Slog, Butt, Race

I had a nice weekend, although I wish certain things could go better. That thought stayed with me the whole drive back, until I am convinced there is nothing I could do about it. There will be bad moments and good moments. And most of the times you gain more with bad episodes. A famous super athlete once wrote -

"But I need to have these days (bad days) - because the 'defeats' expose my weaknesses, and enable me to grow, learn and develop as an athlete."


Not to say that I am an athlete, but you get what I mean. I would label this as an Experience/Lesson learnt and shelf it for my future reference.

That being said - I enjoyed the camaraderie. It's amazing how it buoyed me tremendously when I was running. I thought that I was going to have a bad run, but instead it turned out to be the best part of the race. I didn't care about the timing, I just wanted to stop and chit-chat with the other runners. I gave my Milo to someone else, paced with a good friend of mine Chris, and cheered on everyone whom I passed. Friends cheered on me too, which makes me feel like I'm doing something RIGHT.

I enjoyed it even more when I get to deal with thoughts of giving up. This is the best part of being in a race, I think, eventhough when you're in the midst of fighting yourself it just felt ugly. I kept telling myself that this will only make me stronger, and I will feel so damn proud of myself. I began listing out the things that are way worse than running a 10k under the hot sun after having your body slaughtered for the past 2 hours. So many things:

1) Losing/thinning hair
2) Fabregas out of Arsenal
3) Contador winning NEXT year's TDF
4) Lelaki berlagak
5) The extinction of Milo Ice
6) The death of my beloved cat, Cik Mek Molek

and on and on. In retrospect, running a 10k is way better than all of the above. It's not so bad really, with sexy girls and their asses hanging out, grandmas overtaking me and disappearing from sight, good looking men with skin the color of brown sugar.

The best for me is the company of Kash and her little support crew, Rais and Citra (who is my good friend!). Sometimes you wonder about the kindness of people and where/how it comes about - one of life's mysteries we will never figure out, nor do we want to. If you can have a savings account for good karma, I'm sure Kash and Rais would be millionaires. Thank you for making this event a great, close knit one.

So to summarize:

The best part of the race: the running event
The best part of being in this race: mentally fighting yourself not to give up
The best part of this event: Kash+rais+citra and meeting friends.

And now I am just tired and I want to sleep till the cows come home.

Bt 18 - Peres Hill

 Today I very anxiously and gladly joined Kooky Kash for my first ever group bike ride. I was reaally looking forward to it: the most mileage I'd gotten on my bike was a measly 4km and my dreams of being in a triathlon is slowly diminishing. But at the same time I was so nervous - Could I even go up? What if I tripped and fell? How hard really is the hill?

  I went to bed with racing thoughts and slept fitfully. When I woke up this morning it was 4am, and then again at 530am. This time I did not get back to bed, but played the internet and had cereal. I dozed off for a while until 630am. Left at 7am, and predictably got lost even with a detailed map and direction on how to get there.

 When we started the ride I was instantly left behind. Later I realized that my speed was just too damned slow, when I thought that that was a normal speed. One of the guys stayed back with me; and he dished out some good tips and advices - the stem of my bike is too long for me, thus making it hard for me to handle my brakes (which is why my hands always hurt!), he told me about the concept of changing gears and how to gauge your speed. This certain body part of mine was starting to hurt and throb real badly. Throughout the ride it was the only thing that was a negative, everything else was just awesome. 

 When we joined the rest of the group they were already at the top looking like they have a good 15 minutes rest or so. Kash has told me about the next part: a 9-10km ride uphill. She parted with a sound advice: keep spinning. At first I was wondering what that means - some sort of a cycling limbo that I do not know about, but then I figured out the hard way when we went slowly uphill. It is suicide to stop cycling - you just don't feel like starting again. So I didn't stop, and cycled, no matter how awful everything felt. Even my breathing was labored and my thighs felt like they're steam fried. As we're about to reach the top she said, "the last part's a bit steep," and instantly I wished she didn't say it because the ones we went through were already steep, I had no idea how the next one's steep is going to be like!

 Going up, I was already building up the nervousness about going down. I was scared of how fast my bike can get - I have always been scared of speed, especially speed that is controlled by me. And seeing all the other cyclists zipping down like colorful shadows made me nervous. Kash told me to keep holding on to my brakes and brake cautiously. As we sped down she was like, "let go don't brake, enjoy the downhill!"

 So I did. Some parts were scary and I felt like I was going out of control - being built less sturdy has its disadvantages - that I could see my shadow quivering and shaking. But the speed on these curves felt really nice, no cars to worry about, ample of space, and wind in your face. I couldn't really remember what how the rest of the ride paned out except that I both wanted it to be over (body parts were hurting!) and didn't want it to end (I'm whizzing by awesome sceneries with the wind on my face). When I hopped off the bike and started to walk, my legs felt like they're made of rubber. I had to lean against the car for a while. Kash laughed at me, said, "Well, why did you think I am standing still right now?" hahahha.

 I am REALLY glad I joined this ride. It was an amazing first time for me and I love how my thighs burn and my lungs felt like exploding. Haven't felt like that for a while. I loved how mentally challenging it gets. Also, the camaraderie after the whole thing is over. Listening to grown men's jokes has always been a favorite after growing up with crude, aging, but feisty uncles and tok ayahs. I am amazed at how these so-called 'senior' uncles smoked me - and I mean SMOKED - from the beginning until the end. Why, they're splashing about in the sungai when I finally arrived, panting.

Bike Ride

I still have the leftover of the fever today, so the mood to enjoy my bike ride is a little bit foiled. 

 To be honest, I'm having a hard time finding a decent route for my bicycle. By decent I mean something that is more than 4km, and isn't going downhill all the time that I always ended up braking my heart's content. Everytime I take my bike out for a ride I am intimidated by the passing cars and sometimes speedy motorcyclists. When I am lucky enough to find a flat stretch of road I keep on having to stop since there are many T junctions along the way. A friend of mine who cycles once mentioned that the subang jaya neighborhood is the worst place for a cyclist to train and well, I didn't put much heed or thought into his statement then. Now I know. 

 But I hate to complain so much and decided to make do. Well, if the biggest, most decent route around ss19 is only about 4km or so, be it. I'll probably just do about 8 loops of it. Even if I ended up braking half the time, or cruising. Only today is marred by a slight drizzle and my headache. Normally I would be reluctant to end a workout without feeling sweaty or exhausted, but today I was too discouraged by the route and also tired from the fever.

 That's about it. Hope everybody is feeling good about their workout.

Swim Drills

My first swim class and I was late. 

I went home early after my training, felt a fever acting up and bundled under the covers to sweat it out. Too soon it was nearly 6pm, so I swallowed Actifast and got going. But I was unfamiliar with the area so I got lost. 

 When I arrived the other students were already there. My instructor, Mr Lee, introduced me to everybody by saying that I am a triathlete! I tried telling him that I am attempting to compete but everybody was looking at me like I'm a hotshot swimmer. There's this one guy, Ng, who asked me about my time and all. I was instantly nervous. He had me swim 100m to assess my style, and I got so excited that I went too fast and I burned down at the last 25m. I choked and sputtered in front of them. so embarrassing! hahaha..

 

 He then asked us to do kicking drills, which nearly wiped me out. My thighs were burning. After that it was one arm stroke drills, which I sucked. Then, the best part of the evening, he had us swim across the pool (17m) with only a single breath, kicking all the way. I nearly died! And then, as if the torture isn't enough, he has us tread water with our hands above the surface of the water, all the way. Of course I failed that. My legs simply weren't strong enough. To end it, he asked me, Ng, and this malay dude to race 100m. I went charging the first 100m, but lost steam and came reallll slow, breathing like an asthmatic. What a humbling experience! To think I was a hotshot swimmer in my 3k pool - well of course, when everyone else were elderly grandpas and uncles! hehe.

 He asked me what my goal was, and I told him to be able to swim long distance while conserving energy. Ng's target was all about speed - he wanted to do 100m in less than 1:40. The malay dude wanted to be able to swim; he was practicing his breaststroke mostly.

 All in all, a good tiring workout, but too short to my liking. Can't wait for the next class. 

Brick la sgt.

Today I had an offshore training, which started at 12 noon for registration, and had me going Yabedabedu nuggets! in the office yesterday when I found out. Ever since I decided I'm going to try to do a triathlon, my mind is working 24/7 trying to find time into an already packed day. I once wrote a lengthy piece about completely re-setting the concept of time - wouldn't it be great if a day consists of 48 hours and nighttime is only for 12 hours?

Anyway I woke up early today to go for the pool. I arrived just ten minutes after the opening hour - and walking towards the pool I was deliriously happy. An empty pool, just to myself! But when I walked in I saw there were about 3-4 swimmers, but they were doing laps themselves. My swimming goal this morning was to either swim for 1 hour or do 1.7km, whichever come first. Of course I was hoping to do 2km but I do not want to overwork myself.

Warm up: 2x50m
Set: 3x100m, 1x800m, 1x200m
Cool Down: 1x200m

Total distance and time: 1.5km, 60 minutes.

My right shoulder has this recurring - but not all the time - pain when I swim. It feels like a jolt, or a stab of pain, and I was super paranoid. I DO NOT want to get injured - a swimmer's shoulder on top of my runner's knees. What's next - a biker's thigh? At the rate I am going, collecting injury after injury, the next thing I know I'm reduced to no exercise and gorging my heart out and with my injury prone self I might get Foodie's Stomach. Haha not funny I know.

So I restrained myself from going further and settled on a one-hour swim. To shake things up a little bit I made myself breathe after 7 strokes, which had me gasping a little bit but I managed nevertheless.

Evening, I decided to take my bike out for a ride. We're still strangers, and to be honest I am actually... scared of my bike. It's funny -I've jumped off a suspended platform and went cave spelunking but show me my yellow bike and I tremble at the sight of it. Riding with my boyfriend proved to be no good either. He barks instruction and I could feel him snicker inside whenever I nearly topple off the bike. He is amazed at how wimpy I was the first time I tried out my bike.

I think the issue was pure intimidation. You were supposed to enjoy biking enough to buy one but I did it the other way around; buy a bike first, figure out the bike later. In result, the mechanics of the bike intimidate me - fork, tyres, gears, shifters, etc. Then taking out and putting the tires back in. I still have a hard time putting back the rear tire I was sweating like a good aerobic workout by the time I'm done. Man, that was tiring! Oh wait, what? I have to ride on it?!

I haven't been riding a bicycle for quite some time - that is, riding on a road shared with cars and motorcycles and sometimes moving lorries. And seriously, I thought the function of a bicycle is that you have to pedal them, but apparently not for my bike. It goes on Faassst.. so fasstt... exactly HOW FAST is a normal road bike supposed to go? I tried downshifting (or maybe it was upshifting - never really got the hang of the jargon) to no avail. I ended up half of the ride crouching down and squeezing the brakes. My palms ache in the most horrible way ever. People complain about sore butts when going cycling the first time but for me it was sore palms.

So the whole 30 minutes of riding was spent like this: pedal for 5 seconds, crouch, brake, brake, brake, release brakes, BRAAAKEEE, cruise, brake. I did ride up one uphill which had me going all perky for a while but it ended way too soon and I would want to do it again, except that I had to go downhill first to go uphill and that would mean... more braking. No thanks.

I think I also have to get myself gloves.

Oh well, my foray into this scary multisport ensues...

Chick with Speed

Today I welcomed my pre-loved, 9kg aluminum monster into my life alongside my worn swimming suit and resting running shoes. Picked it up at the owner's house around lunchtime.

When you buy secondhand, the phrase, "you get what you paid for," could be a reprimand you do not need. But I have anticipated all the shortcomings - I know I'm definitely going to get what I paid for - except that my boyfriend thinks I probably paid too much. I have to admit, it stretched my budget a little bit, but it is still below 1 grand.

The frame looks ok, but the paintjob has weathered and flecks of rust could be seen. The tyres look ok, and the owner did mention that I should replace the back tyre. We tested the brakes, no complaints there. Changed the gears, ok as well.

In the evening I decided to try it out. Earlier at the owner's house, I couldn't even ride on it as I was having a hard time getting my feet in the pedals - my experience with bicycle pedals was all the normal flat ones - these were curved upwards, like an encased shoe space.

After a few tries I managed to ride on it. Tested the gears and spent about half an hour cruising around the neighborhood.

What I found out:

1) The gear rings make a periodic clicking sound, especially when I switch into the first gear. I tried going to higher gear and down again, and the same noise appears. Have to get it checked.

2) The saddle feels uncomfortable, but I know that would happen.

3) The brakes are far apart from my fingers to fully grasp them. It hurts when going downhill and I have to brake continuously. My wrists hurt too! At the fleshy part of the palm.

Going to ride them tomorrow and tomorrow until the bike and I feel acquainted. Right now we're like wary strangers.

Anyway today went for a swim. Wanted to do a longer distance but had errands to do. My time is noticeably slower this time and I think it's due to the 800m. I probably swam slower.

Warm-up: 1x100m
Set: 1x100m, 1x800m, 2x100m (fast paced)
Cool-down: 1x100m

Total distance and time: 1.3km, 50 mins

Stretching and strengthening classes tomorrow! Back to back for 2 hours oh yeah.

(yes, I'm on annual leave until the weekends heheh)

Project Tri

Supposed to head out to Tri Kidz event this morning but woke up to my parent's text message stating that they are going to be on the way after Subuh and we're all having breakfast together (I'm living with my sister in Subang Jaya, my parents moved to Nilai after retirement).  Damn. 

 I was really looking forward to go to the event because it would be a great way to get a feel and learn about triathlons. For some unbeknownst reason, I am strangely driven and motivated, to a point where when I read the articles from beginnertriathlete, I get nervous butterflies. Like some sort of a silly anticipation to an event I have yet to register. It's the same sort of positive trepidation I felt before PBIM, all that nervous energy like coiled spring. I miss getting that.

 Anyway, to kick start my 'project triathlon' into start, I have finally enrolled myself to a swimming program. Actually it's a masters program, but I told them that I am 'attempting' to try a triathlon therefore need a lot of guidance. I would start in January, once a week, until I complete. I guess who knows along the way I might be suckered into competitive swimming since they are coaching their club swimmers as well. hhaha yeah right. 

 Finding a bicycle proved to be a bit harder. I have called my male cousins up asking them for a bicycle - ones they've left behind in favor of growing up and dating and playstation 3 - and got various responses. One cousin of mine replied, "ya rabbi, triathlon la pulak, kahwin je la!" I don't know how to explain this to them: most of my friends and family think I am insane for running so much and - to them - so hard. I am relieved when my dad started getting the race bug too; now running races don't sound too crazy anymore since 'Aki Tam' joined races as well.

 Anyway my dad is looking for a secondhand bike for me in Nilai, nothing too fancy - basic gears, etc - enough for me to get myself used to riding. I'm also on the lookout for one - one of my guy friends is an avid biker, although his interest points toward the trendy, fixed gear 3k bikes. My option currently based on my measly budget would be a secondhand road bike, and I don't really care about the brand as long as it could serve the purpose. I'm hoping I could get it soon (either my cousin's or secondhand) so I could join Kookykash riding (I wanted to write bike excursion but then it sounded too touristy).

 As I'm writing this down my cousin and his family are in my sister's tiny apartment, along with my parents. Earlier we've all threaded the timing chip to our shoes and tested the vest. My dad as usual laid out his running gear, being a nerd like always hehe. My mom, sister, my nieces, my cousin's wife are all caught up with the excitement too. Right about now we're having the customary Malay dinner of nasi lemak (carbo loading okkk). It's true really, sports really do bring people together.

 Have fun tomorrow peeople. Let's all say hello!

Swim Bike Run? I want.

While going through the Pacesetters events calendar, I saw the Chin Woo Biathlon. To be honest I was really interested but have no idea how the event goes, no idea what to expect or no idea how I would fare with the others. I googled and read race reports.

I felt weird reading them, like some sort of a nervous regret.

I am interested to try to do a triathlon. I have no idea why the thought suddenly appeared but I realized that I've always have some sort of fascination over triathlons. I like the commitment put, the effort and hours and dedication a person needs in order to compete in one. Best of all, I like the fact that most of the time, it's not really a competition about speed, but strength. The strength to finish whatever you started. The strength to overcome barriers and mental blocks.

I'm about to go on a running hiatus soon, where I will not be running until April. 17 weeks of not a single running activity to be exact. As always my mind has started to become restless and I caught myself going to the website beginnertriathlete.com. I already love to swim, especially long slow swimming (not speed) and well, I like to bike but never had the privilege to own one currently. I'm thinking, while waiting for my knees (and most importantly, my plantar fasciitis) to recover I might as well add biking to my swimming - which I plan to do a whole lot of in the coming months.

The only gripe I have about triathlons is that there is not a lot of resource in Malaysia for people who are interested to do this but have no idea how/what. Triathelete virgins. Like me. They have many triathlons clinics overseas or even small workshops for triathletes but I don't know whether they have those in Malaysia. The only thing that came close to it when I googled was the Trikidz thingy, and I believe I have reached waaaaay past the age to be a participant. I always wished I was a kid again so I could benefit from all these programs starting to dot in Malaysian sporting industry.

Here's what I need to have:
1) A bike. I'm going to ask my cousins whether their shoddy bikes are still available so I could borrow and start to put some 'oil in the gears' (both gears, mine and the bike's)
2) Swim!
3) Find out more about this event, which includes...
4) finding out friends or a a gang that I could do all these activities with. I have no idea where I could have a decent bike mileage and I bet if I were to be serious in this thing I really would need a training buddy or buddies.

Anyone here that could shed some light to this matter?

To finish this off, here's a funny, humorous article from a triathlete detailing out his first ever triathlon... with only 32 days of training. Here's another of my favorites.