Powerman Malaysia 2010 – A Race Report

 By 7am I was at the transition area, and was in bit of rush to do a warm up. Did around 2 loops of slow run around the track, where I met other fellow duathletes; Hamid, Nik Fahusnaza, IIU X Team who made their Powerman Malaysia debut ! >> Abe, Ikhwan, Adib and Arif, and many more familiar faces. It was a cool morning. It rained night before..! Ariff was right about the weather prediction. This was the first time it rained and is cool before a race start here in Seri Manjung !

  

START LINE

 I must have psyched myself enough before the race that I didn’t join the usual gang for hoohaa and photo session before the race. I was ‘serious’ (or rather , anxious) with the warm up run and stretch. I did my stretching just a few minutes before gun off. I know my muscles were not relaxed, thanks to the drive from KL, and from Kuantan a couple of days before. Calf felt TIGHT , and I could almost sense that the ITB and hamstring has the same thing going. OH NO.

While everyone (so i suppose) was waiting for the start, I was trying to focus on my strategy for the race. 1- Take it wasy on the first run. Doesn’t matter if the run time is not as fast as my best 1st leg run. 2- Don’t hammer on the bike (exactly how would be determined on the race course itself..) , 3- a QUICK transition. I have been leading in my age group for the past 2 years in having 1 of the shortest transition time, and 4- pick up the pace on run 2 (3rd leg).

  

RUN 1

 2 loops of run , each 5.5.km. Was mostly pacing with Nik Fahusnaza, and Kam. Jason Thiang and Malaysia IM veteran sifu, IM Razani Hussein pulled out early even before the first run was complete due to injury. Razani has an on going calf injury. Jason; I can’t remember exactly which part of his leg was in pain.. I kept a 6 minutes pace throughout the run, thanks to Nik ! I was nervous to push any faster pace coz I felt a sharp pain at the ITB insertion on the lateral side of my knee. Not once. But twice. One time on the right knee, one time on the left. Dear readers, I was EXTREMELY worried. Just kep to the pace and soften the foot landing.

Didn’t dare to stride and stuck to a small to medium stride. My engine takes a little while to warm up I guess. Everything went fine after the first lap. Ariff, Fadil and AJ was running at a faster pace and was no where in sight as I ran into my first lap. Zaki Erin from Team Ombak was also ahead. I knew where I would head to if I were to pace up with them. So I didn’t bother. I was more than perfectly fine with the pace. As I was nearing the end of the 1st run, I had to drop my pacer, and went ahead for transition.

  

Transition was quick. Didn’t tie the shoes to the bike, or else I would be running across the wet field barefoot. Since my first run was slow , I had to pass the traffic at bike out ! Zigzagged my way through , what else !!! But managed to munch 1/2 a banana before I went out !

  

CYCLE

 Nothing too exciting on the bike course, especially on the first lap. I was spinning for 15 minutes before cranking it up a bit. Here was where I went wrong ; I did what I don’t normally do during training. And this spurred due to the anxiety of not letting myself downfor the race. Wrong move, and well, was proven wrong ! I NORMALLY would cadence during training. Never really practised heavy cranking and low cadence. But since that was what I chose to do on the course, it proved that the strategy was wrong..! at least for me. And on why I reacted that way was that sharp ITB pain i felt. I didnt’t want to stress the ITB or hamstring further by doing a my normal medium-high cadence. That was my rational.

  

A national/pro cyclist later told me just the exact, that I should not have done the ‘heavy’ crank. Should have just focused on pedalling and spinning smoothly. I had no regrets (except for the near-poor bike time) as I knew that my legs were okay, and was ready to wallop it on the second run. Booya.

  

‘The’ bridge didn’t pose as much ‘threat’ than the years before and actually enjoyed it. Fadil, Arif, Zaki was well ahead. And again, NO to trying to catch anyone ahead of me. (that’s me trying to sound competitive lahh). As for the ladies in my category, I passed a couple, and a few couple passed me. But it was all steady aftter the first loop. Nobody over took me. I caught a few duathletes ‘drafting’. I just had to make sure I stayed away from the person ahead of me, and overtake in time ! The last quarter of the bike felt quite long .. ! And at times felt bored..bila la nak sampai nie…!

 Felt more energetic as I started my second run. Found myself overtaking people after the 1st kilometer. I overtook Arif and Fadil before the 1st half of the first loop. Saw a couple of guys walking, and trying to stretch off a cramp. Weather was still good and bearable even the sunshine (and heat) was gradually increasing. I left my cap at the hotel.dang…but its ok..think positive.. aero kot !!!! hahahha.. first lap went fine, and second lap was where all the drama began. Opened stride and was in cruise control. Followed Camilla’s tips — of running under the shades, and controlling the electrolytes/calories during the run. A bit wiser now. NO CRAMP. NO BLOATING. NO PEE STOP. Yippee. Overtook a lot of guys. Ladies were as strong, or stronger. Overtook Lydia, at one of the water station.

Here’s one strategy which stuck to me throughout my years of running ; if you do/don’t get bored during a race and want to find a way to keep UP the pace, count the street lamp post. My strategy ; run fast pass 3 street lamps, and slow-medium past 2. And when I felt that I could go on, pass 4 street lamps fast, and 2 slow. I felt faster, and was more than happy to hold the pace. I passed Hamid, AJ, and a few others who was ahead of me during the first run. I passed Fairul and cheered him. He was into his second lap.

 

  

missJeweLz little analysis on her 2010 results :-

1) RUN 1- Pace 5.36. Not my slowest run split..! *phew..*. can do better next ! sub 1 hour like 2008 !

  

4 ) T2- Not bad considering the fumbling with the locklace. Next year target bawah 1 minit (sub 1 min)

5) RUN 2 – haha..a good news at last !! my best RUN 2 split !!! (must be the slow bike..)

6) Overall time – slashed around 12 minutes from my 2009 timing. A good sign.

7) Ranking for my age group : 4 !! 3 notches up from last year’s ranking

8) To work on for next year : a sub 1 hour RUN 1 (Julie – you can do it !), 2 hours or less BIKE split ( Julie- YOU CAN !) , a sub 58mins RUN 2- (Julie- you can !!!) !

8) Not my first time being in the top 10 for my age group. But this year, #4 placing 🙂 gotta work harder for next year !!

7) it gets more competitive when you move up the age group ladder !!!! I have 1 year left in the 20-29 age group (GOSH I FEEL ‘YOUNG’!)

 8) THE GOOD WEATHER WAS ONE OF THE KEY FACTORS OF THE MANY PBs ACHIEVED AT THE RECENT POWERMAN. IT WAS NOT HOT LIKE LAST YEAR. cool in the morning, cloudy around10am, and it actually drizzled a bit during the bike leg. it only started to get hotter during the second run. but it was nothing. All in all, weather was merciful !!!

 

 

 

Strategy revision and race key points to be highlighted (for myself)

 

• TRY to avoid doing the things that I do not normally do during training
• KEY SESSIONS (i.e. the brick ) ARE important. No point putting in unnecessary extra mileage
• KNOW my pace, and work on improving it
• To train sports nutrition during training. It helps !
• To KNOW what you should do (in terms of performance/sportsnutrition) and WHY you are doing it.
• AVOID blind following. READ. LEARN. CHANGE. IMPROVE. every aspect of training has a reason why. Not everything applies to everyone.
  
• PRACTISE makes perfect. Azmar could have easily done a sub 4 if he had a quicker transition at both T1 and T2. He finished just a minute ahead of me despite his strong run ,and strong bike.
• BUT in the end, each person race for different reasons. So RESPECT your fellow competitors
• AND — respect the race director when she’s giving the race briefing ! hush hush to all. whether first timer or not.

 

A BIG SHOUT OUT TO :

 

NIK FAHUSNAZA- who finished his first Powerman ! Congratulations !!

BAHRI – a hero ! finished his first long distance Powerman with a busted right knee..! he CARRIED ON and walked the second run. Every step was painful, but he did not give up. Ambulance came but kena halau !!

NIK RAIHA – Congratulations ! 🙂 Hope you enjoyed the event !

ARIF, FAIRUL,AZMAR,KAM — for their PBs !

KENNIX — for his Powerman debut !! 🙂 you did well Kennix, keep it up aiGHT?

 ADIK FITRI – did the sprint. got a PB as well !

All the guys and gals from HYPERGILA, TEAM OMBAK, TRI PAKU, TEAM POYO AND CHAP AYAM. TAHNIAH ! 🙂

AJAK — don’t give up. You CAN do better than this !

JASON THIANG, RAZANI AND RAHIM — please get well soon ! we need you back on the course !! 🙂

RAHIM (again) — please don’t tell me this is your last Powerman !! 🙂

CHEAH LIE WEI — next year full distance leh ?!

TERYN THAM — looks like I will be joining your age group in 2 years time. haha.. more competitive !

JAMZIE (jamil that’s you!), ZAKI ERIN, ZULHASSAN, KABI– finish ahead of me next year !

ABE from IIU X TEAM — sekalung TAHNIAH diucapkan atas debut Powerman anda yang mantap. Tapi still tak beat timing Powerman yg pertama akak ! huhuhu 🙂 tahun depan sub 4 dalam genggaman.

ADIB JAAFAR, IKHWAN MOKHLIS, ARIF SUKARNO from IIU X TEAM — CONGRATULATIONS GUYS ! You made the team proud. 🙂 focus on quality of performance in order to ‘upgrade’. (Faiz Abu Samah, Huzaifah, Amirul, Nik, Nad, Yaye–bila lagi..?)

SHAHRUDISAH — I did not forget you man. hahah. Tahniah ok ! Tahun depan come back stronger 🙂

 

FADIL SHUKOR – PB jugak !! tahniah yek !!! 30mins OFF your previous timing tuh !! caiyok !! keep it up ya ! 🙂

STUPE&AILEEN from Team E.A.R.N and Chief Kutu — Tabik spring to both of you for making it to the finish !!

Missing in action this year ; ISHSAL, UPIQ, SYUKRAN,MAY SENN, HAFIZ WONG ABDULLAH, CECIL CHEONG, KEAT SEONG, JENN JENN, STEPHANIE CHOK, KUNA, HADI,EZER,DICKY, BACIN, BADROL

 

PICTURES IN NEXT POST.