Group ride

Being a long distance triathlete, one can become quite anti social - spending hours on the bike and long runs alone. I for one, rarely ride in a group in Perth for the following reasons:

1. I find it extremely difficult pulling myself out of bed before sunrise, as most group rides start 6am;
2. Most groups are too fast for my pace. I did one ride with the people from TBE Nedlands bike shop and was dropped off halfway through the ride;
3. Being a triathlete, somehow the whole idea of drafting doesn't quite sit well with me.

However, lately I have been finding it difficult to get into the training gear, so I thought that training in a group will be just the thing to get myself motivated again. And what better way to do it with Monday morning social rides with Team Break Your Limits (BYL). To be honest I was quite sceptical at first, as quite often, most social rides turn into competitive ego jostling races!

But I was assured by Bill, one of the main guys there, that wasn't the case. And they even had novices joining them. Also, my friend Shao, who swims with me, is also part of the group, so it helps having familiar people there. So on Monday morning 6am, I turned up at BYL headquarters/gym in West Perth. Bill and Shao introduced me to everyone else. I noticed that I was the only one without shaved legs and the guys had shinier legs than the girls!

We rode through Dalkeith and did a small loop around Cottesloe Beach, which was nice as I haven't rode through there before. The pace was comfortable but as I rarely ride in a group, I got a bit uncomfortable staying so close to the other cyclists. Also my bike handling skills are still pretty poor and I found myself slowing down a lot around the corners, so I stayed back just so no one would collide into me!

We stopped by Cimbalino in Dalkeith for coffee and just chatted among ourselves, where some of us parted ways and the remaining of us returned to BYL gym. We covered about 35kms and averaged just under 26kph. I actually felt pretty good from the ride and I was feeling fresh for the rest of the day. Looks like this is one ride which I would keep to my weekly routine, and hopefully I can pick up some pointers on bike handling along the way!

Weekend enjoyment

In a blink of an eye, and it has already been almost two weeks since we've been back in Perth since our holidays. That also means that we are already halfway through the first month of the year 2011.

Training wise, this week went much better than the previous week. I felt more power in my strokes for Tuesday's and Thursday's swim sessions. The two spinning sessions I did during the week felt good, I managed to keep between 95-100rpm and hitting above 110rpm during the last 1 minute of sprints.

Saturday's bike ride was much more enjoyable than last week. Partly because it was about 10 degrees cooler and winds were 5kph lower. There was still some fatigue but only towards the last few kms of the ride, when riding against the headwind. My new cyclecomputer has a wired cadence now, but I only use the cadence mode for my spinning sessions. When I checked that I was clocking just under 110rpm for the ride, I was pretty shocked. Maybe it's time to pull bigger gears, adding more power.

Just after Canning Bridge, I bumped into (not literally) John Cooke who was just finishing his ride after an arduous ride in the hills. He's training for Ironman Lanzarote, which is infamous for it's hilly course. We chatted and rode alongside for about 5km up until the Narrows Bridge where I bid him farewell and continued the last few kms of my ride. I completed the ride the 80+ km ride with an average 29.0kph, not that fast but pretty happy with the effort as it is heading in the right direction.

That evening, darling and I had dinner at Tony's Spaghetti Bar in Scarborough, a place we've been wanting to try out for some time. It's a little take away with a few tables and chairs for those wishing to dine in. All pastas were $15 and under, with meat and seafood dishes being between $15-$20.

Very satisfied with the meal, good value, the portions were quite large and despite taking away more than half of Li-Ann's linguine, I was still left with a bloated stomach. After dinner, we had a nice walk by the sunset at Scarborough Beach.

I weighed myself this morning, and I'm happy that I'm back at my pre holiday weight! :) And I haven't even started running yet.

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.

Coming to a close

In about 13 hours time, we bid farewell to year 2010 and welcome the new year of 2011. That also means my year end holidays are about to end... a bit too quick if you ask me, haha.

This year really flew past and looking back in review, despite having some ups and downs, I wouldn't have it any other way!

I did two Ironman races in a span of just over 9 months this year, both of which I wasn't able to clock a personal best, let alone meet my 11 hour target. However, I achieved a personal best by 7 minutes in an Olympic distance triathlon in Port Dickson and I was over the moon when I completed the Perth Half Marathon in 1:28:33, I never thought it was possible for me to go under 90 minutes.

My relationship with darling Li-Ann took a step further when we got engaged at the end of October. We spent a fair bit of these holidays getting some wedding preparations done, and I must say, despite being a bit anxious of what lies ahead of us, I'm really excited!

Being away from home and being mostly pre-occupied with my passion (obsession?) with triathlon and Ironman races, I try my best to keep in touch with family and friends. I admit, that I still need to work on this and would rethink my priorities for the coming year.

We will be away in Ipoh, 2+ hours drive from Kuala Lumpur, for the next 3 days to attend our friend, Tasha's wedding. Our SLB gang from Perth will be there as well. In the meantime, happy new year everyone!

Season's greetings...

Here's to wishing all readers of my blog a very merry Christmas and a happy new year!

It's the festive season and I'm currently 2kgs heavier, 2% higher in body fat and 20bpm increase in my resting heart rate. But this won't stay for long, I assure you when year 2011 comes, I'll be back!

IMWA celebratory dinner

Finger licking good at Fatty Crab, Taman Megah

Certificate presentation by Ironman mentor and Kona finisher, Sofian. Thanks Richard for printing and laminating the certificate!

Only 3 of us from this group will be competing next year

From my previous post, I mentioned that I was down with a bout of shingles. Well, I've finished my medication and glad to say that I'm recovering well, with the marks subsiding, slowly but surely.

Been busy getting some of our wedding preparations done in the past few days, trying to make full use of our time here in Malaysia. We have more or less decided on a venue and now looking for a photographer for the reception.