Osaka ASTC Sprint Triathlon

Sometimes misfortunes occur outside of you control, leaving you with nothing but a powerless feeling not being able to do anything about it...

Leading up to the Osaka ASTC Sprint Triathlon, I had been feeling great and confident. A small lung irritant arouse the Wednesday before my weekend race which I just shrugged off, thinking it was just a little discomfort (or fatigued) from all the hard track runs and Vo2 swim sets. Telling myself it was temporary and would dissipate soon so long as I watched my health as usual. It was a dry, lung emptying cough which started to immerge on the thursday however, that had me worrying. I soon had my bags packed and headed for the airport for what was to be an uncomfortable 6hr, midnight flight with no sleep, constantly disturbed by my own chain of coughing.

We were greeted immediately with warmth by Ms. Kiriyo at the airport, who took amazing care of us. She drove us straight from the airport to the pool for a swim, then to the supermarket for grocer shopping, and then to the hotel for check-in.

My condition remained the same for the next 2 days I was in Osaka. I felt alright during easy swims/rides only a little hard to breath during runs, although I had not realised how much it would have affected my performance at high intensity. (I didn't get much solid sleep too, waking myself up constantly by my own loud moaning caused by the need to cough... (Sorry Aldrian and Barry for being so noisy throughout the nights!).

On the race day itself, I felt good and confident, yet somewhat a little uncertain of my confidence. I has a quick warm-up with an Aussie who I met and trained with for a bit in Perth. The race began at 11:30am in a wet, post-rain condition. As the horn blasted, I set off for a solid start towards the first buoy hanging at the back of the chase pack. As we hit the turn however, I started to fade and was unable to inject any power. I felt very held back with the inability to use the full capacity of my lungs with only shallow breaths (lungs felt tight and breathing deep caused me to choke up). I dropped off the chase pack halfway through the swim, where I then joined the 3rd pack that caught up to me not long after. I felt this to be a disappointing swim considering that in my swims the past few weeks I had been clocking my fastest splits ever. The swim exited on steps which stretched out the large field of 75 or so men (which was good!).

Onto the bike, I was caught by the 3rd pack behind me which I then worked with together on the very hilly "up-and-down the bridge", 4 loop bike course. By "working together", I meant hanging on for dear life as I constantly broke into rhythm shattering coughs! The legs felt very inactive and did little to respond to my 110% effort. It was physically demolishing me, which again I suppose had a lot to do with not being able to breathe normally! Despite that, I grit my teeth and powered down with what remained of me. By the last climb of the last lap however, I had faded to the point of no return and dropped off before the peak, and was left to ride the remaining 3km back into transition solo. I had not lost hope... Well at least not yet anyway...

A quick (but shaky) dismount, popped on the shoes, and I was off for the run. Immediately I felt the worst I'd ever been, with stone-heavy legs and the inability to control my posture, nor my breathing. Mainly breathing though... I was attacked with waves of coughing. As one broke out, another would take it's place, and another, and another, and another-Until I had to pull up by the side and cough my lungs out and pose there to catch a breath. Determined to get back into the field, I got back on the road and drove one foot after the other. Things got harder from here as the coughs got worse and I would be so winded and unable to run from such tensed up abs. I dug deep and kept going. However, it got to the point that the sessions would take so much out of me that I would feel faint, and realised that I had done more than I could handle, and the day was at an disappointing end. I walked back (painfully and breathtakingly) to the medical tent and got myself checked up (thank god I didn't have pneumonia or anything!) and that was that.

- Coming back to KL, I was diagnosed with Bronchitis, which probably explained everything. I would say that it help subside the disappointment with the race, but only angered myself more for not listening to my body and pushing the boundaries.

We did enjoy our time however in Kyoto post-race, sight-seeing and experiencing the culture (half of which should be mine!). Stuffed our faces with sashimi, ramen, cold soba, and just about everything else. Got quite a workout walking the entire area the whole day too.

Back in KL now, and unfortunately still unable to get back into training just yet as it's still and ongoing fight with my bronchitis. Hopefully it'll go soon so I can get back into some quality blocks leading up to Port Dickson Tri, Singapore ITU and hopefully Edmonton Worlds and Incheon Asian Games!

Massive thanks to Azran (AirasiaX) for flying us, DSA, Rudy Project, Kenanga, High5 Sports Nutrition, and of course TIME for the support!

Very special thanks to Ms. Kiriyo and the organisers for putting such a fabulous event and such and amazing hospitality throughout the entire event. They event went as far as to personally drive me to a drug store to pick up some medications for me, which I think deserves some recognition.

Riki

Burabay ASTC Triathlon Junior Asian Championships

Kazakhstan… Who would’ve ever thought to take such lengths to fly there for a race, let alone travel for any other reason? Yet again, who shouldn’t?

Possibly an overlooked destination of choice for tourism, it’s immensely large land is decorated beautifully from the spectacular view of the Kazakh Alps peaking through the frothy coat of clouds from the plane window, it’s dead-flat lands like a blanket of wheat fields that stretches out to the end of the world, architectural wonders of the young city of Astana, the beauty of its postcard-like, picturesque environment, and just so much more. Having said that however, it certainly does add a bit of ounce of difficulty with hardly any airline operators flying there, and with no one speaking English.

A full day of travelling was laid out for our team on the Wednesday 29^th of May, to which we were given an immediate environmental shock upon arrival at Astana with its (very) chilly climate and lack of development on it’s big plain fields, speaking from the perspective of our youths that have grown up around apartments, shopping complex’s and everything else we deem “normal”. A 3hr drive from the airport took us into deep into the woods before opening into Burabay town, far from any “tourist areas” & major developments. I was surprised that such an area so far from modern civilization would be populated, and even have their own little zoo!

Let's all just stop and cry at the beauty

The race-course was situated by a breathtakingly scenic location (I forget its name) with a lake that reached out towards mountains that touched the clear blue sky, layered with pine trees everywhere. The actual swim in the lake was nothing alike.. A water temperature of 13C lake and strong gusts of icy winds played throughout the few days, so cold that we couldn't stand still, nor "thahlk phroptherly" with numbed lips, our necks ached from shivering so violently. Just imagine us going "this pthrase, iths thso pheauthifhul!" and cracking up midway through any sentence. It was however, a beautiful clear blue sky on race day.  The showers had no hot water for the first 2 nights and alternated randomly after that, which I’m sure no one enjoyed anymore than I did. At least we had great ice-baths? Just kidding, I didn't shower for 3 days straight.

There was an opening ceremony on the Friday night and one person from each country had to be chosen as the country's flag bearer. It was I... 

I did not expect it to be so grand and I admit I was probably more nervous about this than anything else. Each country was called out and I panicked when the flag wrapped itself up and kept flapping in my face as I walked around the hall. How embarrassing!

The youths were gunned off in the morning, leaving the Elite Juniors to start in the warm afternoon. And it actually was warm!

With the generous time till our race, I retreated to my room after breakfast, popped my headphones and lay down on my bed, thinking through and visualizing the race.

It was a small field of only 28 men, but was no less aggressive than any other large-scale race. It was a fight through the choppy waters from the horn blast, and I was forcibly stopped twice, with lots of swimming over each other and hands catching and pulling on shoulders. I tried to keep myself calm and hold back from hitting the red-zone too early, but I might have held back a bit too much!

Busted my gut chasing him

I hopped out of the water 10sec down from a Japanese and 30sec down from the chase group. The wetsuit came off quick in T1 and I nailed my legs down right from the mount-line, up the long climb and gassed myself to chase the Japanese and the pack. I got into an aero position immediately after the hill and busted a gut chasing what seemed like a hopeless endeavor, as it seemed to do nothing but maintain the gap for the first 4km. I don’t think I have ever pushed this hard in any race, triathlon or road cycling itself and I was shocked to have actually caught them before the end of lap 1! The 4 of us continued to hammer down with the Japanese and I leading the majority of the time. Eventually we caught another 2 upfront, and slowly reeled in another pack further in front. Again, the Japanese and I worked most of the way despite the increase in size. I stayed up at the front as much as I could, going into narrow U-turns and tight corners to stay out of any trouble and knowing it was less effort to be chased out of those U-turns as opposed to the other way round. A 5-600m long hill at every loop played in my favour, as I knew I would be spending fewer watts than the others at each climb. By the 3^rd and final loop, our hard work had paid off as we caught the group upfront. I got to the front of our pack (again to stay out of trouble), dismounted and had one of the quickest transitions of my life!

I blasted out of T2 together with the pack in front of us. The legs were feeling very heavy and in pain at this point with all the lactic from that intense ride, but somehow I was able to keep a great form with a very high turnover. I immediately outran all in my group as well as the other, except for the one Japanese that work equally as hard as me on the bike! I was worried I had gone off too quick on the first loop, but managed to keep the form and position all the way into the finish line to finish 14^th place. I was also happy to later learn that I had finished 4^th country-wise, after Kazakhstan, Hong Kong, and Japan!

Pretty happy with a solid performance and how I dealt with the different situations that came before me, especially on the bike and run. A smart ride got me saving more energy without any unnecessary expenditure at technical points and played with my advantage well at the hills. Of course, having Steve shout to me about the gap difference between us and the pack in front at every lap was what motivated me to push so hard! If not, I wouldn't have believed we could catch that group, and the results would have been so different! 

I ran hard and left nothing back. The swim however, still needs plenty more work but is something I am confident about, as long as I commit to putting the work in over the long period I will be in this sport!

It was probably the most fun as well, messing about at every chance we had (which you could probably tell from our ridiculous selfie's and videos). Wrapping Henry up at the airport was the best idea ever. We're wrapping him up completely at the next chance we get. Seriously.

Have a laugh:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=800469316639497

I have to thank the organisers for putting together such a great race at such a spectacular venue, our coaches and parents for looking after us so well and organising this trip (which was absolutely hectic), our sponsors for all the support, and everyone else that supported us! This was a big step and an achievement for Team TIME and hope it will continue to grow!!

Perthy 3-4-5-6

- Wednesday
Another morning swim at 5:30am in Claremont Pool. 

Endurance and some efforts this time, with a total of 5k bagged in the warm pool. We had a bigger squad this time, and it was lovely to meet some new people, and also learn that one of the swimmers knew a friend of mine back in KL. It's a small world after all…

Had a great long nap in the afternoon, which I surely must've needed, and then headed off for a good hard run with a great bunch at the Challenge Sports Complex.

4x 2km effort, 1/3 at 10k pace and 2/4 at 5k pace, with about 2min rest intervals. It was showering, whichI would say was a perfect running condition! The grass was amazing

6:46/6:36/6:48/6:44

In the evening we had an amazing dinner with a huge cut of tea-infused smoked salmon cook deliciously by Sam, for Jane's birthday. Cheers man! W all had a great time.

- Thursday
The cold rain showered down early that morning with gusts that shook up waters at Swan River, Claremont. We waited in the warmth off the car and as soon as the rain died down, we got straight into the rough waters for a good swim. I sat on Paul's feet as we swam along the shore of the 1km stretch and then drafted off his side on the way back, switching from left to right at the 500m marker (which was a boat!). Out again, sitting on the feet, and back, this time hammering it on the last 500m.
It felt like we were flying on the way out, as if sat on a light stream. However, coming back was like swimming into series of brick walls and hurdles. It was a long long stretch of fighting through the water! It was a "proper" rough swim and we only managed 1:30 per 100m pace!


Friday
A short, hard threshold swim took place back in the pool again at 5:30am, with main sets: 6x100 on 1:30, 2x200 on 3min and repeated twice, with the second one using beepers.
I then went for my run straight after along the coast of Cottesloe beach and admiring the waves and scenic… Well scenic everything.

I can't deny however, that the best part was after-sun, when Sam took me out into the city for some pretty awesome drinks at hipster bars (that you will almost certainly never get in KL). We also went into "Pleased to Meet You" which had the best oysters and roast chicken. They were cooked to such perfection.


Saturday
I cycled over to The Running Centre at 6:30am where I met up with Raf's running group and we headed off for a 5k warm up into beautiful King's Park. After a series of drills and strides, we set off for our solid session of 2x 5km at half marathon pace. The loop started off mainly downhill, with some small hills, before hitting a long hill towards the end. One of those routes that can gradually put the pain in, especially towards the end!
We then headed to Jugglers cafe which made amazing long macs, bacon wraps and chico-crossaints. Yep, I had them all and loved every bit.
After a good chat I had a long 30min cycle back, had a quick nap and whizzed off for an open water skilled swim at 1pm at the pool. I was pretty chuffed with my swim for 2x 500, swimming good times.

I definitely want to go back to Kings Park, whether for a run or passing by on the bike, and possibly head into that sweet cafe again!

Perthy

The first 2 days spent in Perth have been absolutely wonderful.

First swim session took place in Claremont Pool (which by the way, is superb) at 7am on Monday. Nothing too taxing with a technique session, but I guess I should be surprised that I felt a little "not 100%" after the past few weeks of travelling, which I'm still not quite used to yet. Still got through alright and enjoyed the swim, getting to meet wonderful people like Guy Crawford, Kate, and of course, Paul Newsome. 

After the first session with the swim squad, I stayed back for a 121 session with Paul. Some interesting gadgets and toys were revealed from his big square on wheels, and I was put into the water again but this time only swimming 200m with a camera following me.

It was then replayed on a computer screen with Paul explaining everything going on with my swim.

As it turned out, everything I thought I was doing right or wrong actually showed the complete opposite! It all seemed so simple, yet I would never have noticed it or been able to point anything out. One of the biggest shocker was the constant feeling of always having sinking legs, only to learn the body position is actually dead-flat, and the fact that the legs are actually having the opposite problem-kicking to high up!

Things were even more exaggerated with the wetsuit on too..

A couple of drills were done to help get a better feel of what to do and to correct things, using fins and some interesting, special paddles. I also had a headset attached underneath my cap so Paul could personally communicate to me through a radio while I swam.. Nifty!

Some free afternoon meant travelling about, seeing the area, having some good coffee (which I'll miss when I go back home). It was real nice of Jane and Sam take me around town.

Day 2: More swims

T'was a 5:30am 6k swim this time and included a good amount of warm up, drills, 400TT/200TT swims, 10x100m, 2x500 etc.. Just kept focusing on the techniques pick up the day before, but I guess it's a little harder to hold on the hard swims, at least for the moment!

I went out with Sam and Matt for a motor-pacing session on the bike in the afternoon, after stopping at a cafe for The most delicious coffee I've ever had. By motor-pacing I meant hanging on for dear life for a couple of minutes, only to get thrashed with Sam's monstrous hill climb and then just getting lapped on the 5k loop, over and over again. I just felt so flat that it forced me to fall back to having a steady ride instead. I was really squeezing the last drop out of myself sitting behind the wheel of Matt's scooter, it really wasn't my day on the road.. Cheers Matt for putting up with such slow pace back! 

...Well, it's still a ride done.

New year, old goals

Here's my first post of 2014…

Ok, so it's actually almost mid-year but it counts as something right?

I'll just jump right into and play this through at 4x speed:

Winter training went well until my peroneal tendon (a tended that pulls the foot outwards at the ankle) on my right leg gave way after I stumbled on the wrong part of the uneven surface during a run. It took me off my running shoes for 3 weeks but I managed.

Metasprint Aquathlon (750m/5km) in February was first up and I finished in 2nd place, after a cock-up and running off course. Should've studied the race course a little more! I also started working for Xterra Malaysia as an intern, helping to liaise with the competing pro's and all their logistics. 

The following month,  Metasprint Duathlon was scheduled up next but a last minute call up by ASTC rescheduled me and I hopped on a flight to Chiangmai together with Tyler and Jia Wen (Team TIME youth team members) for an ASTC Development camp. Taipei, Thailand, Philippines, and Malaysia came for this camp with a head count of 11 athletes. We were all closely monitored and coached by Luc Morin as well as Mr. Ki during or 5-day camp, and learned plentiful! I was pretty chuffed as well to have managed a 1500m run PB by about 20secs, and a 3000m run PB by 7secs despite little experience with pacing (in other words, I'm basically saying I'm pretty confident I could have gone a whole lot quicker!).

March is where things started piling up, so the pace slows here; I raced in the Metasprint Triathlon (April 16) to finish 3rd with 2nd place in Overall Series. the following weekend (April 23) was a long 5hr drive up to Kapas, Terengganu for a 6.5km island-to-land Swimathon which I finished 2nd place in. I was surprised I even finished it! Not scrappy for a first-timer eh?

On Wednesday the same week (April 26), Barry, Kim & I took a flight up to Shanghai and arrived at 1am. A little delay dragged us on and we only got to bed at 3am, staying the night at a hotel nearby the airport. The next morning we had a nice breakfast and lunch at the hotel, relaxed a bit in between and then hopped on the bus for a 5hr trip to Zhenjiang. Can't say it wasn't exhausting! We finally arrived at 10pm and had our bikes sorted before going to bed at 11ish..

The next day was very relaxed, with only swim/bike/run race course familiarisation all done before noon, and lots of sleeping!

Race day on Saturday morning went… Well, underachieved? They water was chilly but nothing uncomfortable, but I had a poor swim, which wasn't ideal in a field of only 30 fast guys (well it's not ideal in any situation anyway!), and ended up coming out of the 2x750m swim in the backend with only a Serbian to ride with. Needless to say, we got lapped on the 5th loop of 6x6.6km bike and the day came to a quick and gutting end. Putting a paperclip on that note…

Returning back to KL, I was planned for yet another busy weekend.. that makes 4 weeks of long travels back to back! Not a big deal for some but sure is for me…

I had a great swim for a relay with an amazing group of people- Tri-ing to Help Cerebral Palsy (please to check out their Facebook page and "like" them!! https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tri-ing-To-Help-Cerebral-Palsy/1458736217676678?ref=br_tf) as an effort to raise funds for this cause.

I swam 18min, which I still don't believe despite others claiming it was accurate, and gave a great lead out for our team. Lloyd had a great ride and Jason finished off the run to claim us a 3rd place! Hats down to the team, both the relay and individuals. Amazing effort guys and privileged to be part of it!

I mentioned earlier that I worked with the pro's and was glad to finally meet them and had good chats. Great experience in both the work side of it as well as getting to know the pro's. Many thanks to Dave Spence for arranging everything from assigning me into this relay team to making Xterra Malaysia such an amazing event.

There very next morning, I boarded a plane for Perth, and now I am sat at the house of the Davis as I speak! Basically, I'm hear on a 10-day swim camp to work on my swim with a close guidance by Paul Newsome and his team that is the well renowned SwimSmooth. I am certain they will be able to fix my No.1 problem which has always been my swim, especially in open water. Of course, I'll also be riding, running, and enjoying myself in this beautiful country. As usual, goals are to be a better swimmer, a better, biker, a better runner and a better triathlete..

Everything start tomorrow. How exciting!!

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.