First triathlon of the year. KS aka Coach had me training for it with indoor spinning, swim session & brick running. The venue was actually quite far from the Melaka town so I had to map the directions. We'll be swimming on Selat Melaka.
(p/s this is not the turning, just thought Philea rhymes with Phiten)
Peek-a-boo
Man-made podium
Transition area
During briefing, we were told that there's a 2x750m triangle swim, 4x10km rounds cycle and 1x10km run. Feels like ITU. It's a test of mentally and your ability to count.
We stayed at the
AKN Family Chalet. HJ Kahar owns 5 rooms (ensuite w bathroom) in a row which he rents out at RM100 per night. It is a walking distance to the starting line.
The night before the race, Mich, Tomato, Meng, Jason, KS & I went for chinese dinner at a nearby restaurant. Had to wait long time for the food.
My bib number was 303. And if you turn it around, u get mom. Sorry to say, I'm not dedicating this race to my mom. Mean dawter... =p
Before the race
Lots of virgins among us.
I look like I have devils horns with the kayakers behind me
No timing chip, no starting arch. Just dive into the water. I can't say that I had a great swim coz the current was rather strong. And 2 rounds that is rather crazy. Actually the funniest part on the swim was that upon my return to the beach from the right side, I could see swimmers coming from the left side. Remember, its a triangle.
A very rare picture of me smilling in a triathlon coz i'll be totally focus in my transition.
Every second counts. Even smilling =p
Next up was my pinkie Lazer aero helmet debut. KS had bought this for my
birthday present last year.(
see link for explaination). I had practiced a few times wearing & taking it off coz my ears tend to flap down when I put it on. And before pink Lazer can make its debut, I gotta make sure I perform or else it's all just a fashion show.
I still can't leave the shoes on the pedals & cycle out. Since I'm wearing normal cycling shoes, it's abit difficult wearing it on the bike, but no problem taking it off.
KS didn't get disc wheels. Its just disc covers, which I never thought actually exist.
But i guess it does help with the cost conscious racers.
I kept thinking that my saddle is high enough, but when see pictures of my cycling posture, I detest it. Where's the table top flat back? I just look like I'm hunching. KS said that my bike is too big for me, but it's already an XS. Meaning if i wan a smaller bike, I would have to order internationally. I'm still not good with my aero position coz my neck still gets sore too easily. I just find too many faults in my cycling.
During my T2, I saw Mich dressed up. She got into a crashed when a runner ran into her cycling lane. I went out for my 10km hot hot hot run. How to cure yourself from a brick session? With jelly legs and side stitch. KS said I have to continuously train myself brick until the body has gotten use to it. How to get use to pain?
Anyway, the race went well. But like every triathlon, it's always hot by the beach. We lingered around, sloushing ourselves with Red Bull & Milo, whilst waiting for the results.
And I cam in 3rd. It was a really fight with the 2nd placing girls. But then if you have a cyclist support, handing you water whenever you want, I might be able give a good fight.
Ohhh....true story. In the swim, I was in front of this veteran lady triathlete (
she shall not be named). On my 3rd loop of the bike, she cut me. So she's on the same loop as me, when I'm about to head out for my final 4th loop, I saw her running already, in front of pros, Shahrum & Wong Ah Thiam. Shocking leh!!! Oh oh oh, even better, she went & claim first prize for her category (
which only contains 2 participants).
When the results came out (
manual calculation though), her cycling time came out faster than an International Professional cyclist. This news went round Facebook like wild fire. Hoping that she would return the prize money to the rightful winner. Dunno till now if it did happenned or not, though it has been said that it is not the first time that she's cheated.
As for me, wearing my Team Independent Racers (IR) jersey,
I got my prize money of RM300 for 3rd placing. Thanks to Coach KS
Time to head back & start training for the next big local triathlon,
2 comments:
Eh I just checked the previous birthday post, and I guessed right! Haha.
Oh with aero helmets, I tend to slip them in from the front, that way the ears can be pushed backwards.
Well done on your podium finish!
haha...and u win nothing for guessing it..kekeke blek
but i would be wearing my sunnies first. I can't put it my sunnies on after coz it'll get tangled up with my hair. I've practice putting it on sideways though. But quite mafan coz later in the ride, I have to tighten the helmet (the knob is on top). Oh well, gotta practice jutting my head outwards to prevent the soreness of my neck though.
Thanks. Just a small race, so i was pretty lucky.
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