Date: 5th-6th of May 2007
Venue: Bukit Merah Laketown Resort, Bukit Merah, Perak
Distance:
Olympic Distance: 1.5km/40km/10km
Sprint (Biathlon): Swim 1km/Run 6km
Entry Fee:
OD: RM70 (RM160 for Relay)
Sprint: RM50 (Quite ex also)
What a weekend. For some reason, the race weekend coincides with my Grandma’s birthday celebration. So, I had to go all the way to Kluang, Johor to have dinner on Saturday with my family from Melaka. Then, my family was kind enough to go back together after the dinner. Reached home quite late, and slept immediately. Wanted to pack my stuff and check my gear, but didn’t have time. Turned out to be a big mistake.
Had some bananas and milo for breakfast. Drove to A Famosa Resort, which is just outside Alor Gajah. I hate the route from Melaka to Alor Gajah, because of the amount of traffic lights one have to pass through. Arrived quite late, probably just before 7.30am. Suddenly, I had the urge to do my “business”. Went to the toilet, and it was occupied. Had to wait for someone to come out. By the time it was done, I was running out of time.
Unpacked and assembled my bike. As I was going to fill my bottles with water, I opened one of them and it stinked like hell! I can’t even remember what was inside previously. Had no choice but to rinse it with water and pour my 100 plus into it. Cycled to the transition area and everybody was going to the lake already. Forgot my bib, and had to run back to get it. Forgot to put my sunblock, again (as in Langkawi). I think I was the last one to get marked. Walked to the lake, and warmed up. They made some announcements, and the usual stuff. The lake looked quite clean. Surprisingly, the VIP was on time. After a few moments, bang!
I slowly followed the crowd into the lake. Started swimming once I was in. Lots of kicking and knocking into each other. After 100m or so, in the midst of the “action”, I started to get nervous and had difficulty breathing. Was struggling and decided to swim to the island and get some breather. There was another swimmer there probably feeling the same. After about a minute, when the crowd cleared. Overtook a few (yay!), but was more or less on my own most part of it. As I was finishing my first lap, one swimmer lapped me and headed towards the finish. Damn, I need to swim that fast one day. Overtook one or two more swimmers, and followed this pack of about 3 swimmers till the end. I came out of the water, and man, my white top was all brown. Not wearing this next year.
Swim time was 46 mins 10 secs. Not too bad, although my target was 40 mins. For once, I was not last out of the water. Still felt quite strong. T2 was pretty fast. I didn’t press my watch properly, so it was probably around 4 mins.
As for the bike, I am quite please with my performance. I recceed the route the day before, and it had lots of hills. So, mentally I was prepared for it. There is one hill inside the resort where I had to push my bike up last year. Nailed it this time. Just outside the resort, on the main road, there was this really steep downhill, where I was going more than 50km/h. From then, hill after hill, but not really that steep. Overtook quite a few people in the early part of the route. Some roadies overtook me as well. I don’t claim to be an expert biker, but I saw a few riders, who was struggling up the hills, not using the lowest gear that they have. Some were even going zig-zag, which was kinda dangerous. Anyway, we pass by the Machap area, where they were going to hold an election a few days after that. Nothing much to say, but just that there were hills, more hills, and hills everywhere. But not as steep as the one in Langkawi.
As I was approaching the resort, I remembered the steep downhill earlier. Then it stuck me that I had to cycle back this same hill! As I approached it, I saw one biker pushing his bike near the top. I had to stand and cycle, and the next thing I knew I was at the top. Wow, what a feeling. Feels like reaching the peak of Mt Everest or something. Surprising, I wasn’t too tired. Reached the resort and saw a lot of people running already. Practiced how to remove my leg from the shoe with the shoe still clipped into the pedal earlier on, and did it at the end of the bike leg. My family was already there cheering me on.
Bike time: about 1 hr 29 mins. Average of about 27km/h. Not too bad. Targeting 1 hr 20 mins actually (average of 30km/h).
T2 was super quick, since I don’t have my clipless shoe on. Just racked the bike, took out my helmet, put on my visor and shoe, and off I go. T2 time: 1 min 23 secs.
Struggled on the run, especially the early part. One guy overtooked me, and was pretty strong. Another guy had cramps. Roughly after about 3km, then I started running. Had very short stops, but was running most of the time. Ran out onto the main road, and turned back into the resort. At the guard post, the guard cheered on and said that there was “only 1.5km” left. Yah right. Surprisingly, we did not have to turn into the hotel and do a u-turn there. I’m not really complaining, but it is not an OD distance anymore. Hard to compare with future timings like that. Anyway, once I started to see the condominium which was also the finish, turned on my NOS and turboed. Overtook a few, including on foreigner lady. My family was cheering me at the end. Run time: 59 mins for my estimation of 7.5km run.
Total time: about 3 hrs 20 mins.
Official time: 46:15, 1:29:26, 1:04:42 = 3:20:23
Looking forward to the next race in Bukit Merah. I am quite happy that they finally have one up in the northern region, where I’m sure that there are my people and athletes around here who wants to get a shot a triathlon, but can’t afford to travel all the way south for the race. See you there!