Wednesday, December 10, 2008

APPENDICITIS

Wednesday, 3 December 2008

Such a sad way to end the year.
Awoken at around 4 a.m. that morning from gastric pain. Went to the nearby clinic at around 8 a.m., was given gastric pills and MC for the day. Rested at home but pain got worse, especially when applied pressure to the lower right side of the stomach. Thank god Teresa was home and she insisted that I should be re-examined by the GP again.

Confirmed appendicitis by the GP upon re-examination and was given a reference letter for admission to hospital. Gastric pain subsided a little and I was hungry. Went home for some porridge (bad move but what the heck, I was hungry) before we set out for Columbia-Asia Hospital in Puchong (the nearest hospital from home).

Re-confirmed appendicidis by the doctor in-charge of ER. Re-confirmed again by the surgeon, who wanted to cut me up straight away but couldn't because I just ate the porridge.
For the first time in my life, I was admitted to a hospital (at around 1 p.m.). Because I am already 40 years old, I had an ECG, x-ray on my chest and a blood test to see if I am fit enough for the knife. Then, the poking started. Arghhhh...hated that and had to tell myself that it was just like post-Ironman (when I was given drips at the recovery area).

Waited for another 4-5 hours at my ward. Tried to sleep but couldn't. Thank god again for Teresa, who was there to keep me company (and kept me company for the rest of my stay at the hospital). It scared the soul out of me when they came to get me at around 5 p.m. Was given a sleeping pill before they pushed me away.

Waited for a while at the holding bay outside the operating theatre (can't figure out for how long). Thanks to the sleeping pill, I was knocked off completely before they gave me the anesthetic. The next thing I knew, I was already back in my ward and the appendix removed.

Was told later that my appendix ruptured (thought of Lisa Bentley, in an article I read that she ruptured hers during an Ironman race-ouchhh!!!). Was also told that because of the rupture, I was to get fever over the next 5 days and had to remained hospitalised for the same duration.

I was given antibiotics 3 times a day, which they injected through my veins. The fever came by the end of Thursday night (as predicted by the surgeon, 24 hrs after the surgery). My temperature peaked at a mild 37.8 degree celcius on Friday morning but subsided by earlier Friday afternoon. Was hopeful the doctor would let me go home by Friday evening but I succumbed to his advice to stay one more night.
Discharged before noon on Saturday, 6 December 2008 and was given MC until 22/12/08.

Worst piece of news from the doctor.....no strenuous exercise for the next 3 months!!!!! How am I going to live thru that???!!! At least I wasn't planning to do Ironman Malaysia in February 2009 (my recent career change made sure of that). But KL Marathon (March 2009) was on my mind. Not sure if I have enough time to recover and train for it.

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.

Thursday, October 30, 2008

IPOH & PENANG TRIP

19 October - 26 October 2008
Another self-reminder - there is still life apart from work.
White Water Rafting at Sg Kampar, near Gopeng


Outside Gopeng RainForest Resort
Gua Tempurung, near Gopeng




Top Of The World at Gua Tempurung


Outside Gua Tempurung

Seafood at Bkt Tambun, on the way to Penang
Ferry to Penang Island

Fort Cornwallis, Penang
Penang Hill
View of Georgetown from Penang Hill
Kek Lok Si Temple, Penang
Night Market, Batu Ferringgi
Lone Pine Hotel, Batu Ferringgi
Room with a private garden