I raced Ironman Langkawi over the weekend on Feb 24 in Kedah, Malaysia. Temperatures reportedly went up to 43 degrees celsius. No cloud in sight in the clear blue skies with a strong island wind blowing. The swim was alright other than a bad stench, the bike was a three-lapper with some short, steep climbs among "strange rolling" (quote Lothar Leder) roads, and the run was four-laps along the tarmac with gentle climbs. I came out the swim a minute down from my age group rival from Japan. But I got out of T1 first. She passed me early in the first lap of the bike and we stuck together, till I dropped her midway through the second. Went into T2 with about a five minute lead and ran my heart out for the first two laps of the run, thinking that if she couldn't see me, she wouldn't catch me. Wrong. She caught me on the third lap and I had no answer. Kona slot gone.

Finished 2nd in the Female 18-24 age group.

My splits:
Swim - 1:12:35
T1 - 3:33
Bike - 6:11:53
T2 - 2:20
Run - 4:34:09
TOTAL - 12:04:30

I hope to race the Standard Chartered Ironman Korea in August and qualify for Kona there. But Ironman Langkawi was my last race in the 18-24 age group, as I turn 25 in two weeks.

Congratulations to all who finished a tough race, especially the 100-odd Singaporeans who were there.

Thanks to Rhodsey for letting me crash his place -- heads up fellah, you'll do beter at Arizona.

And a big thank you to Nike and Powerbar for all the wonderful stash.

Gong Xi Fa Cai! They don't call this the pig year for nothing. I pigged out so much yesterday on fantastic nonya food cooked by my aunties that I skipped breakfast before today's New Year ride with Cycleworx. Chap chye, ayam buah keluak, hee pio soup, curry devil, ngoh hiang, sotong, sambal belachan... man it was good.

This morning's ride was good too. Just wanted to have a little spin before I leave for Langkawi tomorrow. The peloton was about 100-strong and going at 40+, 50km/h down Coastal was a breeze! Turned off early and by the time I got home I clocked 70k. Hopefully that burnt off some of yesterday's grub...

Gotta work today and tomorrow. Need stories! Argh!

One week to go to Langkawi... Air Tix - check. Aerobars - check. Powerbars and powergels - check. Nike racers - check.

Nike Air Pegasus TC (women's)

PowerBar Performance (oatmeal raisin, vanilla crisp and cookies 'n cream)
PowerBar Gel (double latte, vanilla, green apple and raspberry cream)
PowerBar ProteinPlus, reduced sugar (choclate peanut butter, double chocolate)
PowerBar Endurance (lemon-lime) and Performance Recovery (orange) beverage

Thanks Nike and Powerbar!

Valentines' Day, V-day, call it what you want. It just sounds like a load of commercial bull to me. V-day for me was V-tiring but VV-fulfilling.

Woke up and headed for an easy 2k swim just to stretch the arms out after last night's hard swim sesh. Then I went to collect my plane tic to Langkawi at the Malaysia Airlines office at Singapore Shopping Centre (the worst name a mall could ever have, i might add). After that popped by Cycleworx to get my pink handlebar tape and Zipp aerobars fitted onto my bike, and had lunch at the nasi padang stall a few shops away. Sayur lodeh, tau gay and sambal chix washed down with teh-ping. Mmm mmm. Then I went to another bike shop, Tay Junction, but there wasn't much to see there. And then I went to yet another bike shop, Bike Haus, which had a lot to see but way too expensive to afford. Ended up buying a chicken pie and a cous-cous pie from Piper's Pies next door. After that, went back home to snooze for a bit before the Cycleworx ride. Woke up at 5.45pm, ate a couple of slices of toast and headed down (thank God, tailwind.) The ride was alright, my legs were feeling a bit tired though. The aerobars worked fine, so that was good. 81k fast. Ouch. Got home at 9.30pm, heated up the cous-cous pie, scrubbed myself clean and then chowed down. Mmm mmm mmm.

V-happy, V-satisfied, V-tired. Nighters.

Monday blues? More like Monday YAYE!

Woke up this morning all set to drag myself out of bed for work. Thought I'd check in on the office mails first... so I turned on my office laptop, logged onto the system, looked at today's sched (all this done with head still on pillow)... and found out I wasn't down for today. Checked and double checked that this was true, at the same time chomping down toast just in case it was a mistake and I had to leave... NO WORK! This has got to be the best Monday surprise ever.

Had a pretty darn good weekend. Saturday was a 135k ride, pretty much alone cos most of the Cycleworx dudes went to climb Genting. Had to work at 4pm but had loads of fun while at it, cos I was with the national football team on the Hippo Bus and then at their celebration at VivoCity. They're a fun bunch and I had a blast hanging out with them. Female fans were going insane at VivoCity. Good job winning the Asean Football Championship, dudes.

Sunday was spent in church first, then hanging at Cycleworx, followed by a fun training sesh at Sentosa with the AAA peeps. Lin, Chris, Darryl, Ching, Hansel and I hung out at Tanjong Beach, swimming in the lagoon and then heading for a run. Bumped into E.rod, Stevie Hoo and Polar Joe there too. We lazed around the beach for a bit then headed for dinner at Galbati at The Rail Mall. Yum yum yum. And then for dessert at Island Cremery. Yum yum yum. Conversations were good, company great!

Twelve days to Langkawi. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.

What do you do when you have a pink bike? Order five boxes of pink bartape online, duh! Couldn't find pink tape in Singapore.

I was on a chase today. Not a running chase as you'd expect me to be on, but I felt like a private investigator tracking down this elusive person. Today that person was Singapore's favourite footballing son, Fandi Ahmad, who's currently coach of Indonesia Premier League side Pelita Jaya. After like, 10 phonecalls and two detours and four roundabouts, I found him. And reaching that destination after a bloody long chase made it soo much sweeter in the end. And Fandi is such a nice dude. Thank you Fandi!

Marc bought us dinner tonight, famous crab beehoon from Mellben (don't ask me why it's spelt like that, but yes, pronounced like the Victorian city). Also had cereal prawns, black pepper crab with vermicelli, herbal chicken, veggies (lotus root, cashew, carrots, celery.. yumyum) and mini mantou. Thank you Marc for making me feel like a pig. After that dinner I sped off for a swim sesh. Arrived at the pool 50minutes before closing time, so mega rushed my workout. Was good though.

And then I went for a carwash...

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All the bird poop gone! Yaye.

Yesterday's 2h 45min run with Hansel and Collin turned into a 2h 40min run after Hansel decided to up the pace and drop us slowpokes. But it was good, I'm glad I had the guys for company. (And for pushing both of them into doing their longest runs yet!)

Legs felt good this morning and I went for an easy 1.5k recovery swim. Then I popped by Nike for some love...

...had tehping and a good chat with E.rod, Vicky and Pat. Thanks for the stash and the lovin', Nike.

Cycleworx ride this evening. Some work first, though, before my boss busts my ass.

THE RIDE - 83k: Man, the wind is gettin to me. And being gung-ho, I went in front for parts of the ride, like up peirce, somewhere at sembawang, somewhere after chestnut, and a bit down bukit timah. Stupid move. Got dropped at Bukit Timah like a hot potato... but the intensity was fantastic. I'm glad I can tahan even alone. The burn in my legs made me feel so alive and melted all my troubles and stress and what not away. Got home, tired, but at peace with myself. Thanks Cycleworx dudes (and dudettes), you guys and gals rock.

Talk about extremeties. I know I rant about my job quite a bit, but today I experienced my most fulfilling day as a journalist so far. It's days like these that remind me I have probably one of the best jobs possible.

First, the relatively late starts to the work day and flexible lunch hours allow me to squeeze in training seshs. I doubt I'd be able to train for an Ironman with another job (other than being a full-time Tai Tai). At lunch today I ran an hour on the treadmill in the gym. (Yeah, and SPH has a pretty good gym too!)

But most importantly, I get the most job satisfaction from meeting and interviewing people. Today, President S R Nathan hosted a dinner reception at the Istana for the Asian Games and Fespic Games contingents, as well as the newly-crowned Asean Football champions, the Lions. I had a blast mingling with the athletes, officials and VIPs. Really, these people are the most down-to-earth people you will ever meet. PM Lee and other Ministers... they are truly just regular men-on-the-street beneath that skin (which they have to uphold as part of their occupational obligations). I chatted with and interviewed the VIPs... the main thing that night, though, was to get a doorstop from the President. We journalists pretty much hang around like vultures waiting to pounce on an opportunity to spring some questions, but with an entourage of bodyguards and stern looking faces surrounding the Pres, it gets a bit hard to do. Then one VIP offered to help me get to the Pres. In the end, I got my one-on-one, asking hiim about what he thought of the Lions' victory. SWEET! That point in time, when I knew I hit the jackpot, I felt an adrenalin rush unlike that I have ever felt in races. And Mr Pres is really such a friendly man who is always up for a chat. That little interview really rounded off an enjoyable evening.

So yeah, at this point in time, I love my job. Also because I have the next two days off.

But that's besides the point.

HAPPY HAPPY JOY JOY JOY!

End of my big week! (Well it didn't go as planned really because I was sick Sunday and Monday... but oh well, I'm not complaining.)

Today I did my longestt bike -- one-eight-oh... 180k. I woke at 4am to start riding at 4.45am (I usually leave at 5.45am), before meeting the Cycleworx guys at 6.30am. Biked up to Mandai and back and ended at the shop, clocked up a good 45k before the ride with the guys began. Did the usual Western loop and the usual extra long way back via Gap and the WTC viaduct down Shenton Way and Geylang. By the time I got to Bedok Reservoir my legs were like jelly. Some Chinese national on some crappy carrefour bike passed me up the slope at Chai Chee!! Like, whatever lah.. the wind was soooo strong and it was a constant headwind back, so I was soo happy to reach home. You don't know how good it feels to finish 180k till you've done it. :)

And with that, I begin my three-week taper.

Yesterday, I went to see an old Volkswagen Beetle at a workshop at Paya Lebar, recommended by Poo-poo Sng, who has a blue one. I'm in love -- with the beetle that is. It was a nice shade of bronze, and when Poo turned on the engine to go for a test drive, the little roar it gave out made me sooo excited. The seller is offering a great price. Now I just need to find the dough. I really really really want it!!!!

What do you do when the going gets tough?

MOVE YOUR ASS!

Was called back to work yesterday at the last minute to help cover the Asean Football Championship final between Singapore and Thailand at the National Stadium. Reluctantly, I dragged myself to work by 4.45pm. Plans to bike with the Cycleworx guys were dashed, and I was thoroughly upset. Fortunately, I did a swim in the morning, albeit just a relaxing 3k... anyway, I actually enjoyed being at the National Stadium, mingling with football fans and bumping into loads of friends. Took photos of many of them. Left the office at 2am and so plans to bike early this morning were also dashed. Again, upset. And I was so groggy when I got to work this morning I didn't think I would get any training done. But that's the amazing thing about our bodies. Just when you think you can't, a few steps later, you can. I did a 1h 20min run at Macritchie Reservoir at lunch, about 15k or so. The sun was nice and hot, but there was a pretty strong, cool breeze blowing, so it was really, really fantastic conditions. Managed to wrap up my story today early so got home by 7.30pm and spent the rest of the night chillin'. Yaye.

Will try to get up and bike at 4am tomorrow. Goodnight!