July11 - Port Dickson Triathlon 2009 (Day2)

To my lucky stars, Daniel from Bike Boutique loan me his HED wheelset for the PD Triathlon. It’s carbon frame would help me lessen the weightage of the bike, making me ride faster. Plus, its more expensive than the bike itself.

Lammu even came to support me at PD. Banzai lammu!!!

I wasn’t as jittery as I was before. It was a somewhat joyous event. I had no target on placing, just the sub3hr in my head. Transition area was carpeted, which will make it easier for me to run in my running shoes. I was surprised or maybe honoured to be placed opposite Emma from Team Tri-Hard. She’s one of the fastest female triathlete in Malaysia.

Sea water was nice & wam in PD. I guess its reasonably clean compared to most parts of the beach. The ladies was the last wave (wave 4) starting at 720am. I wore my Croc Squad tri top which I was comfortable with.

Swim (40mins) – waves waves waves….we thought it wouldn’t be this bad. Kinda unexpected. Even turning towards the cove, waves hit us from the sides. I’m glad to have mastered the left-side breathing thought by Rod, but there were times, I just had to breaststroke to direct myself. Passing the slower men was also a hassle as some would hang onto the bouy & start to chit chat.

T1 (1.19m) – powder in my cycling shoes to prevent shafting, but once again I lost my gripped on the bike & it fell. Wasted a few seconds picking it up.

Bike (1hr 20mins) – good out & back route, with small inclines. Drafting was legal making it kinda unfair race. I didn’t accomplish much drafting, but I cut 10mins from my previous time.

T2 (53secs) – good timing wearing my socks & shoes at the same time

Run (54mins) – some said it wasn’t even 10km coz the time doesn’t seemed right. It was a straight forward route out & back. With traffic passing along the way, water stations to hydrate us & high-5s from friends.

200m towards the finish line, Keat Seong came out to cheer me on. To start sprinting & not to slow down, with only a few minutes till my I reach my 3hr mark. I was breathless when I crossed the banner, and I saw my time 2hrs 58mins 49secs. YES!!!!

I was at the top of the world with my time. It wasn’t the greatest, but it’s good for me.

Poh Seng didn’t make it for the swim, but he continue on with the bike & run leg.

Proud moment for Debbie who completed her 1st triathlon.
Lunch was suppose to be curry chicken bun, but no more in stock. *sniff sniff* actually sounded nice

This was my 1st proper Malaysian triathlon. A’famosa last year I was disqualified. I’m happy with this race. I got my time target, my finisher medal & an added bonus, a free pair of pinky Crocs. So what’s next? :D

July11 - Port Dickson Triathlon 2009 (Day1)

At last, triathlon season has arrived. 1st up was Port Dickson Triathlon.

This was my maiden tri at PD and 1st triathlon for my adopted twin bro, Poh Seng.

Lots of good reviews on PD tri, with its organisation & route.
I was able to locate a cheap & nearby accommodation

Convoying nearly 5 cars, we started our journey. Stopping at a small town for our late breakfast of beef ball noodles. Like usual, we made the most noise.

We scouted abit of the transition area, an eye-opener for Poh Seng as well.

Collected our goodie bags of participant shirt, timing chip, bibs & bike sticker.

Oh, this was also cyclist, Debbie’s 1st triathlon attempt. So shopping was a necessity, especially when ur partner is with u. Can use the excuse as a celebration mah. Crocs was displaying their new croc ‘Re-pair’ or something like that. Also a game, where u are time to hop around the playmate & the person with the fastest time gets a free pair of Crocs. Guess who won for the female category? *wink*

We decided to head towards the beach to try out the water. A good tryout for Debbie & Poh Seng who has never swam open-sea before. Total different experience compare to the pool where u can see the bottom. The surfs makes it worst to breathe, with waves splashing onto ur face each time you take a breath.

We also supported the Sprint Category & Under-12 upcoming kiddies triathletes.

At night, we attended the carbo loading dinner provided for participants. Quite a feast.

Last but not least, the Technical briefing Uncle Chan explaining the dos & don’ts plus the route of the race.

- end of Day 1 -

June3 - Durian Fever

June28 - Standard Chartered KL Marathon

Everyone though I was crazy to run this marathon after running the Phuket Marathon 2 weeks ago.

There were a lot of doubts about the new organiser, Octagon, but since they organised for Singapore Marathon, we didn’t put too much worries over it.
Also expected Standard Charted to live up to their reputation as main organiser.








Spoke too soon when I collected my bibs freebies. Yes, the bag was nice, ohh got free towel, vest was expected and then…..nothing. Just the small stuffs that isn’t worth much to have its picture taken. Even the running vest wasn’t drifit.

Full marathoners’ starting time was 5pm. Everyone was cramped on one side of the road (START). It rained abit that morning, making our shoes & attire wet.

Sorry no pictures the 1st 2hrs of the run, my camera sucks at night mood. We started off at Merdeka Square, passing the national mosque, then towards Brickfields And then….I not quite sure. I know we went one big circle around Jalan Tun Razak passing Hospital KL then back towards the KLCC.

We made our pass the back of KLCC towards the clubbing area, out towards Wisma Genting & left turn to the back of Pavillion. Thankfully the sun wasn’t that bright yet.

The organisers planned this route was to introduce people aka runners our Malaysian landmarks eg. shopping malls.

After coming out from the Golden Triangle, we headed towards Petaling Street. Morning is always a busy hour for the Chinese community. The motorist didn’t show mercy either.

30km marked, we passed Chin Woo Stadium. Then started heading out towards Stadium Merdeka along Jalan Hang Tuah. Passing Dewan Budaya Pustaka & straight on out to our King’s Palace.

To my disappointment, while passing the palace, a drink station had already “tutup kedai” as I saw tables being packed into a lorry.

This long 4-lane stretch of Jalan Istana was freaking boring. Yes, u pass the Muzium on ur left plus lanes of cars as well, sharing their exhaust. There was also an incident where a runner nearly got into an accident coz the organisers planted portable loos on the other side of the road.

I got demotivated at 2 occasions, when we encountered “so close yet so far” scenario. Also the lack of water at some stations.

Anyone would be sprinting when along Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahmah, coz that’s another 2km to the finished line. But sorry to say, I had walked. I started experiencing a pulled on my right ITB at the 33km mark causing me into a run/limp/walk status. Guess the side effect of a double marathon decided to pay me a visit.

As I was racing towards the finish line, I noticed that we aka runners we squashed into a single lane profile due to the supporters on both sides. There weren’t any barrier making way for us. I believed some actually tripped over passerbyes.

Remember the starting line, we were being cramped onto one side of the lane, well, running back is nearly the same. *roll eyes* Octagon has became Otak-Gone

I would like to congratulate my adopted twin bro :p for completing his maiden Marathon in a great time (eventhough lack of training *scold*)

I had a terrible time for 5hrs 11mins *shame shame*. Only Large size finisher shirt was left, which I plan to modified anyway.

No more marathon till December, where a bunch of us are heading for Macau Marathon. I hope to redeem myself there for a sub4.30. Gambante-ne!!!

June21 - Frasers with THG

A relaxing weekend away to Frasers with the THG group for some R&R before the race season.

Tea break at Ol' English Smokehouse.

The owner was pretty rude to us just coz we weren't their patriots.

Giving us the impression "sudah makan, cepat pergi"

RM18 per person incl. 2 scones & tea

How we passed our time? Play cards, watch tv, play mahjong and of course the hot pot aka steamboat to stay warm in the cool weather.

Tom Yam seafood steamboat was too yummy to resist.

Sunday morning, a few of us went for a short run.

The cool air was thin, making it quite difficult to breathe.

We were served nasi lemak and english breakfast.

With a great garden, camwhoring is a must