I had a good week of training, felt strong for most of the sessions. I finished the week with a back to back ride weekend - 4.5 hour ride on Saturday, starting at the eastern hills which took me about 3 hours, and I made up the remaining 1.5 with a ride along the river. On Sunday, while the most of Perth community were out running the City to Surf, over 42,000 runners to be exact, I did a 2 hour ride on Freeway South. The weather was calm and cool, with slight overcast. I truly enjoyed my ride and I'm sure those who ran this morning did some pretty fast times. Well done to all those who competed, and congratulations to those who achieved their PBs!
Entries opened today for the inaugural Ironman Asia Pacific Championship to be held at Melbourne in late March next year, offering 75 qualifying slots for Kona, more than 25 from the usual Ironman events. The event was sold out in a record time of just over 5 minutes! It seems like it is the norm now, with Ironman events selling out on the same day and interested participants have to commit themselves a year in advance. With more and more people taking up this sport, the natural laws of supply and demand dictate increasing entry fees. This particular race is more than 20% dearer than Ironman Western Australia.
Congratulations to those who managed to secure a spot and having the courage to make the commitment, especially for those entering their first Ironman event. I didn't join the bandwagon, in contrast to the title of this post. A couple of reasons, as I think 3.5 months will probably be not enough for me to recover from Ironman Western Australia to be at my racing best. Another reason as I'm pretty keen to try Challenge Cairns, an Iron distance event outside the Ironman series. The timing will be perfect, a few weeks before our wedding and it will be a good race to do before I take a break from endurance events and start looking at other things in life (but I make no promises, so don't hold me onto anything! Haha)
The odd thing is... despite offering the same distance and similar experience, the entries for Challenge Cairns are really trickling. The race would not offer any qualifying spots for the Ironman World Championship but I'm sure the event organization is top notch and the satisfaction of completing the race is just as great. Anyone keen to join me?
On the lighter side, I have relatives over for the week. My cousin, his wife, his daughter, my aunty and uncle are here to visit. We went to Fremantle today, which was nice as it's been a while since Li-Ann and I have been there. And even a longer time since we did the touristy stuff like visiting the markets and having fish and chips by the harbour.
Sunday, 28 August 2011
Sunday, 21 August 2011
Confessions of a shopaholic
Well not quite... but in the past few weeks, I have made quite a few purchases off the internet, which somehow always make me go on guilt trips whenever these purchases are triathlon related. Nevertheless, I take comfort in convincing myself that these few items are essentials for the average triathlete.
Another pair of Asics GT-2150s. I'm currently already using a pair as my trainers. These have served me well and provided great arch support. I normally change my trainers once a year but with the increased weekly mileage, my current pair are wearing out soon. I would have loved to upgrade to the newer 2160 model, but these were going at a clearance price on Start Fitness, which also prompted the pre-emptive purchase. The red colour is less striking than my current lime green ones though.
Shimano TR51 triathlon bike shoes. Got them pre-used at a steal price from the TriWa forum. My current and only pair of bike shoes, the TR30s have been through thick and thin throughout my triathlon journey. But it is time to let them go. Also, these blue babies match the colour of my bike haha.
Nothing extra exciting have been happening since the Perth Half Marathon, hence the one week lapse in my blog posting. Li-Ann and I watched the final instalment of the Harry Potter mini series in the cinemas today. We have been playing catch up with the previous three episodes by watching them on DVD. I've watched all the Harry Potter movies, but mainly for entertainment value. I find myself asking Li-Ann, who has read all the books, a lot of questions after each movie.
We ended the weekend with dinner at Mille Cafe, $9.95 pizza specials! We had to take away most of the pizza and I have to say, when it comes to pizza, we pledge our loyalty to Little Caesars! Although, the apple cake we had for dessert was pretty good.
Another pair of Asics GT-2150s. I'm currently already using a pair as my trainers. These have served me well and provided great arch support. I normally change my trainers once a year but with the increased weekly mileage, my current pair are wearing out soon. I would have loved to upgrade to the newer 2160 model, but these were going at a clearance price on Start Fitness, which also prompted the pre-emptive purchase. The red colour is less striking than my current lime green ones though.
Shimano TR51 triathlon bike shoes. Got them pre-used at a steal price from the TriWa forum. My current and only pair of bike shoes, the TR30s have been through thick and thin throughout my triathlon journey. But it is time to let them go. Also, these blue babies match the colour of my bike haha.
Nothing extra exciting have been happening since the Perth Half Marathon, hence the one week lapse in my blog posting. Li-Ann and I watched the final instalment of the Harry Potter mini series in the cinemas today. We have been playing catch up with the previous three episodes by watching them on DVD. I've watched all the Harry Potter movies, but mainly for entertainment value. I find myself asking Li-Ann, who has read all the books, a lot of questions after each movie.
We ended the weekend with dinner at Mille Cafe, $9.95 pizza specials! We had to take away most of the pizza and I have to say, when it comes to pizza, we pledge our loyalty to Little Caesars! Although, the apple cake we had for dessert was pretty good.
Monday, 8 August 2011
Perth Half Marathon 2011
Somehow, this race wasn't included in my original preparations for Ironman Western Australia at the end of the year. However, when I signed up with Bill's coaching, I had a guess that he would have me racing this event. If I had known earlier, I would have signed up before the early bird entry ends and save myself $5! Haha, yes I am an accountant after all, every penny counts!
I have been feeling pretty good with my running sessions lately. And by clocking a 4:10 per km average at my most recent 1.5 hour long run, I set myself a challenge to try to run sub 87 minutes at this race, which is 4:07 per km. My previous best was at the same race last year, 1:28:33. Last year, I did an 80km ride the day before. Whereas this year, I did a 4 hour ride (which ended up being 4:12 because of the nasty northerly winds on the way back!) on the eve of the race. So it will be interesting to see how my legs hold up.
I slept like a log the night before, after a hearty meal at Catalano's Cafe. Didn't have too much sweet stuff this year for dessert, as they gave both myself and Li-Ann stomach upsets towards the end of last year's run.
Race morning, I got to the WA Marathon clubrooms at 7.30am, but all the parking spots were already taken up. This year's turnout was over 740 runners for the half marathon event alone. Parked a bit further, no worries, I did a warm up jog to the club rooms. Caught up with the guys from Break Your Limits, it's nice meeting up with people you know before the race to calm your nerves. Other people I met were Dennis Tan and John Cooke from North Coast Tri Club. We left it to the last minute before doing a warm up jog, after which Sam, my riding partner appeared, catching me by surprise. Sam and I then walked to the starting line, making it just in time, less than 1 minute before the 8.00am start! Yes, you can tell I'm much more relaxed this year!
The start was a bit crowded, I got a bit worried that my pace will be affected but I crossed the 1st km marker in 4:03, and the 2nd in 3:59 so I was doing well ahead of target. I was pacing with whom I thought was Nera Jerab, WA's state champion for the Perth Marathon, and as I soon dropped her off, I tought to myself that I was doing pretty alright! Later, I found out at the turnaround point at the Narrows Bridge, that Nera was away ahead of me and would eventually be the women's champion in a blitzing 1:23:38 (no surprises here!), and the girl I dropped off was her sister Visnja, who actually finished 17 seconds after me.
The km markers were a bit inconsistent, but overall I was averaging just under 4:07 per km pace. I got to the 10km mark at 41:02 and were beginning to overtake some of the runners in front of me. Our BYL Man of Mystery, Shao (Wuzza) Wu was taking pictures at the South Perth foreshore, cheering us on, so I was feeling pretty good.
But it soon came undone from 12km onwards. I was beginning to feel some minor side stitches and it didn't help that despite the weather being generally calm, any slight headwind will tend to affect your mind and body when you're starting to suffer. Also, the absence of km markers from the 13th km onwards made it a bit difficult to estimate if I was on track. Plus, on this part of the course, we had to to go through some short, but pretty steep hills at the East Perth foreshore, which will throw off your leg cadence out of whack. Here's where I constantly needed to tell myself, to just keep the momentum going!
The last few kms, I was inching closer and closer to veteran runner, Mitch Cleasby. We got the finishing chute together and I started sprinting. But, the crafty Mitch wasn't going to let me overtake him, so he picked up his cadence and left me in his wake. I finished a second behind him in 1:27:32, a minute off last year's PB, in 58th place overall, as Mr BYL himself, Ray Lampard, one of the race emcees, commentated my finish. I guess, despite being a bit off target, I really can't complain as it is still a new PB.
Caught up with the other guys after the race, most of them did their PBs that day, indicating a combination of great racing conditions and effective training programs, which are really paying off. A good day out.
*Pictures courtesy of Lena Inkson and Dash Photography*
I have been feeling pretty good with my running sessions lately. And by clocking a 4:10 per km average at my most recent 1.5 hour long run, I set myself a challenge to try to run sub 87 minutes at this race, which is 4:07 per km. My previous best was at the same race last year, 1:28:33. Last year, I did an 80km ride the day before. Whereas this year, I did a 4 hour ride (which ended up being 4:12 because of the nasty northerly winds on the way back!) on the eve of the race. So it will be interesting to see how my legs hold up.
I slept like a log the night before, after a hearty meal at Catalano's Cafe. Didn't have too much sweet stuff this year for dessert, as they gave both myself and Li-Ann stomach upsets towards the end of last year's run.
Race morning, I got to the WA Marathon clubrooms at 7.30am, but all the parking spots were already taken up. This year's turnout was over 740 runners for the half marathon event alone. Parked a bit further, no worries, I did a warm up jog to the club rooms. Caught up with the guys from Break Your Limits, it's nice meeting up with people you know before the race to calm your nerves. Other people I met were Dennis Tan and John Cooke from North Coast Tri Club. We left it to the last minute before doing a warm up jog, after which Sam, my riding partner appeared, catching me by surprise. Sam and I then walked to the starting line, making it just in time, less than 1 minute before the 8.00am start! Yes, you can tell I'm much more relaxed this year!
The start was a bit crowded, I got a bit worried that my pace will be affected but I crossed the 1st km marker in 4:03, and the 2nd in 3:59 so I was doing well ahead of target. I was pacing with whom I thought was Nera Jerab, WA's state champion for the Perth Marathon, and as I soon dropped her off, I tought to myself that I was doing pretty alright! Later, I found out at the turnaround point at the Narrows Bridge, that Nera was away ahead of me and would eventually be the women's champion in a blitzing 1:23:38 (no surprises here!), and the girl I dropped off was her sister Visnja, who actually finished 17 seconds after me.
The km markers were a bit inconsistent, but overall I was averaging just under 4:07 per km pace. I got to the 10km mark at 41:02 and were beginning to overtake some of the runners in front of me. Our BYL Man of Mystery, Shao (Wuzza) Wu was taking pictures at the South Perth foreshore, cheering us on, so I was feeling pretty good.
But it soon came undone from 12km onwards. I was beginning to feel some minor side stitches and it didn't help that despite the weather being generally calm, any slight headwind will tend to affect your mind and body when you're starting to suffer. Also, the absence of km markers from the 13th km onwards made it a bit difficult to estimate if I was on track. Plus, on this part of the course, we had to to go through some short, but pretty steep hills at the East Perth foreshore, which will throw off your leg cadence out of whack. Here's where I constantly needed to tell myself, to just keep the momentum going!
The last few kms, I was inching closer and closer to veteran runner, Mitch Cleasby. We got the finishing chute together and I started sprinting. But, the crafty Mitch wasn't going to let me overtake him, so he picked up his cadence and left me in his wake. I finished a second behind him in 1:27:32, a minute off last year's PB, in 58th place overall, as Mr BYL himself, Ray Lampard, one of the race emcees, commentated my finish. I guess, despite being a bit off target, I really can't complain as it is still a new PB.
Caught up with the other guys after the race, most of them did their PBs that day, indicating a combination of great racing conditions and effective training programs, which are really paying off. A good day out.
*Pictures courtesy of Lena Inkson and Dash Photography*
Sunday, 31 July 2011
Stormy week
It was actually alright for the first half of the week, and really started on Wednesday afternoon when I did my 45 minute easy run after work. It started to drizzle as I started my run and the clouds were all black. There was a bit of lightning too but they seemed quite a distance away. As a cyclist overtook me at one of the intersections, he said "I thought I was the crazy one riding home in this weather!"
Well, as it turned out, there were many other crazies running that evening too. John Cooke was one of them as he posted on his blog here. The downpour really came on my return journey from Burswood. It was not only wet but the winds were strong too, such that the rain were hitting me diagonally and hard! And my glasses were all fogged up, I could barely see beyond a few metres in front of me. Thank god I got home safely that night.
I didn't have further altercations with the weather for the next couple of days. In fact, it was clear when I did my long run on Friday morning. Managed 21.6km for the 90 minutes, an average pace of 4:10 per km. My best effort so far... and looking forward to attempting another PB at the Perth Half Marathon next weekend.
Saturday's ride in the hills was when the skies opened again. Although I must say I was pretty lucky, when it really poured, coincidentally I was near sheltered areas. The first was at the toilets at Mundaring Weir dam, the second when I was making my journey back at the Windan Bridge at East Perth. But most of the paths were flooded at East Perth, forcing me to make a bit of a detour and I found myself cycling along playgrounds and boardwalks.
I had another ride on Sunday morning, this time along the Swan River. Although it didn't rain as much, I think the winds got stronger. Or it could be the impression from the waves crashing onto the Freeway South bike paths. I could barely go down on my aerobars without risking being blown away. On my return journey, I even struggled to maintain riding on the outer lane as the winds kept pushing me in.
Previously I would probably be cursing the weather throughout these sessions. But somehow I've learnt to accept these things and take them as deposits into my memory bank to draw upon if it gets tough on race day. As John Cooke aptly quoted from Macca's I'm Here to Win book, EMBRACE THE SUCK!
Well, as it turned out, there were many other crazies running that evening too. John Cooke was one of them as he posted on his blog here. The downpour really came on my return journey from Burswood. It was not only wet but the winds were strong too, such that the rain were hitting me diagonally and hard! And my glasses were all fogged up, I could barely see beyond a few metres in front of me. Thank god I got home safely that night.
I didn't have further altercations with the weather for the next couple of days. In fact, it was clear when I did my long run on Friday morning. Managed 21.6km for the 90 minutes, an average pace of 4:10 per km. My best effort so far... and looking forward to attempting another PB at the Perth Half Marathon next weekend.
Saturday's ride in the hills was when the skies opened again. Although I must say I was pretty lucky, when it really poured, coincidentally I was near sheltered areas. The first was at the toilets at Mundaring Weir dam, the second when I was making my journey back at the Windan Bridge at East Perth. But most of the paths were flooded at East Perth, forcing me to make a bit of a detour and I found myself cycling along playgrounds and boardwalks.
I had another ride on Sunday morning, this time along the Swan River. Although it didn't rain as much, I think the winds got stronger. Or it could be the impression from the waves crashing onto the Freeway South bike paths. I could barely go down on my aerobars without risking being blown away. On my return journey, I even struggled to maintain riding on the outer lane as the winds kept pushing me in.
Previously I would probably be cursing the weather throughout these sessions. But somehow I've learnt to accept these things and take them as deposits into my memory bank to draw upon if it gets tough on race day. As John Cooke aptly quoted from Macca's I'm Here to Win book, EMBRACE THE SUCK!
Sunday, 24 July 2011
Alien robots and monster burgers
I had an easy week of training this week. And with the extra time, I could run a few house chores, do my tax returns and go to the movies, which we haven't been doing for quite some time. And yes, you guessed it, Transformers 3 was what we picked. But we couldn't justify the extra dollars to watch it in 3D and both Innaloo and Morley only had one session a day for the 2D screening.
Anyway, we picked the Morley one despite being slightly further from us as the one in Innaloo was showing at 9.30pm, and being the earlybirds we are, we probably would fall asleep partway! The movie was fun and entertaining. I wasn't expecting much from the plot, so I couldn't be disappointed. Although, I'm not a huge Megan Fox fan, but the new girl in this sequel somehow lack the feist of her predecessor.
After the movie, we had dinner at a tiny lunch bar, Novembar, which is famous for their interesting and querky burgers. I had a classic steak burger with the lot while Li-Ann had the star burger. My steak was really tender and Li-Ann really enjoyed the beef patty and her sesame seed bun. And for dessert, we ordered the fried ice cream burger, which was absolutely yummy!
The standard burgers are quite cheap, most of them being $10 or under. But there are crazy ones as well, including the Fat Boy burger, which makes up 7 patties and cheese, $28.50 on the menu. Or you can take up the Fat Boy challenge and pay $1 for every minute you take to finish the burger, with the condition that you MUST finish it. I think I might try that the next time. The current winner sits at 6.5 minutes, with the winner out of the first 1000 participants takes home $3,000 cash. Only 40 or so people have taken part.
And if you are REALLY hardcore, there is a 100 patty burger, but be prepared to pay something in the hundreds for that. You can read more about this place on Urbanspoon and Cam and Chris' Burger Odyssey.
Now, back to a hard week of training and perhaps I can reward myself with a Fat Boy burger haha.
Anyway, we picked the Morley one despite being slightly further from us as the one in Innaloo was showing at 9.30pm, and being the earlybirds we are, we probably would fall asleep partway! The movie was fun and entertaining. I wasn't expecting much from the plot, so I couldn't be disappointed. Although, I'm not a huge Megan Fox fan, but the new girl in this sequel somehow lack the feist of her predecessor.
After the movie, we had dinner at a tiny lunch bar, Novembar, which is famous for their interesting and querky burgers. I had a classic steak burger with the lot while Li-Ann had the star burger. My steak was really tender and Li-Ann really enjoyed the beef patty and her sesame seed bun. And for dessert, we ordered the fried ice cream burger, which was absolutely yummy!
The standard burgers are quite cheap, most of them being $10 or under. But there are crazy ones as well, including the Fat Boy burger, which makes up 7 patties and cheese, $28.50 on the menu. Or you can take up the Fat Boy challenge and pay $1 for every minute you take to finish the burger, with the condition that you MUST finish it. I think I might try that the next time. The current winner sits at 6.5 minutes, with the winner out of the first 1000 participants takes home $3,000 cash. Only 40 or so people have taken part.And if you are REALLY hardcore, there is a 100 patty burger, but be prepared to pay something in the hundreds for that. You can read more about this place on Urbanspoon and Cam and Chris' Burger Odyssey.
Now, back to a hard week of training and perhaps I can reward myself with a Fat Boy burger haha.
Sunday, 17 July 2011
Lake Joondalup 10km Run
Another 10km race in my program, as Bill's way of making me run hard and not to slack off after a pretty tough training week. I heard that it was a fast course and a PB is pretty much guaranteed. As much as I wanted another PB and possibly crack the sub 40 minute mark, I was a bit doubtful. My quads felt tight the whole day yesterday after a 4 hour ride.
On a whim, we decided to eat out for dinner last night. I thought it would be a good idea to get some carbo in before the run, I'm preparing like it was an Ironman race haha. We went to good ol' Fratelli in Sorrento. We did not have a booking but as we were early, we just managed to get ourselves a table before it was all booked out.
Service was really quick, the food was ready within 5 minutes from ordering! Very tasty, I had the chicken fetuccine and Li-Ann had the seafood risotto. As always, we swapped plates halfway through. Due to the quick service, we were barely in the restaurant for more than 30 minutes. We then had dessert at San Churro at Hillarys Boat Harbour. Unfortunately, our black forrest trifle was a bit of a letdown.
Race day morning, I got the Lake Joondalup by 7.15am for the 8am start. Organized by the WA Marathon Club, it was a two lap 5km course. I didn't feel fantastic during the warm up. My quads were still tight, and my breathing was a bit laboured. I had chaffing from yesterday's ride and I felt it while doing some short sprints.
I met Dennis Tan from North Coast Tri Club and Steve Gleeson from Break Your Limits. Both got their PBs, well done! I could not find any toilets for the pre race leak, so I followed some other guys who went to the bushes. Not sure where the ladies went!
Race start, I got caught up in the surge of the other runners, clocked the first km in 3:53, but the second km in 4:06. I guessed the 1st marker was probably a bit short then. There was a slight slope down just before the 2.5km turnaround, meaning an elevation after it. It annoyed me a bit, as I expected a TOTALLY FLAT course but really, I shouldn't be complaining at all.
The was a bit of wind too, but wasn't too challenging. Throughout the first lap, there were kids no taller than my chest, who were keeping up with my sub 4 minute per km pace, some even faster! Gosh, they can really run! As I made the 5km turnaround, the the finisher clock showed just over 19:40 something, I thought to myself, if I can maintain the pace, sub 40 is mine!
I didn't negative split for the second lap but I kept the km splits under 4 minutes. Reached the finish in 39:43, a PB by over 40 seconds! And I broke 40 minutes for 10km, something which I never thought I could. Definitely breaking my limits! I guess the interval runs really help.
Looking forward to an easy week of training...
On a whim, we decided to eat out for dinner last night. I thought it would be a good idea to get some carbo in before the run, I'm preparing like it was an Ironman race haha. We went to good ol' Fratelli in Sorrento. We did not have a booking but as we were early, we just managed to get ourselves a table before it was all booked out.
Service was really quick, the food was ready within 5 minutes from ordering! Very tasty, I had the chicken fetuccine and Li-Ann had the seafood risotto. As always, we swapped plates halfway through. Due to the quick service, we were barely in the restaurant for more than 30 minutes. We then had dessert at San Churro at Hillarys Boat Harbour. Unfortunately, our black forrest trifle was a bit of a letdown.
Race day morning, I got the Lake Joondalup by 7.15am for the 8am start. Organized by the WA Marathon Club, it was a two lap 5km course. I didn't feel fantastic during the warm up. My quads were still tight, and my breathing was a bit laboured. I had chaffing from yesterday's ride and I felt it while doing some short sprints.
I met Dennis Tan from North Coast Tri Club and Steve Gleeson from Break Your Limits. Both got their PBs, well done! I could not find any toilets for the pre race leak, so I followed some other guys who went to the bushes. Not sure where the ladies went!Race start, I got caught up in the surge of the other runners, clocked the first km in 3:53, but the second km in 4:06. I guessed the 1st marker was probably a bit short then. There was a slight slope down just before the 2.5km turnaround, meaning an elevation after it. It annoyed me a bit, as I expected a TOTALLY FLAT course but really, I shouldn't be complaining at all.
The was a bit of wind too, but wasn't too challenging. Throughout the first lap, there were kids no taller than my chest, who were keeping up with my sub 4 minute per km pace, some even faster! Gosh, they can really run! As I made the 5km turnaround, the the finisher clock showed just over 19:40 something, I thought to myself, if I can maintain the pace, sub 40 is mine!
I didn't negative split for the second lap but I kept the km splits under 4 minutes. Reached the finish in 39:43, a PB by over 40 seconds! And I broke 40 minutes for 10km, something which I never thought I could. Definitely breaking my limits! I guess the interval runs really help.
Looking forward to an easy week of training...
Sunday, 10 July 2011
The day my car was stolen
These things happen. However, I always thought that they would not happen to me. Well it did. Maybe it was just bad luck. Maybe it was poor judgement. Maybe a combination of both.
I went for a swim at Balga Leisurepark on Tuesday night. I placed my bag in the changeroom. It only contained my clothes, access card to the pool and my bunch of keys, which consist of car keys, house keys and office keys.
I started swimming at 6.20pm. About 55 minutes later, I returned to the changeroom with my bag wide opened, clothes thrown to the side. My first thought of relief was luckily I did not bring my wallet or phone with me. But that relief quickly changed to panic when I could not locate my keys! I quickly reported the incident to the staff at the front desk. The shift manager escorted me to where my car was located and true enough, my car was gone!
The receptionist was quick to contact the police and after finalising the report, I used the front desk phone to call Li-Ann to pick me up. Once we reached home, I started calling all my credit card companies and banks to cancel the cards. Murphy's Law... normally I leave my wallet at home when I swim, but I left it in the car this time as I wanted to fill up the tank after the swim.
Nothing much we could do after that, but at about 9.20pm, I received a call from the police saying they found the car and the culprits caught. According to the front desk staff, they are mostly likely a group of teenagers who have been banned from the centre for previous misconduct and it seems vehicle vandalism is pretty frequent. So I don't think I'll be swimming there again!
My car is still with the police at the moment for further investigation. It has been a bit inconvenient for the past few days, but Li-Ann is very supportive, sending me to work and all. To be honest, I rather have the car be written off as it is insured, and we could get a new one. God knows what they have done to it.
Another first for me, I did a 20km bike time trial hosted by the Australian Time Trial Association at Champion Lakes. It was quite a drive, about 45 minutes away. I found it really hard. The winds were blowing strongly, with gusts knocking me off balance a few times. And there were some tight corners which I slowed down a lot due to my poor handling. I thought I could achieve an average pace of 35kph but after the first of four laps, I knew there was no way I could clock that in those conditions. Hence, finishing in 36:54, averaging 32.5kph. Can't complain.
I went for a swim at Balga Leisurepark on Tuesday night. I placed my bag in the changeroom. It only contained my clothes, access card to the pool and my bunch of keys, which consist of car keys, house keys and office keys.
I started swimming at 6.20pm. About 55 minutes later, I returned to the changeroom with my bag wide opened, clothes thrown to the side. My first thought of relief was luckily I did not bring my wallet or phone with me. But that relief quickly changed to panic when I could not locate my keys! I quickly reported the incident to the staff at the front desk. The shift manager escorted me to where my car was located and true enough, my car was gone!
The receptionist was quick to contact the police and after finalising the report, I used the front desk phone to call Li-Ann to pick me up. Once we reached home, I started calling all my credit card companies and banks to cancel the cards. Murphy's Law... normally I leave my wallet at home when I swim, but I left it in the car this time as I wanted to fill up the tank after the swim.
Nothing much we could do after that, but at about 9.20pm, I received a call from the police saying they found the car and the culprits caught. According to the front desk staff, they are mostly likely a group of teenagers who have been banned from the centre for previous misconduct and it seems vehicle vandalism is pretty frequent. So I don't think I'll be swimming there again!
My car is still with the police at the moment for further investigation. It has been a bit inconvenient for the past few days, but Li-Ann is very supportive, sending me to work and all. To be honest, I rather have the car be written off as it is insured, and we could get a new one. God knows what they have done to it.
Another first for me, I did a 20km bike time trial hosted by the Australian Time Trial Association at Champion Lakes. It was quite a drive, about 45 minutes away. I found it really hard. The winds were blowing strongly, with gusts knocking me off balance a few times. And there were some tight corners which I slowed down a lot due to my poor handling. I thought I could achieve an average pace of 35kph but after the first of four laps, I knew there was no way I could clock that in those conditions. Hence, finishing in 36:54, averaging 32.5kph. Can't complain.
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