1… 2… 3… sight

I still remember my first open water swim which I did during PD triathlon last year. It was so nerve wrecking and scary that I almost raised my hand and yelled and cried like a baby called for a rescue. There was a very thin line between me continuing the swim and make it back to the shore to the transition area, or just simply gave it up. But I’m glad I made the right (but painful) decision at that time. Mind you, open water swim is a no play-play.

Let’s rewind among the reasons why I almost quitted the 1.5km swim at Marina Bay, PD last year.

- It was my first attempt to swim in open water.
- It was so deep, the water was murky and there was no line at the bottom of it (as in swimming pool).
- Coz’ I know there are lots of hungry creatures inside the water.
- Too many people swimming very nearby and I kept on touching and bumping into other triathletes (and vice versa).
- I did not train enough with my front crawl (free style as some would call it). Never did I swim 1.5km or more than 10minutes non-stop.
- Last but not least, I did not know how to sight while swimming.

You see? There were at least 6 main reasons for me to quit. And although I thought I have done enough front crawl training, I had to switch to my berenang-asal-tak-tenggelam style as soon as 3 minutes upon entering the water.

Out of these 6 reasons, the initial 4 are external factors and 2 are internal factors. And I know I cannot do much about the external factors which I have no control. So, what are left are the internal factors. I just need to train, train and train.

Fortunately it did not rain that much yesterday evening and I took that opportunity to spend more time in the pool. Not that I have any specific training target, but I know I need to train more.

I did my normal stuff. In addition to that, I suddenly came across the taught of doing sighting. Sighting is the act of taking out your head (or vision) out of the water for the purpose of navigation while swimming. Not easy I tell you.

First, I tried doing sighting with every 4 strokes. I did the counting in my head. 1… 2… 3… 4… and raised my head forward to look what’s in front. I repeated that for, ermm, I forgot how many laps. Not long enough, I started to lost my breath.

Next, I tried doing sighting with every 3 strokes. Tangan dah penat, paru-paru pun dah penat.

1… 2… 3… sight.
1… 2… 3… sight.

After 100m doing so, I stopped and took a short break by the pool wall.

Not fully satisfied, I took another step further. This time, doing the sighting with both eyes closed while inside the water. I repeat, BOTH EYES CLOSED! Which means, I only opened my eyes when sighting, trying to simulate open water situation where at times the water could be very murky that you cannot see anything underneath.

Kali ni lagi biol bin sewel. First time sighting, my bearing went 030 degree. The next time I sighted, my bearing shifted to 340 degree. I never could swim straight. Gosh. Ini baru berenang sorang-sorang, belum lagi berenang secara berjemaah.

But, no matter how it is, I will continue this training. I know when we put more training, we’ll get more used to it and with experienced friends around they can also help by adding more and more advice.

Doing triathlon, there’s no short cut for success.

This maybe how the hungry creatures are looking at you while you swim. So, don't forget to smile ya!

When it rains

When it rains,
There's no chance to go for a swim,
Unless you don't mind swimming in a drain.

When it rains,
Neither can you paddle on the bicycle,
Coz' people would then say "Don't you have any brain?"

When it rains,
Running too won't be materialized,
Keeping up the fitness level is gonna be a pain.

Hahaha, kelakarnya dengar pantun mengarut ni. Blame it to the feeling of guilt for not updating the blog for quite some days. It's been raining a lot over here in JB towards the evening for the past few weeks. Not much of secret training could be carried out. Semua training plan jadi tunggang langgang.

When it rains,
I would take it easy,
But when it stops,
I'll push it to the top!

High, macamana la nak jadi power ni... training asyik ke longkang je

One of them

Two years ago, I started to gather the interest in doing this endurance sport called triathlon when I stumbled upon blogs of the local triathletes who wrote about their training and race experience, among other things. One thing for sure, most of the blogs were, and are still inspirational in their own respective ways. Fun to read stories, which may also at times, touched our inner feelings.

During that time, I never knew any of them personally, neither have I met any of them face to face, except for my ex-schoolmate, Aini the bebola api.

The truth is, I myself am still not really sure why did I start doing triathlon. Yes I was active during school time with hockey, volleyball, pingpong, tennis and a little bit of this and that, but never in endurance sports. I didn’t even know how to swim properly.

It is an underestimate to say that these blogs have influenced me to take up triathlon. It was through reading these blogs that I gathered the knowledge on how to train for triathlon. With the much needed help from JB triathlete friends, I joined their training sessions, listened to their race and training experience, and last July 2008, I was one of them crossing the finishing line of the PD triathlon, in my maiden Olympic distance event.

I would say, that was when I officially declared myself as a triathlete. As one of them.

As we all know, Ironman Langkawi had just closed its curtain last Saturday, but the after effect on me is still going on. With the limited free time during working hours, I fully utilize it to read the blogs of their Ironman experience. Looking at the wonderful photos taken during the event, I could see how much they had fun while suffering and struggling to finish the toughest game on earth, some would say.

It makes me feel, again, like I want to be like one of them.

Though I know the journey before I could reach there is going to be tough, and long, and painful, it is also going to be fun. So I hope.

To the question whether I’m going to do an Ironman, is something that I am unable to answer it today.

In addition to these blogs I frequently read, there are also a few Ironman(s) friends here in JB as well. Upon returning from Langkawi, it was only last night that I met them for a small celebration. Honestly speaking, the look at their faces are like those newly weds. Glowing in happiness.

To my surprise, one Ironman friend gave me this Ironman water bottle, together with a key-chain and some chocs as a souvenir. Not that I've asked anything from him. And this, truly is another inspirational boost for me. Thanks a lot Dale.

So, what did I do next? Sign up for Ironman 2010?

Are you kidding me?

No, of course I did not sign up.

Realizing that Rome was not conquered in a day and a long journey can never begin without the first step, I signed up for Kenyir Lake triathlon which will come up this March 29th.

Immediately upon registering for Kenyir tri, I looked up on the net for more information. Before this, I never knew where exactly Kenyir Lake is. According to the photos, the view of the surrounding is very nice and beautiful. It’s a good place to go for a vacation. But, according to previous blogs of those who participated in it, nothing looks interesting other than the satisfaction of crossing the finish line. Kenyir Lake triathlon is even being declared as the toughest triathlon in Malaysia, and many triathletes agreed to that statement.

Now, that really scares me. A lot. And I even felt nervous when signing up for it.

“I’ll see you soon…”

Multi-tasking?

Please find some time to perform this driving test. We always thought we are good at multi-tasking, i.e. doing multiple tasks at the exact same time. You'll be surprised how weak we actually are at multi-tasking, especially when driving motor vehicle.

I got this from a colleague via email, and below are some notes that came along:

"Humans learn from each other by hearing, seeing and feeling.

Tell people about the danger of driving while using a cell phone so they hear it.
Don’t talk on cell phones while you are driving so people won’t be influenced by seeing you on a cell phone while driving.
You can always wait to answer your cell phone once you are parked so you don’t have to have that feeling you are doing something wrong by talking while you are driving.

The only person who can change your behavior is… YOU. Make the right choice. Stay off your cell phone while driving."

Remember, Safety First.

Standard note we used to hear all this while is, "Pandulah dengan cermat. Ingatlah orang tersayang".

I have an additional note to fellow triathletes:

"Pandulah dengan cermat dan selamat. Ingatlah BASIKAL MAHAL kat rumah tuuu.. hehehe"

Respectful IM09

I can't help myself to firstly login to the Ironman Langkawi 2009 website to see the results as soon as I switched on my laptop this morning.

Not that I participated in it, but I was eager to know how did these triathletes performed, especially those friends who I know and some of them that share the same training ground with me here in JB. I even copied it onto a spreadsheet for future reference.

On the race day, I was at Kuantan attending a wedding and I was so eager to know how the race went that I SMS-ed and called Aini every few hours to know about the latest updates. Thanks Aini.

I even wished that I have a super-canggih-handheld unit where I can watch the race live wherever I am, even while eating the nasi minyak at the kenduri.

I'm speechless. I mean, I'm totally proud of what they have achieved, whether fast or slow, or even DNF-ed (DNF = did not finish). At least, their names appeared in the list as participants of the toughest game in its category - Ironman triathlon.

Though I could only see their numbers (as in their timings), I would never know how hard they've struggled all the three disciplines, how much they've suffered throughout the whole 10 to 16 hours, and how happy they felt upon crossing the finish line and hearing the emcee announcing "You are an IRONMAAAANNNNNN..!!!!"

I will never know it, unless if I do it myself.

To all JB triathlete friends who took part, well done and congratulations to you all!

To those triathletes bloggers who took part, well done and congratulations to you too. Can't wait to read your race experience.

Too many names to mention here. But, wa memang respect sama you all, IRONMAN!!!

Well done!

Start Ironing

Well, the most challenging deal of triathlon - the Ironman series will be happening in Langkawi this Saturday, February 28th. Unfortunately I can't go there to witness my friends from JB who's taking part as I have to shoot East for my brother in law's wedding on the same date.

With total cut-off time (i.e. time limit) of 17hours, each participants has to swim for 3.8km, and then cycle for 180km and finally run for 42km.

Now, let see how will I perform based on my current fitness level if I were to participate in Ironman Langkawi 2009:

3.8km Swim = Hmm, I never swam this far before. I would guess, I MAYBE can swim 1km in 30minutes. So, 3.8km would give me almost 2hours to spend inside the sea water. Hmmm, sempat buat kawan dengan ikan-ikan di lautan ni.

180km Cycle = I've done 140km with average speed of, let see... 28km/hr maybe. SO, it will be about 6.5hrs paddling activity (itu pun kalau non-stop cycling lah)

42km Run = I never imagined I could run this far yet. IF I can endure this distance without fainting, with my current capability I would be pounding the tarmac for 5hours non-stop. Mampus.

So, in total, that gives me 13.5 hours to complete an Ironman Triathlon.

What? 13.5 hours?

Wait, is my calculator malfunctioning? Hmm...

Impossible lah if I can finish an Ironman in less than 13.5hours. Mustahil, mustahil.

Oh yeah, now I know. I'm only day dreaming...

You see, I included lots of "dreaming" words like MAYBE, IF and SO at above paragraphs.

Anyway, basically it's not impossible to attempt, not even impossible to finish it within 17 hours. I just need to really start IRONING my triathlon skill from now on if I were to attempt it next year.

Gambarimashou...!!!

P/s: Aisey, tingginya angan-angan aku harini...

My Cube

This is where I spend 8 hours per day (or sometimes more), 5 days a week.

1) My bad-getting-worse hand writings. They look slightly better if I write in capital letters compared to the small letters version.

2) Yeah baby. I’m a big fan of sticky notes. (Oh ya, it reminds me that I promised to teach a colleague working in Miri on how to peel a sticky notes without causing the corners to curl. The way I peel them, they will come out flat)

3) HUD (Head-Up Display) – to place the always-need-to-look-at items, e.g. phone number list, SAP Transaction Codes, global support personnel list, frequently used specifications list, new product information papers, etc.

4) Monthly calendar with small sticky notes to indicate special events like presentation I need to give, meetings, seminars and audits. For March, there will be two sticky notes to indicate Trikidz and Kenyir Lake Triathlon events as well.

5) Company yearly calendar, where there are ONLY 13 public holidays trough out 2009. Ya ampun, migraine gua keje sini!

6) Monthly prayers timetable cilok-ed from internet.

7) The very comfy office chair I’ve ever sat my butt on so far.

8) Tikus tanpa ekor, i.e. wireless mouse with 4 directional scrolls (up, down, left, right). Marvelous!

9) Headphone – to listen to online radio or my music collection. It helps me to avoid listening to people gossiping in neighboring cubicles focus on my work while giving me some work-entertainment balance.

10) A tumbler size mug. Enough to provide me with morning tea which can last till lunch time.

11) This is my favorite. A powerful 17 inch engineering laptop that weighs nearly 3kg, with number keypad besides the keyboard. Magnificent when working on designs and looking at drawings. I can even put on my SAP view and Excel spreadsheet view side to side for better efficiency of data analysis.

12) Office phone la, apa lagi.

13) Business card holder case. Normal stuff.

14) My scientific calculator which I have used since university time, ermm.. since 1997 to be exact. It's a Made in China Casio fx-82TL model. I bet it's no more available on the market.

15) A souvenir nail-clipper from my colleague who went to Singapore last year.

16) Collection of stationeries I gathered which consists among others are free pens from hotels I visited. Some I get from vendors. Free stuff is good stuff, no? I make use the free Solidworks (3D design software) mug as the container. See, free stuff again.

17) Decorative motorcycle plate which I bought as a souvenir for myself from Dallas, Texas.

18) Fridge magnet that I bought from Edinburgh, Scotland which says, “ATTITUDE. I don’t NEED your attitude, I already have one”. Besides it is another souvenir fridge magnet from a friend which says, “Never give up” (yeah, hopefully).

19) Safety glasses. Where I work, safety should always be number one on the priority list. It is compulsory for every employee to wear safety glasses when going inside the operation area.

20) Ini barang pinjam yang belum dipulangkan kepada empunya tuan.

21) A design/drawing which I’m reviewing and analyzing, i.e. my work space.