28.04.12

...the day I chose to ride to in the hills, followed by an afternoon swim session.

...the day I updated my Facebook status about how well my ride went, whilst my Facebook homepage were flooded by updates of something else.

...the day that was pinned in my Facebook of an event that I replied maybe to attending, but didn't in the end.

...the day when all these happened, in a place I call home.

Photos taken from Kevin Loh's Facebook page

Bersih 3.0 rally, where people back home rallied for a clean election and a clean government (Bersih means clean in Malay). There was a gathering in Perth as well on the same day at the Malaysian embassy, but like I said I chose to go swimming instead.

To be honest, despite being very Malaysian at heart, I think I'm somewhat sheltered to happenings at home. But I am indeed proud of my fellow Malaysians for standing up for what they feel so strongly about. No, I won't put up any pictures or videos of people getting hurt during the protest, or any clips of some riots which got out of hand and somehow turned violent.

That's not the purpose of the rally. Sure things got out of hand, and without any in-depth knowledge I won't take sides or point fingers at anyone to take the blame. The rally united Malaysians from different races and different backgrounds, and I'm pretty sure the government got the message. Whether or not it translates to any changes, no one knows for sure. But the message was sent.

The world is not an evil place because of those who do evil, but rather because of those who sit back and let it happen - Albert Einstein

ANZAC Day

It's ANZAC Day today, whilst being a public holiday for most of us, it is also a day of remembrance to commemorate those who fought at Gallipoli during World War I.

It was also a great opportunity to put in some extra miles. Sandy, Steve and Adele from BYL and a few others from North Coast Tri Club met up in Sorrento for a ride up north via Marmion Avenue. I only had 2 hours of riding in my training plan but I was intending to just go with the flow, if the group decides to ride longer. Luckily, there were a few of us who also rode 2 hours, so I had some company. This is my first time riding this route and I quite enjoyed it. The roads were wide, mainly smooth and quiet - partly because of the public holiday.

Back to Sorrento beach, we did just under 2kms of swimming in our wetsuits. The guys made an observation that I was zig zagging really badly, thus losing a lot of time. I blame my foggy goggles, which I later found out that I unintentionally left it at the beach when I got home. Still, it was good to tick off a swim session on my program. Thanks guys for the great session!

It was also insightful to have a chat with a guy from North Coast Tri Club (sorry, I didn't catch your name!) who did the bike course at Cairns last year in a relay. I was advised not to go out too hard in the beginning as there are some challenging hills, but plenty of down slopes as well. But he said the course is absolutely gorgeous. Geoff Large, owner of XTR Multisports said the same yesterday when I paid the shop a visit. Yes, the idea of having the last Felt DA3 in Perth that is my size is very tempting... but I'll have to restrain myself.

After this easy week, I have 3 more big weeks and 2 weeks of taper. Time sure flies!

Coogee Olympic Distance Triathlon

Probably my last test race before I take on Ironman Cairns, in less than 7 weeks' time. The last time I did an Olympic Distance was 2 years ago in Port Dickson, Malaysia. I did a PB then of 2 hours 19 minutes but with a slightly under distanced run. I haven't done this Coogee course before. But being organized by Steve Doyle, I know that it will spring a couple of nasty surprises. So I went into this race with an open mind, having also done 5 hours of cycling the day before, but still keen to get a new PB as an icing on the cake.

Coogee, being 45 minutes away, and with a race start of 7am, meant that I got up just after 4am. I arrive at the race site in the dark and met John Cooke at the car park. Glad to see that he is recovering well from his crash and been back into training. The bike racks were not numbered, so we could rack anywhere just as long as we rack according to our designated area according to our race distance. This was also another test race for Sam's study, I went through the same procedure - weigh in, urine sample, power meter calibration for the bike.

I'm glad I brought my wetsuit as the weather was much cooler than it was at Hillary's but the winds were pretty still. I met up with the BYL guys at the swim warm up - Tom, Steve, Andrew and Sandy. Soon, it was time to start... but not without some drama. The race organizer Steve Doyle fell on the beach just as he was giving us our final briefing. Being the true champion that he is, he continued giving the briefing through his megaphone whilst being sprawled on the beach. We later found out that he had broken his leg and had to be taken to the hospital in an ambulance. We wish him a speedy recovery!

Back to the race start - the usual clobbering at the start of the swim. But I managed to stay in a pack that I was comfortable with. It was a rectangular course and I'm happy to swim pretty much in a straight line. The flat water helped. After the first turnaround, somehow I lost the pack and was swimming on my own most of the way. Reached the beach in just over 22 minutes and crossed the first timing mat in 23:06, totally stoked!

Was a bit slow getting the wetsuit off but no dramas with mounting the bike this time. It wasn't long into the bike course that we came to a steep but short hill, and because we had to do a small M-shape turn we had to go through it twice... in each lap... and there were 6 laps! My worn out pedals caused my left shoe to unclip a couple of times as I climbed the hill off my saddle. Throughout the ride I was looking out for my fellow BYL compatriots. Andrew was already pulling away with his quick swim. Steve caught me just as we started the 2nd lap. Tom and Sandy, who started a few minutes later with the girls, were closing in. I managed to get back into transition just before Tom. The ride was just a bit short of 40km - 39.15km according to the Garmin, including pushing the bike in and out of transition. The ride itself, I clocked 1:09:33.

Into the run, I was keen to make up places. Got into rhythm farely quickly and was averaging 4:10 per km. At this rate I, thought I might finish around 2:15 - 2:16. Andrew and Steve were already way ahead as they passed in the opposite direction. Towards the end of the first lap, the course takes us back to the beach where we started our swim. And there's where the wheels came off. It was slow and lumpy running in the sand. I could run nearer to the beach where the sand was more solid, but then I would have to avoid the tide coming in. It was probably about 700m of beach running. Tom passed me just after the we came out of the beach and said something about hating that beach. That was the last I saw of him though, as he got further and further away.

Starting the 2nd run lap, I knew it was near impossible to break a new PB. But I kept to the pace, albeit a bit slower as I was somewhat jaded by the whole thing already haha. Came to the beach again, caught up with the person in front of me, only to be outsprinted towards the last few meters before the finish. I clocked 45:55 for the run, which was about 700m longer - kinda makes up for the shorter bike course. I had a finish time of 2:21:17, pretty happy actually considering the course. I placed 8th in my age group and was 33rd overall. Well done to Steve for age group 3rd place finish and Sandy for winning hers!

Photo credit - Sam Wu

Photo credit - Tom Kroyer

After the race, I went through weigh in again, lost nearly 2kgs! And got some weird stares as I took the urine sample container into the toilet. I actually did a 90 minute run this morning post race, and felt alright apart from some tightness. Glad to be gearing up well for Cairns.

Mama's boy

Tomorrow is my mum's birthday. Some of you might know that mum taught in the same secondary school that I went to. Some people may think of it unfavourably, but I pretty much welcomed the experience. Travelling to and from school was convenient as we went together. And because the teachers who taught me were also mum's friends, somehow I felt closer to them, always dropping by school to visit when I pick mum up while I'm back home on holidays.

I've always said, unashamedly, that among the three of us kids, I'm mum's favourite... haha. Simply because I'm least likely to get into trouble. Although lately, my sis has been having quite a lot of female bonding with mum given she's a young lady herself now, taking her shopping and all. But I think reality is, our little brother Keith is the one getting the most attention, he's just keeping it quiet to himself!

Seriously though, I'm sure mum loved us all equally, and very much. Thank you mum for bringing me to this world and bringing me up to be the person I am today. Happy birthday, mum! Enjoy yourself... and more importantly, it is one more year closer to retirement! *wink*

Pre-wedding photography

I had a short hiatus from posting anything on this blog. We had a long 4 day weekend for Easter, which also happens to be when we planned for our pre wedding photography. Squeezing in time for Ironman training, make-up sessions (for Li-Ann, not me :P), a trip down south plus Li-Ann's parents and brother flew in for a short holiday - all into 4 days was pretty hectic!

But the results speak for themselves. Aaron Chin, our photographer and also my good friend from high school worked his magical hands on the camera. Here's a sneak preview, also can be viewed on his Facebook page. Also, many thanks to Li-Ann's family for helping out with the photo preparation and my brothers who sportingly joined us for one of the sessions.

Hillarys Sprint Triathlon

While others are either racing the inaugural Ironman Melbourne or the Kenyir Lake Olympic Distance back home, I had a sprint distance instead. The last time I did a triathlon shorter than an Olympic Distance was probably the extra sprint at the Power Station triathlon in November 2009. But a sprint distance of 750m swim, 20km bike, 5km run... I must say, I don't think I have done this distance before. I signed up for this race as I was participating in my friend, Sam's sports science experiment. I got a couple of cool gadgets on loan as a result.

SRM Powermeter Crank

Garmin 910XT watch

I did a ride with the BYL group in the hills the day before. A ride which had me toppling off the bike as I was pedalling too slowly up a very steep hill on Hadrill Road. Nothing major, just had to do the walk of shame up the remaining of the hill. At night, Li-Ann and I were treated to a very nice Korean BBQ dinner at Hwaro Northbridge, to celebrate our friends' registration of marriage - congrats Kiez and Justin!

A late 8am race start meant that I was able to sleep in that morning. I met Sam at the registration and did a pre race weigh in as well as take a urine sample (for the purpose of the experiment! Not all participants had to do this). Then, racked my bike in transition and got down to the beach for a bit of a warm up.

The water was pretty cold but many, including myself didn't have a wetsuit on, so it was still manage-able. The water was calm and the winds were pretty light, with a bit of overcast - perfect racing weather! We were released in waves according to our age groups, there were just over 60 people in my age group. I felt really comfortable in the swim, found a pair of feet to draft. It helped that he was wearing a pair of bright compression calf sleeves!

But when I came out of the water, I was a bit disappointed that my time was over 15 minutes! Obviously, I was too comfortable during the swim! Had a pretty slow transition, guess I'm too used to having transitions in the change tents in Ironman races. Had a really embarrassing bike mount, I tried the fly mount but totally failed! Didn't fall though, just awkwardly had to kick off the ground several times before I could get going.

There were lots of cyclists on the course from the previous waves but thankfully the road was wide enough. At the turnaround point, Sandy who probably finished her long run that morning, was giving us a cheer, thanks! Surprisingly, I caught some of the guys in my age group, which rarely happens in the bike leg as it is my weak link. I must have swam really slow then!

Rode back to transition in just over 38 minutes for the bike split, didn't bother with the fly dismount this time, just slipped my feet off one-by-one with the shoes clipped in. But I had a quick T2 and got into the rhythm soon enough. Was clocking about 4:05 average, the overcast weather helped. Managed to catch a couple more guys in my age group before finishing the run split in 20:34, and overall finish time of 1:14:13. Missed my target by just over 4 minutes! I had the swim to blame but I felt strong on the bike and run. I finished 15th in my age group and 114th overall out of over 600 participants. Full results here.

After the finish, I had to weigh in again and take another urine sample. I lost about half a kilo from the race, which I'm unsure whether is a lot or not. Other than the slow swim, it looks like my training is heading in the right direction and I'm feeling tired but good at the end of each week. I have the Coogee Olympic Distance in 3 weeks' time, another new course for me.

Fallen

It has been just over a week since the announcement of Challenge Cairns to be replaced by Ironman Cairns. This was as a result of a fallout in agreement between several parties involved, after World Triathlon Corporation - owner of the Ironman trademark and rival company of Challenge, bought over USM Events, the event organizer various multi sport events in Australia including Challenge Cairns.

The official press releases can be read here and here. If you are after the more juicy details of the fallout, Slowtwitch released a few articles and interviews here and here. As a participant affected by this change, I am somewhat disappointed as I was looking forward to the family oriented atmosphere of a Challenge series event. However, as the event organizer stilll remains the same, I'm sure a good show will put on as with most Ironman events.

Picture taken from Slowtwitch.com

There had been a couple of disturbing news from the road lately. A cyclist in Malaysia was died in a hit-and-run accident on Sunday. My heart goes out to his family and friends. May him rest in peace. Fellow Perth triathlete, John Cooke, had a massive fall over the weekend. He required stitches and an overnight stay in the hospital. Not the most ideal situation given that Busselton 70.3 is less than 7 weeks away. We wish him the very best and a speedy recovery.

I guess each time we hit the roads for a ride, there are always risks involved, which we are willing to take. I've had my fair share of falls, but I'm grateful that none of them were serious and I'm able to come home in one piece, to my lovely wife. Ride safe, everyone.