Sunday, November 09, 2008

POWERMAN MALAYSIA 2008

9 November 2008
Manjung, Perak

(photos from Mr Tey Eng Tiong at http://pmtey.multiply.com/)

Yes!! I Did It!!!! I finished the gruelling duathlon called POWERMAN with very little training (http://cheekaimun.blogspot.com/2008/11/crash-course.html) .




It felt really good to be back at POWERMAN. Last raced in 2005 when it was still being held at Putrajaya. With so little training , I only hoped to finish the race without suffering too much.

Found my way to Manjung with Robert on Saturday, 8/11/08. He is kind enough to give me a lift to and back from Manjung. He also let me share his room at the Lead View Hotel. Robert is 64 years of age and is a keen triathlete & marathon runner. If my dad is alive, he would have been Robert's age. We chatted so much through out the whole trip and I find him to be a great guy and a very down to earth person.


Robert
I had a good night sleep on Saturday. No pre-race jitters. I slept like a pig and woke up feeling fresh at 6 a.m. on race day. We left the hotel at 6.45 a.m. and got to the starting line shortly before 7.00 a.m. I had half an hour to set up my bike and warm up for the race start at 7.30 a.m.


Sea Of Bike

It was such a good feeling to be there at the starting line, to be amongst hundreds of like-minded people. People who chose to wake up at 6 a.m. and pushed their mind & body to the limit simply for the love of the sport. I MISSED RACING SO MUCH!!!!!!
RUN 11KM
I took my 1st 11km run really easy. I was hoping to finish in 1 hour but was surprised with a 0:55:57 split (about 5 min pace). The run course was great- flat and shady. We went through the neighbourhood of Manjung (2 loops within housing area of Manjung town).




Quite Relaxed With The 5 Min Pace

BIKE 64KM
I had a smooth transition from running to cycling. I felt good on the bike right from the start. I was targeting to average 30km/h and made sure I did not draft so that I could accurately assess my performance at the end of the race.



Good Ride!!

The bike course was great too - mostly flat with a short climb over a bridge. I finished my ride in 2:01:10 and averaged 31.7km/h.
RUN 10KM
The real test begun in the last 10km run. As usual, my legs felt heavy and stiff. My hamstrings started pulling as I left the transition area. It was quite bad and I was reduced to a very slow jog. From my past experience, I knew the pulling will go away and I must not stop but keep jogging (no matter how slow).


Suffer-feast
From the pictures above, it is quite obvious that I was in pain. But the best part was knowing that if I persevered, the outcome would be very rewarding. Like an answered prayer, the cramps went away right after the first water station (about 2.0 km into the run). I was able to run again. I pushed a little harder in the last 5 km and the cramps were long forgotten by the time I got to the finish line I finished the last 10km in 1:00:52 (6 min pace).




So Relieved To Finish & Yes !!! I Can Still Finish a POWERMAN.
My overall time was 4:01:14 and I ranked 17th out of 47 starters in my age group of 40-44 years old. Very pleased with the result given my current level of fitness and was simply so glad that I was there at Manjung.
My POWERMAN Medal Collection - 2003, 2004, 2005 & 2008
My Entire Tri-Life Collection

Friday, November 07, 2008

CRASH COURSE TO POWERMAN

27 Ocotober - 2 November 2008

After the Ipoh & Penang trip, I had another week's time to kill before I start work at RHB Islamic Bank. Took the chance to train up for POWERMAN Malaysia to be held at Manjung, Perak on 9 November 2008.
27/10/08 (Mon) - Rested
28/10/08 (Tues) - (morning) Bike 70km / (evening) Run (speed work @ Kpg Pandan track)
29/10/08 (Wed) - (morning) Run 10km + Bike 40km (brick workout)
30/10/08 (Thu) - (morning) Run 10km + Bike 70km (brick workout)
31/10/08 (Fri) - Rested
1/11/08 (Sat) - (morning) Bike 90km + Run 5km (brick workout)/ (evening) Swim Easy
2/11/08 (Sun) - (evening) Run 15km
Suffered at the track on Tuesday. Was supposed to do 5 x 1km but could only manage 3 x 1km. The rest of the sessions were done at easy pace. Focus was to log in some mileage and get re-acquainted with cycling after running and running off the bike (brick workouts). It has been quite a while since I have done those and was glad I did not have any problem with the transitions.
Anyway, the above is absolutely not enough for the actual race where I will have to run 11km, bike 64km and run another 10km.