Long month

I haven't updated this blog for ages. With horror I realise the last entry is PD-triathlon. After that came UPNM-MUDS duathlon, Ekiden-run and Desaru-triathlon.

Lots of things happened since then. Kalam changed job and is no longer working in UPNM (he's posted to Mindef now). Lots of changes in UPNM, they have a new vice-chancellor who is undoubtedly the least educated VC ever (the new VC has no university-degree whatsoever, doubt any other university can top that). Good thing, since Mindef has a lack of quarters we stay in our house - just the thought of having to move makes me panic.

Lotta changes in organisation structure in Gleneagles as well and it didn't all go smoothly - luckily now things are settling down a bit but with another collegea who has resigned, currently two of us are doing work designed for 5 educators.

I'm struggling through fasting month. Fasting itself doesn't pose a problem, but lack of sleep and no training doesn't feel good. I've gained weight and keep fallling sick, just don't feel myself. Work has been extremely busy and my 'To do list' is still long.

Looking forward to start swimming, cycling and running again in one weeks time. It's gonna be a struggle to get back in shape but I'm looking forward to it. At least had a change to meet up with a few friends during a 'buka puasa' organised by Powerbar and another buka puasa organised by UPNM's tri-club. Life is dull without triathlon and the group of friends

Haha, very late race-reports:

UPNM-MUDS. Starting with a 4km run, Ngae who was doing relay with a new runner kept pace with us and to my surprise I realised that at a slow speed I can actually keep running. Even after cycling the 18km I ran most of the second 4km run. Left several female UPNM-cadets behind me!

Duathlon MUDS-UPNM

Ekiden-run. one week later. Tried to keep the same run-speed and ran 3.5km and still had energy left at the transition-point.

Desaru. Untill last moment I was hesitating whether I should do the long-distance or relay-event. The questions was solved when Wendy called me and asked me to be their swimmer for a relay-team with her and Bo.

The swim was fun- nice big waves to dive into. It took me awhile to get into my stride but felt good. Danial swam relay with an UPNM -team.

Handed over to Bo and settled down to watch the race, Bo and Wendy did a great job. (I'll try and find some pics to add afterwards)

Kalam didn't train at all for one month but still managed to finish.

Next day sprint four family-members took part:Kalam, Danial, Dayan and me.

Quite a number of the youngsters from our Trikidz-programme were taking part;

Trikidz with coach Azhar

In truth I had a score to settle with this race. Last year I wanted so badly to do good in this sprint-event but was deeply dissapointed with myself.

The waves were fun again, 500meter swim seemed very short. When I came out of the water Mr Chan shouted 'Woh Nurina, you have any idea how many swimmers you've left behind you?' I looked around and saw many arms still ploughing through the water. Off to the bike and Desaru's rolling hills, a few people overtook me but I overtook several others as well. Played tag with a Singaporean fellow, thanks to Dino I know now how to draft behind some-one uphill (and overtake on the downhill part). The distance seemed shorter than last year and soon found myself back at the transition-area. My legs cramped a bit during the bike but I managed to run the 3km. I assumed the Singaporean fellow was ahead of me but I must have overtaken him in the transition, he overtook me again in the last 50 meter. But I really had a fun-race and the ghosts from last year have been laid to rest. It was nice for a chance to finish somewhere among the pack and not one of the last.

Many people have asked me when am I going to do Ironman. Well, my answer is; not for now. My committent to my family comes first and I'm not able to train the hours needed for Ironman without sacrificing a lot of family-time. Working full-time leaves me with very limited time- my day-planner is often divided into minutes. So I've decided for now to concentrate on sprint and Olympic distance, and there is a lot of room for improvement there. Ironman, I still dream about it and who knows maybe in a few years time....

Dayan finishing the sprint

And of course last but not least:

Wishing you all

SELAMAT HARI RAYA

PD Triathlon

The first time I saw PD triahtlon was 4yrs ago. From just watching our family has graduated, with this year three of us taking part in the Olympic Distance. We missed out on the sprint as we choose to do MUDS duathlon instead -not enuf time to do all the races in one weekend.


Lazy to write another race-report.

Just a few highlights:
At the last part of the returning leg (about 150-200 m from the beach) one of the swimmers suffered severe cramps in his legs and couldn't swim anymore. He held unto a buoy and waved to the kayak and waterscooter for help. The kayak and scooter saw him but as they were on the other side (the open sea side) they were unable to reach him. In order to reach him, they would have had to cross the ropes and across the lane of uncoming swimmers. There were no lifeguards placed on the inner side. When it became clear that no help was going to arrive, Jeremy (one of the relay swimmers and a certified lifesaver) took hold of the guy and started pulling him to the beach.(hihi Jeremy was my student for CPR course last year) I swam alongside to calm the swimmer and in case Jeremy would become fatigued. (happy I took the trouble last year to get my own certification as a lifesaver)

Even though we continued to wave and shout, no attempt to help us was made. In the end Jeremy had to pull the swimmer all the way to the beach. When we reached the beach a stretcher was waiting but the swimmer was fine once he reached dry land.
My point what is the use of having a stretcher ready at the beach if there are no means of getting the swimmer out of the water?



In the morning my legs were stiff from the duathlon the day before. I cycled most of the 40km together with Emma (Emma fromUPNM, I can only match Emma Bishop's cycling speeds in my dreams).
Suffered badly on the run, couldn't handle the heat. Everytime I tried to run my calfs would cramp gues I shouldn't have done the duathlon the day before. Anyway finished the event, got another medal for my collection.


Triathlons are for people of all sizes


Nice calm sea


Three wonderfull vibrant ladies: Sue Ee. JuliJewel & Jaja


Danial's swim times are improving


Hubby was flagged off in an earlier wave


Life-saver Jeremy


Victim (UPNM cadet -newbie)


Big fat mama



My handsome son (hehe, i know all mothers say like that)


I still dont look good in thights SIGH


Emma, the only female UPNM TRI-athlete


Lotta ladies watching Mej K......



Danial has learned how to potong sayur, watch and see







Local VIP acknowledges the applause from the crowd

Juli, a really strong runner

Nurina, a really lousy runner

Aini, certified TRIATHLETE

Certified friends

Sanjeev, the heat and cramps got the better of him. Luckily he was back on his feet 10 minutes later

Pictures by Mr Tey, Norizan and Aini

MUDS UKM

The first of 3 University series duathlons took place in UKM.
it was a overcast morning with a slight drizzle of rain. My aboslutely favorite wheather for races!
A record of 52 UPNM cadets took part. Quite a few new faces, the club is growing. Of course also quite a number of other friends took part and some new faces as well.
From our family Kalam, Dayan and me took part. Danial's bike is still under repair and with so many cadets participating there was no spare bike to borrow.





With Shaiful (Belacak) and Dayan




Dayan is a happy finisher
All pictures thank to Aini!!!!

Had fun cycling and running, nice to do a shorter distance for a change. I ran most of the 2 x 3km.I dont know my time, forgot to check and Malakoff only publishes the winners times on their website.

Unfortunately during the race a lot of the marshalls were poorly briefed about their role. Some apparently thought it was their job to make sure none of the traffic would be disturbed by the racers. They stopped cyclists to let busses and other traffic go first. Orthers let cars come out of side-roads into the path of uncoming cyclists. At one point in the route is a steep curved downhill slope, still traffic was passing by from both sides -a recipe for disaster.
Fortunately nothing untowards happened but that was mainly due to luck and not to planning.
Safety during races is still neglected (see next blog entry)

Another RM150 richer

Before the race

UPNM's triathletes, after the race

We arrived back from Kenyir late last night. The travelling can be as tiring as the triathlon itself.

Our race-report.

We left on fridaynight. Came home from work packed our bags and got in the car. We drove untill 2.30am. I had enormous difficulty keeping my eyes open but scared Kalam might fall asleep at wheel I forced myself to keep chatting. (Having worked nightshifts for many many years helps). We stopped at a guesthouse in Marang and slept till the next morning.

After breakfast we continued our journey.

Last year was the first time I visited Kenyir and to me it is one of the most beautifull spots in Malaysia. The views are breathtaking...

Rest of the day was spend registering for the race, sorting out racegear. Went for a boatride (triathletes turned pirates). And taking the kids for a swim. Steph, Dino and Sue Ee joined the waterfun. Steph showed me how she navigates while freestyling, a skill I still haven't mastered (but after Steph's instructions -with some practice- i think I can get the hang of it).

Evening the usual carbo-loading dinner. The food was nice but having only one buffet resulted in loooong queues. And the resort was apparently not informed that triathletes eat double the amount of 'normal' people. (They probably thought all these athletes must be super weight conscious). At least all got some food, some only side-dishes, others only main meal.....

Triathlons are addictive not only because of the sport but also because of the many nice people you get to meet. All of them with an 'can do' attitude and no-one belittles the accomplishments of others -instead we cheer loudly for each other....

Slept soundly on our rented houseboat.

My dear friends (and training-partners) Sue Ee and Xman

RACE-DAY. I have been really nervous about doing Kenyir tri. Having done the relay cycle-leg last year I knew only too well the hills ahead (and the previous year they nearly got the better of me).

But chatting away at the start-line Siok Bee gave me the clue for the event. She was chanting to herself 'I gotta learn to love this/ I gotta learn to love this' etc before the swim start. I started wondering why i was nervous, there is nobody to impress, my times are not gonna knock anyone over. So what if I'm the last finisher. I'm doing this because I enjoy it! All the years being cooped up at home with little kids, now I can finally enjoy being active again outdoors -and that is my passion, never mind times / placing and such.

Swim went okay, switched between breast stroke and freestyle, practising navigating skills (needs more practice - ended up in the rope a few times). Kept abreast with Sue Ee all the way.

Got on the bike but that first hill is daunting, phew so just push the bike. The rest of the cycling went quite well. I didn't push myself, just enjoyed the breeze and the beautifull scenery. Waving to all the friends overtaking or allready on the way back. saw Kimberly fly by with some relay-cyclists. This year I didn't struggle, just had fun (my only aim is the finish the race). Met up with another orang putih (we overtook each other a few times) -Chris. Hehe after chatting for 10 minutes we found out were both Dutch and switched to our mother tongue.

I think only 5 cars passed us during the race

Arrived at T2 with a few cyclists still behind me. Emma (the only female UPNM cadet active in this sport) accompagnied me the whole run. It was fun having someone along. My planned stategy was 'walk uphill /run downhill' which we maintained during the race. Gradually we counted down the km's. The last hill is really really nasty (even walking!).

I finished in 3.58hr, happy to finish below 4hrs. Hubby was waiting at the finish-line.

Prize giving was also fun. Emma's team won third prize (she swam the relay-leg earlier). My category had only 8 participants so I got the 8th place (and I'm RM150 richer hihi).

Danial had a good swim time (below 34min I think, those swimclasses are paying off)

After lunch went for another swim with the kids, before reluctantly climbing in the car for the long journey back.

Next year's Kenyir tri will be in March, I hope our family can stay a bit longer that time.

Enchanting beauty of Kenyir

Dayan, our family photographer forgot to take his camera. Pictures by Amir

See you next year in March

A Typical Malaysian Sunday

We’re having a Malaysian Sunday.
What I mean is were spending our Sunday the way most Malaysian’s do – slept in, watched a bit of TV, went to mamak stall for breakfast cum lunch, read the newspaper, afternoon nap etc.
Now for most Malaysian’s that nothing to write about, for our family it’s rather special. Our usual Sunday’s are getting up at 6am, loading bikes in the car or preparing run-gear and we’re out of the house before dawn. Only to return at lunch-time; half-starved / sunburned & windblown and smelling like a bunch of sweaty otters (if I’m offending any otters here my sincere apologies). That is those Sunday’s were not out of town and attending a race some where (which still involves getting up at 6am, preparing bikes, run-gear etc –you get the pic). Reason for our abnormal Sunday – Kalam returned from Indonesia late last nite. Our maid is enjoying a weekend off so I can’t leave the little ones behind. However something doesn’t feel right, life is too static; Need to take the whole bunch out for a swim or cycle a few rounds.
Prize money
Last weekend we took part in Miri-triathlon (Kalam, Danial and me). It was a nice time meeting up with friends at the race. Nice to meet Scalo and wife Katherine, Michael Chong for the first time. Triathlon Malaysia is definitively growing, this year more than 300 participants. A few new faces in the womens’s category –mostly other orang putih’s who are living in Sarawak.
It was a very hectic weekend, got on the flight to Miri early Saturday morning – met Neeza, Steph, Wong/Hafiz (brand-new papa), Steve and Karoline at the airport. Kalam with Adam picked Danial and me up at the airport. Went to register and met a lot more familiar faces at the registration site. Quickly to the hotel (this year we were staying in town –not at the race-hotel), pasang the bicycles and get our gear ready.
A few hours later of to the start of the sprint-distance; Race went okay – still don’t like the one hill – ended somewhere at the end to finds hubby and son waiting for me (slow mama!!).
Seafood-dinner with paku-midin goreng belacan (I really miss this dish in West-Malaysia). Coffee after with Scalo and Katherine. Miri is a funny town – life seems to end at 7pm on Saturday-night. We had difficulties finding anyplace that was open after 7pm. What do people do in this town on Saturday-nites I wonder – all go to sleep early (high birthrate I wonder enuf –stop this train of thoughts)…..

Next morning race-day; Danial’s first Olympic distance, he was quite nervous but determined to finish the race.
Flag-off; I couldn’t find my pace in the swim. Having focused solely on free-style the last 3 months I was disappointed finding myself unable to navigate and turning to breast-stroke instead. Swim was definitely more than 1500 meter and I came out of the water with just a few participants behind me (Miri is also a very easy swim course for cheating and I’m sure several participants did).
Those few participants overtook me in the first 3km on the bike and I was left at the end with a police-car following me all the way. I really have a phobia about being last. Negative thoughts ‘why be so passionate about this sport while you have no talent’ kept playin through my mind. I wanted to just quit but: so far I have never quit any race, and I started thinking about Patsy (she wouldn’t give up). So I ambled on, cheered on by friendly waves from the other side of the road, cyclists on their way back.
There is a funny little bird in Miri that doesn’t like cyclists. The bird will come and peck on the cyclist’ helmets trying to chase them away –cute to see same bird was still around and still didn’t like cyclists.
With a police-car on my heels I had to face Miri’s dreaded hill –how to push the bike up the hill like that. And as usual if the mindset is right you can conquer –so I cycled over the hill and after which the police commented through their loud-speaker on how tough I am !!!(yeah right)
During the transition I took of my socks which were wet and irritating me. A very stupid thing to do. A few km later my feet had open blisters. Running is never my forte and the blisters made things worse –once again I walked most of the 10km. One of the marshallers accompagnied me and the last bit I ran together with Kalam and Danial. I arrived at a nearly deserted finish-line (I should be used to that). However looking at my watch I realized I finished in 3.35hrs. A whole 25 min faster than my maiden triathlon one year earlier.
Danial was estatic, having finished his first OD in 3.15hrs.

Lunch and prize-giving was fun. I got third prize for the sprint-distance (apparently two other women in my category didn’t finish). Nice to share the podium with Lea – one of my idols.
And being the last finisher I still earned RM100 for finishing 8th in the OD womens veteran category. For a moment Kalam and Danial wished they were middle-aged women hihi….

Back to hotel, short nap, pack bikes and gear, to airport, etc etc. Arrived home at 2am Back to work and normal life after a few hours and a short sleep…

During the cycling-leg in Miri one thing became evident – I need to get another bike. My Scotty is a size 52 which is actually too big for me. Last Friday on our weekly Putrajaya nite-ride I used Kalam’s bike and the difference was huge. Normally I start to squirm after 20km and my body starts to hurt in various places but with Kalam’s bike I was fresh after 45km. Hills normally dreaded, I now had the power to push. So I have to start looking for a smaller bike- however need to locate a budget first (Who wants to sponsor an overweight middle-aged orang putih??? Anyone???)

Danial is already happily eyeing my bike….

Clouds have rolled in and it looks that my bike/swim plans for this afternoon have to be cancelled. Of course I could go to the gym instead, however I don’t like gyms – makes me feel like a hamster on a treadmill………..

Trikidz are here to stay

A very succesful second edition of TriKidz Malaysia took place last weekend in UPNM. Have a look at all the superduper cute kids at their own website:
www.trikidzmalaysia.blogspot.com
more pictures at:
www.pmtey.multiply.com

I have another 250 pictures of the event but my PC is giving problems (virus overload) therfore I'm not able to upload.

Racereport for second JSKL biathlon also still outstanding

JSKL Biathlon

Watch the hairstyle of the winners in the 1st pic - maybe its d aerodynamics that makes them winners

Steve is a big winner!!!

A few pics from the second biathlon held at JSKL. Apologies for the poor quality of the pics -my henfon is a cheap one!
It was a nice event. Well organised - Iwata was running around like a hare trying to be in 10 places at the same time. Got a few good idea's on how to improve TriKidz....


More winners -nice to see several faces from our TriKidz programme

Darimi loves these events - with friend and rival Ikhlas


For the first time: Five members of our Tri-fam taking part in the same event!!!

Trifam action (and non-action) pictures