Port Dickson Triathlon 2010

This is one event where I DNF-S. It took me three full days to slowly recompose myself and to finally accept the fact that I’m not fast and strong enough. I initially did not want to blog about it at all. I was emotionally devastated. And no, I am not kidding. Luckily I changed my mind. I almost promised myself not to blog about it when I crossed the finish line last Sunday. That was how bad I felt on the overall picture. If you don’t like a sad ending story, then this is not for you.

Wah, first paragraph already sounded like one of those drama series on Saturday night on the TV lah.

Ok. This is my third time doing PD triathlon and I think the participation this year increased quite a lot as compared to before. Some say it was the largest ever. In the news, a total of 1200 contestants were reported to have taken part. A good point for me of having done triathlons here before is that I knew the race route and the challenges the race will put on your plate. It helps to keep the nervous attack below the radar. The swim will be ‘flat’ (if it is not windy as last year), the cycling course will only give a little bit of ticklish sensation of climbing here and there, and the running course will bring you sight seeing alongside the PD coastal road. Nothing to worry about if you do not fancy running uphill, because there will be none.

But, the bad thing about it is that, I took it slightly easy on the preparation and training. Not that I totally took training for granted. For me, training is still the paramount for any endurance events. But this time, it was partially because of improper planning between previous races (which were mainly running events) where I can’t find a good blend of time to mix up the swim, cycling and brick training sufficiently. Although I have the confidence that my current fitness level can pull me through this Olympic distance triathlon, I was humbled down by my own physical capacity. Or, maybe my expectation was too high.

The transition area, where we place our cycling and running stuffs.

Anyway, I made myself available at the race site around one hour before race start, which gave me enough time to prep up my bike and other stuffs at the transition area. I earlier took few slices of bread as breakfast. And once I was done arranging the gears at transition, I went for a quick run for a warm up before getting my self body marked. 475 was my race number for the day.

The 1.5km Swim

Soon, an announcement was made to call all triathletes to gather at the beach. I took the opportunity to do some swim warm up. Different from the previous years, I did not feel nervous getting into the sea this time.

The first wave was released at 7.30am, and my age group wave was released 5 minutes later. I positioned myself slightly towards the front, and slightly on the outside (right side) of the counter-clock-wise swim course. As I entered the water, I didn't even look behind. Seeing less swimmers at the front was much comforting than to be seeing the bigger number of them at the back. The swim start in triathlon is always chaotic. You must really be confident in the water, and must be able to compose yourself in anyway and not be panic. There were arms, legs, and bodies all trying to hit you from all directions. And when you tried to surface to grab some air to breath, splashes of sea water came into you mouth and nose.

This picture was actually taken the day earlier, for the sprint category.

All I tried to do during the swim was to move myself forward, in the straightest way possible. It was not so easy for me for obvious reason, that I'm not a fast swimmer. Many other swimmers were on my left and right, overtaking me. I know it was a race and the crowd was unavoidable, but all I was thinking was about my own safety, at which I tried my best not to hit other people, or get myself hit or kicked in the face.

For the first 500m I was feeling alright with my swim, although much earlier I did have the intention to quit the race. I could say my heart was not inside the race. I lost focus, I was thinking about some other things. I was questioning myself why did I took the risk by being there at the first place. And then, getting into 650m I started to feel a cramp trying to attack my right hamstring. I never cramped during a swim before and I was not sure why it came this time.

After making the turnaround, I guess somewhere around 800m, the cramp really hit my right hamstring so badly. I can't move my right leg at all. I sighted for the floating buoys to hang on but the nearest was about ten to fifteen meters away. And if I were to swim towards the buoys, I needed to cris-cross among the swimmers which may cause more harm to me since I might be hit or had to stop in the middle of the ocean to let others pass through. That’s something I didn’t want to do, especially with one leg cramped up. So, I finally decided to swim ahead with only single leg kicking. I didn't really know how I did it, but after another few hundred meters the cramp subsided a little bit. I continued swimming towards the shore, still not putting so much work on the cramped leg. It was such a relief sight to be seeing the shoreline once again.

As I exited the water, my stopwatch showed 35 minutes plus. I was so glad that I finished the swim. And since I still had a little bit of hamstring cramp, I couldn't really run all the way on the beach towards transition. The official timing for my swim leg was 37 minutes, which was much improved as compared to previous years. It is my best swimming time so far. Still, plenty of room for improvement.

The 40km Cycle

My transition went pretty smoothly. I quickly put on my race belt, helmet and cycling shoes, and headed my way out. I brought along two Powerbar gels for energy replenishment.

The training I lack the most was cycling. By lack, I mean I didn’t do any long distance rides of more than 80km or 100km for the past 9 months. I knew I won’t have that high endurance to push it on the bike, and I didn’t feel good about it. My legs felt heavy and irresponsive whenever I tried to put power into them. Every time I saw some cyclists passing by, I tried to give a chase but after ten seconds I gave up. I simply did not have the power to paddle hard or fast. When I glanced at my speedometer, I felt so embarrassed with my own self.

By the way, the cycling course was superb. The weather was very kind and headwind was non-existence. The undulating road gave me some chance to relax my tired quads as I went down the rolling bumps. Most of the times, I was just cruising by myself. I thought I’d better save some energy for the final 10km run.

Another new mishap of the day was that, I had a back and stomach cramp during cycling, on the right hand side. The cramp, although not as bad as the hamstring cramp during swimming, was ugly enough to force me to slow down even further. It was so frustrating.

Somewhere at KM15 or 18, I noticed the riders at the front rose up their hands and started to slow down. There were palm oil plantations on the sides of the road. Suddenly, a big group of more than fifty cows emerged from the right side, crossing the road into the other side of the plantation. Cyclists from both directions had to stop as it would be suicidal to cycle into the panicky cows. I wish I had a camera with me at that time, as it was one-in-a-million chance that it will happen again, in a triathlon race.

After I made it to the turnaround point at KM20, I slowed down to grab the icy cold water they served there. I wanted to grab one cup of it to cool down my body, but the volunteer dropped the cup even before I manage to hold a grab onto it. No time to waste and I proceeded with my paddling, feeling a little bit angry.

Nothing worth mentioning on my way back to transition, other than seeing more and more cyclist overtaking me on the flats, inclines or declines. I did say hi and cheered for the riders I know on the other side of the road, which shows how not properly focused I was during the ride.

If there was one moment where I really put an effort to cycle properly, was when I saw the photographer from Snap Attack (www.snap-attack.com) by the roadside. I went down to my aero-position, put on my focus-race face and tried to look as I was paddling strong. And below is the awesome result.

I heart Snap Attack. Thank you guys!

Yup, and if you noticed, I forgot to shave my legs. Sungguh kurang enak mata memandang.

I finally arrived back at transition with a group of cyclists, with an official timing of 1hr19min. It was very shabby indeed. All I was thinking was that, “If only I could train much harder before the race”. Another disappointment.

The 10km Run

I really don’t get it. Every time I raced in triathlon, this is the time where my quads will surely get stiff and finally cramp. This time was no exception either. As I hooked my bike on the rack and took my helmet off, I bent down to change from cycling shoes to running shoes. I started to feel the cramping sensation and tried to stretch it out a little bit. I took a sip of water and made my way out from the transition for the final 10km of the race.

Jumbled up with the ITB pain I already felt during cycling, the painful quads cramp forced me to slow down and walk just 300m after exiting the transition area. It was a bit humiliating to have started walking that soon, especially when there were plenty of spectators by the sides of the road.

When I arrived at the first water station, I poured the icy cold water onto my thighs but the pain didn’t diminish. I tried to continue running but not after long, I had to walk again and stretch my quads. Even after pouring the cold water at the consecutive water stations, the cramp and pain still persist. At one point, I even sat down by the road side and squatted for almost a minute, with the hope that the cramp would disappear, but it didn’t. I finally lost hope.

It was the most painful and longest run I’ve ever had. Along the way, I guess 80% of runners overtook me, while I only overtook 20% of those who were on my running course at that time. When I reached the turnaround point at KM5, I only had 15minutes to go if I were to clock a new PB. And with that situation, it was time to say goodbye to a PB which I clocked last year (3hrs).

On the way back to the finish line, I walked even more. I knew I’ve ruined my time. I even felt like giving up and just sit down by the road side. I cannot focus on my run anymore. I was focusing on the pain I had. I just looked down and kept on moving forward. I didn’t realize who were coming on the opposite side, and I didn’t realize who overtook me. Never did I felt this bad in a race.

And never did I shower myself with 100Plus before, except for this time. Similar to the other water station stops I made, I was more looking forward to pour the icy cold water on my thighs rather than to drink them. At one of the water stations, I didn’t realize it was 100Plus filling up the cups. I grabbed few of them and poured them on my thighs, over my head and body to cool down. Just as I was about to finish with my ‘shower’, the volunteer said, “Errr, that’s 100Plus lah, not water”.

On normal circumstances, I would be laughing at myself for that silly act. But on that particular moment, I was emotionless. I was in full pain, and was feeling at my lowest.

Another moment of prominence was when I saw the Snap-Attack photographer again. I shouted to him from afar, trying to notify him that I was coming into his frame. I gathered all the strength to look like I was in a strong running form for the shot. Before I saw him, I was walking and was actually begging for a life. Oh, what a poser I was.

Biar slow, asal bergaya.
(Hakikatnya, sedih gile)

When I ran towards the finishing chute, I just wanted to have the finisher medal, the cold towel, and whatever they wanted to give me. I stopped my watch at 3hrs12min, with an official running time of 1hr14min. It was not my best overall time, and not my worst time either. However I felt so devastated with myself. I was angry and disappointed with my legs, with my ITB, with my training effort, and with myself.

That why I said this was the race where I DNF-S (Did Not Feel Satisfied).

I didn’t even mingle around after the race. I was not in the mood. I grabbed two or three cups of Milo, returned the timing chip, went to grab my bike and other stuffs at the transition area and quietly made my way out for a quick shower before I headed back to my car. You don’t want to know what I was thinking while I was driving back home.

On a retrospect, perhaps I put too high expectation to myself for the race, when in fact my training was not really up to it. And perhaps, I was trying to deny that I was racing with an injury. But, I’m all OK now, emotionally and physically. The DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) which I had on my thighs for three days has finally subsided. So does the ITB pain. The pain in my heart should heal as the time goes by. It’s the reality of life I should be strong to face, not only for this time. Sometimes we are at the top, and some other times we fall to be at the bottom. We just need to bring ourselves up once again.

At least, the finisher medal is nice.

A big congratulations to other triathlete friends who most of them, managed to get their PB's. Some other first timers were doing amazingly well too. I love to see their happy faces and good sportmanship spirits. Triathlon is actually not that difficult, provided you are well prepared for it. Many first timers have proven it that even normal people like us can become a triathlete. When you prepare well, you'll be able to race well.

If they can do it, so can you.

How To Do A Last Minute Triathlon Training

Last year my focus was mainly on triathlons. I did the Kenyir Lake, PD and Desaru triathlons. Though I managed to finish all the races, I realized that I was (and still am) not good at the running leg, and also the cycling leg, and also the swimming leg. Actually, I still don’t know what I am good at in triathlon.

Oh yeah, maybe the only thing I’m very good at in triathlon is being nervous. Especially when I’m there standing by the shore, among 300 other triathletes, waiting for the gun off.

As a countermeasure, the first half of this year I focused more on running. That automatically means my swimming and cycling get a massive amount of abandonment. Only after I finished with my last marathon of the year in June (SCKLM), I started some express triathlon training in both swimming and cycling regimes. Three weeks time was all I have. I call it express, they call it “last minute”.

And I’m sure all of you have done many last minute things in your life. Last minute exam preparation, last minute travelling preparation, last minute this and last minute that. Such a nerve wrecking moments, aren’t they?

So, to kill off the excessive edginess, I introduced some new spices into my ‘last minute’ triathlon training. For the swimming, I started using the training paddle. If I was able to use it correctly, I could feel an infinitesimal amount of increase in my swimming speed while training. Good enough to make me perasan laju, when in fact I am still not. Better than nothing, right?

Kecik tapak tangan, paddle besar gedabak ni saya tadahkan.

Same case for cycling, I started using the trainer (some call it turbo machine). It is supposed to enhance the speed performance, similar to interval training in running. The plus factor of using trainer is that, we can train in any sort of weather, and in front of our favorite TV shows or DVD movies. If I manage to consistently do turbo sessions, I should be able to feel some comfort in cycling, especially when I did not have any opportunities to do any long rides. I just did the one-and-only turbo session last night because it was raining, while watching “Ghosts of Girlfriends Past” on DVD. And I can say I enjoyed the movie very much.

Obviously my trainer is of a much older version than this one.

And if you noticed, I used the terms “if”, and “feel” repeatedly. Both are imaginary and conditional kind of words, and you know how dramatic I may sound when I write on my blog. Hahahaa.

So, with few more days left to go, I now feel like a form five student entering the examination hall. If weather permits, my last minute training will end today with a swim and cycling sessions. If it rains again today, that means my training has ended yesterday (gosh!). I’ve been tapering very well for the running with totally no run for the whole week since last Sunday. I'm not really sure what to do for tomorrow though. Maybe I’ll start my carbo and ORS loading disciplines. And on Friday, I’ll be busy shaving my legs.

And on a second thought, I think the title of this entry should really be “How NOT To Do A Last Minute Triathlon Training”

Siemens 10km Run

I actually prescribed myself with a zero running weekend during this last weekend prior to PD triathlon – with the main thought to give more rest to the knees. When Saturday’s plan for a swim did not get materialized, I secretly made a plan for a solo run on Sunday morning, as a revenge.

I did not really know which route to run. All I wanted was to do some low mileage, slow run. Just-enough-to-break-the-sweat kind of plan. I was partially aware that Siemens run would take place at Dataran Merdeka on the same morning, but that was not my initial plan (hey, I did not even intend to pirate the run... hehe). I parked my car at Bukit Aman, and as I was about to head out running towards my normal LSD route towards Hartamas, I spotted Julie and AJ and they offered me a Siemens run bib number they have spare, if I want to run the race.

So, I tucked in the race bib on my fuel belt, and changed my mind. I joined them towards Dataran Merdeka and as I was approaching, the memory of last KL Marathon came to mind. I could again feel the excitement of being in a race environment. I whispered a little prayer for my knees to stay tough, as I was about to do my first ever 10km race run.

Yeah, no kidding. I never did a 10km standalone run before (except for the run in triathlon la).

Not bringing any PowerBar gel, not knowing the race route at all and not really know what to expect out of this short run race, I can say this was one of the most unprepared run ever. I was only hoping that my usual slices of bread and Gatorade pre-run meal which I had during the drive will suffice me with the energy needed for the run. And since Julie said she won’t be pushing it hard as well, I made a plan to just stick with her pace for as long as I could survive. If you know how fast she can really run (if she chooses to), you’ll be as nervous as I was. But I was mentally ready to be dropped at anytime if I can’t take it (with her speed). AJ and Stupe was also in sight during the start. It was such a pleasure to be among our local Ironman triathletes. Naik semangat sikit.

Meet Ijam, in his first ever special appearance.
He’ll be very famous, if he continues doing this, surely.

Among the crowds at the front of the starting line.

I mingled around with two Ironman triathletes before the start, Stupe (left) and AJ (right).
Stupe’s wife, Aileen in the middle.

Noticed the “queen FMV” in the famous FMV vest (black/yellow>?
I guess she was looking out for somebody selling karipap at Dataran.

The big guy from Siemens gunned off the runners at 0730hrs sharp. Since I was somehow in the first 30% of the front crowd, I slowly made my move with them, with extra care not to trip down or hit other runners. A little bit of zig-zagging was required during the first few hundred metres, while slowly residing to a comfortable pace. For me, the crowd was very huge. Not always I can see this big of runners in the full marathon races I did before. Hopefully one day the full marathon runners will grow this large.

Among the crowd, I heard Nadia calling up my name.
If you could see her hair knots, you would say she resembles Pocahontas. Hehhehe.

The route quickly detoured into Bank Negara, and straight up the usual hills towards Bukit Tunku.
I was maintaining my pace, holding on to control the breathing.

At the first few two or three water stations, I saw the most havoc situations in my whole experience of running.
Luckily I was equipped with Gatorade in my Fuel Belt bottles.

As always, I’m not good with explaining the route we ran. Some areas were within my familiar zone, and I lost it at some other foreign regions. But the overall course was a good mixture of undulation inclines and declines, with lots of flats. I was glad that I can run the whole route without any stops or walks. Perhaps, pacing with Julie has helped me a lot. She looked strong and steady all the way.

Somewhere along the route, Zigman CheRaMiChe (Daud) overtook me sambil senyum-senyum je.

After the KM6 mark, we were running towards Dataran Merdeka again. The turnaround point as we were running on Jalan Raja Laut was very far. If it was a full marathon category, I’m sure everybody would be swearing out loudly in that final 3km. Luckily this time it was only a 10km run.

As we made the final turnaround and into Jalan TAR, Julie and I started to increase our pace a little bit. I started to feel a slight discomfort on my right knee, but kept on plodding along with her carefully. If there’s one thing I felt annoyed with the run yesterday was that, the F and G categories of runners (I think they ran the 6km category) were walking across the pathway where lots of other runners from 10km categories like us were still running, fast. I mean, we wouldn’t mind if they want to walk or run slowly. But please, if you have to resolve into walking or much slower pace, please walk at the side of the road and give some space for runners coming from behind. Good enough the runners did not just push and run into you guys. At least we have some respect for every participant, so please have some common sense for us as well. And another down side note was that, the volunteers manning the area did not do anything much of help either. They did not even instruct the slow walkers to make way for much more faster runners coming from the back.

Example of some walkers spreading out almost the whole width of the running area.
At certain points, we runners had to zig-zag our ways out of them, or ran on the outer side (getting nearer to other road users, buses, cars etc).
Dangerous la like that.

Into the final 1km (if I’m not mistaken), we somehow bumped into Syah. We started our sprint and it was fun to be able to push it to the max at the final stage of a run. We were like racing with each other to the finish line and as we crossed it, my stopwatch showed 1hr30secs. OK lah tu, kan? Slow and steady je. I was saving my legs for this coming weekend’s triathlon.

Great “strolling” buddies, Syah and Julie. Both of them are strong runners that I had difficulties in keeping up.

I took it as a good training run for myself, and as a gauge to see how my ITB would behave under such a torment. Well, the ITB pain came again at the end of the run. And I’m now re-evaluating my targets for PD triathlon this week. Janji habis je lah.

While cooling myself down, I mingled around with the rest of the friends, looking for some ‘special materials’ for this blog. Macam biasalah. Enjoy!

KA was running away from the Tok Mudim.
Ziff was singing; “Lenggang hai lenggang kangkung, kangkung tepi Dataran... ewaahhh!!”
Ijam should have won the fanciest runner of the day award, if there were any.
Zaki: “Jangan tangkap saya tok!! Saya tak pakai apa-apa kat dalam ni! Kain batik ni pun saya rembat bini saya punya… ampun!!”

Even a handicapped person can run 10km lah. So, what are you still doing on the couch in front of the telly hah?

The very last runner (in blue top) came in just under 2 hours.

“Wooppp.. tunggu tunggu!! Karipap belum sampai lagi ye. Tokey besar karipap dari Andalas belum sampai lagi ni haa. Sabar, sabar…”

Pelari-pelari bawah umur. Baru lepas jumpa tok mudim!

Queen FMV with her dayang-dayang.
Psst June, vest FVM tu memang outstanding lah. Well done!
Err… Azza, I know karipap tak sampai-sampai lagi, tapi jangan la makan kertas tu kot ye pun, takde vitamin pun. Hhihihi.

Zaki: “Bro, lain kali cukur la sikit bulu kaki ni. Dah panjang sangat dah ni, habis terbelit kat tali kasut ni haa…”
KA: “Ooh, panjang sangat ke? Wa ingat bulu kaki panjang la rock sikit!”

Ziff: “Eh bro, ini style ikat mati ke ikat pengsan ni?”
Zaki: “Ini namanya style ikat koma. Selagi kau tak koma, selagi tu lah takleh bukak ikatan ni.”

Alahai.. manjanya. Aaawww!!!

Third

When I started this blog exactly three years ago, little did I imagine it will grow into this size. I started it off just to kill some of the many free times I had when I was having job training in the States. I got inspired by the few blogs which until today, some still exist. With only one or two readers (including my own self) I had during that historical time, this blog today has become a new media for me to socialize with some of you who are willing to accept me as one of your friends.

To be honest, I’m glad to have this blog. I know I don’t have that much of traffic or unique and repeating blog visitors as compared to many of you have, and I don’t mind about those stats either. But what I like about it is that, it gives me the opportunity to know some of you, interact with each other and share our common interests in endurance and multisports.

And I always feel honored when there are new blog readers who drop by on the comment box, or say hi to me when they meet me during running or triathlon events. And I truly enjoy reading each and every comments being left here. It makes me motivated to keep on putting up entries on this blog. I think blogosphere should be as friendly a media can be for us to know each other better. Hilarity and jokes are the easiest way to break the ice, and from then on, new friendships can be easily established.

I’m not sure whether I celebrated my second year of blogging last year, but I don’t want to miss the opportunity this year to celebrate its third year, hence;

Happy 3rd Birthday
EnAikAY.blogspot.com

More importantly, thanks to all of you who have visited this blog of mine up until today. I hope you have enjoyed each and every trip you’ve made here.

P/s: So, how’s my final closing speech for the blog? Good?

After All

Sorry guys, for being out of touch all of the sudden without any news or clue. My sincerest apology for making some of you worried about me. Never expected that to come. I appreciate all your concern, from the bottom of my heart. Thanks so much.

Anyway, this is not a gimmick, or a drama, or a strategy for a big come back. I was just unable to balance my mood and emotion with what’s been bugging me recently that I lost my interest in reading blogs, or participate in the blog commenting race. Let alone to write up my own blog entries. My life went on just like usual, minus the blogging part. Here are some random stuffs behind the scenes of what had happened to me, or of what I’ve been doing, or not doing.

After SCKLM, I experienced a pain on my right knee, at the ITB area. Not sure if it is already an acute ITB case, or just some sort of over-used tendon. I put myself out of running for few days after the marathon. I iced my knees as often as I could. But then, when I was with the guys doing the trail run at Kiara Park few weeks ago, the pain came back. So, I had to rest some more. And when I rest and do nothing much, I had nothing much to blog about. Nak tulis pantun pun dah malas daa.

Work? Hmm, what else can I do if my customers from all around the world keep on calling me to ask for the things they requested me to do on daily basis? Right at this moment, I have more than 340 working emails unread. I wish I can put an out-of-office auto reply such as below;

“I am currently out at a job interview and will reply to you if I fail to get the position. Be prepared for my mood.”

or

“You are receiving this automatic notification because I am out of the office. If I was in, chances are you wouldn't have received anything at all.”,

or even better..

“Thank you for your message, which has been added to a queuing system. You are currently in 352nd place, and can expect to receive a reply in approximately 19 weeks. That is, if I get back into the office.

My previous few weekends in KL were not as great as what I normally anticipated. With both of my princesses down with flu, cough, fever and what-have-you, my weekends were mainly spent just being at home. So, with not much of sports related stuffs I did, the lesser chance for me to come up with blog entries. Perhaps by now you realize that I don’t write anything much other than triathlon or running related stuffs, don’t you? Such a boring blog, isn’t it?

Ok, maybe this is the part you wanted to know the most. Yes, I did continue doing some training for PD triathlon (yeah, I know you want me to say “secret training”). The weather down here in JB has been nice and I’ve been swimming 2 or 3 times per week, building up my endurance and speed (which was never in existence). I also did some cycling just to kill the nervousness, rather than not cycling at all. Nothing much really, only the once-a-week cycling at night plus another few sets on the trainer just to activate the fast twitch cycling muscles (which I never have). Running was kept to the minimum and mainly focused on some hills repeats. My fast twitch muscles need extra work this time. To keep it simple, I’ve been training everyday, except for weekends.

And whamm!!, as I was into my second loop running at Taman Kebun Bunga yesterday, ITB pain re-surfaced. I also did some hill repeats afterwards, bearing the pain (because I promised myself to do hill repeats). Though I survived the running session in pain, I finally surrendered myself during the cycling at night where my 42km plan ride was cut into half, before the pain gets even worse.

Now, I’m limping again. But there will always be tomorrow. At least, I can still swim, right?

After all, I’m just a normal pirate human being.

Three More Weeks to PD Tri

At first, I planned to start off my 'focused' triathlon training (PD tri is three weeks away! Yikes!!) on Monday, but the legs were still experiencing DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness). So Monday was a forced rest day, I just had to abandon one swim training.

Tuesday, I managed to hit the pool for about 45minutes for a “hey muscles, wake up!” swim session. I have not seen much improvement in my swimming, for obvious reason – lack of training, either endurance wise or speed wise. Looks like the swimming pool management is going to get more income within these three weeks. Just hoping that the weather will continue to be handsome throughout.

Wednesday night, as usual, the weekly group cycling session. So, last night I swept off all the dust from my bike, joined the group and due to the slightly late start, I only managed to do a total of 24km ride. That was lucky enough because earlier on at about 12km into the ride, I started to see some stars (due to dizziness, perhaps I pushed it too hard too early on the first two laps). The thought of quitting the session came up, but when a friend in his Cervelo P3 bike came from behind blazing, I decided to tail behind him and at that approximately 3km of flat stretch, I managed to follow behind him with a zooming speed of 48 ~ 50km/hr – twice! (for two laps that is).

Climbing up the long incline for the remaining 3km to complete each loop, was done in santai-santai mode, very relaxed and cozy (for recovery).

Today, if weather permits, is going to be a run and swim sessions. With so little time to brush up on all three disciplines of triathlon, these three weeks prior to the race will be another interesting period of time of seeing me tumbling upside down.

Training for triathlon is not easy, but it’s fun!

Oh, I miss triathlon.

P/s: I tested my friend’s Cervelo tri bike, and oh… I think I fell in love lah

My Fourth Marathon

If Sundown ultra-marathon can be counted as two marathons, then KL Marathon 2010 would become my sixth. But, let’s just leave ultra-marathon and marathon in two distinctive categories shall we? Anyway, they are distinctively different. As Haza puts it, “respect the distance”.

I’m not that newbie, nor am I a veteran in this long distance running arena. But when I thought I’m ready to head up for another marathon, I still can’t find a good sleep prior to Sunday morning. Talk about being nervous. Fortunately, the 3 hours sleep did not make me feel so much musty. I was worried on my unpredictable bowel movement in the morning more than anything else, honestly speaking.

Up until that very morning, I can’t really specify what I wanted to achieve. It used to be “To finish the race, injury free”. But now, somehow, perhaps subconsciously, or perhaps driven by some degree of ego boost, it became “Go get a PB, dude!” kind of goal.

It may be a good kind of goal, but it also dragged me into instability, nervous break down (almost), and sometimes, self doubt. I’m not sure whether I was still burnt out from Sundown or was it due to other job related conundrums, but there were few times where my training went haphazard. I did not feel the ’umph’. With all things mixed up, my final approach was channeled down into doing another personal best effort. By the way, no matter how much we come prepared, a race day is a race day. Anything can happen.

After a failed attempt to empty my bowel at 3.30am in the morning, I made my way to park my car at Bukit Aman parking area. I was supposed to meet Ian there to hand him his race kit. Seeing so many other runners there, it felt just like any other LSD morning. Did not even feel like a big day. I strapped into my running gears in my own sweet time. It was only 4:15am in the morning with a very little amount of drizzle. “Plenty of time”, I comforted my self.

Met Ian and Ijam. These are the two guys who started up the 'blog commenting race'.

We then made our way towards Dataran Merdeka. Many other crowds were already there, filling up underneath the canopies as the drizzle has magnified itself. I quickly went searching for familiar souls.

L-R: Zaki, Nizam and Shakhir.
Giving out “good to go” signs.
(Errr King, awat muka macam tak ready je tu?)

Weekend warriors shaking hands. Ready for another battle of marathon.
L-R: Ian the CorpAthlete, Syah the Kingfisher, Shuk the chief poco-poco and EnAikAY the Sundown lanun (depa kata, bukan saya kata).

Multiple marathon runners standing strong.
L-R: Ijam, Nizam, Azmar, Shakhir, Khairul Anwar, Shuk.
“Err Ijam, what are you cupping covering there?”

I did some warm up run in the drizzle. It brought back my previous year memory, where I was running on the same tarmac in front of Dataran Merdeka together with Kash. It was also the first time I met Syah. This time, I saw many other familiar faces. Some of them are my fellow buddies from JB, some I knew during the few triathlon races I joined, and few other familiar comrades in our relatively small running communities. It was such a good feeling to be surrounded by these happy going people, that I didn't realize we only had another 5 minutes before the gun off.

I placed myself at the back together with Shakhir and Shuk who I knew were aiming for sub 4:30 timing. The 4:30 pacers with white balloons were already in the middle of the pack. I kept telling them that the rain in that morning was just like how it was during KL Marathon last year. Oh, I love running in the rain and I did a little prayer so that the rain continues until 10am or something. We were still chatting around when we suddenly hear the gun off, sharp at 5am on a wonderful Sunday morning. Started the journey with a walk, then a slow run, and I started my stopwatch as I stepped on the start timing mat.

I braved myself to run alongside Shakhir from the start. He looked strong and focused to achieve his target. Shuk was also tagging along.

Twelve minutes into the run, we bumped into Yim.
Shakhir: “Eh Yim, wah lajunya kau pagi-pagi ni. Nak pegi mana tu? Boleh tumpang?”
Shuk: “Wah Yim, cantiklah kau punya vest FMV baru tu. Nak pinjam kejap boleh?”
Yim: “Aaaaah.. syadappp you!!!”

I didn't care much to avoid any pot holes. My shoes were already wet even before the run. I was just hoping no blisters would develop as I was not wearing any socks. For the first couple of clicks, we were running zig-zaggingly among the crowd moving our ways forward, and we still managed to throw in some more jokes here and there. We also bumped into Syah, who I noticed carrying two Gatorade bottles in his fuel belt. Not long after that, we've started to settle down into a stable race pace.

Utilizing my stopwatch's timer to remind me to rehydrate every 10 minutes, I kept on analyzing my body system on whether I can carry on with that kind of pace set by Shakhir and Shuk or not. It felt fast, not like my normal long distance running speed. Anyway, so far so good. Breathing was still light, heart rate was kept at medium intensity, and legs felt pretty strong to carry on.

I apologize for not being good with roads and landmarks in KL city, whether during the dark or in bright daylight. Shakhir and Shuk kept on checking their pace notes as we passed the first check point, 5km distance marker. They said we were right on track, so far.

Somewhere along or before the Sungai Besi Airport, we bumped into this 4:30 pacer. Ian and Azmar were tagging along nearby the group when we were approaching.

We crossed the 10km distance marker exactly at 6am, at which Shakhir said we were early by 3 minutes. That's good to know. I can't really remember now what exactly happened next, but somehow we lost Ian and Azmar. We stopped at every water stations for some replenishment, very quick stops. We even drank while running. I started pouring water over my body for some instant cooling down, as I know my engine doesn't work well when its temperature is high. My second PowerBar gel was downed at KM10. The first one was taken before gun off.

Somewhere after another water station, I lost Shuk and Shakhir. I was running with my training buddy from JB, when another runner offered his help to snap this photo for me. I think I picked up the banana at KM14’s water station.

Shakhir earlier told me that there’ll be a madrasah for Subuh prayer in between KM16 and KM17. Passing by KM15 or so, I had the growling feeling inside my tummy. Oh no. “Mayday, mayday…”. I quicken my pace to tag Shuk along and asked him where the madrasah is. It was a big relief upon seeing the madrasah because I didn’t think I can hold it much longer.

“Shuk, Shakhir, you guys go ahead after you are done with your prayers ok. I need some little moment by myself. Got unfinished business to settle.”, I told them.

So, I spent about 10 minutes flushing out whatever needed to be flushed, including the prayers, and including a quick shower by the ablution area. As I was about to leave, I saw Nizam coming in.

Continuing my run, I couldn’t find any familiar faces around. I knew Shuk and Shakhir, and even Ian were already much further upfront with their blazing paces. There was no way I would be able to catch up. I confessed that I felt a bit down, as I know running alone gives bigger exposure to mental game. I didn’t even carry my own pace note for any guidance. So, after some reanalyzing of body systems, I maintained my journey with ‘personal best effort’ attitude. I had no other choice.

Half way done, and I was glad it didn’t feel that hard this time.

The time as I crossed KM21. Shabby indeed.
I remembered clocking 8 minutes faster during Energizer Night Marathon.
Time for another gel.

Gosh, I can’t remember now on what roads did I run after that. Looking back at the run map, we were brought to run on Jalan Cheras, Jalan Tun Razak, Jalan Bukit Bintang and Jalan P-Ramlee. The daylight has slowly started to break open. I was enjoying the city views, in addition to the great cheer groups at Pavilion, alongside Jalan Bukit Bintang, somewhere near the Standard Chartered building and Jalan P.Ramlee. They came unexpectedly, as none were spotted during my marathon last year (as far as I can remember).

The drummers group while we struggled our way up the incline of Pavilion.
To be frank, their beats were not bad you know. Nice.

I’m pretty sure many runners would acknowledge seeing these three taxi drivers clapping their hands non-stop, cheering us all.

The Standard Chartered building standing strong.

The well dressed and propped cheer group from Standard Chartered.

Cool Zone, by Standard Chartered.
It was not cooling at all, sorry. The mist they sprayed, didn’t give any degree of cooling effect to any runners passing by this chute in less than 5 seconds.
But anyway, thanks for putting this up, at least.

As I passed by KL Tower, I remember I haven’t blogged about my KL Tower race last March.
I don’t think I will blog about it anymore lah. Cerita dah jadi teramat basi dah.

Another group of supporters cheering for runners at Jalan P. Ramlee.

Malaysia’s proud – The Petronas Twin Towers.

At one point somewhere after KM24, I started to feel the signs of cramp knocking the door for a visit. I slowed down a little bit, adjusting for a comfort running while not jeopardizing the pace too greatly. From then onwards, I started to take ORS at each water stations to avoid getting cramps. I brought along four sachets altogether. I also took another gel soon later, as I was feeling hungry too.

Normal view to see, where runners trying to stretch out their cramps.

Somewhere after getting back into Jalan Tun Razak, before the IJN, I saw a familiar figure up at the front. It was Syah. He was looking steady with his run. I checked the timing as I passed him…

“Syah, just maintain this pace and you’ll be doing a sub-5, trust me. Keep it up bro!”, I told him.

Ian with his strategy to stop for a good stretching session by a tree.

I spent few hundred meters running together with Syah. Exchanging some little jokes, and checking on the status on other running blogger friends we know.

Ijam, I took this shot specially for you.

Spotted another guy having a crisis with the lamp post.

“Yim, you shoot me, I shoot you back!”

Soon after, we get into the long stretch of Jalan Ipoh. Not that I knew this was Jalan Ipoh before I re-looked at the map just now. It felt long indeed, but luckily the terrain was flat, with some little declination scattered around, almost unnoticeable.

Perhaps I forgot to inform that I stopped at every water stations for some little drinks, or to top up my water bottles, or to take a quick shower. Yup, I needed to cool down myself for some energy recharge. Some of the volunteers were shocked and concerned when they saw me pouring water all over my head, body and legs, because they saw me holding a camera in my hand. Luckily, it’s a waterproof one. On a second thought, I think it’s their first time being volunteers in a running event and I bet they haven’t see anybody taking shower at water or sponging stations before in their life.

Next, another moderately long stretch of Jalan Kuching, with vehicles going alongside the busy road.

My immediate target at that moment was to get to KM35 by 4hours of running time, or faster. That was to ensure that good timing was still achievable. At a point, I started to feel hungry again. Luckily my energy level was still reasonably OK. I did a few walk breaks to ease up the leg muscles, but nothing longer than 30 seconds for each breaks. I didn’t want to jeopardize the timing. I put in more effort to keep on running albeit not as fast as before. I just wanted to minimize the time spent walking for as much as possible.

Another way of checking who’s running behind me, without turning my head around.
Oh, such a boring long stretch here, not sure whether this was Jalan Ipoh or Jalan Kuching. I slightly regretted not bringing any MP3 player.

Upon arriving at the Jalan Kuching - Jalan Duta roundabout, I knew Jln Bukit Tunku was getting near, where Kash n’ Rais kedai runcit was located. With the uplifting support from good friends like them, accompanied by Uncle Allen and Julie Wong, I somehow felt refreshed. The cold orange flavored Gatorade, which is my favorite sports drink at this moment did provide a little more boost that I needed dearly.

Arriving at the best ever water station of the day, with awesomely special support crews.

Sipping on the cool and refreshing Gatorade, courtesy of Kash and Rais.
(Photo by Uncle Allen)

Have you ever thought how much money has been spent by Kash and Rais for all these?
Semoga murah rezeki kalian berdua sekeluarga, amin.

Well, this is the best part of the run, the familiar terrain we visited times upon times during the LSD sessions. If not for the jokes and chats we had during the training, we would have memorized the number of left and right turns or curves along this Bukit Tunku and Tijani scenic running route. That is to show how well we know the route, including the climbs that we had to face after KM37.

It’s the famous Tijani climb. Many runners settled down to walking to save up the almost-cramping legs, including myself.

Getting up to the peak, I smiled. “It’s time for a payback!”, I told myself as I switch my engine back on for a much higher pace running down the other side of the winding road. It was an effort to regain back the few minutes of time lost while walking up the inclination earlier. I was focusing on the run that I didn’t snap any much photos after that. Perhaps, it may also due to me having to focus on not tweaking up the ‘almost-emerging’ big cramps on my legs.

I kept on checking my stopwatch, while doing some basic pace and distance calculations to see how I was doing. I knew by then that sub 4:30 was no longer achievable, but I believe another PB was still viable. I had an instant flashback of my Energizer Night Marathon where I suffered big time just to get a PB back then, with the suffering of cramps since KM24. This time no major cramps as yet, but I have to be careful not to trigger any. I was chasing the time, maintaining my pace and trying hard not to slow down into walking.

At the valley of the downhill, we get into a junction into Jalan Sultan Salehuddin where a little turnaround has to be made. It was slightly inclined on the approach and as I tried to run, I twitch of cramp attacked my left hamstring and both calves. I shifted into fast walk up the incline to scrap off the cramps, with a promise of another revenge downhill until the finishing line – running all the way. As I made the turnaround, I saw Ian approaching and I encouraged him to chase me up.

“Go Nik go! Go get another PB. Yes you can do it. Go get the PB! Just a little bit more. Hold the pain. This is your last chance. This is your best chance!”.

A final mental push I had to play inside my head from KM39 onwards. With three more clicks to go, I put on extra focus with every step I made. My previous best timing for a marathon was 4hr51min and I badly wanted to break another personal best. And there I was, with less than 3km left and my stopwatch was showing that I’ve been running for about 4hrs25min.

“Can I do it?”, this provocative question sometimes emerged as I plodded.

I literally switched off my brain for a while, and just let my legs move steadily, while managing the risk of cramp attack. Although last year I was surprised that they made us detour into Jalan Raja Laut when we could already see Dataran Merdeka at the junction on the right side, but this year I could say I was prepared for that final killer detour.

Into the finale.

Getting into Jalan Tengku Abdul Rahman, where last year, I almost fell down when both my calves cramped up severely. This time around, I was glad I could still run, albeit slowly.

It was a very nice view, both on the surrounding area at Dataran Merdeka with people cheering and clapping, and also the view on my stopwatch. I started to smile as I see the finishing chute from afar.

Ijam managed to get few great shots while I was running on Jln TAR. Thanks bro.

My smile grew bigger and I kept on smiling during the final 50m. I was happy, so happy.
I froze my stopwatch as it shows 4hr43min.
Alhamdulilah,. Finally, a new PB!

I don’t know how to describe the feeling. Happy? Satisfied? Yeah, I think I was satisfied with what I get, looking back at how I prepared for it. Though I was a bit upset for not being able to tag along Shuk and Shakhir until the end, I could say this new PB is what I should be grateful of.

And as a bonus, Shazly Khan of Snap-Attack.com who was hired to become a photographer for the event, took this superb finishing photo.
Thanks so much bro! Really appreciate it.

What came after the race, shall be summarized in below photo-log (I’m tired of writing already). Enjoy!

Immediately after I crossed the finish line, I went to the massage tent to get my calves iced and massaged.

Simple, but efficient finisher’s medal and tee giving ceremony.

Ok, tadi siapa yang kentut dapat PB angkat tangan!

Hanging out and resting with the usual suspects, on the stage.
You can see how happy they were, with their own PB stories to share.

Shuk poco-poco tengah layan wheelie lapan belas tiang tuu…

Where we gathered for the much needed brunch.

Shakhir: “Eh, kau tengok tu! Ada orang berlari kat tengah-tengah panas lah. Apa kes?”
Shuk: “Entahlah bai. Pendatang haram kena rush dengan Imigresen kot”
Dett: “Hah! Imigresen? Wei, cepat habiskan nasi wei. Aku tak bawak passport ni. Kang tak pasal-pasal aku kena hantar balik naik tongkang.”

Where we hung out after we were done with brunch, at the final 100m before the finish line to give out our shout outs to the incoming warriors of the marathon.
Picture captured by Ijam.

Chilling out and getting to know each other, sharing our stories, in between cheering for the remaining runners on that last stretch.

KA: “Bro, what are you thinking? Jauh mengelamun tu.”
Shakhir: “Entahlah bro. Semalam tiga round aku basuh baju tau, dengan tangan. Mesin basuh baju aku tu tiba-tiba je mogok lapar. Aku sedang terkenangkan timbunan baju anak sekolah aku kat rumah tu yang nak kena lipat dan gosok lepas ni…”

Shakhir: “Kau pulak, what are you thinking about?”
KA: “Ehmm, aku tengah fikir samada nak tolong kau lipat baju ke tak. Aku rasa, elok kau lipat sendiri je lah ye.”

We escorted June towards the finish line. It was such a celebration, and I bet she’ll remember this until she turns 67 years old. Then she can tell her grand children this historical event where she finally became a marathon runner.

Haza: ”Ok, tadi siapa yang kirim kat akak beli karipap kat Pavilion? Haa, pegi duduk sana dulu ye, nanti akak edar-edarkan. Banyak dalam beg ni haa...”

A final group photo, before we made our ways home to continue our normal life as, normal human being.

Well done and congrats to all of you who took part in SCKLM 2010.

Whatever your finishing time is, I believe the whole journey from the starting towards the finishing line is the thing that teaches us some beautiful meaning of life.

- The End -