aftermath

Hello! My first post after a somewhat long absence. Can't blame me ok? Just had 3 mid-terms after returning back to SG on Monday morning, and 2 more to go next week!

Shall not write about the race now; I want to do a proper one, so no point rushing it through. =)

Just came back from a run with Mel. Legs have almost fully recovered. 5km easy run felt sooo comfortable! Hehe. All that's left is a "soothing"massage by Iggy tomorrow.

Last week, my dad told a family friend that I did the Ironman, which meant I had to swim 3.8km, bike 180.2km and run 42.2km. Well, that friend flatly told my dad that he couldn't believe that it could be done!

Friend: Impossible one lah! Bike 180.2km leh! Its all the way to Melaka!

Haha. Wonder if my dad also told him that we had to do all three in 17 hours maximum. And to that friend, another 463 in Langkawi and many countless others in the past have proved him wrong, and many others will continue to do so. Vive l'Ironman! =D

ironed.

langkawi dreaming

All the leaves are brown
And the sky is grey
I went for a walk
On a winter's day

Yeah that's how the song goes in California Dreamin'. Except its not really winter here, and its not been a walk in the park either. Haha. The weather's just been hot hot and more hot. Who pressed the "heat on" button? Haha.

So far, there's been an unending list of tasks to be done, like bike assembly, recce of race route, get in some training, plus not to mention trying to rest and recover for the race! One more day.. Swim route is 1.9km out and back, water was pretty choppy when we went down in the afternoon. Bike course is pretty bad, some really steep sustained climbs early on and again at the end of the ride. As for the run, well its pretty flat, but its anyone's guess that the sultry afternoon heat will be the real challenge.

Went for registration today; as usual the t-shirt does not look very impressive. Why does Lotto have to be the sponsor?! Haha. Most of the designs are ok-able at best, and the event tee is just disgustingly orange. But I bought a shirt which had the print of an iron and a man. Iron + Man = Ironman, geddit? Haha damn lame.

Checked out the competition at the expo as well. Seems like there's quite a huge number of Pros this year. The ang moh age groupers look very strong as well! As for the fellow trifamers and Singaporeans, all look pretty acclimatised and ready as well! Very good! Met alot of friends and made alot more. There's a nice race vibe going all around, and everybody is giving each other the thumbs up on the streets, at the coffeeshops, in the pool, etc. There're 45 people in my age group this year, a 1000% increase from two years ago. There goes my Kona slot!

Anyway, my race number is 62.

Click here to look for live updates on the race, as well as use the live athlete tracking system to keep a lookout for me! Various segments for the swim bike and run will be updated real-time, so yeah you can be a "spectator" in Langkawi too! =)

Feeling quite tired now, after cramming most of the above into these 1.5 days that I've been here. There's still bike check in tomorrow, not to mention all the bike prepping and packing of special needs bags.. Damn. Wonder why I brought along my design textbook!

Ok, going to end off here and go up to the hotel room for some mee mamak. The carbo dinner was unsatisfying for want of a better word.. Ciao! See you post race! =D

leaving on a jet plane

At the airport now.. Using the free internet. =)

My flight (MI364) departs at 1435, so I still have some time to chill. Need some rest after all the hectic activity over the past few days.

See you in Langkawi!

too fast too soon!

Oh man.. Everything's spiraling out of control! 3 days of CNY have just passed like that. Quick update:

Sun (1st day): Biked at Mandai. Went to paternal grandma's place then to maternal grandma's place. Lunch. Came home. Finished Marvel Ultimate Alliance. Dinner. Mug.

Mon (2nd day): Went for CNY fun run with Mel through CBD and then Chinatown. Wow I got a angpow from him.. Hehe.. Thanks Mel! After that went home tried to mug, and then mug some more. Haha. Wanted to start packing, but decided to leave it to the next day.

Tues (3rd day - today): Started bike packing in the morning. Found out that pedals could not be removed. 2 hours passed without any progress, except for one very warped allen key. Panic. Call up bike stores. Amazingly managed to get Colin from Bike Haus. (!!!) Promised to help me if I brought my bike down. Rushed down to Bike Haus. Pedal removed. Missed lunch at Big Aunt's place as a result. :| Proceeded to finish packing up bike. Lunch. Aunt Helen and family came to visit. Entertained guests. Went for massage with Iggy. Dinner at Casurina prata place. Came home. Packed personal items. Printed notes. Write blog.

Whew! Today really passed by in a whirlwind. The result of too much procrastination and too little action. Am I glad that I'm almost done with the packing!

Race day is approaching. I dunno what to say or think! Ok, first I would like to thank all those who msged me with your well-wishes, and those who gave me advice. (Grace, Choonwei, David Mythos, Ah Cai, Bernard Wildcat, Sharon, Michele, Harn Wei, Mel, Iggy, Billy, Whelan, Chek and so many more) Thanks to all of you! Without you guys this 5-6 months would have been alot harder!

Ok as for race goals, I hope to achieve the following:
- Finish in 14 hours (not at the expense of enjoying it)
- Discover my athletic ability and my pain threshold
- See through the last phase of my training program
- Make as many like-minded friends as possible. Triathletes are fun-loving and make interesting and good friends! REALLY!
- Have fun! (See first point)

Yeah.. Hope that's it. Nothing much from me already. You can tune in to ironmanlive.com here and track my race progress on race day (24 Feb). I'll probably post up my race tag number at Langkawi so that you can find me easily. =) Another interesting article to note is this.

Ok some photos of my luggage. Hah guess that you didnt think that there's a bike inside that box! =D

All dressed up and ready to kick some ass!

Triathlete emotional baggage

Heh now I'm fretting if the wheels will crack, dérailleur will get damaged in the box.. Seems like a gamble! Oh well, guess I'll find out tomorrow! 140.6 miles of pain and suffering coming up!

les entraînements du semaine W-0

13 mardi: Nager 1km, Cycle 10km, Course 5km (SAFRA MF, TBB, Keppel)
15 jeudi: Course 12km (Kent Ridge)
17 samedi: Nager 1.5km (Sentosa)
18 dimanche: Cycle 70km (Mandai)

En total: Nager 2.5km, Cycle 70km, Course 17km

new year = fa cai?

Bonjour! Went to both my grandmas' place today for the 1st day of CNY visiting. Nothing fancy, just the usual routine, year-in, year-out. Saw familar faces, said my "Happy CNYs" and went home early in the afternoon to mug. Parents went to catch a movie. Hmm.. The whole visiting thing seems weird, even forced, as I only see my relatives once a year; thus not much in common to chat about. Luckily no more visiting for me this year! =)

Along the way I was exposed to more CNY songs. Couldn't help but notice (or hear) that for most of the songs, the main theme was to strike lottery and to become fantastically rich. Hmm.. Is that the point of CNY? Ok, I know that striking lottery is many peoples' dream, (heh.. I also wanna strike lottery, but I gotta know how to buy lottery first), but it seems that striking it rich through such fortuitous means seems to be the overriding sentiment, even over the CNY "spirit". Hmm.. Are these people searching for happiness? Or they think that money can bring them happiness?

For me, happiness is finally completing Marvel Ultimate Alliance.. Yeah! =D The power cosmic cannot be stopped!

Anyway here is a photo of sweet J.U.S.T.I.C.E. Follow-up to Grace's accident last year. So all cyclists/pedestrians out there, know your rights and do not be afraid to use them when you are caught in an accident/road incident! That aside, please drive/cycle/walk safely this festive season and also this new year. I dun want anymore jams on the expressways/roads. Its already packed as it is, please do not add to the clutter. =)

driver got pwned

GONG XI FA CAI!

Wow, time seems to pass so fast! New Year, start of sem, Valentine's Day and now its CNY already! And its exactly 1 week to IM Langkawi! Oh man..

Anyway its going to be l'année de cochon (year of the pig for you non-frenchies). Happy piggy year! More sloth and more pigging out (of course)! May the pork be with you!

Pigs fed and ready to fly!

nus biathlon 07

Helping Jasper with some free publicity efforts. If you can swim and run, and will be free on the morning of 4 March, why not head down to ECP for the NUS Biathlon? Challenge your limits and go the distance! Sign up now! Allez! =D

Embrace it. Brave it. NUS Biathlon 2007

bonne saint-valentin!

Pour tous les armoureux dans le monde!

Le Baiser de l'Hotel de Ville by Robert Doisneau

les entraînements du semaine W-1

6 mardi: Nager 1.5km, Course 5km (SAFRA, Mt Faber)
8 jeudi: Cycle 80km (Mandai)
9 vendredi: Nager 4km (Clementi)
10 samedi: Cycle 140km (Sengkang-ECP, Mandai)
11 dimanche: Course 14km, Nager 1km (Winchester, ECP)

En total: Nager 6.5km, Cycle 220km, Course 19km

sweet dreams are made of these..

les entraînements du semaine W-2

31 mercredi: Nager 1km (SAFRA)
1 jeudi: Cycle 80km (Mandai), Course 20km (SAFRA - NUS - Kent Ridge)
2 vendredi: Nager 2.5km (Clementi)
4 dimanche: Cycle 60km (Changi), Nager 3km (ECP F2)

En total: Nager 6.5km, Cycle 140km, Course 20km

ME boys' ride and mid-week marathon

Hola! Here's a midweek shoutout to all of you out there. Two more days to the weekend, which means more time for training! Yaay! =D

But maybe not for me.. Crashed today near Tengah. Was coming downhill and was going to overtake a bus when it just decided to pull out of the bus bay. Great decision. As the road was quite a narrow road and obviously my adamantium-less skeleton was not going to be no match for the hardened steel exterior of the bus, I had no choice to brake. Hard.

Could feel my wheels (Zipps somemore!) locking as I tried in vain to unclip. All was for naught as my skin was soon locked in a passionate embrace with the damp morning gravel road. Early bird gets the worm. Right. Luckily, bike was not damaged much. Greatest casualty was the left-side brake lever. Think it took most of the impact and it was out of alignment after the crash. Well, took it to BB for a little TLC after the ride. As for me, well skin and limbs can always regenerate right? =D

Went for SAFRA MF run in the evening. Looking back, maybe it was not such of a good choice. Left leg was still hurting (because of crash or a more sinister ITB problem?) and for the last 5km I was almost limping back. Didn't help that the route was a particularly hilly one (South Buona Vista and Kent Ridge) and we covered about 20km.

Sigh, no choice but to rest now. Having second thoughts about training for the weekend already. Maybe I have to reshuffle some things around..