The IM outbreak

If it was 6 months back, never ask me to swim non-stop for more than 5 minutes, or run non-stop for more than half an hour, or cycle anywhere longer than 30km. For sure I can't do them. Period.

Everything changed after I attempted my maiden triathlon - the PD olympic distance triathlon back in July. Though there were few times I felt like giving up especially during the 1.5km swim leg (kau dah gila nak mampus ke berenang kat dalam laut jauh macam tu hah?), I pushed my self a little bit just to experience the feeling of finishing and olympic distance triathlon.

Since then, I did not join any other triathlon event. But, I still do very little training just to keep my self fit.

Now, it is the season where those who are going to attempt the cruelest event in triathlon - the Ironman Langkawi, have started pushing themselves very hard on their training.

For them now, running less than 2 hours or swimming less than 3km or cycling less than 100km are considered to be too little for their IM preparation. They would train everyday or every alternate days. Training aje dah macam nak gila, apa lagi bila dah betul-betul race for Ironman. Gila-gila.

As a side effect, an ikan-bilis-new-triathlete like me pun terkena jugak IM outbreak ni. Each and everyday I would think of what to do in the evening - swim, or cycle, or run. Kalau dulu, I only run or swim on weekends, itu pun only on weekends where I do not go back to KL. But now, I would rush back from work as soon as I can, just to make some time for myself to run or swim on the weekday evenings.

And another change in my training pattern is that, I do not bother so much anymore about distance nowadays. Instead of distance, I train by time. I would set a target of how many minutes I want to run or swim compared to last time where I only set the distance or number of laps. Exception for cycling la, lagi jauh kilometer lagi syiookkkk.

Now that I know I could swim non-stop for more than half an hour, and able to run non-stop for 45minutes as well as having the strength in my legs to cycle anywhere within 100km, it gives me such a high burst in spirit to continue with this grueling endurance sport called triathlon.

No, no no, I won't be competing in Ironman Langkawi 2009. My journey is still a long long way to go before I reach the peak of performance.

But, my running shoes and my swimming goggles are always with me now - in case I have some unexpected free time where I can spend for running or swimming. Gila kan penyakit IM outbreak ni?