Uplift

Back from Harvey... with an extra weight of 1-2 kgs... I had a limit of A$60 a day for meal reimbursements, so tried my best to use it to the max! But there wasn't much to eat anyway, so most of my binging were on after-meal junk food.

Had a delightful Korean BBQ dinner yesterday at Eric and Renee's to celebrate Renee's birthday. With full Korean theme and everything! Thanks for the scrumptious meal, guys! Really enjoyed it!

I received my custom-made orthotics in-soles today. These things cost me A$645, but that includes any follow-up sessions and future modifications. Too bad my basic health insurance doesn't cover orthotics. The more comprehensive one does, up to a limit of A$200, but the annual premiums are A$300 more, so you do the math!

The wooden clogs shown above are actually the moulds used to make the orthotics. Would be using them to create new orthotics in the future. For a moment, I thought those were my shoe inserts!

I was advised to wear them through on walking shoes for now. Would only start using them for running in a week's time.

... It is only a few hours until the Kona Ironman World Championships gets underway. Would be cheering on Malaysia's sole representative, Carmen Leong. Do us proud!

Andante

This job in Harvey is moving pretty slowly... just like the town itself. I won't worry too much as apparently in the past, this job seemed to have its delays.

I have not done any sightseeing here. There's nothing much to see actually. I'm staying in Binningup, 25 minutes south of Harvey... and it is an EVEN slower town.

I'm placed in a nice house in a newly developed area. One of the client's employees stays here as well. These pictures are more for your dad's interest, darling. Although, excuse my poor lighting. Most of these are taken in the evening after work.

I brought my swim gear along, planning to swim at the Harvey pool but it is closed until summer. Did a slow 45 minute jog around the housing area this morning instead - that's 2 days of running in a row... I think my knees are telling me to avoid running tomorrow. Hmm... wonder what should I do for tomorrow's workout...

DOH!

I've finally sold my old car! And this is my early birthday gift to myself!

Also had a premature birthday celebration today between Li-Ann and myself... as I will be posted to an audit in Harvey (somewhere between Mandurah and Bunbury - about 2 hours drive from Perth) for three days including my actual birthday. Pretty excited about this job assignment, as this client could be my future employer!

We watched the much talked about Wall.E at Garden City.

The movie was pretty good actually, fun loving and happy endings... typically Disney.

We then had dinner at Beethovens, a German restaurant near Canning Highway. The food was really good! We had tiger prawns for entree. I ordered the pork shank, which was really crispy and filling! While darling had the Munich platter, a wonderful array of German meat and sausages.

Now, this is where I REALLY have to kick myself for... I've accidentally deleted the pictures from my birthday dinner (which only comes once a year)! So here's all that's left. A picture of the tiger prawn entree and one of me downing a Weihenstephan Heffe beer.

And this morning, I had a crash while cycling! Was riding on Mount Henry bridge and somehow find myself getting closer and closer to the concrete wall. Instead of cycling away, wasn't thinking right, I placed my hand against the wall to push myself away! You can pretty much guess... I was skidding away, tumbling down after that!

Suffered some minor cuts. Damage to Ah Rui was some scratches at the aero bar shifters and the brake levers. No damage to the frame, luckily.

DOH!

Spring Queen

It is the long weekend... Queen's birthday, which somehow is coincidentally the AFL Grand Final weekend. After 6 years of being here in Australia, I STILL do not understand, let alone follow this game.

Yes, yes... I know we only get ONE day, while those back home in Malaysia get the WHOLE WEEK off! Selamat Hari Raya to all my Muslim friends and happy holidays to the non-Muslim ones!

It was also the last few days for spring wildflowers to bloom (spring wildflowers only, spring itself ends by end of October). Now after 6 years of being here in Perth, this is my FIRST time seeing the wildflowers in Kings Park and going on the suspension bridge, despite it being only 5kms away from my house.

On the Ironman training note... I did 80.90km in 2:47.54 today... average 28.91kph - my fastest training speed ever! But I have to work on improving on my running legs after doing a bike ride... clocked 26:47 for 6km (average 4:28 per km), have to reduce it to below 26:30 (average 4:25 per km)!

A friendly reminder...

Good thing the drivers here are pretty courteous to cyclists. Although, occasionally we do get some nutcases behind the wheel.

*****

I'm bidding farewell to my car, which has served me reliably for over 3 years now. Was only thinking of getting a new car next year... but Eric and Renee gave me an offer on their car which I couldn't resist!

So here's an ad of my own...

1996 Ford Festiva 1.3L Auto FOR SALE AUD 2,450 O.N.O.
(or nearest offer)

Very fuel economical - Under AUD 40 for full tank!

Good condition - recently serviced!

Rego until October 2009!

Car located near UWA Nedlands campus.

Contact Kevin 0412178619 or kskh@hotmail.com

A trip to the podiatrist

Yes, I've FINALLY visited a podiatrist yesterday. With my PANCAKE flat feet, one can only wonder what sort of severe damage all my running (or even walking) have done to my ankles, shins, knees, hips, posture etc. without any orthotics or shoe insoles.

My appointment was with Vivian Oldfield at Peak Podiatry. The guy (yes, he ACTUALLY IS a guy!) is very knowledgeable... I was lucky that he deals a lot with a triathletes (perhaps a triathlete himself? I should have asked)...

He did a video assessment of my gait. I was placed on a treadmill, running at 9kph for just over 2 minutes, with a video camera each on my front, back and side.

He was pretty amazed that although with my flat feet, I don't pronate that much and I actually land almost perfectly straight. However, the lower half of my legs swing inwardly, causing a bit of a strain on my gluts and hips. He reckons is because my gluts lack strength (haiya, need to pad up my butt more!)... could be due to training too much in aero position during my bike rides. As the aero position is meant to conserve energy for the run, so if I keep on training in that position, those muscles are not worked as much. MAKES SO MUCH SENSE! How do you like that? A podiatrist who gives you triathlon training tips...

I wished I could get a copy of the video assessment, but he was pretty reluctant. Maybe due to copyright issues.

I was told to change a pair of shoes every 600 to 800kms (with my weekly average running of 30km, that's only about 25 weeks!) I'm so glad he didn't prescribe me any heavyweight motion control shoes. Just as long as they have dual density. Good thing the Saucony shoes I'm looking for have those.

I got my feet taped again, to give them an artificial arch for me to try out. The results were AWESOME! I was pretty tired during my run yesterday evening, so I slowed down my pace quite significantly... but was still able to clock some good times! So this is how people with NORMAL arches feel like... I'll definitely consider getting custom made orthotics... something worth investing in!

Take a BRICK

The last time I did a BRICK session was before the Busselton Half Ironman. Thought I should also try doing it with the Orca tri suit, as the two times that I raced in this suit, I had cramps in the run leg.

The bike ride was pretty good... 80.67km in 2:50.30 (average 28.39kph), slightly slower than the ride I did two weeks ago but the head winds were stronger today.

When it came to the run, it was about 11.15am... the sun was out, getting pretty hot. I thought I could do the 6km in 26.5 minutes (average 4:25 per km) but fatigue got to me and I could only manage 27 minutes (average 4:30 per km). Oh well, need more BRICK practising then...

Somehow I STILL felt the tightness around my quads when I ran. Maybe I should stop wearing this tri suit. But that would be so wasteful...

*****

On a different note, Li-Ann and myself had afternoon tea at this wonderful cake shop in Subiaco called Sonny's. It has been a while since just the two of us spend some time together and do something apart from grocery shopping (although we did go to Subi to do our groceries).

The cakes were really attractive... and the honeycomb bee sting we ordered tasted as good as as it looked. The service was very fast. My only critique was presentation of the cake when it was brought to our table. It looked so good behind the counter, but it was placed lopsided on our plate. Yes, I'm spoilt... I'm used to having my cake served standing high with whipped cream or ice cream :)