Pipot's gone

I decided to do this triathlon thingy when I was having my job training in the States, back in the year of 2007. I had lots of spare time being alone there and internet was somehow a saviour.

I did not start triathlon there and then, but I started first by reading blogs upon blogs of normal people like myself who are fathers or mothers, or husbands to somebody, or wives to somebody, and even single men and women who also have their normal daily work, who do triathlon as part of their hobby or as a mean to keep fit and strong. That's what makes these blogs kind of special. It shows how a normal person like us can do special things.

Since 2007 till now, I can say I visited these blogs almost every day, as much as I have time for it. Just to keep me going on myself. Some of these blogs are really really inspirational, and the stories and experiences they shared with others publicly never fail to keep me motivated to do what they do. I tell you, training for triathlon or marathon is so tough to be done alone and for that reason, I continue coming to these blogs to search for little bit of inspiration to keep me going.

I had this in my brain, "If they can do it, so can I".

The weird thing is, reading their blogs most of the days make me feel that somehow I 'know' them, but of course they do not know me. Anyway, I don't mind, it's normal.

As much as I don't want to disclose any blogs that I frequently visited, I can't help myself to blog out about this particular person (or blog) - PIPOT.

I started reading PIPOT dotcom since 2007, during which he posted lots of stories and photos of his training and triathlon events he took part. He's one of the PowerBar Elite triathlete team if I'm not mistaken. Having completed few Ironman and lots of triathlon events throughout 2003 to 2008, he had proven to many that with proper and sufficient training, anybody can do it (triathlon).

Not only that, he made it look easy and fun!

Well, reading from blog and meeting the person (blogger) in real life are two different things. When I voluntered to become a volunteer (erm, does it sounds right?) for the Trikidz event at UM in last year November, I had the chance to meet him in person. How happy I was.

Meeting him and other triathlete bloggers at the Trikidz event, made me feel like I'm meeting celebrities. Yeah, for me, they are celebrities (with respect to local triathlon activities). I was shy at first to step up and talk to them because I know they don't know me. But heck, I was there for a good cause hence I shouldn't hide my head inside the ground. By the way, having Azhar (JB triathlete) who introduced me did help a lot to break the ice.

And the main reason I volunteered for Trikidz was to help Mr. Pipot, as I know being an organizer and race director for such an event, getting more hands to help is a blessing.

That was the first and the only time (hopefully not the last) I met him in person. And from that very short occasion, I can see how affectionate he is in this sport, not only for himself, but also to the next generation. I stayed back to help them clean up everything until the last bit, and I was happy helping them.

Recently for the reasons only-he-knows, Pipot dotcom has been seen to slow down. It was not as active as it were in 2007 and beginning of 2008. When I visited the blog again this morning, I was shocked and sad to see that he will no longer be updating Pipot dotcom. Aaaahhhh....

There gone one of my strong inspirational reading source.

I'm not sure whether Mr. Pipot reads my blog or not, but I'd like to dedicate this entry to him. It's always sad to see good people leave, but we always have to pray for their success in whatever they do. Life goes on.

With that, I wish him all the best in his hijrah and if he reads this blog, I want to say "Thank you Azwar."

Hope to see you again.

(Photo cilok-ed from pipot.com)