Perangkaan 2011

Muahahaha! The year is coming to an end and fellow athlete friends are busy compiling stats of running miles logged. I reckon it was one great year for everyone which we should be thankful that we could live another day  and watch the sun, the birds and the bees and of course our love ones. Cherish them while we can. Jazakallah.

Cranking year :]

First quarter was the biggest achievement in my cycling. The miles were unbelievable but once  commitments were locked, it was now or never (sebenarnya sebab dah bayar fee PCC Interstate mahal. keh keh keh). If you're an enthusiast cyclist, doing ONE interstate ride is a must. The satisfaction was awesome. The camaraderie was a pleasurable one. If I have the chance, a repeat is possible.

Pounding moderately

Though I was a bit too ambitious to hit two birds with one stone, I was too weak to even pick up the stone and throw at the birds. Hahaha. Faktor usia. After the Interstate, the window was too narrow for me to recover AND train for KL Marathon. I struggled. And failed to get the ultimate strength. There is a saying by my orang kampung (dahsyat orang kampung aku ni) "Go out and give 100%, or don't go at all". So I didn't. Ultimate sufferfest by NOT respecting the distance is obviously unwise. Sapa nak gosok baju kalau dah kengkang seminggu?! Hang habaq mai! That's where June was zero running miles :|

Liquid :]

Well, these are sporadics. The main reason I was hooked to it was due to the lambungan ombak beracun by  friends for my first tri event. Alhamdullillah it went OK though it was only a runcit-runcit category BUT by making the big leap into the open water was major...well, at least for me.

I trained when there's race. I chilled when there's none. Making up time with the loved ones are more indulging. 2012? Projects? Plans? Hmmm...I'll start with Bukit Ammah first lah. Then we'll see how it goes.

Happy New Year :]

These were last week's news

Entah apa aku nak taruk tajuk tapi it was just another awesome weekend. Nothing outstanding, but I managed to squeeze in another 3...oops actually 4 in two days.

Pagi Sabtu, menu LSD again around the neighbourhood. We call it McDonald loop 8km. I received message from Rozaimi a few days prior that the whole orang kampung will join. That would be him, Asharul, Det, Nizam and me. However, there at the junction at 6.30 a.m. under the streetlight were only Det and me. Asharul still nursing stiff calves while Nizam still in celebration mode for his newborn twins. Rozaimi? Overslept! Siapa yang salah?! Black metal tu tak bersalah Pak Abu! Yang salah tu ialah anggapan Black Metal tu salah! Sabor je lah...

Det was the honorary pacer of the week, despite a few grouchy look from me when he up the pace noticeably.

Then, Azmar was willing to join the swim cangkuk session at Bukit Jalil after that. No coaches available for this weekend, so I was kinda hoping that the session would be at least the same magnitude as previous. However, things didn't fall into the groove as wanted. Everything was wrong that morning. Kick, breath and fatigue. Thanks to Azmar, he brought a snorkel which means I get to slightly improve my stroke, especially the left one. Willingly, we bailed out after disgustedly managed to cover 700m.

Sunday, buddies decided to skip PCC ride to Titi but gave LEKAS a shot instead. So they told, enough climbings. When was that anyway? I obliged. Ten of us. I rode from home, with Det. Planning to clock in more milage as PCC-IS 2011 is nearing...8 weeks left. Speed was magnificently controlled at moderate on the way to Seremban. That was cool. We entered Seremban for breakfast and time was still good. The ride back was something on the opposite. Speed was crazily spoiled and headwind was too strong. Drafting at 45 was pushing the red zone and a slight turn from the head outside the streamline, will only cut down the speed dramatically. 102km done.

When time spent under the magnificent sun more than 3 hours, dehyrdration was immense. I was still warm even when I poured in liters after liters. Lucky me, recovery was short and the evening was pretty much well spent by celebrating Umar's 5th birthday. Very short and simple but we have a large crowd of hungry and sweaty playful buddies to join in the chocolate cake digging.

Just woke up from afternoon nap dah kena tiup lilin



The whole peloton of BTHO

Trying to squeeze in 3

Triumph after the Dragoback

With kaki already into the drivetrain mode, plus the cycling kakis in jovial mood for another Batu Arang ride, we embarked into the self retrace back to the suburbs of Ulu Selangor. One of the largest state, Selangor still boast more untouched lands which sooner later will be flattened in no time. As the name says it, summer time throughout the ride was expected. Milage 82km, not quite worth the burning sensation above and under from the torching sun and tarmac. Leburrr...

Anyway, the trip and sunburn was justified when I managed to secure a good deal for Amir's BMX right after the ride. Thanks to mudah.com, a mint condition BMX for him to join the neighbourhood peloton after this.

BTHO Pro Tour Team

That was two weeks ago, which I had to summarised things again.

Last weekend, things went a bit above average. I did three workouts. Nothing that I planned for but things kinda fell into pieces and went smoothly without tampering other chores. Since swim was pushed to evening, my biological alarm clock had me wide awake by 5.00 a.m. Thanks to fellow old time "orang kampung", we made a last minute plan for LSD around the infamous McDonald loop. Four of us, but in reality, I was sayur-ed halfway into the run by no other than Det and Nizam. Damn fast these guys. Apa taknya, belasah gym almost everyday. So I had Asharul to tackle my envy and pep talks. Asharul will be a FMV in the June SCKLM, so as usual I had him pouring with loads of tips and knowledge. We ended up with him waiting for me to email him the Hal Highdon marathon training program.

Awaiting 5.00 p.m., I was restless. With almost the whole day I was not quite as the laze around type, I was a bit worried I couldn't meet the distance menu tabled out. As a beginner, putting in effort for something new is near impossible at times. But, I gave it a shot. SIGN!

The introductory drill already had me twisting every part of my body. Kick drill, one arm drill and the best drill was stroke "ikan sebelah". Completing the drills was only the appertizer, because the main course was yet to be served. Followed with 500m front crawl or whatever crawl I managed. Then the 500m crawl with only my arms without the legs since I had the pull buoy. Now, this almost broke me. As the laps and soreness accumulate, I had only my mind to push me through. Wall after wall, stroke after stroke. Leburrr...

OK that was "fun". I was struggling to catch up with the guy next lane who did breaststroke. Damn, he's good. I had only 30 secs recovery before the main course bell rang. 1 kilo shall we? Wha...t? The whole one lump sum? Again, without any chance to bargain nor beg, the cangkuk phenomenon took place for the second week. The longest in single attempt so far, eventually completed when the pool light made the bubbles seemed therapeutic, enough to last me for 33 minutes 47 secs. OK, the time was extra motivation because I was 200% barely surviving the distance. The rest of the night snuggled into the compression tight, hoping I could make it for the ride next morning. And now I wished I have upper compression wear as well, the soreness was total!

Next morning, again the orang kampung camarederie was the driving point. Fortunately recovery was speedy. Four of us from the same neighbourhood. A great peloton. Nizam, Det, Doc Taufiq and me pedalling away into the morning darkness, only to rendevouz with the rest of the peloton along the way. We met Bahri at Batu 9 and two more cyclists caught up. By the time we reached Batu 14, we had 7 in line. Plus 7 more we had the whole lane to ourselves all the way to Batu 18. Weather was kind enough to lend us morning shower. It rained so hard, we had to take refuge under the lontong stall. Lol. No excuse not to taste the hot bowl of lontong with 13 other hungry souls while the rain washed away our sunken anxiety...konon.

Half an hour bowl digging, the rain stopped and we had to justify what was left of the morning. It was still 9.00am, so we pursued the eager legs up Genting Peres and Bukit Hantu and back home just in time to dig lunch pulak. Tammat.

Long CNY Hols

CNY holidays ended for 4 long days without any travelling. Btho just lazily hung around home & KL. I managed to squeeze in a ride & a run despite being a bit off from my recent long run/race.

Saturday evening, though with a bit of haze, warm & windy, I spent the afternoon with kids at Precinct 5 man made beach & pool. Kids were enjoying the banana boat ride & followed by a quick 30 minutes dip in the pool. I took the chance for a 1 lap warm up breaststroke, 2 laps freestyle & 1 lap cooldown breaststoke again. All good.

Sunday morning, my long lost ride unfolded at 7.00am leaving home to meet Bacin & Dicky at Batu 9 & continued on towards Batu 14 meeting Saiful, Alwin & Bahari. Supposed to be a Peres-Tekala ride was reduced to only Peres after gauging my level of milage. I was struggling up Peres & also back to Batu 14 though I noticed recovery time was short. Need more rides & milage if I want to signup for the PCC Interstate this year which is scheduled in early May. Closed the day with breakfast at Batu 14 before completing my journey back to home clocking 80.65km in 3:30. Overall, I look forward for another ride.

Monday, had to abscend myself from mtb at Putrajaya bike park. Daughter was not feeling well. Attempted to join the swim session after the ride but pool was closed. Forgot about the Monday close-day. Ended up the day with loads of saturated fat at a bbq at in-laws gathering in USJ. Not healthy.

Tuesday, forced myself out of bed to make way for the scheduled midweek training program. Ran 8km at Tasik Permaisuri with Bacin, Saiful, Dicky, Zakuan, Julie & her friend. Was considered a fast pace (5:43) & I felt a bit of a lassitude during post-run. Maybe due to low carbo & rest.