Seri Manjung...hmmm alahai

Sedap sungguh nama tu. Seri Manjung. Nama yang aku langsung tak kenal until Powerman was introduced. Yang aku pernah dengar cuma Kampung Manjoi & Manjung powerplant. After my visit there in 2007, rupa-rupanya kerap pulak aku ke sana & hovering around nearby Lumut town.

Ok, this year I came back with a big mission. The Individual Distance. Something that I expected to be gruelling like running a 26 miler but without a bag of training. Only with the courage & confident from last SCKLM & some tiny trainings, I gave it a shot. Perhaps the shot wasn't much of a bang as I continue with this :)

8-November 2009. Powerman Malaysia.
Seven of us made the trip to Seri Manjung after quite a thorough planning. Saiful, Nizam, Hanchik, Azahari & me in the individual age category, Alwin in mix relay cat & Bahri in the sprint. Two cars fitted with 7 bikes & 7 souls. More like a can of sardines. Trust me, the journey was not a back-friendly one.

Weather was pretty warm & humid as we were flagged off at 7.30am. I can say about 500 athletes swarmed the Seri Manjung road attempting our first 11km run. My first run was kept at steady pace but noticeably sweat & HR was a bit on the threshold level. First gel was consumed at the water station about 1km before transition. I was careful while transitting, putting on my cycling shoes trying to avoid any movement that can invite cramps. In 2 minutes I was out of the transition & humping away into the bike course.

Speed & anxiety was awesome. I was maintaining a comfortable 30kph for the first 10km when suddenly disaster strike. Left calf cramped! Aiyo! So early eh? Trying not to panic, I slowly reduced my cadence & assessed the condition. Within the next 3 minutes, the right calf pulak! Ammmah! Well at least I was prepared for it. Memang dah jangka benda ni akan berlaku berpasangan. Hahaha! Just before the 15km U-turn, I stopped for a calf spray at the first aid station. Tapi macam tak rasa apa2 spray tu. Air sejuk agaknya.

The cramps came and left a few times especially when cadence varies & during any bridge humps. Maybe muscle twitched & vibration triggered it. Aku layan aje sampai la ke stadium semula untuk bike second lap. Another gel was scoffed. During this second lap that I stopped to lend Mohd. Zaki from CAR my tools. From the look of it, he was in a state of suffer. Saiful, Nizam & Hanchik rode pass. We played cat & mouse at the remaining distance as head wind & scortching sun added to the suffering pleasure. Hanchik banged his saddle while Nizam can't survive any further than 24kph. We came across Alwin at his prime speed a few times. Another gel. Saiful & me entered the transition together. He suffered cramps while dislodging from the bike & was "forced" to standstill while medic came.

Time was about 10.53am as I started to run leaving the stadium. Initial running condition was ok but not until the next 10 minutes. My slow & tiny pace can't survive longer. I walked & jogged for the remaining 10km. Luckily Saiful & another guy caught up & we chatted away over our run all the way to the finish line for which seemed so demanding. We walked under tree shades & ran when the sky opened. We burned like pisang salai.

We were awarded with medals & finisher t-shirt. Best of all was the freezing cold towel layed on our backs & non-stop orange & watermelon fiesta. I was sitting by the tent gulping loads of it. The lunch award menu was awesome. Pasta, cream soup, salad, fried chicken & rice. But I was already hungry within an hour. Hahaha. Body was burning calories like a boiler.

For my first time multi-sport event doing this distance, I was quite satisfied & thankful that I survived the milage & temperature. Crossing the finish line although barely 9 minutes before cut-off time was a bonus. The fundamental of it, kena train more la dude.

We arranged our award lunch ourselves. After checking out, we left straight to Ipoh for a feast at the legendary Nasi Vanggey! Ammmah! Thanks to Alwin for the sponsorship from his victory in mix relay. Lepas tu tapau Laksa Padang Polo pulak. Hahaha! Nothing more exciting besides the race than a road trip with friends.

Total time : 4:51:26
Run 1 : 00:58:54
Transition 1 : 00:02:04
Bike : 02:19:21
Transition 2 : 00:02:12
Run 2 : 01:28:54