WOW - I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS!!!!

Fellow Ironman Kevin Siah (http://just-tri-hard.blogspot.com/ )from Perth left this comment on my blog:

"Hey Chee Kai Mun (not sure which names you go by, so the full name will have to do, for now hahhah). Glad to hear that you are making progress in your comeback. I have been following your blog since your first IM Langkawi, and it was one of the blogs that inspired me to my first IM last year."

Double WOW !!! Since my 1st IM, which was back in 2004!!!

Kev, you really made my day. BTW, I'm known as Ah Chee in the tri community but my other friends & family call me Chee or Kai Mun.

Hope to meet you some day.

GENTING FUN RIDE

16August 2009 - An oxymoron title - Genting Fun Ride - those who have done it before would agree that bike ride up Genting can't be fun but sheer torture. But the 3 of us agreed to called it a fun ride simply because that was exactly how we felt, I believed.

Started from the usual place, the Orang Asli Hospital (OAH) along the old road to Bentong. The carpark was already crowded with cyclists - different groups with different agenda. Some would ride up to Genting Sempah & back, some to Janda Baik or perhaps Bentong & back but only the 3 of us were gonna attack the mother of all climbs - Genting Highlands.

EZ warm up to Sempah. I logged 52 mins from OAH - Sempah.

Short break at round about b4 Gontong Jaya - Yip & Faisal.

@ Pagoda with Yip

@ Old Town Coffee, outside Theme Park Hotel with Faisal.

3 Bikes outside Amber Court; Sempah - Theme Park was not enough for us. We extended our climb to Amber Court.

The whole gang with Trek.

All wrapped up for the cold descent.

RETURN TO BURSA

Joined my old team mates at Bursa for Rat Race training.

Sun rise at KESAS Highway

So good to be back - felt like home & still part of the team. Ran a 21:15 (over the 4.5km course) and was 3rd behind Marthi & Mak.

TRI RE-ERECTION

Dream Bike

18 pounder !!!!

ALL MINE !!!!!!

My Prized Possessions

My Bike Collection

TRI RESURRECTION

May 2009 - Mid-July 2009

 

 

Quit the bank job in May 2009. Couldn't decide what I wanted to do. Times were bad & most employers had frozen recruitment. Savings dwindled, self-confidence plunged to an all time low & tt had to hold the fort all by herself.

While the whole world was in a financial crisis, I found myself in a crisis too but at a personal level. Some friends suggested "mid-life crisis". At 41, I suppose that was quite accurate.

I had no clue on how to get out of the mess I was in, except surrending everything to Him. It wasn't easy & I couldn't see His better plans for me. Without a clue, I re-employed the same method I did when I was in another crisis back in my mid-30's.

I got back on my bike, ditched the booze & trained like mad. Somehow, it is through physical fitness that I slowly regained confidence. Hence, for 2 and 1/2 months, I swam, biked & ran almost daily -

1. sometimes doubling (2 training sessions a day)
2. ran a 10k at noon under a scorching sun
3. swam at Chin Woo at 2.30 p.m. on a weekday (and had the whole pool to myself at times)
4. rode Gombak to Frasers Hill solo (via Sempah, Bentong & Tranum)

I rebuilt my fitness from almost zero base, while hunting for a new job. I called up my old contacts, some were very helpful and some were simply cold. While I was at that, I took part in the NB 15km, 21k run at the Std Chart KL Marathon & PD Tri.

 

21k @ Std Chart Marathon

 

Finishing PD Tri

My break finally came at end-June 2009. I had a great interview with a prospective employer, who decided to hire me after 3 rounds of interviews.

I have a job again on 15/7/09!!!!!!

DEMISE OF TRI-LIFE

Between November 2008 - April 2009, my typical training week looked like this:-

Monday - Rest

Tuesday - Worked late, skipped run

Wednesday - Worked late, skipped swimming

Thursday - Sneaked out of office at 8.30 p.m. & managed a short 5k run

Friday - TGIF, left office early (7.30 p.m.) & swam @ Chin Woo with Don Khor & gang

Saturday - Skipped bike training, no heart for training (when managed to get out of bed, 50k on the bike felt like 100k)

Sunday - Skipped run, no heart for training (when managed to get out of bed, 10k felt like 1/2 marathon)

Work sucked big time, self confidence plummeted, alcohol consumption took an upswing, all split times....what splits, I hardly trained.

Had a good time at Perth & down south but was back to miserable self upon return.

Kenyir Lake Tri made me realised how important triathlon is to me. When I took the plunge and joined the Bank in November 2008, I made a choice that training & triathlon would have to take a back seat. My Trek bike didn't do much, except collecting dust.

Life was simply upside down :(