Singapore ITU Triathlon/ Lantau ITU Triathlon & Winter time (sort of...)

Coming back to KL wasn't exactly "easy".

With the -7:00ish time zone difference +having said it was the furthest I'd ever travelled so far ment craving food at 3am and drooling throughout the day. I've learnt the joys of jetlag!

Well, it wouldn't of been so bad if I hadn't caught what seemed like Steve's flu on the way back, on the flight. It dragged on for a week and a half, which was quite the worry to be, with Singapore ITU Triathlon up next the following week. I could feel the weekend crawling in and did whatever I could to speed up my recovery, as well as regain my fitness. It was expected to be my first "proper" Olympic Distance race in the Elites.

However, a "not so favourable" swim lead me out of a small group of 4-5. I felt so fatigued to the bones from the start to the end of the swim, as well as the run into transition. I felt frozen in the 35°C heat blasts. A good transition gave me a good lead out onto the bike, but before half of the first bike loop, I found myself dropped off of the group and cruising (which still felt endlessly fatiguing) back for a DNF (sadly, yes another). Instead, I watched from behind the barriers and cheered as my teammates flew by.

The outcome probably had to do with a combination of exhaustion from the racing, travelling, but most probably with the flu.

I think Steve and I did an amazing job spreading the virus.

It took a while, but things started falling back into place and I was able to resume with my training.

A few good weeks passed and Lantau ITU Triathlon (Hong Kong) was up next. Another Elite (OD distance) and finale to my 2013 year.

Things flowed a little smoother, at least compared to Singapore, and I was out of the swim with 2 behind me, but the lead group too far to chase throughout the 870m run into transition. Yes! Blimming 870m! The tendons in my feet grew sore and stung, running through hard surface with nothing but a carpet between my feet and tarmac.

Scenic 870m run at least!

It wasn't long before I was caught on the bike by the 2, and reeled in another ahead to have a group of 4. We worked together throughout the loops consisted of a climb, descent, u-turn, back up the climb and down to repeat 7 times. Absolutely leg crushing. It was all teeth gritting the entire way through just to hang on to them. I pat myself on the back for managing to put out such a workload.

Off the bike, we were into a flat but 30%+ soft grass/dirt surfaced 10km run.

The legs were shattered from the all-out ride and the ache in the foot tendons jumped right back. For the first 1k I thought I would have needed to pull up, but fortunately enough it faded away by the end of the first lap. Getting some feet strengthening work in the future wouldn't kill!

At the end, I'm please with being able to give it my all in this race, especially win the run after smashing the bike! Much has been learnt. More yet still to learn.

Time spent now is on resting hard with the difficult task of putting my leg up, before getting back to start the 2014 season! Hoping for a good, strong "winter" training..

Thank you all for such a great support this year! It's been a wonderful season with many opportunities. I (and my team) are a very lucky bunch, especially thanks to TIME dotcom for such an amazing support!
Huge thanks also to:
-FHL/CEEPO for such an amazing weapon, plus the great services!
-AirasiaX for flights! (need I say more?)
-Rudy Project Malaysia for you know, epic sunglasses and comfy/aero helmets
-K-swiss for all the sweet kits
-DSA for the great support with training facilities as well as support in racing abroad
-Powerbar for powerbars
-TIME dotcom again, for the debt-owing support!!
-Of course, Mr. Lumley for putting it all together :-)

London World Championships / Eton European Junior ITU

 Just thought I'd start with;

I finished my first Junior World Championships!!

 On the 21^st of August, a blurry Wednesday afternoon, I woke up from a nap to an email buzzing on my phone. Taking a look at it, I couldn’t tell what was going on with words such as “good news” and “move athlete ** to start list…”

As I the words began to make sense as they structured in my head, I still spent about 10mins just sitting on my bed and looking around, confused.

Now my reaction would have been different at any other time, but obviously my system was still “booting up”, so I honestly had a very hard time deciding if I was still asleep or not. Pinching myself hurt, so I ran down stairs to my mum watching telly and danced about in front of it. She thought I was going a bit mental for a moment…

I originally had planned to join my team to fly to Bangkok for the Hua Hin Triathlon Queen’s Cup the exact weekend, but the plan changed drastically. I immediately had to inform my team members of the unexpected but exciting news, and chucked all the travel/race management over to them (sorry about that guys!). That very evening was just so happened to be Time Internet’s Open House (Our title sponsor), which men’t I had the great opportunity to spread the great news too all that support us. Afzal (Our boss) was definitely just as excited as I was! That evening upon arriving home, I got onto my laptop and immediately booked myself a ticket to Birmingham in less than a week.

Flying to Birmingham via KLM was great! (KL-Singapore-Paris-Birmingham), until I arrived to learn that they’d managed to leave my obvious, massive bike box and luggage at Singapore. I thought I did the smart thing of splitting things up between the luggages, but nope! I spent a day and a half without clothes (other than the ones I wore, obviously…). I got it all back the following afternoon, so I was able to rest easy.

I was fortunate enough to be provided a place to stay at Steve’s mum’s house in Redditch. It was a very warm and pleasant stay and I enjoyed every second of it. Thanks Joan and Jo Lumley!

Perfect long roads with scenic fields of green, sheep and cows occupied me throughout bike rides and runs.

Jess, Abby and Emily (Steve’s three nieces) were my favourite parts of the stay (other than stuffing myself to great food Joan cooked daily). It wasn’t long before I became Emily’s football coach (the youngest niece, and future football star), and played plenty during my off-times, in the back garden. She kicked my butt countless times.

George Goodwin took me down to Eton Lake on Friday for the race course familiarisation and race briefing for my very first European ITU Junior Cup. The next day Paul and George took me down for the race. George did great in his race, finishing in 7^th place (well done!) and then it was me turn to race.

Suddenly turning into a non-wetsuit swim, I struggled in the cold lake and swam out with a gap behind the chase group. Sprint hard out of the water and into a very quick transition managed to bridge the gap, but upon mounting, I found myself far behind the group with the legs just not responding. Another chase pack behind me caught up so I stuck to the back of it. Within half a lap, I was dropped by them again, with legs irresponsive. I rode on solo for another lap before Steve pulled me off, knowing that I was just absolutely shattered. That was the end of that.

The long travels and jet lag probably had a lot to do with how that race went, aside from the unfamiliar (but not new) experience of cold waters.

I was very glad to have raced it nevertheless, getting my system started and into the game, especially as I had been so relaxed before I knew I would be traveling this far...

That was race no.1 done.

As I continued to train using the facilities of Birmingham Uni, I felt myself get back into speed gradually. Running felt amazing (probably with such an amazing weather that lasted two weeks) as I felt a different gear driving me through the track. Swimming went better than I hoped as well, which was great.

I also joined BRAT Triathlon Club and took part in their small Aquathlon races, which was great fun. I think Malaysia could do with more of these small £4, “Race-&-BBQ” events!

On the weekend Steve took the challenge to compete in Ironman Wales, I trained together with Phil Wolfe. It was great and I was glad to have done so, as I’m sure it benefited both of us with the company.

“The Big Week” (London World, Sept 11^th – 14^th)”

We headed down to London on Wednesday and I gave the Serpentine Lake and had the race briefing later that day.

There had been some issues with trisuit design legitimacy, as my NF could not submit my current trisuit design.

I could not order any approved trisuits from my NF, as they only informed me of it the same time as my notice about the participation, so time was not a luxury I had. It was a relief that ITU had accepted my current trisuit as I had informed them of the issue in advance. Cheers for that TRIAM.

The word is cold. Utterly, Britishly cold. I had hoped too much for a wetsuit swim, thinking it would suit me better. The rain poured before my race which cooled things down even more just to play with the tropical kid a bit more. As we all lined up at the "Olympics Transition set-up", it all felt surreal. Watching it on television was one thing but seeing it all from the athlete's view was completely different! Then my name was called, and I jogged across the perfectly laid out blue carpet, and onto the pontoon start.

About 100m into the swim after the horn blast, I could immediately see a gap growing between the mass of splashes and I, but was hopeless with arms that felt like I had taken on 15kg weights each. It was the worst feeling I had ever experienced. It could have just been not being used to the wetsuit, the lack of movement with an additional compression top underneath, or the icy waters. I don’t know, but it was a bad time for that.

Coming out of the water 2^nd to last, I knew that my immediate goal would be to work hard to keep from being lapped. And I did, with good legs for once and a good ride time (considering I was alone..). The bike route was totally flat, designed for high speed. The tarmac was wet and slippery, putting more danger to the technical corners. There were some very bad crashes! I noticed a Japanese by the side picking his bike up from the side of the road, so I carried on not realising he would fly be me without giving me the chance to stick to his wheel for someone to work with (he never finished… Smart!). A different response could have had a different outcome.

I jumped of the bike and managed a 17:31min 5km run, which I was very pleased with (especially after riding all by myself the entire way!). It was good enough to step me up a placing, while others behind me called it quits. The roars from the crowd and cheers of support were nothing I had experienced before. It was spectacular. 

So there you go; furthest I had ever traveled, first European Cup, first wetsuit race, first World Championships, and first Malaysian Man to compete and complete a World Championships. Not a bad achievement in just one month, with only a week of notice in advance!

Thank you everyone for the great support that you have given, especially my friends, family, coach and all team sponsors as well as individual sponsors. 

These include Rudy Project Malaysia, CEEPO Bikes, Powerbar, Airasia X, FHL Sports, Kenanga, DSA, and our biggest support coming from TIME dotCom. Thanks Steve for the arrangement of everything! I’d have a full essay if I talked about it (It’s long enough as it is…).

I’ve now got FHL Circuit Cycling race next weekend, then Singapore ITU Triathlon Asian Cup (my first “proper” Elite category for full distance). The following month I will be racing around Hong Kong Disneyland (Lantau ITU Asian Cup), and hopefully Laguna Phuket Triathlon! Phuket would be a great place to just race for the joy and soak up the beach salt, sun, and everything amazing about Phuket.

Osaka ITU Sprint Triathlon Asian Cup

 Osaka was lovely place, especially the fact that our hotel was just right in front of the Universal Studios Japan. There were restaurants nearby with pasta and pizza, which was a real thumbs up.
The race was an Elite Sprint Distance event, meaning that everyone would be giving it a full on race and it would be a fight right from the start to the end.
78 athletes were on the start list; by far the largest and most competitive environment I have ever competed in. All athletes lined up for the dive into the start and as my number was called out much later (No.70), I dove into the cool sea and went for an inner spot hoping that I would have a better advantage if I got in a quick start. But before I could really prepare (It was hard to tell what was going with no one posing in a straight line), a very fast "Take you marks-GO" horn was sounded and I only began sprinting after realising the rest around me had already started. I cost me the chance of getting out of the field, meaning I had all 70 or so guys swimming into me. It was a tough fit with lots of hitting about, and losing the front group, I ended up leading the chase group out of the water.

I sprinted into transition and popped on my helmet before sprinted back out, hoping I could catch back up to them, but I was out of luck with a gap size too large. Instead, our group worked together to try to chase the riders ahead. There was little to no rests throughout the bike course, working up the bridge, flying downhill before a 180° U-turn and back up and across the bridge again. Down that side would be a 90° turn, and another 90° turn again. At the end of this was another U-turn to repeat the loop another 3 times. It was basically a "hook-shaped" course, with a climb on the long stretch.
Working hard, our group finally caught a large pack ahead on the last hill of the last lap. It almost completely restless, with not much help drafting up the hills, speeding down the hills and 4 accelerations after corners u-turns. At the end of the first loop, there was a crash directly in front of me right after the u-turn to start the 2nd loop. Luckily though, I was well aware that something wasn't right when the man in front had started to lose control. Managing to manoeuvre around the fallen cyclist, I was able to stay with the group for the rest of the ride.  The amount of effort put in throughout the bike men't that we would soon pay a immense debt to the legs, and would be running 5km after that with legs practically gone.

By the dismount I had already realised that I had over-exerted myself on the bike, so I had to really pace myself well to avoid burning up with a DNF (at this point it felt like finishing was the primary goal). The 1.6km run loop consisted of a gradual incline up till the turn before running back down. More climbing, wonderful! It was mainly open paths as well, meaning we were exposed to the scorching sun of about 35°C and a clear blue sky.
I kept my head down and continued to push as hard as possible, keeping the pace up no matter what.
On the final loop I had a good sprint finishing, which in turn helped put me up a few positions as well. I would have had it in me to push past the others without the sprint.
In the end I finished in 41st place.
Mixed feelings I'd say. I expected a different outcome, but sort of had this coming as well. The fact that I pushed like never before was a good thing as well, and most importantly it was a great experience and learning curve. Arrows pointing slightly closer to "Pleased" than "Disappointed".

June Happenings

Sorry for not having blogged up anything "proper" in awhile. Haven't really got much of an excuse other than sitting on my butt and flickering through the telly (when I'm not training regularly, obviously). At least I'm doing something right.

Btw you must be wondering, "why on earth is Riki's blog all pink and stuff??"
Before you go all ewww on me, let me explain that this is because our Team has just endorsed a new sponsor, and extremely proud of it.
With the generous amount of support coming from Time Internet (Time.com.my), they have taken over us to be officially now known as Team Time. Thus, we are immensely proud to wear their corporate colour "Magenta".
So huge thank you Time for the support, especially with the recent event Port Dickson International Triathlon, as well as plenty of press interviews and such!
With their support, the team is able to travel more to race, have more support in training, and altogether be able to achieve greater goals and soar beyond the stars.

-Pink is manly.

After I had my crash, I was basically missing swim sessions for about a week and off the roads for nearly a month, meaning I had to skip the final leg of Malakoff Duathlon Series, which I was so anticipating. With a flat first 3km run (before a technical 12km bike and another 3km run), I was really keen on testing my legs to see where I was at. *guts thrown down the pipes*..

Aside from that, I was unable to do any running or cycling on the roads. This men't painfully boring 3hr turbo sessions, and 30min water running sessions that feels like a day. Swimming itself was great fun too, with chlorinated water rubbing around my 50cent-deep bruises and scabs tearing apart. Mark Cheong named it "50cent, rotten crater" just to make sure people were given a good visualisation. 

It wasn't all that bad though, as this gave me the opportunity to really focus on the use of core muscles for running (in water), striding, strengthening of glute flexes and keeping the arms compact together.

More time spent in the water also men't working on better swim technique (and pain tolerance!).

Hitting the roads again definitely felt awkward after having gotten use to moving your legs around water, floating, tied to a band, and looking like a complete fool to others.

I began to regain confidence as the end of the month creeped in, during which I would be racing in Port Dickson.
I was a going through a bit of the Gollum, saying "You're not ready! You crashed and haven't been running at all". "Yes I am! I've been training well", "No, you can't handle the roads yet", and so on.
Of course, the first few days back was awful, but it all came back surprising quick.

16th June was when the first event of Sentul Race Series was held. A 2x10.25km looped Individual TT (Time Trial). The results would be used to group use in the respective categories A, B, C, D, based on performance (Timings).
Being my first proper time trial race, it was really exciting. Completely different way to how we would usually race. No energy saving for the run, just hammering the paddles all the way through, correct pacing, not to mention the fact that we aren't getting on the bikes wet after a battle in the open waters!
I finished in 22nd Place with an average of 36km/hr. It may not sound fast (and most likely isn't), but the route was fairly punishing, with constant hills and that one section where it was a crazy headwind on an uphill.
I loved it. Not the painful parts.. The experience of it all, trying out a bike race like that.
This race I think helped kick myself back up as well after the crash.

Port Dickson triathlon was definitely tougher than it was last year, with a bigger age category (16-29), but mainly with the majority of the junior HK squad flying over. The race was a fast 750m (or more..) swim, 20km cycling through the open rolling hills, before a gruelling 5km run, including about 2.5km worth of sand/beach running. Yes, plenty of toes bled that morning.
The swim went smoothly, coming out comfortably with the leading group.
The moment we got on our bikes there were already some break away attempts, but it was resolved smoothly too. Not much to say except it was a fairly good paced ride, sitting comfortably at 38km/hr.
The run was all about pacing and technique. Watching the boys take off right off the bike, I held back making sure to keep myself in control and not get too carried away. Throughout the run I gradually ate back some ground from back in 6th, still saving a little bit in the tank. We ran by Dave Spence, sat in the wheelchair out under the scorching sun just to give us that support and guidance of direction. He made a huge difference, encouraging us to push on till the end. So thank you Dave, for always being so over supportive.
Though it was only a 5km, I knew that some energy needed to be reserved so I could hammer through the most agonising parts which were the sands. By then I had secured myself a solid 3rd placing and held it all the way through to the finish shoot. Though I had a good race, it definitely could have been better. As Dave said to me later that day: "Never look back", that's where I realised that if there was any mistake made in that race, that was it.
Never look back to at who's behind you. It shows you're concerned of failing, wanting to stay where you are and afraid of going back. Look forward. Strive for more. Ask yourself: who's next.

Post race was my favourite. Big tent set up by Time Internet for us, with goodie bags, lockers, drinks, seats, constantly active camera crews, and physiotherapists! It was absolutely amazing and I can't thank them enough for it.

All the water running definitely made some improvements!

The next day our Team Time had 3 teams entered in the relay. The mixed team, junior mixed team, and men's relay team (which I ran for). I had to run 1km on the beach after the swimmer swam his 1600m, before passing onto the cyclist for his 40km ride. I would then run another 9km on the extended version of the 5km run loop. I think I did very well. No, the team did very well. We all (Hendrik, Danny Feng, Me) did all our best, relying on each other to push harder and managed to put in a solid performance to take 2nd place (overall in relay too).

So yeah, that rounds up late August and June. A great 2 months flew by and now I am in the midst of packing for my next major trip- Osaka ITU Sprint Triathlon Asian Cup.
A full start list of 70 men.
I'd say the race down at PD gave me a good confidence boost and some race preparation for it. What better race prep then to actually have a race?
I will be flying of this Thursday midnight, so wish me luck!

Riki

A little something about dangers, safety, and my life being saved

It all began on a day like any other. A morning weekend long ride with the team up and around hills.

This time though, I happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. 

Random chuck of  road missing

It was a Sunday morning just a day after our second round of Malakoff University Duathlon Series, a short, fast and exciting event. I say that, but the bike loop of the race consisted of two loops of pain inducing steep hills and technical descents. That was something I favoured though. With my weight I had the advantage on the climbs over the rest, saving much more energy, putting less watts in and producing less lactic. It all made the difference in the final 3km run, where I was able to put a good distance on the field to finish first.. Great event as always!

Back to the story, the team and I had a good ride up Hulu Langat, doing our hill sessions while enjoying the "interesting" sightings.

As we finished our final repetition on the hills, it was time for a descent back before a good lunch and home.

That is, until ME happened.

As I was descending (the rest were ahead of me and out of sight as I had a short stop to clean off some vines wedged in my rear brake), I came to this corner where a massive sign board was placed in the middle of my side of the road, leaving only the right lane to be free. Knowing the dangers in the tight, blind spot, I slowed down a little and tried staying as close to the board as I could to avoid incoming vehicles or other ascending cyclists.

This sign board

But as I approached it, a large group of motorbikers (in their fancy sports bikes and full biking kits) flew up. It was a large group of about ten or more, roaring up fiercely (or rather recklessly) and took up the entire lane. As if that wasn't enough, some idiot even tried overtaking the leaders in rows of three through a tight spot to their right (my left)..
That was what they had been doing just as I approached, and did not even care to give any space for me to pass through at all. I was already at that position when the motorists came so I did not have a chance to spot to let them pass, or ride through before they approached.
Knowing I was facing grave danger of colliding head on with the motorists speeding at 80kph or so, I leaned as far left as I could, when I notice another rider from the back making a wider turn, about to ride into me.
I only had a split second to react.
I immediately jerked my handlebars further to the left, smashing myself into the pole supporting the sign post, barely escaping the motorist, and was sent hurling off my bike to kiss the tarmac road.
Obviously I wasn't feeling rather found of giving the road a peck at 40kph so I tucked my head in in an attempt to roll through the fall.
The side of my head and shoulder took most of the impact (Shattering my few months old great helmet) before doing a barrel roll for another few meters.

Yes my leg did that... Ouch?

I must have been exploding with adrenaline for I immediately jumped to my feet in (what I think) was my body's way if saying it didn't like being on the tarmac very much.

What really did me head in was seeing that group continue to ride off and out of sight.
So much for road safety...

Surprisingly the injuries were minor, other than road rashes and bruises, as well as a swelling left leg from smacking into the support bar (which was what caused my crashed).

I made a decision to take a fall, rather than a risk of being hit by a speeding vehicle head on. I basically made a life and death choice...

As well as that, there's one HUGE lesson to be learnt from here, for everyone.
Casual cyclists, professional, whatever- ALWAYS WEAR A HELMET (Preferably a quality one that guaranties safety).

When I fell, I took majority of the impact on the helmet, completely smash my beautiful Rudy Project Windmax. The force was large enough it compressed my head (where the impact was), and caused blood to swell beneath the helmet line. A big lump across my right eyebrow. I was lucky to have tucked my head in too or I'd be in a neck brace right now, probably in a hospital bed.
So just imagine, I had no helmet on, or if my helmet weren't designed to withstand that impact.
Imagine the impact directly on your forehead (or a helmet that just wasn't use at absorbing the shock.

As cheesy as this may be, or a cliche (truth though), my Windmax saved my life.

-Time to pick a new helmet as well!

Subic Bay ASTC Triathlon Asian Championships

Since coming back from Palembang, I had a good few weeks to put in a bit of solid training before the Asian Championships came up. It was a great timing to have Radka Vodičková stop by for a few days in KL (before heading off to Vietnam and San Diego). Definitely a quality few days of training for me.
Not long after, it was packing time and off to Subic Bay. We would've preferred flying some nights earlier, but Friday morning flight seemed much better than a Thursday night flight (plus it arrived on Friday midnight anyway).

It was definitely a very rushed and tiring day. Delayed flight and time costing immigration meant arriving late for kit check - rushing through the bike set up - quick lunch - bike test - little swim - shower - briefing - dinner - water/food shopping - change of rooms due to broken aircond - race kit packing - sleep. (Try not to sing through that with the "Friday" song..)
So our original structured day plan was trashed..
Come to think of it that was one hell of a day!!

We were up very early (most of us would consider it as midnight) at 3am for a little bit of food and dropping off our shoes and T2 equipment at our allocated spots along a massive stretch. T1 and T2 areas were 10km apart.

Had a good warm up spin to Dungaree Beach swim start, and a bigger swim warm up this time (to avoid Geelong all over again!). I definitely felt a little drained from all the travelling and stress from the rush, with literally no time to settle in. Felt good though so that's alright.

49 Junior Elites on the start list. That's a record breaker for me! Unfortunately for me I had to take the inner start, knowing I would have everyone swimming into me. Lacked a strong start in the first 100m of the swim, meaning I was absolutely battered with 40 or so guys squeezing in.

It was a full-on war, people swimming over me, pushing me into the lane ropes, pulling, kicking and one-eyeing the swim after a kick leaked water into my left goggle. By the time it had settled, I was in a
smaller group of 5 about 50sec down the leaders, somewhere in the 20th placings. I would say my start dictated my race outcome. Not a bad swim, but could've been better.. Though a 9:30 swim is definitely reassuring especially after Geelong!

Onto the bike, there wasn't much of sitting around with all of us sharing the load throughout the 10km +8km rough, sandy loop, shorter than the usual 20km (the 200m long stretch to transition makes up for it though!). Legs felt strong from the start to the end so I put in a bit of work as well to keep to pace going. A large pack tried to chase us down but we managed to hold them off all the way to the end. Nearly lost my group twice. Once riding through a large patch of sand, and another after missing the U-Turn point. Other than that the we stayed together the whole way, picking up some other bikers we caught up to. Putting in those Watts was sure to do some damage on the run. At this point I knew I didn't have the legs to run with most of these guys, but I did what I could, saving as much as I can before the dismount.

Immediately off the bike the group took off to leave me solo, running at a more reasonable and manageable pace. A stitch came on early and never went away, but I kept the pace going the first lap, and gritted my teeth as I pushed harder, speeding up on the second lap and managed to narrow the gap to my group but not enough to finish with them. Probably the smartest thing I did, knowing I would have blown up if I went off too fast too early, proven when I caught back and also overtook some competitors in the end to finish in 21st positioning.

Mixed feelings with this race. Glad that my race went pretty well, but not what I had expected in the field and ranking.. To know that a better starting could of potentially made a significant difference to my placing. Initially really disappointed with how it went until the results and splits came out, which proved otherwise. Something to learn from, but never to dwell on!
No thanks to Matt Denby, Leon Knight and Benjamin Ross Proud for distracting me with endless Candy Crush requests.. (Just kidding, but NO I don't want to play!)

So now I'm back in KL and ready to take on a good solid block of training, entering myself into some good races here in KL. I know what's missing now after a great experience in the competitive field, where the gaps need filling and to continue building blocks. Glad to be back home after a fast paced weekend! Looking forward to the Malakoff Duathlon Series this May and some more ITU racing after!

Once again huge thanks to Team MET sponsors, Rudy Project, CEEPO, K-Swiss for their wonderful support as always.

South Sumatra ITU Triathlon "Premium" Asian Cup

First off, before I begin going into any detail with my race report, here's a bit of feedback on the event; This race (which I did not expect much of) was about a hundred feet below my expectations. To be fair, it was a truly, utterly and disappointingly terrible organisation. Don't take me for wrong, the Triathlon Association of Indonesia did and wonderful job with their support, with very attractive prize money and actually running the event. It's not an easy job handling athlete's from around the world and getting traffic control. The crowd of supporters on the streets during the event was unexpectedly pleasant (school boys and girls were all spread out all over as if instructed!) and they greeted us gracefully with well organised transport, accommodation and food.

The race organisation was hell.

I'm talking unclear briefing schedules, confusing and non-informative race briefings, on-the-day changes in race routes (without official announcement, or any at all!), not well briefed volunteers (can't blame them, they did the best they could), water stations, spare wheels not delivered to wheel stops, route hazards gone unnoticed, and some others which I'll go into detail later.
Basically, the organisers didn't know what they were doing (well not all, some of them were actually doing a great job at trying to hold all of this together. Kudos to them).

It was very disappointing, especially to be considered ITU standard...

I'm really sorry for such harsh words to begin with, but it wasn't something that be gone ignored.


On the day we arrived at Palembang airport, we had a fairly slow immigration but immediately after, we were greeted with warmth and had a speedy procedure with the luggages and quickly up on the event bus to Jakabaring Sports City, the venue of SEA Games.
Upon arrival, we had our rooms sorted fairly quickly and dinner had already been prepared before hand. Cold spaghetti and chicken weren't exactly the first class selections, but we all got by (was still edible!).

Our MET team headed to the registration lounge the afternoon after, and had ourselves registered and race kits checked before the race briefing commenced. When our trisuits were displayed to the official in charge of ITU uniform check, we were all "given a final warning" as our logo placements weren't ITU legal. Specifically, the area below name and country code. We were told only a total of ONE sponsor logo was allowed in the space "according to the rules". I then proceeded to talk back to him saying that wasn't true, as I had just read the ITU rules few days ago, and plenty of times. Steve was there to back me up.
Despite that, the official held his ground until it was when I urged him to re-read the rules (right infront of him!) that he fell silent and let us proceed.
Not very good image already...

Into the briefing room we went, where we were "briefed". There was a lot of jumping about in category distances and laps. Changes in schedules were properly addressed. Heck I could barely understand what the man was trying to say! It seemed he wasn't sure about the usage of a Powerpoint, jumping about screens, and ending up using a completely different map (kids route) to inform us of our 2x5km run loop. There was no information on the direction of entry and exit of the T1 or T2. I felt sorry for the age groupers and duathlete's, as they were all told the briefing was at the same time as the Elite briefing, but not a single word of their routes and rules were told. It was only after the briefing, that the age groupers were told that their briefing was before ours! And that the duathlete's briefing was after.

So that was a fairly useless briefing.

On Saturday morning, the duathletes raced. There were three from Malaysia: Shahrom, Krisha & Hafiz. It was great to watch them race and show some support.
This is where it gets odd..
At the blow of the whistle, the Elites were sent off for their first 10km run (starting from an awkward "imaginary line"), and within 12min or so the leaders were back, lead into a dog leg (that was only ment for the final lap) and led out back the the transition already! Lucky enough they realised it and turned back to continue their second loop. Of course, everyone else got confused and did the dog leg loop as well. After a while, the leaders returned from their second and final loop, where they were then sent for their THIRD loop. There was a huge confusion between all the athletes as well as the crowds who knew that the initial route was ment to be only 2 loops. You could see the huge frustration in all their faces. They ended up doing 12-13km.
Aside from that, there weren't any other issues and the race went on smoothly.
Shahrom finished with a shiny silver placing while Hafiz finish 7th and Krishna finished 8th. Congrats to them! (Note Hafiz was by far the youngest, and was his very first Elite Duathlon international race)

The races ended quickly and we had finished our jog and swim, so we headed back to our dorms and rested up.
Not that I had anything against it, but the dorm seriously looked like a jail. It rained heavily so there were groups running loops on the top floor and guys spinning on turbos, which added to the feeling! Absolutely nothing to do with no shops or cafe's or anything nearby. On the bright side, we got plenty of rest and saved much money! (Although some of us were starting to go a little insane from the boredom..)

Day 3: Elite and Junior Elite Triathlon

You don't want to be belly flopping at this height!

The race was pretty early (would've been 6am if it had not been delayed by half an hour) and so we were up and about with our usual morning routines. Got out to the race site, set our bikes up, and hopped on a bus that took us all the the swim start. On the way an official stood up and asked all of us Elites "So, is 15-20min warm up enough? Shall we start at 6:30 if it is OK with you guys?". Very reassuring knowing the organisers have a planned schedule...
We got to te pontoon and just before we were about to dive in for a warm up, another official came up and told us athletes about a change in the run route, that an additional section was added so it's be more accurate to 10km. Of course, a load of athletes had a go at him for saying last minute with no official announcement.. So at this point we were seriously doubting the organisation of this race.
Either ways, we all lined up after the warm up, and the horn blasted, and we dived off the high pontoon.
Within the first 300m I could see the groups had already begun to rearrange itself, with the top swimming taking off. I knew I would have much of a chance keeping with them, knowing my current fitness and decided to stick as close as I could to 2 Australians who were swimming at a pace much more manageable for me. Some of you may have seen the video of what happened in our swim. Fot those who haven't, basically, after swimming out and back, we were supposed to turn right at an orange buoy that would lead us straight to the transition. The leaders were swimming towards it when a canoe completely blocked the path, redirecting them to continue straight on. 2 at the front went off, while the others still made the turn after the canoe. These 2 guys had gone from leading to not even near the pack. About a minute after, me and the 2 Australians got the the buoy, where we were also misdirected. I presume that the guys saw 2 other guys far infront, and thinking that was the correct way (and with the canoe blocking) the also went on straight. I stuck behind them.
It was ridiculous. We'd gone from a minute down to 3min down all because of the official's misdirections. I knew something was wrong when we were still swimming straight, with the exit visible to my right, but I knew it would be better to stick to them anyway (better someone to work with than solo!).
Video Clip of our swim here:
<iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/video/embed?video_id=548884081823322" width="568" height="320" frameborder="0"></iframe>

So after a long swim we were out of the water, and I had a good transition, exiting second. I tried chasing the person infront, but he was too far infront and stronger than me so I held back and waited a little for Ben Hammond (who was behind me) before working our way through the wet bike course together.
I felt pretty flat the entire way, but still did my best to share the work out between us. He worked much more than I did, but I did what I could to at least keep the pace up even if it ment shorter intervals. He didn't seem to mind the ratio of the work (better than no one to work with) and so we kept on.
That was, until I had a flat just before finished our second loop of 3... I had in mind that I was only 200m from the wheel station so if i could change it, I'd still had plenty of time till the pack behind me caught up, and we could work together.

Finally changing my wheels after 6mins of havoc

I got to the fountain, where an official shout at me to go to the fountain. Nothing there. Then the other side. nothing again. I was then directed to cycle down another 100m to a yellow tent that was the official wheel station. It was empty. Out of frustration I screamed at the guy demanding for why wheels, to which he responded with a "oops" in his face. I waited about 2min before he came running back running 2 sets of wheels and asked me what country I was from. How could he have not seen my trisuit spelling MAS in a bold white font.. He had brought 2 completely different country wheel sets and at this point I was screaming (I was losing way too much time). Barry and his group past by. That was my backup group and my only chance of getting back into the race. I decided to cycle back to where ever it is they had left the wheels and search for myself. Turns out it was placed behind a guardhouse, in the Penalty Box area and no one had bothered to transport it to the wheel station. I quickly got my rear wheel change and got back on. At this point I had lost so much time that the Elite Womens were just 500m behind me. I'd lost motivation and interest in this race (yep, they passed me) and all I cared about was finishing the race. Again, not the volunteers fault. He did his best to help.

Upon getting off the bike, I steadily jogged my way through the 10km loop in 45min. I was very disappointed  Not with myself. If anything I am real proud to have finished my first Elite Opens standard distance, swimming well, and crossing the line despite all that bullshit.
I was disappointed with how the race had been organised. How much of a fail it was. It was honestly terrible, and our local events were definitely held much better than this was.
Darn it, they even left the plastic coverings on the water bottles in the water stations.
It's incredibly frustrating when you know you were doing so well, but when something goes so terribly wrong and it has nothing to do with you, and in fact the lack of effort of others to keep the race together. (Flat tires happen. Nothing can be done).

I was getting worried that my wheels would never return back to my (By now trust was more of a fantasy). Luckily I did getting back, with Melody Tan handing them back to us personally. Huge thanks to her. She was one of them who actually put her whole head into doing what she can and holding it together. Huge thanks to those who did what they could. It must've been extremely hard taking all these problems in.

I still finished the race, so that's a win.

Race sum up: Real chuffed with how I raced. Real disappointed with how the event was held.

Back into training now, putting a few good blocks in before taking off for my next and pretty important race is Subic Bay ASTC Triathlon Asian Championships, just 4 weeks from now. It's been great being able to travel and race more (majorly because of the support we are getting from the sponsors of our team MET). So huge thanks to them! Definitely a great big thanks to my new recent sponsor as well, Rudy Project Malaysia.

Team with our new fab trisuits

Butt shot 

The road goes on...

Hey everyone,

I just want to thank you all who have been reading my posts and keeping up to date. it has been a great pleasure and I truly appreciate your support. It has been wonderful.

After what has happened in the past few weeks, it's made me think harder about what I want to do in the future, and made me plan it differently.

I've made up my mind, and decided that I will be taking a different path down the road.
It has been a great experience, training, travelling, making new friends and learning so much. It was the best I could have ever asked for.
Having not studied for so long now, I think I need to resume my educational side, catch up on what I had missed, and go on to strive for a bigger and brighter future.
The support has been great, and I want to thank all the supporters and sponsors that have guided me all the way and brought me up to where I stand now.

This sport has widened my eyes and I've seen so much, though there is still a whole lot more that I have yet to explore.

I will try my best to continue keeping this blog up with what I am doing and what not.

Once again and for the final time, huge thanks to everyone!





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April Fools!

No way Imma be quitting this sport. I love it with my soul!
Working on my South Sumatra race report which I'll be posting up shortly.

Maybe a rating? :-)

MetaSprint Series: Duathlon Sprint

For the past few weeks I had been catching a number of viruses, with one in particular that affected my performance and fitness in general. It was an irritation deep down in my respiratory system. It itched at every breath, forcing out spasms of coughs that would just go on and on in a chain reaction after it had been set off. It was bad.
First catching it after returning from Singapore early in March, I disregarded it as a tiredness from the travels and the scorching heat Malaysia had been chucking down. And so I continued training. But as the days went by, it got worse and eventually I was down with a slight fever (had no idea, thinking it was the weather giving me a hot head!) and went for the local doctors.
I got a basic check up and was dismissed with Vita C and cough syrup. But it did not help and after 7 breathless days, I decided I needed a proper doctor. Got some antibiotics and finally started recovering slowly, just a week out from the race.

As I recovered, I began feeling good in my training and was glad I still had some form to hit the roads strong. Wasn't quite the same in the pool though. But I'll get there.

Friday came pretty quite and Hafiz had just arrived in the morning from Penang, just after my usual early morning swim and a bit of gym. We chilled for a bit and tried going for a short ride, before thrashing it due to terrible traffic. Some stupid bus even threatened to drive head-straight into us! We got our bikes packed and had a good nights sleep. The following morning we were up for an early but quick flight down to Singapore. Pretty amazing for Hafiz, travelling 4 hours down, to pack the bike and travel to Singapore, race the next day, and travel straight back to KL, before another 4 hour trip back to Penang!

It wasn't long before we landed and tried to sort out our transport to the hotel (ended up getting in 2 separate cabs half the cost of a van), set up our bikes, and went out to try find our way to the race site for a course rekkie.. What was supposedly a 16min journey turned into a 1:45hr tour all the way to the north of Singapore, having absolutely no clue where on earth we were, under a punishing storm. Retracing our steps wasn't exactly helpful as all roads looked the same and only took us deeper in the wilderness! Anyways, we eventually found our way back to the hotel after asking dozens of taxis and pedestrians and started right from scratch, refusing to give up (better finding the roads now than race morning! ). And so we did, had a quick look and spun back for it was already close to sundown (and we were wet and exhausted!).

The Elite Wave was flagged off at 8 in the morning, which I did not mind and had gotten used to after many morning races which were typical in the warm climates of Asia. Besides, it was better that way, staying out of the sun.
Within the first km into the 3km run I was soon close to the front, sitting comfortably at 6th place overall, where I held a good, strong but comfortable pace for the remains of the loop, pushing through some hills just to shake off any clingers behind me. I guessed to chase the veterans/pro's would've been over ambitious! Other than that, I maintained and tried saving some legs for the 20km flat, non-drafting bike leg. Very quickly we were into the transition and I grabbed my bike and ran across the uneven grassy grounds before mounting my bike.

My truly sincere apologies goes to the volunteer whom I ambushed as I was running with my bike. But honestly, you were completely blocking the narrow path out of transition!!

Feeling strong, I kept up a good pace (I think), not know what pace I was actually going at, with the sensor failing on me. It was fairly hard judging the pace just based on my gearings and cadence, but I managed, going by feel instead. I maintained a high cadence in a tight aero position throughout (with me new, sparkling Rudy Project Wingspan!). I must say, it really felt good being able to cut through the air with more ease. Eventually some strong veteran riders passed me but I held my ground knowing I was still strongly leading my age category, and wanted to stay out of trouble with the busy narrow roads as age groupers were flooding in and really putting up a dangerous obstacle throughout this 5km loop with 2 U-turns. Plus I still have another race the following weekend in Indonesia, being my first Elite Olympic Distance!

Soon enough it was time to dismount, where I was greeted with another volunteer smart enough to walk right into me with his back. In a quick, panicked reaction, I detoured trying to avoid another and possibly more serious collision, and my bike hit a cone and slipped off my hand. Falling and picking it up cost me valuable seconds (2 people passed me!) and possibly 2 overall placings. I just kept my calm (not as hard when you know you're still leading by a fair chunk) and went on with the race.
I managed to run down 1 guy but couldn't do much with the huge crowd of athlete clogging up the entire run loop. It was pretty difficult having to accelerate and slow down again for another blockage, weaving through tiny gaps you spot, and make long or uncomfortable detours to get around. I still managed to outrun plenty, so I guess being a skinny, narrow shouldered guy has it's advantages!


Eventually got the the grassy bit of the loop that lead straight into the finish shoot, enjoying the moment with the crowd and a sigh of relief that it was all over.
Overall I guess you could say that I had lead in my category right from gun to tape!

It was a great race and I crossed the finish line to claim the title, 3min back from the overall leader. I felt good the entire way but failed to really push and test my limits. Guess I'll get my chance next week!

Aside from the half awake volunteers having me some worries, it was a great race, with the usual great organisation! Thanks MetaSprint for a wonderful race! It was a pleasure taking part in the event.

Thank you Rudy Project as well for Wingspan, without which I could have possibly lost out on a few placings on the bike leg. Thank you MET for supporting us all the way throughout the entire event!!

Year of the Slytherins/Geelong ITU Sprint Triathlon

Hi everyone,

Wishing you all a *late* Happy New Year and Gong Xi Fa Chai!
May the year of the snakes be ever in your favour!




Sorry it took me so long for this update. I had been confused, stressed and a little depressed for a few days for reasons I shall explain in a bit.

So back in late December 2012 (I know! New Years already!), I had already begun unpacking my bike  after a bit of holiday'ing and gotten back into my training to get ready for the big 2013 season. It wasn't a very consistent reversibility process though as I had caught some sort of flu early January, and again just after recovering, just 2 weeks out from what was to be the toughest, most challenging and yet exciting first race in Geelong, Melbourne to start my year off.

So far it's been a wonderful start to the year, with massive presents, better than those wrapped up in boxes.
MET (Malaysia Elite Triathlon) team had been officially launched, huge thanks to Steve Lumley for his efforts to hunt and gather sponsors together to support us athletes in our competitive needs. We had been talking about starting up this team since the start of last year, slowly gathering information and resources to go about setting up this team, and now that it has finally launched, we couldn't be any more excited. This team had been solely set up to help support us Malaysian athletes (Triathletes and even Duathletes) with bike servicing, equipment aid, nutritional aid, and most importantly, financial aid to train and race.
Team MET is currently sponsored by DSA (Dolphins Swim Academy), Powerbar, FHLsports, Airasia X and SEGI College.
Huge thanks for all your supports!!
It's definitely the biggest thing to happen in Malaysian triathlon and we hope it will continue to grow.

Powerbar to fuel myself in preparation for the race

I've also managed to raise a few hands for my personal support, such as CEEPO Bikes from Mr. Tanaka (Huge thanks to FHL for helping to organising this all! Wouldn't be in this position without them!).
K-Swiss had also offered to take me up as their ambassador, providing plenty of equipment to keep me on the feet for the year, which we are still so working out a way to manage together with the team.
I am also privileged to continue working together with Oakley Malaysia.


So after CEEPO had accepting to provide me with a pair of Mamba Frame, all that needed was to get it shipped in in time and have all components set up. That was a surprisingly quick process thanks to Mr. Tanaka for arranging to have the bike shipped in within 2 weeks, and FHLsports setting it all up within a day, I was able to have a new set ready to race in Geelong a week after (I know it's not ideal to race with a week old bike, but I managed!). FHLsports was also wonderful enough to provide me with a pair of Reynolds Assault Race Wheels.

I gave the new 2013 model white Mamba a few good rides with the national cyclists, putting in a few efforts and testing it up to speeds above 80km/hr.
I must say, I'm real please with it's response and handling! It was a very smooth and comfortable ride, with the added stability and handling of the Reynolds Assaults. It handled the crosswinds pretty well whilst giving a very good acceleration even into headwinds. I was able to take cornering's with more confidence, with better control of the bike and the profile design of the race rims. I felt light on the bike the entire journey and the bike and wheels seemed to just respond near perfect to my outputs. Considering my own body weight, I would have expected to be easily tossed around by the winds, but I was in much control, feeling the winds cutting through with ease. Every pedal stroke was well spent and put to good use.
Climbs and stood up pedalling felt very comfortable and efficient too with the incredible stiffness of the bike. Hard as a brick!

I then had a final spin on Wednesday and packed my bike up that night, and hopped on the plane the evening after.
This was a trip for just the two of us (me and Steve Lumley).
Huge thanks to Azran for provide us with flight tickets to board Airasia X! Would have definately reconsidered it if it weren't for his generous support. Go Airasia X!

The sleeping pills had little effect to the cramped, upright seats and an 8 hour flight at 10pm to 9am was honestly pretty stiffening, but I was glad to have still managed to catch a bit of sleep.
On the morning of arrival we rented a little car and I set my bike up after checking into our Motel and immediately passed out on our beds for awhile (Need I say why?)
For the past few days, it had been a lovely weather down in Geelong, and I felt pretty good swimming up and down the clear waters and riding on the roads, boosting my confidence a little.
I was definitely impressed with the beautiful and scenic environment with such an oddly perfect weather, especially after hearing about the intense killer heat waves, It wasn't what I had expected.

It all seemed perfect and I felt like I was at the best I could ever be this early in the year.
Well, at least until I actually raced it...

Race day:
I had a few good pre-race warm ups and ticked off my last minute checklist and soon we all lined up to jump into the chilly waters for a water start to the 750m swim. Bare in mind we were told just the day before that it had been changed to a non wetsuit swim, which played to my disadvantage especially as I spent a fair bit putting on and taking it off! Well, that and also because I know it would be a tough fight out in the sea...
By 3pm we dove into the sea and lined up between the start buoys, and were quickly sent off with a blow of the horn. At this point I was feeling pretty good and kept myself in there.. Well, up to the first buoy.
Something happened (up till now I'm not quite sure what!) and I went from with the group to 50m behind and chasing my guts out. It could've just been a shock to the system after having too much turkeys the month before, or that I lacked race fitness, or judged the turn at buoy wrong.. So many possibilities.. My best believe is still that some Jedi had a shitty day and decided to pick on me.

I exited the waters about 40sec down the last athlete (Yup, I got the sympathy claps) and ran towards the only bike that was left in the transition. As I got on the bike I immediately went for the drops and drilled my lungs out in hopes of catching the pack. It was extremely hard with head-winds and no one to trade turns, and the gap slowly grew. After 2 laps I realised there was no catching the group and my goal changed. I was left to worry about being lapped by the 3 men chasing for the gold medal. I kept my arms on the drops and really dug in deep all the way, but eventually I was lapped JUST about 300m from my fourth lap (and their final lap) and was forced to pull up and clear off the race course. At that point I realised my day was over and could only sit and watch in disappointment.
These boys were the real deal and I'll admit that this was probably tougher than an Asian Championship!
I did not worry too much soon after as I had done what I went to do; Learn. Besides, it was a pretty tough field and it was still my very first race of the year! Though I must say that it was definitely one experience not to be forgotten!
My Swim definitely needs a good block to be put it, and I guess thats always gonna be point at whatever level of racing. It's just a good thing I actually enjoy spending hours in the water!

With the shock to my system, I should've had a good rebooting and am continuing to train, putting plenty of hours in each week, and much more resting as well. Next coming events will most likely be a duathlon down in Singapore next month, and possibly Kenyir Lake relay.
Major race? The Subic Bay ASTC Triathlon Asian Championships in late April.

I will try to continue update at a monthly basis but this is it for now.

Thanks everyone again for all the huge support!

Riki