handover. But she remembered most of the stuff, so it went pretty well. The department gave me a nice farewell lunch with a very generous gift too.

Monday evening, I swam at the Stoney Creek YMCA as my membership at Western recreation centre ended last week. There were swim classes at the Y up until about 8.30pm, so I was only able to swim then. 400m warm up, 400m pull buoy -150m pull/50m fingertip drag, 400m pull buoy, 200m pull buoy, 400m swim, 400m - 150m swim/50m fists, 400m pull buoy/paddles, 200m kick with board.

Tuesday was a nice 75km ride to Thorndale and Vanneck. Summer is definitely gone and it got a bit chilly past 7pm. My last ride in Canada actually. Wednesday I was no more working, I did a 90 minute run in the neighbourhood just before lunch. Then after lunch, I swam - 200m swim, 200m pull buoy, 5 x 200m swim, 1000m pull buoy/paddles, 5 x 200m pull buoy, 400m swim, 200m kick with board. My last session before the long flight back to Malaysia.

So I was travelling from Wednesday evening starting from catching the Robert Q bus from London to Toronto. A long 30+ hour journey ensued, including transits - an especially long 6+ hour one in Manila, The Philippines. It didn't help that my final flight from Manila to Kuala Lumpur was delayed by an hour. But at the end of it, I was really glad that I'm finally home - on Friday evening! A nice bak kut teh - herbal pork soup with my parents and sister, at the nearby restaurant also owned by a fellow Ironman triathlete. Then quickly assemble my bike for the ride the next morning.

Didn't sleep very well and up by 5.30am for the drive to Putrajaya for the ride. My sister's boyfriend was very nice to come pick me up. It was nice to meet the rest of the gang, some whom I coach but was meeting for the first time. It started pouring a few minutes into our ride and so, after 15km in, we decided to sit it out at the local mamak restaurant. We resumed our ride but as we were drenched, we decided to head back. Some of us changed into dryer clothes to continue with our ride while others, with the slippery roads, were a bit more conservative and decided to run instead. I was with the former and we did another 60km of cycling. It warmed up soon and we didn't get too wet. Followed by a quick 6+km brick run. And I meant really quick as one of the guys pushed me to a low 4 minute per km pace for the last km! We then had a nice lunch at Padi House and exchanged some handy tips, especially for those doing their first Ironman next weekend.

Big turnout! Photo credit Gary Fong

Some strong runners here. Photo credit Affendy Iskandar

You bet I slept well that night. Sunday morning was another early one. Both my parents and my sister as well as her boyfriend signed up for the Forest Trail run in FRIM Botanic Park. I didn't sign up as I wasn't sure how the route would be like, didn't want to sprain an ankle a week out from Ironman. But I decided to tag along and do the route after the crowd has gone. The first 2-3km was a very steep incline. The downhills were not too steep but I still had to take caution as it was quite slippery. I did most of the route except the final part around the footpath, 14.7km clocked for 80 minutes of running. My sis tied with another girl for women's open champion - a nice trophy and Sworke sunglasses along with a free gym membership trial.

Always nice to be running with the family!

I just realize that there is not much to update for week 26 of 26. I have a 50 minute run tomorrow and a 3km swim set the day after. I'll be in Langkawi from Thursday onwards and probably just do a practice ride and swim. Then it'll be the big race! I'd like to thank everyone for following my posts and hope to write up a nice race report when it's all done.

Week 25 of 26 statistics:

Swim 6.8km (2 hours 1 minute)
Bike 148.7km (4 hours 53 minutes)
Run 41.1 km (3 hours 19 minutes)

Total 196.7km (10 hours 13 minutes)

2013... another chapter

Today is my last working day for the year. Only a couple more sleeps before Christmas and just over a week before the year ends.

2013 has been interesting to say the least. Moving to Canada early this year, the other side of the globe with a time difference of over 12 hours and climate difference of over 40 degrees Celcius during winter. The snow has been coming and going. Yesterday was a first where although it didn't snow but we have crystalized ice all over the roads making them into skating rinks and the car was frozen with a layer of ice that I could not break. I stayed home a while more and went to the gym later when the ice have thawed.

Having a new job at the hospital on a contract basis in the finance division and dealing with physicians' finances was another experience. I have less autonomy and there is more red tape than my previous jobs but I'm getting used to it. Took me over 6 months just to get to know what's going on and I'm still learning as I go. Only another 9 months more in my contract and I doubt I'll be able to know everything at the back of my hand by then, but hey, that's the way contracted work goes. Just try to do my best in the given timeframe.

Starting my small coaching service for fellow triathletes back in Malaysia was something I've been thinking about for some time. So I'm glad that things took off pretty well with the athletes I coached achieving their goals with flying colours. And I hope to build on this next year, as I'm competing in Ironman Malaysia myself so it would be exciting going through the same training cycles with my athletes and racing on the same course with them on the day.

On the side of my own training, it has been fun training with taskmaster Coach Sheri and Team Sheri athletes. The dynamics of the group is very diverse compared to the Break Your Limits team back in Perth. Not better or worse, just different. And I look forward to training with Team Sheri once again in summer - Splash N' Dashes, Megadays and Niagara camps, can't wait!

We'll be off to Li-Ann's cousins this Christmas and then to Niagara Falls to usher in the New Year. So my next blog post will probably be in the 2014 year.

Until then, thank you all for reading this blog for another year. Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a happy new year!

Off season

So with no upcoming race in sight for at least until the new year, I am officially in the off season. But if you know me well, that doesn't mean I stop training completely. We only have a couple of months of sunshine before winter comes. As it is, the mornings have been pretty cold lately.

I've started doing my evening runs at Springbank gardens. As I don't work in Western campus anymore, stopping by Springbank is on my way from work to the campus where I pick Li-Ann up. Running at the garden trails is a nice change from dodging the heavy traffic at Western campus to downtown area. Only thing is there are no long climbs on the route. But no matter, I would still be able to get some hill training when I run around our neighbourhood.

I have also stopped my membership at the Western fitness centre. I have a few multi passes left to the YMCA near our place. Only thing is they have swim classes in the afternoons which take up all the lanes on most weekdays so my only options are to either swim weekday mornings or during the weekends. And being off season, I find it difficult waking up before sunrise for a swim, especially now the first light comes later.

Li-Ann's parents will be dropping by tomorrow for a visit. They have done their grand tour of the west coast from California to Vegas and recently to Vancouver and Calgary. We'll be going to Toronto to attend Li-Ann's cousin's wedding this weekend and then a short trip to New York. I'll be returning to London earlier while Li-Ann would stay with her parents for a visit to Washington DC up until end of the week.

So that's pretty much it from me. Hopefully I'll be able to post up some stuff each week. It is as though my blog goes through off season along with my training haha. But at least for next week I have some pictures of the New York trip to share.

Feeling oh so fresh!

My bike setup for the race. The Dark Knight is ready to be a climbing machine on race day!

The taper week has been great. It started with a 3km swim set on Monday morning. Felt kinda weird with 1km less than my usual set, but it was most welcomed and I got to work 15 minutes earlier than usual. Tuesday afternoon I ran for 75 minutes, with some fast/easy intervals. I was feeling really good and was able to average 4:27 per km upon finish. It has been a while since I held a sub 4:30 average for my long runs.

On Wednesday morning, we moved offices to Victoria Hospital, about another 6kms away from where we used to work. It's a good thing that this move happened at the tail-end of my training. Means I didn't have to adjust too much. In the afternoon, it was Splash N Dash at Lake Whittaker. It was the final one for the season. The turnout was pretty low. Greg and Clare were at Mont Tremblant for their big race on Sunday. I was pleased to come out of the water with a girl who normally swims much faster than I do. I passed her when we started the run and maintained a steady pace without going out too hard. Just over 47 minutes I did, only 30 seconds slower than the PB last week, very pleased with that!

Thursday I did a 2 hour bike ride going through Prospect Hill road and onto Evelyn Drive. Had more stops than my usual route and it was pretty windy on the way back. Managed to clock 64km. Friday morning, I was meant to have a full day of rest but I was scheduled in for a VO2 max test for a PhD student at Western. I've done a few of these tests before, all gave different results. But I know I roughly stand in the 60+ mark. Anyway, this particular test used the face mask which was much more comfortable than the ones I used before, where my nose were clipped together and I had to bite onto the mouth piece and with joining tubes at the sides.

After a brief 5 minute warm up, my blood pressure was taken and it was time for the test. The speed on the treadmill was in mph, something I'm unfamiliar with. We started at about 5mph and 1.5% incline, I got up to 9mph and thereafter the inclines were added 1% every 2 mins or so. I stopped at 4.5% incline after running for about 12 minutes or so in total. My VO2 max reading was at 67, which is in the ball park of where I expected it to be. There's always a feeling that I could have done better, but I thought since it was my off day and I have an Ironman to do in about a week's time, I didn't want to kill myself. Don't get me wrong, I did give it a pretty hard effort.

The weekend came and the load was significantly less compared to the previous weeks. On Saturday, I rode for 3 hours and did an hour brick run after. I did a full dress rehearsal with my trisuit, race wheels and aero helmet. I felt good in the run and was surprised to clock 13km. Sunday I had another 75 minute run. I tried to replicate the same pace I did on Tuesday but I guess having ran the day before made it a bit more difficult. Still, I came very close at 4:28 per km average. In the afternoon, I went to the pool and did 2 x 2000m - one set swim, one set with pull buoy. Surprisingly I felt quite fresh and was able to clock some decent times - just over 33 minutes for the swim and just under 35 minutes for the pull buoy.

It's a good feeling to know that I'm tapering well - I'm feeling fresh enough to nail these sessions without going out too hard. The sessions next week aren't really training sessions in my view, more like warm up exercises for the big race. I've sent my bike for a tune-up, booked in a massage appointment coming Wednesday and Li-Ann comes back later today. So everything is all set. We fly out to Vancouver on Friday morning.

My next post shall be the race report, hopefully it'll be good one!

Back to work

So I have been working for about a week already - 4 days since Easter Monday was a public holiday. As much as I enjoyed being a full time triathlete and able to train during the day, take naps, watch movies etc. for the past 8 weeks or so, it is nice to be getting back into the workforce and knowing that I'll be bringing in a paycheck at the end of each month.

For the past week, I was mainly an observer as to how my predecessor worked. We have a month of hand over before she goes on maternity leave. The work environment is fairly relaxed although there seem to be quite a lot going on - dealing with research grants, physician billings, secretaries salaries and many others. I'm one out of the two males in the department. Maybe that's why I got the job, to balance the gender inequality haha.

We are currently working in the basement floor of the University Hospital, which is located two blocks away from Li-Ann's office. So it's pretty convenient, we get to travel to and from work together. I have also signed up for membership at the uni gym. I get staff rates - for less than C$25 per month, I get access to the fitness centre, swimming pool and get to hire squash courts etc. A pretty good deal I reckon. My access is only early morning weekdays (6am to 9am) and anytime on the weekends. I could get full access for another C$12 but I figured I'm quite a morning person so I can do with those savings. All this would change though come mid August, when our staff will be moving to Victoria Hospital, about 15km further south but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

The weather seems to be warming up, though I wouldn't hold my breath. It was 12 degrees as I did my run this morning at about 10am. Hopefully it will stay warm and we can finally cycle outdoors.

Happy birthday darling!

Mexican dinner at Lo Nuestro, a simple family restaurant. The lady boss was really nice and gave us a free drink. The deep fried nachos were heavenly but a bit too much!

Li-Ann's birthday cake - New York cheesecake I bought  from the nearby supermarket. Thought I could earn extra brownie points by baking myself but decided against it for the sake of both our wellbeing!

Things are settling in nicely. I got offered the job which I interviewed for, starting on April 1. It's for a financial officer position in the department of medicine,Western University. My office building will be right next to Li-Ann's, so convenient!

The weather is still a bit erratic. It can be snowing heavily on one day and nice sunshine the day after. Sometimes both in one day! But I found a good group to train with. The people of London Triathlon Club, mentored by tri guru Sheri Fraser, are warm and welcoming. Can't wait for the weather to be more stable so we can ride outdoors.

Aussie Day weekend

What better way to celebrate Australia's birthday - by doing a sprint triathlon! There was one already formally held in Point Walter. But we decided to have our own at Sorrento Beach, without the hassle of registration fees and all that jazz. Thanks Dennis for organizing and taking our pictures. I stayed with Sam throughout the course and it was good that he pushed the pace during the run, we actually clocked 4 minute km for the last 1km! 

The brave 7 (one more person came later) who turned up that day

Running into transition with Sam

With our race director

I didn't head down to the city to watch the fireworks display this time. Without a car, it was going to be a bit of a hassle. I had an early night in and woke up the next morning for a ride in the hills. It was quite windy and I rode a bit slower than usual, but not much. Luckily I started my ride early as the weather got hot pretty quickly.

I sold another big furniture today. The bed and mattress is now gone. I'll be sleeping on the sofa for the next 10 nights or so. The fridge will be picked up next Saturday. At work, my successor started on Monday, so he already had five days of work. Trying to hand over as much information as I can without overwhelming him too much. 

Not long now until I bid farewell to Perth.

Ironman Cairns 2012

Be careful, it's a long one! Just like the race ;)

Pre race

Our journey to Cairns on Thursday night started off with a bit of a hiccup in an hour delay to our flight. But no big fuss, if anything we arrived at a less ungodly hour at 5.30am the next day. We were lucky to be given our rooms early at Cairns Plaza Hotel instead of the usual 2pm check-in, which meant being able to get more rest. I had a bit of a shuteye, then assembled my bike and taking it for a spin. It was raining in Cairns for most of the week, and today was no different. My newly polished bike was covered with mud and sand just after the 30 minute ride!

The expo was a lot bigger than the one at Ironman WA. I was there on my own while Li-Ann was working on her thesis back in the hotel. I had to refrain myself from several occasions from buying something I WANT but don't NEED. Proud to say, I left the expo with nothing except the registration pack, which came in an Ironman Cairns bagpack - nice touch! The welcome dinner at the Convention Centre was a bit of a walk. I arrived late as I thought it was at the park. It was a table served meal, a nice change from jostling with other hungry triathletes at the buffet trays. I sat with my friend, Wilfred from Singapore and his fiancé. Wilfred used to swim with me at UWA when I was studying.

The swim practice the next morning started a bit late at 7.45am. It was a controlled entry down the pier. The water was murky, I could barely see past my forearms but it was very calm. One thing I noticed was the VERY long run into transition. Bike check-in was very quick, I wasn't asked to weigh in or register my timing chip. I later took the shuttle bus up to T2 where I checked in my run gear bag, the transition area was muddy from all the rain. I thought I would get my timing chip here, but the volunteer told me I am to collect it in the morning.

Race day

A later start at 7.10am means I only had to be up by 4.30am. The 15 minute walk to T1 helped in calming the nerves. But that didn't last for long. Remember I mentioned I was to collect my timing chip in the morning? Well, I was told wrong. I finally met fellow BYL compatriot Trevor and he said he collected his at bike check-in the day before. I must have missed it somehow. I ran around like a headless chicken for quite a bit, before an official finally directed me to a very inconspicuous cabin where I could collect my timing chip. Phew!

Swim 3.8km - target 1 hour

Li-Ann wasn't allowed onto the pier, so I kissed her farewell and took the long walk down. It was a bit of a bottleneck getting down into the water and organizers were rushing us so we could start on time. It was a 45m swim from the steps to start point, so that was my warm up. And barely a minute of treading water... bang, off we go! This is the first time I did this, but I spat some saliva into my goggles before the start to have a clearer vision. And I should have done this ages ago! I could see clearly throughout - above the water, underneath it was still very murky! I swam in a straight line and kept close to the buoys.

It was a two lap swim, the water was calm with some slight chop coming from the paddlers every now and then. My swim cap was slowly sliding upwards and I decided to knock it off completely partway. About 200m left to go, my watch was showing already over 59 minutes and I knew I'm unlikely to finish under the hour. Don't ask me why, I thought I was swimming well - just one of those things. Came up the steps and crossed the first timing in 1:03:07. The sub 1 hour swim will have to wait for another day!


Bike 180km - target 5 hours 30 minutes

The run into transition felt like forever. But as it turns out, my T1 time was only 45 seconds slower than Ironman WA. The grass coming out from the change tent was all muddy, so my socks were soiled before I even started my ride! I almost missed the exit out from transition and had to do a short detour. It was a bit crowded at the bike mount line, so my attempt at fly mount got a bit messy but no big dramas. Li-Ann caught me just before I left town, and because of the course layout, that will be my last time of seeing her until the second half of the run.

The first 30 minutes of the bike was a bit hairy, going through speed bumps and roundabouts. But once we got to the main section of the Captain Cook Highway, it was truly stunning! You have the view of the mountains ahead of you and the ocean by your shoulder. The earlier parts were pretty shaded, we went through some small inclines and I was anxiously waiting to see that big hill in Wangetti. It was a nice, calm weather, some light winds were present but not particularly strong in either direction. It seemed like the rain gods took pity on us that day, and the skies were clear and blue.

I got to my first special needs stop and had to wait for about 30 seconds before I could get my vegemite sandwich. Li-Ann's simple but splendid idea of cutting the sandwiches into half made it a lot easier for me to have them on the go. Within minutes after that special needs, we came to the infamous Wangetti hill. It didn't feel too bad - very similar to the climbs in King's Park, no where as steep as the ones in our Perth eastern hills. But having to climb it 4 times through in an Ironman race will take its toll!

I saw Trevor slightly ahead at the Port Douglas turnaround, which is a bit after 60km. I felt strong coming back and even chased a couple of Perth based XTR Tri club members. At 90km, my bike time was 2:37, which I thought I might have the legs to even split to make it 5:15 for 180km, but I wasn't going to get over excited. And indeed, I felt the energy began to wear off. Still, I felt strong, I think I have my nutrition sorted this time, my stomach could handle a gel each hour now. I passed Trevor at the 120km mark, which gave me a bit of satisfaction - after a couple of fun pre race smack talk on the BYL blog. But this is still an individual race of beating our own targets.

I regretted discarding a bottle with the IM Cairns logo, somehow the replacement bottles all had plain designs. The last few kms of the bike could not be longer and I swear, my bike computer was showing 181km and still no sign of the turn in point into T2. Finally, we got into T2, a quick handover of the bike, a quick slip into my shoes and away we go. My bike split was 5:23:16, could have been under 5:20 if it wasn't for the extra kms! A small pat on the back for myself - I actually ranked 5th overall with my T2 time of 1:37 :)

Run 42.2km - target 3 hours 30 minutes

Having averaged around 4:30 per km for most of my long runs, I thought I might give a crack at holding 5:00 per km average including walking the aid stations. Boy, was I wrong! It was really hot and somehow I wished for some rain that was lashing at us for the past couple of days. There were distance markers every 2km and my splits for each 2km went from 10 minutes to 10.5 minutes to 11 minutes. My timing band was cutting into my ankles and I had to stop to loosen it. I somehow misplaced my timing band sleeve, which I found out later I had it conveniently checked in with my run gear bag.

Once we got to the Captain Cook Highway, it was lonely and exposed. There were no supporters, apart from the aid stations every 2km and cars were driving past us. I just had to keep telling myself to keep on moving. This continued until about 22km, where we headed towards T1 in Fogarty Park. I was anxiously looking out for Li-Ann as I told her I would be back sooner. I soon found her before I made my first turnaround near the finishing chute. Seeing her did give me a boost. But it was shortlived as I started getting cramps. I decided to lengthen my strides and somehow that helped.

Heading towards the last few kms, I knew a finish time of sub 10:20 was within reach. I made the final turn into the finishing chute, gave Li-Ann a few kisses before running through the Ironman Cairns arch, gathering whatever strength I have left for a leap of joy once I crossed it. I finished with a run split of 3:42:24 and overall finish time of 10:15:10, slicing 9 minutes of my personal best! I came in 7th in my age group and 81st overall out of 760 who started.


Post race

This was probably one of the worst I've felt after finishing a race. Normally I look forward to the warm food at the athlete recovery area but this time I felt like I could puke my guts out anytime and I could barely stand straight. I even skipped the massage tent. I must have been pretty badly dehydrated but I didn't think it was necessary to see the medical attendants. What I managed to do though was to get a picture taken with Chris MACCA McCormack, it was nice to know that I finished early enough to catch him in the recovery area.


Acknowledgement

This blog post is turning into a novel already and I can't possibly thank everyone who helped me one way or another in making this journey successful for me. You know who you are, and I truly appreciate your support and encouragement. But I'd like to make a few worthy mentions.

Bill Scanlan, my coach and mentor, did give me a hard time in amping up the training right from the start but not without giving me time to recover and craving for more. Thanks mate! The extra miles did pay off, improving 15 minutes off my bike split says it all.

Ray Lampard or Mr BYL who runs the Tuesday morning BYL interval running sessions. Don't be fooled by this man's long locks and grizzly beard. He's a generous and kind hearted fellow, always giving us tips and advice without asking for anything in return. And it's very rare to find FREE training sessions these days, he does it for the passion of running!

The BYL crew and group rides - Steve, Sandy, Wusa, Adele, Kroyer, Wusa, Bokka, Trev and many others. Although you guys (with the exception of Trev) had finished your big season when I had my last few weeks, there was never a dull moment training with you guys from the beginning. Having you pushing the pace surely made me a stronger athlete - much stronger than I believed I ever would be.

The CEO and managers of my workplace, St Bartholomew's House. Noticed the small blue logo on my tri suit? St Bart's sponsored me a spanking new LG tri suit and some other training gear to go along. Although while I'm at work, often my headspace gets clouded with triathlon, these great people appreciate what I do outside work and are ever so supportive. St Bart's does great work for the socially disadvantaged is a great place to work!

Dad, mum, Karen & Keith. Within minutes of finishing my race, the Facebook statuses of my family members were posted congratulating me on completing my 5th Ironman race. From time to time I wonder if I will every grow up and focus more energy onto something more wealth creating for my future. But you all have always supported me in everything I do, I love you all!

Last but definitely not least - my wife, Li-Ann. You're my nutritionist, my race caddy and my biggest fan. Doing this race near your thesis submission and our upcoming wedding wasn't one of the smartest ideas I had. I've been grumpy and sleep deprived, especially in the last few big weeks. But you were very understanding and tolerated me throughout, ever so supportive. Even if it meant lugging your laptop and thesis drafts along this trip. And I haven't been overly enthusiastic when we look at things like which flowers to decorate the wedding car, I hope my mind will be clearer after the race! Love you, muaks!

And thank you! For reading this blog, wishing me well on Facebook, Whatsapp, SMS etc. I'll be triathlon hiatus and possibly blogging hiatus now for at least until end of June. Kuala Lumpur awaits me and soon after, honeymoon in Krabi, Thailand. Until then, see ya!

HBF Run for a Reason 14km

Unlike previously, I truly enjoyed this taper week. Maybe because I know I have done the miles in the past few weeks and now is really the time to recover. The extra to time to myself was most welcomed, and for once, the weekly mileage on my car exceeds my training mileage.

The HBF Run for a Reason was something I signed up for, as I was co-ordinating a team entry for my workplace, St Bartholomew's House. St Bart's also sponsored my tri suit for Ironman Cairns with our logo, so I thought I might as well print a few T-shirts for the team. The run starts and ends at the WA Cricket Association stadium, which I've not been into before.

I had a long-ish run in my program anyway, so the race will be timely. But I told myself that I was to keep at a steady pace and not get caught up with the adrenaline rush, and risk going too hard. It was a beautiful morning - fine weather with some light winds. Great atmosphere with musical bands and cheerleaders throughout the course. Running through the Graham Farmer Freeway tunnel was a first time experience for me as well.

The plan was to finish just under an hour, which is 4:17 pace. I found myself clocking just under 4:15 for most of the km markers, which were somewhat inconsistent - I could be running under 4 minutes for some, then close to 5 minutes for a couple. It was nice of Ray from BYL to be out that morning taking photos, thanks! The final km was a shocker, I clocked 2.5 minutes for that one, which only meant that the earlier markers were over distanced. I crossed the finish line in 58:17 - an average pace of 4:10, happy to dish out such a time with a steady, controlled effort.

The Ironman Cairns course preview was released a few days ago. The bike course seems like a rolling hills course but somehow the big hill at Wangetti doesn't look that bad. But then again, looks can be deceiving! The course does have it twists and turns with some speed bumps as we head out of transition. So does the run course, where we have to criss cross through some bar racks at the shared paths. Definitely an interesting one!

Only 7 sleeps away from the big race! My bike's been serviced (took it longer and more expensive than expected, but that's a story for another day!), I've had my massage, feeling good about myself, can't wait! Track my progress live on Ironmanlive.com, next post shall be my race report!

Race bike setup - without the disc wheel this time, so I can tackle the rolling hills especially that big one, which we have to go through 4 times!

ER

HELP ME! I heard someone yell as I was being wheeled in on a hospital bed through the aisles of the emergency ward of Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital. Around me were patients with oxygen masks, some unconscious, some seemed to be in a lot of pain. But the medical staff seemed calm, almost immune to the situation.

This was on Monday evening. I experienced some soreness around my left rib area during the weekend, I thought it might have been due to gym work I did on Friday night. But on Monday it became unbearable, I felt pain in each deep breath I took, and every step when my foot hits the ground. I left work early to visit a clinic, but I guessed I wasn't early enough as most of the clinics were already closed. Li-Ann brought me to the UWA medical centre and the receptionist suggested that we tried the emergency centre at the hospital.

There was quite a queue at the hospital. I expected a long wait before I could see the doctor. But when I described the pain to the front desk, they were worried if it was anything related to my heart. So I was asked to enter immediately! When I went in, I was told to lie on the bed so I can be wheeled to my designated examination room. I felt really embarrassed at all the attention I was getting!

In the examination room, a nurse asked me a lot of questions - where the pain is, how painful, any allergies, family medical history etc. She then performed an ECG and the results were okay. A doctor then came and asked me the same questions. She was concerned if it could be due to Pneumothorax (collapsing of the lung) so she prescribed me to get an X ray, which was done shortly after. Anyway, after all the drama, it turned out that there was nothing wrong with my heart or lung, or even my ribs for that matter - which I was initially most concerned about. I thought I might have cracked a rib!

I probably pulled a muscle or had a muscle knot. I rested the next day and did no training at all. Luckily I have an easy program this week, so I'm not missing out on much. And glad that I was much better the following day and could even do a 50 minute run.

Today, which is the CHOGM public holiday or a replacement Queen's Birthday holiday, her Royal Highness is also in town and there is a lot going on in Perth these few days. The police are busy patrolling the streets and helicopters are flashing bright lights from the sky. Anyway, any public holiday is most welcomed! More time to train, and more importantly, more time to rest. I'm all well and feeling no pain at all. Thank you all for the well wishes!

Not quite there yet

It's been 6 days since I've been back in Perth. Things started out pretty well. I was motivated at work despite just returning from a 2.5 weeks holiday. Thursday's swim session was great, I felt strong and I was even clocking faster times than I did before the holidays. The 2 hour swim sessions with my brother's squad back home must have helped.

I haven't started running and would probably avoid it for another two weeks. The soreness on the navicular area on my left foot, which I have had for more than a year now, somehow became aggravated after Ironman Western Australia. It was always there but it didn't affect my running before this. I saw a sports doctor in Malaysia, Dr Aston who reckons it is due to my flat feet (again!) and weak feet muscles. So I have been doing the recommended feet exercises diligently, hope it will heal soon.

In the meantime, I did some spinning sessions on the wind trainer and I'm glad that I was able to sustain my high cadence. Thought it would be good to put my legs to the test for an 80km ride on Sunday. Sadly, I was disappointed with the results. No doubt that it was a scorcher at 35 degrees with strong winds blowing at 22kph, but mainly I haven't found my fitness yet and I pretty much gave up for the second half of the ride, and decided to just enjoy the scenery at a leisurely pace. I averaged 27.6kph for the entire ride.

Though I'm not entirely pleased with this outcome, I'm not going to be overly anxious. My next race is the Aviva Singapore Ironman 70.3, which is a good two months away. There is still time, but I have to log in my training consistently to get back into form.

Fozz and Natasha's wedding in Ipoh

Thanks for Chee Minh and Renee for the photos. Li-Ann and I are back in Perth now, starting in the office tomorrow.

Old and new

I had quite an eventful weekend. Li-Ann's away in Shanghai for holiday trip with her family. But I had the company of my cousin, her 6 month old daughter and her in-laws, who are here for their first visit to Perth.

I attended a farewell dinner for my former divisional partner at KPMG. He was leaving after having worked at KPMG since he was a grad. It was nice catching up with everyone again. Most of them at the dinner have already left KPMG. Those who are still with KPMG claimed that we all look a lot happier, hahhah.

Saturday's bike ride was pretty dramatic. First, my cycle computer bounced out less than 10kms into the ride. Then, it showed signs of dying, with the battery indicator flashing, despite having replaced the battery only 3 months ago. About a couple of hours later, it froze and that was the end of it. It didn't help that I modified my route slightly, but I estimated it was still 160km and I took about 5 hour 40 minutes, which is just above 28kph average.

I bought a new battery from the watch repair shop in Subiaco markets. But I noticed the plastic sensor attached to my bike fork is starting to give way too. Maybe it's time to get a new cyclecomputer. This time, one with cadence sensor. I like my current Specialized one because it gives a triple display (elapsed time, current speed and trip distance) in one screen. Any recommendations of one that does the same?

Sunday morning, I did another session of aqua running. Covered 2km in 1 hour. This time a lot less awkward and there was less chaffing on the feet. Feeling pretty confident on the recovery of my sore right shin, and should be able to start running on land in a week's time.

Windy

After having auditors in the office for the past two weeks, the weekend was very much welcomed.

On Saturday, I did another 120km ride. The winds were pretty strong, just above 20kph. Fortunately though, it was blowing in my favour towards the last 10kms. There were quite a few tri bikes on the course, one of which I kept on meeting. He (or she? I couldn't tell as the cyclist was all covered up with winter gear) was riding a red Felt B2, the new 2010 version.

I completed the ride with an average of 29.4kph. Pretty satisfied, considering the strong winds. I have became comfortable with the distance, so I thought next week I should up the ante and start riding 160kms.

Sunday morning, I did my second run for the week. I did 13km, the first time in 5 weeks. Held it pretty well, finishing in 54:50 (average 4:13 per km). Not my best, but still happy with the decent effort. My left foot is much better now. Although, other problems seem to be manifesting elsewhere - my right shin is feeling a bit sore. So I'll probably take it easy before logging in the long runs.

Negaraku

Yesterday, Malaysia celebrated it's 53rd anniversary of independence, or Merdeka Day, as affectionately known to us, Malaysians. This would be my 8th year of missing out on Merdeka Day (and hence, the public holiday as well).

I wouldn't call myself a very patriotic person. As a kid, Merdeka Day was nothing more than watching the parades on television and playing with flags. In my teens, Merdeka Day meant going to countdown parties and watching the fireworks.

My usual blog readings and friends' Facebook updates were mostly filled with concerns on the backward progression of our country and urges to the government make it better. I, being here, am unable to make an informed comment. And honestly, I feel it is something beyond my control.

But what I'd like to say is, Malaysia is still, and will always be my home. Yes, I'm one of the many brain drain statistic. Yes, I am living a lot more comfortably here. But Perth is not my home.

I still read the Star newspapers online everyday (although many would argue that the news are mostly one sided) as compared to picking up the West Australian, only to find myself reading the front headlines and going straight to the sports section, which are usually mainly about Aussie Footie, that I totally cannot relate to.

As with friends, I have a handful of close friends here, most of them are Malaysians. I guess our cultural similarities make it a lot easier to understand each other. Likewise, with race events here, they lack the friendly atmosphere as they do back home.

I do intend to return to Malaysia eventually. Our children will be enrolled in SKs or SJKs, instead of Something Something College or Something Something Grammar School. And they will eat char kuey teow by the roadside, not in some fancy Chinese restaurant that serves red wine with your noodles. They would visit their grandparents at least once a month, as opposed to only on Christmas, Easter or Chinese New Year.

But having said that, it's not that I'm unhappy here. Perth is great, I have work life balance, the environment is very conducive for my triathlon training and most importantly, I met the love of my life here (yes, darling, I mean you!).

It's just that there can be only one home. And it's not Perth.

Happy Merdeka Day, Malaysia!

Election Day and St. Bart's Day

So Australia had its general elections over the weekend, and the outcome is a hung parliament with the governing majority could go either way. It would be weeks before we find out the result.

This would be my second time experiencing the elections in Australia. I'm not eligible to vote here. But I am a registered voter in Malaysia, although I have missed out on the last general election back home. I hope I'm not one of those phantom voters, hahhah.

On Sunday, my workplace, St. Bartholomew's House had its annual celebration of St. Bart's day. I brought Li-Ann as extra hands to help. We had the usual church service in the morning, followed by the traditional serving of soup and bread.

This time, instead of having it in our hostel, we served the refreshments at City Farm. This year's event was a bit special, as we had the ground breaking ceremony for our new building, expected to commence construction in a couple months time.

Our WA premier, Colin Barnett was one of the dignitaries. Also present was Labour MP Alannah Mactiernan. It was pretty cool seeing members of the media hijacking the VIPs and the bodyguards with sunglasses and earpieces standing by our premier.

Also, as I was taking pictures, it was pretty funny overhearing Colin giving Alanah sarcastic condolescences for losing her seat the day before. Ah, politicians... Here's a picture where everyone's a lot friendlier.

After the ground breaking ceremony, the Spirit of The Streets Choir performed. It was made up of people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness due to different issues - work, personal, mental or physical disability. Some of them used to be residents of St. Bart's. Many of them are the elderly, which is pretty sad that they haven't got anyone else to take care of them, but themselves.

It is through experiences like these, that I feel my work here is a lot more meaningful.

The week that was...

Tomorrow is Friday and then it will be the weekend again.

The past weekend was a long one, with Monday being Western Australia Foundation Day public holiday. I took a day off training on Saturday to help a friend. The poor girl had her ceiling caved in. Must be due to the after effects of the hail storm in March. Fortunately, she wasn't in the room at that time. She was very kind to treat us to lunch at Ipoh Garden for our efforts of helping her clean up.

Sunday I did my first brick training for the season. 82km ride with winds blowing just above 20kph. I averaged 29.9kph. The 6km run after that was pretty challenging, I struggled a bit but managed to slip just under 27 minutes. Looks like it will take me a while to get back into running well off the bike.

Monday I ran 13km. Legs were pretty tight but I was able to keep it under 56 minutes. We then had lunch at Fast Eddy's. I had a steak sandwich, which honestly looked much better than it's taste.

Li-Ann's cousins are here for the week. They have quite a tight schedule as they are taking their pre-wedding pictures here. But we managed to catch up for dinner on Wednesday at City Garden in Northbridge. Of all my years here in Perth, I don't think I've eaten there before. Had always dined in other Chinese restaurants. The food was actually really good! We ate until we were stuffed. Would definitely go back there again.

This morning, I attended a financial reporting updates seminar organized by Deloittes, our auditors. The invitation mentioned breakfast would be served, hence I deliberately went with an empty stomach. And I was definitely not disappointed! There were muffins, croissants, cold meats and yoghurt placed at the centre of each table. And I thought that was it, but partway through the seminar, the wait staff brought each person a plate of cooked breakfast - toasts with poached eggs and bacon. I doubt anyone was paying full attention to the seminar when they were busy gorging themselves with food!

Tomorrow is not only the first kick-off of the World Cup but it will also be my brother's first SUKMA swimming event in Malacca. I can't help but feeling a bit envious, no doubt very proud of him. This would be the penultimate point of his swimming career. All the best, Keith!