Port Dickson Triathlon : a B-lated Report (post basi)

It’s3.30am and here I am glued in front of the computer screen. No didn’t stay up. I slept while watching Jaco Van Dormael’s ‘Mr.Nobody’. Pretty interesting storyline about reality, possibilities and whether Nemo Nobody (name of main character) is living in the right life for himself, love the woman whom he was suppose to love and had the children was meant to have. The story goes about ‘time’ as being the ‘other’ dimension, and how in another kinda universe, time is parallel, and does not exist. Nemo Nobody also has this gift of predicting and telling the future, and can actually ‘rewind’ time. Well, his time at least. hihih..very interesting till I dozed off!

Ok, back to the topic of this post. A Belated PD Tri report: Basi Version 1.0

Day before race

Usually its rest before race day.. packing and travelling. But for this year’s PD, it was a sprint duathlon. MUDS 2010 at Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia. I had to wake up much earlier (race starts at 9am) to prepare myself and for the team, meeting them in Gombak. Distributed breakfast, race kit distribution, a short briefing before we convoyed to UPNM. Only 1 day of cycling for that week (Thursday night, Thanks HADI!!!), and fever the day before. So, body needs more rest. So 3.9km of run,  13.8km bike followed by another 3.9km run. Target was to just finish the race. I didn’t push it on the 1st run.  But I knew even then that I would be in trouble as I didn’t refit my Yellow Submarine after lending it to a friend a few weeks before. I had already the day before went to fix my ITB (sports massage). And struggling with the fever which came didn’t make it easier either. I went to UPNM twice the day before the duathlon event (Friday), once to send 3 MTBs for the cyclists in the X Team, and 2nd trip to present at the Powerbar Duathlon Clinic.

For the race, it a a fairly flat course, especially on the run. But again, it would be silly for me to push all out as I still need to drive to PD and race next day, with my condition.. Came in and was surprised to be ranked 2nd despite the slow run and not-so-comfortable bike leg. The sit was too low (padan muka sapa suruh tak fit balik betul2) forcing me to bike from my glutes and worsen my ITB ! Done with the race, still had to stay back for prize giving. It was fun and nice to see all the familiar faces again. UPNM sent a large contingent, without fail. Straight back , packed (yes baru nak pack coz day before was too busy lah), then around 3pm I left for PD. Stopped at 1 of the RnRs for lunch..It was nearly 4pm already..but its ok..I still need to eat, and eat some more later. I brought my ice-pack and was icing my knee and ITB.. Someone was VERY worried. Yelp.. Reached PD, collected race kit and met the usual suspects; Yip, Nik, Sofian and Tip. Later on bumped into Razani, Shahrom and Puzi by the street side. Sifu Razani was about to pack and close his mobile tri-shop !

Malam carboloaded, race briefing, and went straight to zzzz..

Race morning

Woke up 5ish.. The plan was to be at the transition early, or at least earlier than previous years, and I did…Yeeha. Got myself a nice parking spot, then rolled into the transition area. And because I was early, I had Eugene Chan to scribble the ‘mj’ initials for missjewelz on my legs. LOL. At the transition area…there were a sea of bikes already… yeah.. like a thousand of em..! Port Dickson Triathlon has always been competitive  (well at least for me) as all the strong ladies come to PD to race; Macau, Hong Kong, Singapore, Philippines, UK, etc.. But that was the least of my worries. Was more worried of my ITB..I NEVER went to a tri-race with this problem..and I was trying all I can to concentrate on getting to the swim start and finish the swim..Preparation for swim was very POOR. Can’t say no more.

Start line

Again, the 2nd last wave to start before the relay swimmers flag off. Manage a 5 mins swim warm up before I crawled back to the shore. Downed a Powerbar gel and drank some water around 5mins before the start, stretched a bit and joined the crowd waiting for the start. The Inflatable arch at the start decided to tumble at the perfect time causing delay in the swim start for my category.

Swim

This year’s PD swim I would describe as being WORSE than Desaru.. there were definitely a lot, (and a lot more) kungfu, Ipman , Jet Li, silat and karate than ever…! Like seriously.. So stressful. The plan was to free style all the way, and when I had to slow down to ‘give’ clearance for swimmers to pass so that they don’t whack me in my face, I had to do the breast stroke. That was when I felt my ITB tightened to the max. To float pon sakit.. I was like..Yikes.. this can’t be true… dang… I swam and streamlined as much as possible and successfully did my navigation without stopping. Came out out of the water earlier then Senn and Siok Bee… Like seriously..?! Never happened before too. Anyways, I was sooo relieved when I finally came out of the water. That swim experience was worse than Langkawi. But can’t complain. My swim definitely needs improvement.

T1

I didn’t time myself but I think it was a pretty quick 1.  Practise makes perfect.

Bike

By the time a slow swimmer comes out of the water from a 5th-6th wave start it is pretty hard to draft. No one..! But picked up the pace a bit right after the roundabout. Went on the heavy cranks and was pedaling steadily. The strategy was to stick to the big crank as much as possible as oppose to last year when I was ‘scared’ to do so. Overtook quite a lot of guys ! Saw on the other side a few groups riding together. Not sure if I saw Sofian. He was too fast.

NO BIKE PICS AVAILABLE..!

T2

T2 was also pretty quick. I took off the rear bottle rack the day before and it did help me get off/on the bike much easier (at least for a quick transition)

Run

I have never had a more dreadful anticipation run leg before in any races.. The ITB pain wore off towards the end of the bike leg, but came back during the 1st 5km of the run. But the extent wasn’t too much from stopping me to run. So I slow ran the 1st half, and after the U-turn point, SOMEHOW, it felt better and I began to pick up my pace, overtaking those who I saw before the U-turn. I passed Nik as he was struggling with his ITB problem , probably even worse than mine as he was already reduced to walking. I shouted to him to ice it the next stop he could find any ice. The weather this year was kind and the trees shades helped cool things down. By the last 2km I was already in a comfortable pace. Humm.. I couldn’t feel more greatful. I was zooming pass people who overtook me, and uhm, Kam couldn’t keep up. I didn’t look at my watch. Adrenaline on the high. I had enough pressure already. I was not hoping for a PB coz I already knew/felt that my swim will be slow. I thought, I will surprise myself after crossing the finish and see whether or not I’ve improved my timing. It wasn’t an easy race even though I wasn’t pushing. I just had to listen to the body.

Finish

Into the last junction I still manage to overtake a few other people as they were slowing down already. Into the finishing shoot, no one to play sprint with but there was I sprinting to the end (as usual). Crossed with a smile as I look at the digital clock behind me. Minus 15mins from the time and I could almost feel that I did a sub 3.. for the 1st time..! (gee.. I told you I am not fast..!)

Result

Woman- Overall:  43 out of 104

Woman – 16-34: 27 out of 67

PD TRI 2010 Time and rank split

Swim –  00:41 :10 (50/67)
Bike   –  1:19:51 (24/67)
Run  –  00:57:33 (26/67) (despite the ITB pain)

201o Total time – 2:59: 37 (a PB, and FINALLY, a sub 3..!)

PD Tri 2009 Time and Rank Split

Swim –  00:47 :14 (31/47)
Bike   –  1:21:43 (17/47)
Run  –  00:52:08 (8/47)

2009 Total time – 3:02:06

Summary

Swim time improved by 6 mins.. must be the navigating+sighting.. but still, SLOW. bike, improved by nearly 3 mins. thumbs up to myself. but still need work on speed. and fix em itb..run, can’t help the +5 compared to last year’s superb run. Target tahun depan , stay pain+injury free, train smarter & harder. You can do it missjewelz ! On the note, Mr Chan Chee Senf invited me to join his training squad, he said Malaysia do not have enough performing woman triathletes.. (an honour, but I’ll pass. I seriously need to fix my swim first..) but will consider joining his training team lah. Eugene Chan acknowledge my massive calves during the PD Tri Clinic saying that I’ve cyclist legs (:P thanks Eugene). Some friends couldn’t recognize me during the race briefing. Their justification: I was fairer than usual . LOL.

Overall, I had a good time. Post finish line is always fun..!!! haha..ok, enjoy the rest of the pictures !!! Mmmuahhh ; missJeweLz.

p.s. : Finished writing this nearly 12 hours after i 3.30am pagi tadi. LOL. tidor half way lor..

Congratulations to all finishers !!