FTAAA X Country Race Report

Having spent much of yesterday wondering how the Ironmen were getting on I feel positively pathetic doing "only" an 8.2km run today!

I managed to improve last years time by about 14 minutes and dipped under 1 hour but missed my 55 minute target by 3 mins. I could have run about 1 min faster if not for "traffic" on one of the steep downhill bits. I didn't feel particularly good for any of the run except the final 10mins, and even then my right shoulder became very stiff and a bit painful - weird! My left calf also cramped a bit after finishing.

This was a low-profile event, I met Naresh Kumar and Gunaselan and bumped into Ashley Lim and Nezz, but I headed off for a bike ride fairly soon after the finish. However my motivation to ride was low and I only did 12km before heading home.

Anyway, a healthy-sounding 159km if training in the last week!

Next 3 weekends are full of running - KLIM Circuit Run 3 (2h/20km)- SMART Tunnel Run (14km) - KLIM 21k!!

Ironman Seed

I have a suspicion that somehow a small "Ironman" seed has become planted inside me somewhere. It's a crazy notion, but then again I started off doing 10k runs 14 months ago and now I'm quite confident of finishing Olympic and possibly even half-Ironman Tri's this year - the natural progression would be towards a full Ironman. The thought of running 42km doesn't excite me too much though!

I'm secretly watching the online updates of Ironman Langkawi as I type and am well chuffed that a fellow Jock - Bella Comerford - is leading the womens race! Go Bella!

FTAAA X-Country

I just collected my number "A0030" for this race on Sunday. My time last year, including stopping to help pull people up a steep and slippery slope, was 1:12:00-ish. My target for this year for this 8.2km race is....55 minutes.

I plan to cycle 40km afterwards!

CNY

Gong Xi Fa Cai!! Happy Chinese New Year to all!!

I've been off work since Saturday and will be back on Thursday. As you might expect I've taken this opportunity to do some training. I still can't quite get used to calling it training - it sounds far too serious! - but it is I suppose.

On Saturday a.m. I met Laif, Kenny, Billy, Geoffrey, Rafiq, PK & family and Azrin for a 60k loop the "wrong way" around Hulu Langat, including the climbs of Peres and Tekali. We saw quite a few riders out doing some final training for this Saturday's Langkawi Ironman. I met Sam, Azwar, Bacin and Don Khor. 64km @ 24.5kph.

On Sunday I met Arif at Bukit Aman and we did the Double Hill run in a fairly relaxing manner. 10.8km in 1:12:06. Later that day I swam for about an hour doing laps of fairly incompetent front crawl!

Monday was back to cycling - I left home at 6.30am and met Arif, Rafiq and Ron at Centrepoint. We headed off to Kg. Subang and the Guthrie Corridor. Whilst chatting to Arif I hit a stone (big but too small to call a rock) and punctured my front tyre. Rafiq cycled ahead to see why a number of police and motorists had congregated at the roadside....apparently a motorcycle had hit a cow - killing the pillion rider. It was a very good ride, with several good stints in "paceline" formation at 30-45kph. A doughnut and coffee at Starbucks with the boys set me up nicely for the final 22km to home. Despite the fast ride my legs were still going right to the end and I even managed it up the hill near home at a fairly decent pace. 94km @ 27.48kph

Today I really couldn't get up so lay in until 9'ish and then went go-karting with Ravi at Shah Alam. I did 3 x 10minute stints. First round my kart seemed a bit slow. Second round (different kart) my back end kept on sliding around. 3rd round (another new kart) I spun off the track and became grounded 3 times. Good fun anyway, but fairly pricey!

Tonight I'll try a run around TTDI Park and a night bike ride if anyone else turns up.

Before I go - BEST OF LUCK to everyone I know who's doing Ironman this weekend - Arif, Mai Senn, Azwar, Sam, Don Khor, Adzim and to Malaysia's finest - Wong Ah Thiam.

Snow

...continuing the Winter theme...here's my Mum's back garden and surroundings (last week).......

Snowdrops

For those of us lucky enough to spend "Winter" in SE Asia, here's a taste of England in February. These are photos of Snowdrops in the unusually-named village of Mogerhanger, Bedfordshire, SE England (just up the road from where I lived) - the first flowers of the year.


Nice bit of moss on this tree! - reminds me of a warm and comfortable night spent in a bivouac I made with some Scout chums in Central Scotland many years ago. We lined the floor with strips of thick moss that we tore from the forest floor...

Le Tour De Langkawi 2007 - Stage 10

A fantastic afternoon!

We arrived before the teams did, and walked around a bit. Lucas had an ice cream and then the cyclists started to arrive so we headed off to their support area behind the High Court to check out the bikes and see if we could get some photos & autographs...

Here's Lucas with Jonathon Clarke from the southaustralia.com-AIS team...

We then got autographs from both Koji and Shinichi Fukushima, and former Tour De France leader Thomas Voeckler. Here's Lucas with yellow jersey holder and eventual overall winner Anthony Charteau from the Credit Agricole team...

This is the front fork of one of the Credit Agricole Look bikes. The yellow sensor at the bottom is a timing device, used for photo finishes i think.

Here's some of the nice Credit Agricole Look team bikes.....

Anthony Charteau being interviewed before the race...

An nice neutral service bike - Leggera frame, Easton rims and Ultegra groupset...

This is Maximiliano Richeze's beautiful Colnago framed bike with Campag groupset and Fulcrum wheels...

More lovely Colnago/Campag bikes...

WOW! Just look at these seriously sexy Vitoria ASC team bikes - Colnago CLX frames and Campag/Fulcrum everything else!

Somebody's Mavic Cosmic rear wheel. I'll have some of these one day!...

The Bouyges Telecom boys. Thomas Voeckler was hiding in the van but that didn't stop me getting his autograph and thanking him in French - "Merci Beaucoup Thomas!"...

David George's (South Africa) Cervelo Soloist Carbon with extremely expensive Lightweight wheels...


We bumped into some familiar faces, here's Lim from Bike Pro, who the day before had done a wonderful job replacing all the spokes and polishing the hub on my rear wheel....Thanks Lim! :)...

And they're off! The peloton whizzes by on Lap 2 (or 3)...

Not a bad action shot if I may say so myself.....

We came across a rather good Lion Dance near KLCC......



3 riders go clear but only by 20-35 secs (as usual Koji Fukushima is there!)...

We missed the final sprint but managed to sneak into the finishing area after the ceremony. Here's Paul Sherwen interviewing happy winner Charteau...

Press Conference - from L to R - Charteau, Alberto Loddo and Walter Pedraza...

I also managed to do exactly what I planned, by bumping into Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen (the best cycling commentators in the World - the John Motson and Andy Gray of cycling). Lucas took a photo of me with them. They squashed me in between themselves!!

KLIM Circuit Run 2 - Report

This was a training run for the KL Marathon, at Lake Titiwangsa. We were flagged off at about 7.25am. There's me at the start, starting my stopwatch...

By the second 2.5km lap the paths were becoming very busy and so from the 4th lap I ran on the road. Looking quite cheerful here so must have been early on!!...

Looking more serious here!!...

I was lapping at more than my targeted 15 mins and ended up managing 6 laps (15km) in 1:32:56, just under 3 minutes too slow, but I actually think my target was a bit ambitious. The last time I ran 15km it took me 1h 49m!

I met Ronnie See and fellow "der pacemakers" Ah Long & Adam, and Rezz. Adzim, Azwar & Ah Fook were also there. This is Nezz..

Ah Fook....

Ironmen Adzim (2nd right) & Azwar (R)...

Thanks to Tey Eng Tiong for the photos.

According to der pacemakers the actual lap distance was 2.65km, not 2.5km, and that explains my slower than usual pace. So 6 laps = 15.9km and I reckon I did 15km in less than 1:30:00.

Circuit Run will be 2 hours and is in another few weeks. 20km in 2:05:00 would be a good target for that one!

Timo Muller

On our regular Tuesday night PCC last week we were joined by Timo Muller, a 21-year old German who is cycling round the world (almost!) to raise awareness for human rights. Hwere we are, from L to R - Karen, Ah Fook, Gunther, Timo, Arif, Ashraf, Bernard, Me, Rafiq and Rikhal.

Entertainment News!

I just went to see "The Holiday" at the cinema. It was ok, worth the RM10 ticket. Although I was surprised to see sheep and lambs in the fields of England in DECEMBER, and Cameron Diaz has a British passport apparently!

I also see that poor old Anna Nicole Smith has kicked the bucket and two gents are claiming they are her daughters father. Why is it that you never seem to hear about two men who think that they MIGHT be the father?? They all seem to be so sure that it's them, yet one of them is always wrong.

Double Hill PB

Double Hill again last night and a new PB, despite feeling distinctly off-color for the first half and actually walking twice due to various complaints. However I somehow managed to reach the bottom of the final hill a few seconds ahead of PB pace and finished in 1:04:02, shaving 9 secs off my previous best. I must admit though my max HR of 179bpm up the hill was too high for comfort!

F1 Here We Come!

Despite declaring last year that I wouldn't bother going to another F1 race I have decided to go again this year, but this time splash out a bit on some grandstand seats. So on 8 April Lucas & I and our neighbours Ravi, Sathi and Mihir (Lucas' chum and parents) will head off to see Jensen Button thrash everyone with a bit of luck. Here's my tickets, proudly draped over the Prince Of Wales' dog and next to my Pacesetters 20k medal..

Milk Packet Kid

I was going to call this post "Dutch Lady Boy" but the "Lady Boy" bit just didn't sound right!

We were in Cold Storage in KLCC on Sunday and I thought I'd check out the kids milk section to see if I'd see a hundred Lucas' staring back at me - and indeed I did! Here he is in all his glory, in a store near you NOW! (If you live in Malaysia, Indonesia or Vietnam that is)

PCC Ride - Hulu Langat

I met my now regular riding buddy Ah Fook at 6.30am outside my condo and we cycled out of KL and over the hill into Batu 14 where we met the rest of the gang. Arif turned up with a shiny new Cervelo frame that many of us started drooling over.

We cycled up to Batu 18 and then down towards the foot of Genting Peres. Our at first leisurely pace slowly picked up and I ended up doing a 25 minute stint at the front at over 30kph - good practice for triathlons! Rafiq later commented on the lovely draft that I gave him.

After the rolling hills next to the Dam we stopped at the Tekala Picnic area and debated whether or not we should get the cops involved in out TT - the conclusion was "NO"!

After water, Milo Ais and nasi lemak we headed back to the dam and up the 2.5km steep Tekali climb - which I am glad to say seems easier every time I do it. Then the wonderful 4km 70kph downhill to sugar cane drinks in Batu 14 before Ah Fook and I went back over the hill into the now hot and busy Jalan Ampang. After many traffic light stops I reached home before 12pm.

Distance - approx 84km.

KLIM Circuit Run next Sunday: TARGET = 15km in 1.5 hours @ 6:00/km.

GE 30k Result

The results are out and I came in 178th out of 452 - that 's in the top 40%.

Thaipusam / FT Day Happenings

1 Feb: Thaipusam - I woke at 6am with the intention of a 10k run / 30k ride / 5k run but I felt super-tired so slept in and in the afternoon eventually dragged myself out for a 43km ride around the highways of KL. My target was to maintain an average of 30kph but after an hour I weakened a bit and ended up coming home in 1h30mins-ish at an average of 29kph+.

2 Feb : Fed Territory Day - Dropped Lucas' mates off at school and headed off to KLCC (bored of Double Hill!) for 8 laps/10.4km. Just short of 5 laps I ground to a walk and finished 5 laps (6.5km) in 39mins-ish. My excuse is that I was still not 100% recovered from my recent illness that I tried to battle through. I bumped into Ironman Azwar and had a nice chit-chat with him for 10mins.

3 Feb: Back to Work Today - I managed to leave home at 6.30am sharp, giving me enough time to cycle about 26km, which I managed in under an hour, and my legs felt quite good once they were warmed up. All set for tomorrow!

4 Feb: (planned) - Home to Sg. Tekala Picnic Area via Batu 18 = 100km.

1.5hr KLIM Circuit Run next Sunday!