Date: 24 July 2011
Venue: Avillion Admiral Cove, Port Dickson.

I went there without booking any lodging. I just go and gamble. Luckily got a place available to stay, and it’s quite cheap. PD Marina World. I used to stay here when i first did my PD tri 2 years ago (2009). RM100/nite, it’s a 1 room apartment, with kitchen area, fridge, living room with sofa bed & TV, a bathroom & a bedroom. Good deal is it. The place quite scary, tall building apartment but look like not well maintained & abandoned. But hey, waddaheck, just wanna stay there for the race only. LOL

The total participants seemed to grow bigger this year. This is a good sign, would love to see the local triathlon scene getting bigger & bigger, it will be a well recognized sport in Malaysia, and more events a year, hopefully.

1.5km Swim

This year swim a bit different from last 2 years of my participation here. The tide is low this time, the shallow part is long from the starting point, so we have to run & wade through the shallow water about 200m then only can swim. But i decided to wade it slowly to save my energy. The water was so murky, with almost 1m of visibility. Cant see clearly other swimmers in front or beside. If the water are clearer, i can see swimmers around me and avoid them. I got hit, pulled, kicked several times.

Low tide, have to run farther only can start swimming (pic from Oren Man)

Upon approaching the first buoy, as expected, bottleneck happened. A swimmer swam over me, small amount of sea water got into my mouth & i got panicked for a while! Damn!.. Well, this is triathlon, u cant avoid this kind of chaos while swimming with hundreds of swimmers. That why they release the swim part by wave to avoid chaos.

The water was calm, just little underwater current that i can barely feel.

My 1.5km swim done in 35mins!

Wading towards the beach, after the 1.5km swim (photo by Saza Studio)

40km Bike

I have no problem with T1 (swim-bike transition). Started slow with the bike as my heart rate still very high, breathing hard. So i took it slowly, dont wanna push myself too hard. Cycling is my weakest part, and i didnt do much training also… hehehe So i just ‘layan’ with my own pace.

‘Layan’ and ‘layan’, until reaching KM 27, i feel my bike a bit heavy. Looked down at my rear tire, arghhhh.. it’s flat!!! Have to find a safe place to stop to have a look at it. Found out it almost no air in it. Dont wanna change the tube as it’s just not far away from the T2. So i just pumped in the air just enough for me to bring it home. Riding anxiously, constantly monitoring my rear tire, not a good feeling though :p my first flat during a race

Alhamdulillah made it back to the transition. Clocked 1:30 for the bike course.

40km of cycling done! Next, 10km run (photo by Ryzal)

10km Run

Running started (photo by Kadok)

The running route was a bit interesting this year, but more difficult. 4.5km of running on the soft beach sands!!! That maybe good for the legs, but not good for a smooth run. Soft sand will make ur feet fumble & sink a lot.

Uncle Chan (organizer) chose this route as required by the co-organizer, Tourism Malaysia to promote tourism on PD. Although it’s hard, the route is very scenic & enjoyable! Didnt know PD still got a nice place to see & visit

The new beach side route is not my complain actually. The only complain was, there was 2 water stations ran out of water. This is a big turn off for the run. Never happened before in Uncle Chan organized events. Hope they aware of this & will improve next time, k

Only 1km to the finishing line (photo by Ah Tey)

Finished the run in 1hr sharp. My official total timing was 03:07:49! (source: TriathlonMalaysia.com)

My official timing result

Happy & joy! 6 triathlon done! (photo by Fira)

Can't describe the feeling after completing a triathlon (photo by Fira)

PB or not?

By looking at the official timing, yes it was a PB for me. But i felt that the run course was under-distanced! Some said it was 8.4km or something. Well, whatever the outcome was, i managed to finish it in one piece. Alhamdulillah! Another triathlon added in my history that make it 6 triathlons done!

Sabri, a Chap Ayam friend. He was in relay category, congrats to his team! (photo by Ruby)

Ruby, Sabri's team mate. Congrats! (photo by Ruby)

Next triathlon will be Desaru Long Distance International Triathlon on September. No more under trained after this LOL

A gold medal for me, finally... LOL

Official result:

Official result

Some photos (from my friends):

It's time to shop for a new tri pant... hmm.. bought a Zoot

Body marking, before heading for swim leg.

Bike showcase here at the transition area.

At the starting line, the swim start.

About to start my bike leg after the 1.5km swim

Starting the run leg

Pouring myself with iced water to lessen the body heat

Way to go..

Finish line just ahead...

Yeah! I made it!

Jumped in joy while crossing the finishing line!

In high satisfaction...

Hari Sabtu 11/07/2009, aku memandu ke PD utk register PD triathlon. bertolak dlm 11am lebih. Singgah sebentar di kedai abah aku di Nilai-Seremban. Hampir pukul 1pm, aku teruskan perjalanan ke PD. Sampai ke PD, aku bleh sesat nak cari tempat pendaftaran. PD Marina, Admiral Marina & mcm2 Marina lah aku jumpa. Confuse aku dibuatnya. Last2 aku call Mr. Chan sendiri tanya apa nama tempat daftar. Then aku call member aku Shahrom utk direction. Kul 2 lebih aku sampai di Admiral Marina & Leisure Club. Masuk ke dalam rupanya tempat ni. Aku plak tak perasan banner sebesar2nya terpampang tepi jln. Tu lah, pegi takde co-pilot nih.

Gerai-gerai yg menawarkan harga yg menarik

Pemandangan di marina. Peserta triathlon akan berenang hingga ke sini dan berpatah balik ke pantai

Selepas register, tgk gerai2 yg dibuka di samping triathlon ni. Byk pulak brg murah2. Adehhhh.. tak bleh tahan tengok, aku plak tak bwk duit byk. Adoi, melepas. Aku hanya beli baju PowerBar je.

Briefing acara Sprint oleh Mr. Chan

Permulaan acara Super Sprint

Pukul 4pm, aku pegi menyaksikan acara kategori Sprint & Super Sprint(kanak2 bawah 13 tahun). Dimulakan dengan acara Super Sprint dulu & kemudian Sprint. Walaupun air surut, tp ombak agak besar & air laut beralun. Harap2 esok pagi laut tak teruk mcm ni.

Para peminat

Pukul 5 lebih, aku pegi check-in apartment. PD Marina. RM80 utk peserta triathlon. Apartment 1 bilik. Walaupun tempat ni agak lengang, tp keadaan bilik amat memuaskan hati. Cukup ok utk aku stay sorang.

Malam pegi carbo-loading dinner & briefing. Borak2 & kenal2 dgn rakan triathlete yg lain. Abu, Dush, Farid, Ariff. Lepas tu, pulang ke bilik & tidur awal.

Race Briefing

Dr kiri: Juliana, Abu, Nik, Iwata Takatoshi, wife & anak Iwata & aku.

No peserta aku, swimming cap & baju Rip Curl

Hari ke-2

Bangun pukul 5am, mandi, subuh dan terus pergi ke tempat triathlon start. Hujan renyai2 pagi tu. Cuaca agak sejuk. Aku agak risau kemungkinan keadaan laut yg bergelora.

Semasa aku tgh setup equipment aku di transition, hujan pun berhenti. Tp tak cukup utk utk mengubah keadaan laut. Angin masih kuat.

Setelah body marking, aku terus ke pantai. Borak2 sket dengan Juliana, thanks for the last minute tips, Julie. Aku turun ke dalam air utk warm-up dan meninjau2 keadaan air. Arus dalam air agak kuat & ombak beralun.

Aku & Nik sebelum berlepas ke laut

Peserta wave pertama dilepaskan tepat pukul 8am. Aku dlm wave ke-2, dilepaskan 5 minit kemudian. Mula2 renangan aku agak relaks, siap boleh borak2 ngan Stupe lagi. Tapi makin lama makin sukar. Arus menolak aku ke tepi menyebabkan aku lari dari arah sebenar. Rasa mcm jauh je nak sampai buoy pertama tu.

Setelah renangan masuk ke kawasan marina, renangan jadi makin senang sebab tiada arus. Tapi air terasa mcm berminyak laa pulak. Minyak dari bot2 di situ. Tiba2 aku rasa mcm panas jer kat leher aku. Iskk amende nihh.. Ahh lantak lah, aku teruskan renangan.

Renangan aku lancar, cuma sebelum tiba di buoy terakhir, arus kembali kuat, agak sukar mengemudi renangan. Renangan ke pantai lebih laju kerana mengikut arah arus. Aku berjaya tamatkan renangan dlm masa lebih kurang 50 minit. Iskk… lambatnya. Lambat 10minit berbanding renangan di Kenyir. Mungkin sbb arus yg kuat.

Di T1, aku tak mengambil masa yg lama, mungkin tak sampai 2 minit, aku sudah start mengayuh. Route basikal kali ni tidak seteruk Kenyir. Mengikut istilah org2 basikal, rolling route. Pendakian, jalan rata dan turun bukit tanpa perlu kayuhan yg berat.

Memang kayuhan kali ni lebih enjoy, lengkap dgn pemandangan yg cantik. Mcm bersiar2 pulak. Aku berhenti di water station pertama utk mkn Power Gel. Terlupa nak mkn di T1 tadi. Lepas tu aku teruskan kayuhan, siap drafting ngan Julie lagi. Dia tak perasan aku kat belakang. Tapi aku dpt ikut sekejap jer lah. Julie terlalu pantas untuk aku kejar.

Semasa dlm perjalanan berpatah balik ke T2, aku dihentikan oleh sorang peserta wanita. Tiubnya bocor, tp tiada tools untuk tukar tube. Dengan semangat kesukanan yg ada, aku memberikan bantuan. Bangga aku dpt tolong org. Tak kisah laa walaupun peserta bukan dari negara sendiri, tak kisah lah.

Aku teruskan kayuhan hingga ke T2. Tiba di T2, aku terus tukar ke kasut larian, minum 100+ dan teruskan larian. Aku berselisih dengan Nik. Wahhhh.. laju lah ngko Nik.!!! Larian kali ni amat lancar, rasa macam tak penat. Air di water station disediakan dengan cukup. Ais kosong & 100+. Syabas penganjur!!! Aku tak risau utk mendapat dehydration & cramp lagi. Setiap kali jumpa water station, aku akan curah satu badan dgn air sejuk utk kurang kan body heat & elak cramp, dan minum 100+.

Ada sesuatu yg menarik perhatian di sini, sebelum sampai di KM5 larian, siap ada satu “illegal water station“, dikendalikan oleh rakan2 kepada triathlete. Hahaha!!! Kelakar lah korang ni! Buat aku terhibur & hilang stress semasa larian. Di “illegal water station” ni ada buah mata kucing, rambutan, air sirap & free flow water spray. Aku lepak sebentar mkn buah mata kucing bersama Mej. Kalam. Hehehe.. Mmg hilang stress & penat aku berlari. Good idea & effort! kepada sapa2 yg mengendalikan “illegal water station” tu, thanks to all of you!

Semasa larian, aku memintas ramai peserta. Aku dapat buat larian yg konsisten, larian adalah kelebihan aku. Jadi aku takkan sia2kan. Stupe datang dengan bike Cervelo nya yg cun sambil offer aku air tenaga. Terima kasih yg tak terhingga kpd Stupe!!! Walaupun belum kenal rapat, tp semangat setiakawan dlm sukan ni mengatasi segala jurang yg ada.

Di KM terakhir, terjumpa dgn Dush, yg memberikan aku tepukan & sokongan moral. Tambah semangat lagi aku nak habiskan race. Makin dekat, aku makin lajukan langkah. Akhirnya aku berjaya habis dgn masa hampir 4jam. OK lah tu. Aku dpt habiskan race dengan enjoy!

Finisher's medals

Selepas sessi borak2 & bergambar, aku melangkah ke transition area utk kemas brg2 aku &  pulang ke apartment. Aku minta check-out lambat sikit dgn org di kaunter. Pukul 1.40pm aku check-out. Pegi makan tgh hari di tepi pantai di PD. 2 pinggan nasi ayam aku belasah, lapar tahap cipan-zee. Dah kenyang, aku drive ke tepi pantai, parking bawah pokok, pasang air-cond, landing time. Tak larat aku nak drive balik skrg, badan masih letih & mengantuk. Sejam kemudian, aku bangun & drive pulang ke KL.

A perfect & memorable weekend!!!

I’ve succesfully registered for the Port Dickson Int. Triathlon 2009 (11-12 July 2009). This time they use 2 new payment methods, Credit Card online & bank-in. To make things easy, i opted for the Credit card payment. Fast & easy. Nice job Triathlonmalaysia.com!

Now, i’m still considering wether to register for Desaru Tri or not. The big Desaru waves still haunting me. There’s also Putrajaya 70.3 Half-Ironman coming too. Very tempting!!! Bro Zulhassan said, the cost for going to Desaru Tri compared to the fees for Putrajaya 70.3 Half-Ironman not far difference.

Hmmm… Still thinking.