Funny how work can be a bitch but when you don't have any you feel a little sick. Well, that's what has been happening to me these past two weeks as I clear 12 days of leave. I can't believe it. A niggling headache actually went away for the two days I popped back into the office last week, and working from home on Sunday. Maybe perhaps it's because all I have been doing (other than those three days) are falling asleep again and again on my very nice and cosy bed in my very nice and cosy room. Some training here and there thrown in, a DVD or two, walking across the street to the mall,... but yeah, basically vegetating on my bed. The cool rainy weather hasn't helped much either.

STILL, being on leave is great! Finally found the time to:

Meet up with friends at
Barracks at Dempsey Road for Trina's visit
and Creperie Ar-men at Duxton Road for Fanny's birthday

Check out J's event site (by day and night) at Woodlands for an event he's
organising for a car manufacturer

Pet my dog, Doggie

Have a scrumptious dinner with J at Soup Restaurant

Pay my first visit to Passione bikes at Fong Seng opened by
buddies Daniel and Eddie. Bought new white tyres and bumped into
Ji Wen, who finally returned from his training stint in France.

It's official. I'm going to December's South-east Asia Games in Thailand. Not as a journo, but as an athlete -- a duathlete. What an honour to be selected by the Triathlon Association of Singapore and the Singapore National Olympic Council to represent the nation in duathlon's SEA Games debut.

When I heard the news sometime earlier this evening, a mix of emotions hit me like the sickening headwind hits you when riding at Coastal. Disbelief, elation, hopefulness, excitement, anxiety, worry, nervousness... what will the next three months be like? How will I juggle work and training? Will I go overseas for a training stint? What if I fail? What should I do next?

All of a sudden, 70.3 has taken a backseat. Next week's race is just going to be entirely for fun. There are much bigger things ahead to worry about... and hopefully, achieve.

Pray for me.

There are people filming me as I write this!!! Will post photos up in a while... this is for the Aviva Ironman 70.3 Singapore video to be shown on AXN. When? I don't know.

Righty... so I've been told the half-hour Aviva Ironman 70.3 Singapore show will be out on AXN in early November. Shoot was a blast!

room raiders...

Photo: Clifford

How did I love Desaru? Let me count the ways...

>> Weather: It was absolutely fabulous. Light showers, overcast skies, gloomy conditions, cool temperatures. Perfect racing weather for me.

>> Company: Made the road trip with J, who is the best team manager/driver/partner anyone could ask for. Was also great meeting up with friends from the local triathlon community and cheering for them during the race.

>> Race: Well, except for a pretty terrible swim, the bike and run legs went pretty well. Wasn't going 100 per cent, did not have aero wheels on (32 spoke clincher training wheels instead!), but was feeling great throughout the race. Am particularly pleased with my run -- I ran 21k in 1h 47min off the bike. (Must be partly due to those spanking new Katanas!). The race has boosted my confidence for the Aviva Ironman 70.3 Singapore... with Zipp ZedTech wheels on... it should be a pretty good race...

>> Surfing: At least I got to try surfing again after my last attempt in California four years ago. The waves at Desaru were small and unexciting though, so there was not much to surf... but still... was a nice feeling paddling out! Managed to kneel on the board twice -- I forgot how to stand. Not much of a surfer am I?

>> Time-out: Finally, some breathing space from work. Phew.

How did I not love Desaru?

>> Food: Totally crap.

>> Cheats: Drafting sucks, and when the rules say NO DRAFTING, it means NO DRAFTING. Still, some still chose to break that rule during the race -- blatantly I might add. Seems like a small incident that can be explained with "Aiyah, just draft for fun, mah"... but it really is a big indication of one's integrity. I put drafting and drugs in the same category -- both are cheating. If you wouldn't steal, would you cheat? If you wouldn't cheat, would you draft? What's the use of winning when you know you didn't do it on your own strength? To all who drafted during the race -- especially those who drafted to get on the podium -- I say you are WEAK, you are a CHEAT, and you SUCK. Literally so. And you don't deserve any respect. Respect to race-winner Alice from Australia, second-placed Nike-mate Vicky Campbell and (eventually) third-placed Malaysian Stephanie Cheok for showing what real sportsmanship is and the true tenacity and grit of a triathlete. It was an honour coming in behind three of you.

This week had been mad, insane, crazy.. what have you. Haven't had time to breathe or sleep or eat, much less train. So leaving for Malaysia this arvo to race the Desaru Long Distance Tri seems like a nice holiday... a good break from the stresses of work... a good five hours out with the adrenaline pumpin, sweat flowin, and hopefully, good times rollin... anyhow, I haven't got any race wheels on. This is a training race for the 70.3, so I'm using training wheels. Zipp Team CSC wheels though, so don't see them no up. ;)

On the feet, out with the old,...

... in with the new...

Women's Air Katana... my all-time favourite racers.

Thank God for air-conditioning. And duvets. And pillows. And corduroy curtains. And jazz. And peanut butter and kaya bread. All these post-training luxuries I cannot do without. Especially after 125k with the Cycleworx guys, followed by a 15min run round the estate. The scorching sun was out in full force today, and so were the riders. About 30 of us did the usual loop... I spent quite a bit of time out in the front today, crouched over my Zipp aerobars, feeling extremely comfortable. The legs felt good too during the short 15min run. I'm looking forward to Desaru and 70.3.

The stomach's growling now but sleep seems like a more immediate need, so I'm gonna just slide under the covers for a bit... before I head to Cycleworx to get my Pinarello washed and polished, grab some lunch, then head to work.

Looks like a great day ahead.

Am nursing a slight sniffle today, after I biked in the rain yesterday morning. The plan was to meet Ah Fei, Sotong and don't know who else at Fong Seng at 8am. So I left my house at 6.45am. The wind was howling and the temperature felt like it was in the low 20s. At 6.47am, it started pouring madly. As I made my way from my Pasir Ris home to Chai Chee, down Upper Changi Road to Guillemard Road, Nicoll Highway, down Shenton Way to Telok Blangah,.. the rain went from pouring, to a drizzle, to showers, to a storm, and back to a drizzle. The rain was stinging my eyes and I could barely see. It finally subsided when I went up the viaduct towards Fong Seng. By which time, Ah Fei SMSed me and I called back, only to hear the sleepiest of voices. So I went ahead alone down to Tuas Checkpoint and took the same way back. It was a good three-hour-plus ride, legs felt great, and was nice to be alone for awhile. Roads were pretty empty due to the National Day public holiday.

What can I say? (sniff). It was a perfect ride in perfect weather. I love the rain. Rested today after a good week of training, and will be doing another long ride, maybe 135k, with the Cycleworx guys tomorrow, and maybe a run in the afternoon before work starts at 4.

Will be racing the Desaru Long Distance Triathlon next Saturday, and the Aviva Ironman 70.3 Singapore a fortnight after that. Can't wait. I love these long distances. They suit me much better than the very painful shorter Olympic and Sprint distances. Wish me luck!

Did my first long bike on Saturday in a looong time. The usual 125k I had done before my three-OD stint resumed with the Cycleworx guys. The peloton was pretty damn big, I reckon more than 20 of us easily. Was great to be back riding with the guys. Didn't wait for them at the Kranji rest stop though, cos I had to rush home to meet Uncle Robs, Shaun, Joey and Yingming for Joseph's birthday lunch at Aston's. I picked Uncle Robs and Joseph up, and thankfully the other three had already gotten a table by the time we got there, cos the queue outside was pretty amazing. Lunch was great, I had the Hickory BBQ Chicken and sausage combo with potato salad and veggies as my sides. Could hardly finish it, to the delight of Shuan, who polished off my sausages and spuds. After that, I gave all the guys a lift back to T3 in my beemer... mind you, it's a 1990 316i with lowered suspension...

Uncle Robs, Shaun and Joey.
Yingming hidden on right, Joe at front seat.

So, after giving them a lift to T3, I went home to wait for J to come over. We went for lunch at Adam Road - well he had lunch and I had cheng tng - and then went grocery shopping at Cold Storage beside Serene Centre with some "taxi fare" my mom had given him in the form of grocery vouchers. Then, he fixed dinner for us with the stuff we bought...

Finally, fellow cyclists, beware when you ride on Singapore's roads. There are some drivers out there who have brains in their arses and just want to ram us down...

Pinarello Galileo galloped over by a huge truck.
Notice the 90 degree angle the frame has formed, and the saddle rails upturned..
Thankfully, cyclist was unhurt.