so went to PD for my first international/olympic distance triathlon.
really a fun experience. so many things to learn
went down there for 3days two nights with josh and syanon
would just like to say a few thanks to these people cause without em this wouldn't have been:
dad/mom: for the "sponsorship" and allowance =D
syanon: for starting off this whole thing about doing this
joshua: support crew =P
justin ng: for his beloved polygon 300 helios (really couldn't have done it with out a rodie)
kerwiin: for bike tools
friends and family for the encouragements and tips: Cheok Gheen, Judy Liew, Claire Andrews and many others
overall it was a delightful experience cause all that was in my mind was just to finish the race, even tough not first place but at a nice calm pace.
night before: carbo loading dinner, didn't stuff myself full due to meeting two wonderful people judy liew and claire. gave quite useful advice and talked abt life, addiction, being hooked and hardcore about running. these kinda community is quite interesting. the best meal was: the herbal chicken soup
the swim: hardest part in terms on technique. never really trained this.. and pools are so different from open waters. got slapped on the butt and kicked in the face. found someone's RFID tag floating, poor dude. seniors over took me. salt water in the mouth made me thirsty. forgot to bring my goggles (thanks syanon for lending me yours) and felt the weakest here.
transition: beach run was soso. saw josh and syanon cheering on.. took a nice long bath at the showers... no rush.. left them.. felt i wasn't clean enough and went back to shower again xD at the bike rack, wish i had place a bottle of water there. changed into cycling shorts and a singlet.. boy i felt so naked just wearing a swimming trunk while all the others had 2XU tri suits.
the cycle: most fun part, cause it required actively making fun decisions on what to do with the bike. rodies are super fast and different from mtb's (respect those who used them). thank God mange to get the right timing out of the swim to catch a pack of cyclist. always tried to draft/slip-stream a 6 footer or fat dude =P the shifters were so fun to play with and the ultegra cranks were uber stiff. thanks for remembering the padded pants kerwiin. almost died when taking the water from the rack, cause it got caught in the break cable. quite adrenaline. ppl crashed at the u-turn point. downed 2 powergels. followed the pack till 5 km more to the end, then they sprinted off... decided not to follow and go at own pace.
transition: really wish i had water. owh wait they have water stations =D changed out of the padded tights to something more loose. ate half a bar or banana flavored powerbar. slowly walked and drank =P
the run: hardest part in terms of cramping. took things with alternating runs and walks. had an actal tablet but decided not to eat it, scared of indigestion. drank too much water, felt like puking. (but thankfully mange to hold it all in). met wonderful and encouraging people on the way. how nice. downed two gels.
the ending: push too hard, cramped like frankenstein. thanks for joshua supporting me to walk off. rested and got back to standing. mange to bump into judy just before leaving. hope i can go for The Most Beautiful Thing next time =)
venue: cozzie hotel is kinda bad. towels stink, no air-cond remote , it was always at 16. toilet didn't have working exhaust fan, beds and pillows weren't firm. haha so many complains but what i said was: its just a place to sleep and shower, most of the time we would be out. and staying with people under the roof really brings out the character or a person. dear God, please sustain me.
after PD we went down to melaka to let syanon try out satay celup.
then drove back up to PJ. joshua took the first half, then swapped cause he was getting tired. so i took the wheel, taught i could be wide awake and fully concentrated when behind the wheel... first time i almost fell asleep while driving =P
next trip bring: checklist, portable chair, umbrella, book to read.
thank you God. was a delightful trip and eye opening too
