Petang Jumaat lepas...

(Handphone aku berbunyik)

Kawan aku: Assalamualaikum. Napee, esok ko ada apa² plan tak?
Aku: Walaikumsalam. Esok? Pagi ada go-kart.

Kawan aku: Malam?
Aku: Malam setakat ni takde plan lagi.

Kawan aku: Aku nak jemput ko, aku buat doa selamat sikit. Kat masjid biru, Taipan Subang
Aku: (Eh, doa selamat? Dia baru dapat anak sorang lagi ke) Errrm... masjid biru? OK rasanya

Kawan aku: Aku buat sbb nak pegi haji next week! Datang tau
Aku: Ummm... errrr... wah! Bagus la ko, muda² dah gi haji


Ish... tak sangka betul lah. Ni housemate aku dulu masa study kat UKM. Since matriks lagi kitorang duduk sama². Dia la byk ajar aku main gitar, gi jamming sama², layan test power motor sama², layan Playstation sampai tak pegi kelas, layan on-line chatting IRC sampai pagi... tapi skrg dia dah bagus dah settle down dgn family. Nak pegi haji dah pun. Masa aku jumpa dia kat masjid tu pun dia nampak tenang je.

Tiba² aku rasa macam hidup aku ni tak tentu hala pulak. Ntah lah. Selama ni aku rasa hidup aku OK, tapi lepas tu aku rasa lain macam pulak.

Selfish!

kat basement parking ofis aku hari ni:

nampak tak apa yg tak kene?

kan ke parking MOTOR TUUUU!!!! yg pergi parking kereta tu kenapa? tak paham bahasa ke?

mmg la parking kereta kat bank negara ni limited, tapi sapa kata kereta boleh parking kat parking motor? kitorang pun nak parking jugak la. kitorang pun parking limited jugak la. kalau tak, takkan la kadang² sampai terkeluar kotak

kalau dah takde sgt parking kat basement tu, pegi la parking kat open air parking tu. ada otak tak nak pakai. patut la kat tepi pintu kereta tu tgk ada 2 garis calar panjang. ni sure dah biasa buat perangai mcm ni.

sorry for the harsh words, but i have no respect at all with this kind of people

Congrats to my Boss!

... hehehe

In thestar.com.my today: http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/11/16/business/20081116165559&sec=business

Dr. Zeti selected to be part of a reform committee at UN. She's my big, big, big boss (now you all know where I work).

But she's a really nice boss & very, very knowledgeable in what she's doing.

Hope she can influence some changes to the global economic situation now.

Powerman Malaysia 2008: Part 4

Results Analysis

This time the result was out very quick. Normally we have to wait a few days before we can see the results, but this time, we can already see it on Monday. For full results: http://bluechip.racetectiming.com/default.aspx My race number is 156 in the 30-39 category. Check out the winner. He did the race in 2:43!! Super.

11km run
Time: 1:03:46
Position: 306
Pace: 5:47/km

I was running all the way through the 11km. I was targeting a 6:00/km pace, but I bettered it a bit, which is surprising. Normally 5:47/km pace would not be very easy for me.

But obviously, I'm still far down the field. My position 306 is among the individual male participants only, for ease of comparison. Of course, there were many female participants who finished much faster than me.


64 km bike
Time: 2:02:15
Position: 209
Average speed: 31.4km/h

My favourite of the two. Actually by the time leaving transition, I overtook another 5 people, just by changing my shoes and getting out as quick as possible. My plan worked.

And by the end of the ride, I overtook 92 male long distance competitors. If counting those doing the team event, the female participants and those doing sprint, it was well above 100 people! Great.

Partly because I did not cramp up this time and also managed to stay in aero position like 90% of the time. Only had to get up when climbing the bridge, at the U-turn and sometimes while drinking. And also, thank God no puncture. A puncture would've ruined everything.


10km run
Time: 1:18:59
Position: 223
Pace: 7:53/km

The dreaded discipline for most. During transition overtook another 5 people. But being so slow in this run, errr... more like a walk actually, 19 participants overtook me. But that was quite surprising actually since I thought there was like a million who overtook me hehehe So my final placing is 223 among the male competitors. And also, there were quite a number of disqualifications this time. Not sure why, but I would guess many must be due to drafting.


Final result
Time: 4:28:54 (just 2 seconds off my own hand timing)
Position: 223 (out of 356 classified finisher)


Things to improve for next race
- have to run fassstttteeerrr. Simple as that, No two ways about it
- increase a bit more effort on bike. I'm sure I still have spare capacity to average 33km/h that day. Was taking it too carefully
- need hot weather training. Have to train later in the morning to get accustomed to the heat


For all the effort, this is the medal that I got

Powerman Malaysia 2008: Part 3

The feed station is right after transition exit. Just stopped for some drink and for energy boost, downed a packet of Powergel. My first packet of the day. Then I was off!

I was already doing 30+km/h in the early stages even I was not really hammering it. Wanted to save my legs. Still a long way to go. Even then, I was overtaking quite a number of people already. That gave me a lof of motivation.

But by that, also had a few people trying to hide from the strong headwind by drafting me. Had to turn around a few times and gave them a stern look. It was a non-drafting race and I don't want to get disqualified just because someone doesn't want to play by the rules!

After 13 km, came the big, steep bridge that I was so worried off. From teh distance, the bridge look so intimidating. A lot of cyclist were struggling on their way up to the top. To my surprise, when I was climbing it, it didn't feel as hard as I thought! I was doing high 20s all the way to the top, overtaking many others in the process! Good job Hanafi!

Climbing the bridge. Check out the gradient of the climb and the competitors' suffering

Another few kilometers, the U-turn & water station which I skipped. Stil had enough water supply on board. Don't want to end up with lots of spare water at the end later. On the way back, up the bridge, again I was averaging in the high 20s. It felt so great.

At the end of first lap, before the U-turn, something that made me so proud. There was an ambulance behind us, slowing down to our speed. But we all just indicated to each other to move out to one side, and let the ambulance past. It proved that we're all sensible people, even when we're all already oxygen deprived by then hehehe

2nd lap it was the same thing again. I was constantly passing others. "I let you guys leave me during the run, this is WHY! hehehe"

And then, at that bridge again, from far, I saw a cyclist wearing a familiar white Merida jersey. It was Rujhan! On his 3 weeks old bike & 1 night old aerobar. That gave me an instant boost! I just kept my head down and zoomed past him. "Come on Rujhan. Faster!" I said to him when I was beside him. I knew he wouldn't like that. Sure enough, he tried to overtake me on the way down. But only for a few seconds until I put my head down and hammered a constant 33-34km/h to the U-turn. He was nowhere to be seen from there on... That was a big motivation, since he's been very, very fast in the shorter Sprint distance.

Along the way, I saw people cheating on the course. Some were drafting. One had his own support car, handing him ice packs & water bottles. Some received external assistance for tyre puncture. But I just ignored them and just focused on my race. For info, in this race, you're on your own. No external help is allowed, failing which will result in disqualification.

Then towards the 2nd transition. Transition again went very smooth for me. Out of transition, downed another packet of Powergel, my 3rd of the race. Body still felt good. Legs were not cramping like previous races. Was running the first few hundred meters when the heat got into me and I started to walk. Of course others started to overtake me. Those that I have overtaken on the bike just now.

I tried run/walk, but whenever I run, I was going too fast and cannot sustain it. I changed strategy. Tried fast walking instead, ala Yuan Yu Fang. It worked. It felt faster and better. So just continued doing that. Actually, I was not really that tired. I was not hyperventilating, but it's just that my limbs felt like jelly. Too weak. The heat really affected me. At places where there are shades, I was quite OK and able to run, but other parts, just did that Yuan Yu Fang thing.

After 5 km, downed another packet of Powergel, but that didn't help much. From there on, I was worried Rujhan may caught up with me since he's a better runner than I am. So kept looking back once in a while. But the scary sight of him running past me didn't materialise.

At the last water station, downed another packet of Powergel and just drenched myself wet with the remaining water. I was dripping wet in the hot afternoon sun. But I suddenly felt very good and picked up speed. I started to run to the finish line. In fact I ran all the way to the finish!

By the finish line, I quickly glanced at my watch. Did I meet my goal of 4 hours & 40 minutes? Nope, I bettered it! By quite a margin. On my watch it was 4:28:52. I felt I was on top of the world! Even though obviously I didn't win it. The winner did it in under 3 hours.... Immediately received my finisher's medal and finisher's T-shirt. Only those who made it under 5 hours will receive these two. As a proof that we made it to become a Powerman!

Anyway, great job Hanafi! Great job! Mission accomplished

After the race at the awards lunch

Powerman Malaysia 2008: Part 2

I woke up wayyy early, at 2:30AM. Slept again. Then woke-up again at 3:30AM, again at 4:30AM. Damn! Finally at 5:30AM I woke up by myself before the 6 alarms I set earlier hahahaha

After a quick shower, had my breakfast i.e by then, a slightly-ant-infested BigMac from last night. The race start is less than 10 km away, but I drove there , to save energy mah... hahah Some were cycling from Lumut! Very strong people indeed. To my surprise, parking around MPM Stadium was still quite empty. No need to wake up so early then! Ceh!

Slowly rolled my bike into transition, parked it and arranged my things. Met Toing, my long lost way2ride buddy. Also met Apau in transition and another colleague, Rujhan, my so-called ‘arch rival’ at the office’s gym hehehe The others were just scary. Some were sporting disc wheels, Zipp high profile wheels, aero helmet, etc.. etc.. expensive & sexy carbon parts everywhere!

Slowly jogged around the running track to warm-up. In about 10 minutes, sweat was dripping from my forehead! Actually, I never do any warm-up in my previous races hehehe

At the start line, excitement, worry, proud, happy, anxious, all mixed at the same time. Then we were off! I just kept to my own pace, ignoring other people. Others started overatking left & right. Nevermind. It's still a long way to go. The first run alone is 2 laps around a 5.5km route.

I ran past the first water station at 2 km mark, not that early. Just continued running till the next one where I grabbed a cup & took only 2 gulps of water. Didn’t want to drink too much as I always did before. Body felt good. Then the start of the 2nd lap. But at the start of my 2nd lap, heard over the PA system, the Elites were already in for the bike transition!!!

“Sh*t! They’re on their bike transition already!” I spontaneously said to the person next to me, a lady who just nodded and smiled back to me. I think she agreed with me that the Elites are just damn, bloody fast!

The run was mostly uneventful. The only annoyance was the badly cambered road. Had to be careful at every step.

After 11km of non-stop running (great!), the transition area was within sight. Maybe due to overly relieved and oxygen deficient, I just walked past my bike! Except for that incidence, transition was smooth and I was on the way out. Also downed a packet of Powergel for some energy boost. Yeah, now it's time to make my charge throuugh the field!

Sorry no photos. How to take photo while running? hehehe

Off to Part 3.

Powerman Malaysia 2008: Part 1

There’s just so much to share about my Powerman Malaysia 2008 experience, so I’m splitting them in a few parts. I know I can be very long winded at times hehehe

I left Teluk Intan to Lumut quite late on Saturday, around 2:30PM. I stayed at my uncle’s house the night before, much to the delight of my two little cousins. Supposed to check-in at Blue Bay Resort, Lumut by 4:00PM and collect my race timing chip by 5:00PM. So it was quite a rush, but thankfully I made it to both places safely, on time.

During the timing chip collection & race briefing, felt a bit psyched up by the other competitors. Most were wearing past races T-shirt. Marathons, triathlons, duathlons, etc.. etc., you name it. A bit scared lah.

During the timing chip collection. People doing some last minute shopping. I also bought a new race belt here.

After took a tour of the bike route with Apau. Apau is my office colleague, he's doing the Sprint distance race. The route is mostly the same as Powerman 2006, which is good since it’s flat, except there’s a big, steep bridge before the U-turn which looked rather intimidating.

“That’ll gonna hurt tomorrow!”, we both thought.

Some were seen cycling on the bike route, trying it out before the race on the next day.

After dropping off Apau at his hotel, I went for dinner. What was for dinner on the night of a long distance duathlon race then? Take a guess... hehehe I had Big Mac + McChicken + large Iced Milo. Didn’t expect Manjung to have a 24 hours McD actually. So convenient. Also tapau-ed another Big Mac and McChicken for breakfast. McD powered duathlete!

After a quick stop at the local 7-11, head back straight to my hotel room. Did a last minute check-up & clean-up of my bike. After setting up 6 different alarms for the next morning (3 on my PDA, 2 on my watch and another on my phone. so over-prepared!) I dozed off really early. It was barely 11:00PM. I need it anyway.

My bike ready for action!

My stuff, all organized and ready. Not the time to mess around

3 hari je lagi!!!

... to Powerman Malaysia. Ish, rasa seram pulak. Bukan apa, risau tak dpt finish jek. bila dah training susah payah, then ni la masa nak tgk semua training tu berbaloi ke tak. biasa la mcm ni, dah training mcm mana pun, still rasa tak confident jugak. so next time kene training lebih lagi ni hehehe

Ni race kit: T-shirt, race number & race booklet

T-shirt tu material tak best sgt. design pun tak cantik sgt. Tapi OK la, masuk race bukan sbb nak T-shirt. nak t-shirt cantik, beli kat kedai la... muahahaha

kat belakang, sponsor ada satu je, Powerbar. dulu ada byk sponsor, maybe sbb keadaan ekonomi skrg, so sponsor tak byk. takpe lah, janji ada jugak race. anyway, thank you malakoff. kalau tak, langsung takde race.

dan jugak, sbb aku ni kiasu, ni supply Powerbar yg aku prepare:

muahahaha byk giler! mcm nak makan seminggu! last time aku makan 7 paket powergel masa race. actually tak perlu sampai 7 paket, tapi biasa lah, towards the end makan powergel ni utk psychology je. lepas makan tu rasa mcm kuat sikit hehehe

for those yg tak tau, powerbar & powergels ni makan utk dptkan tenaga. ye la, kalau dah buat aktiviti sukan yg berat sampai 4-5 jam, tenaga dalam badan pun abis dah. nak refill balik, makan powerbar/gel ni la. makan nasik pun boleh jugak dpt tenaga, tapi susah sikit la nak makan nasik sambil kayuh basikal... hahahaha

anyway, wish me luck. aku target 4:40, hopefully. sakit jugak tu nak dpt target time tu. last time pun dpt finish in 4:40 tapi distance pendek sikit, 10-60-10. this time 11-64-10.

yeah, yakin boleh! malaysia boleh! hehehe sorry semangat terlebih pulak

Bersepah nye

Meja aku




Bersepah sungguh la. Belum tgk laci & locker lagi tu. Pun byk barang. Byk sangat simpan barang, sayang nak buang. One of these days kene datang weekend buang semua benda tak pakai ni. Buat semak je.

6 days to go!!!

to Powerman Malaysia 2008!!! Risau siots.

Hari Sabtu dah pegi ambik race kit. Agak mengecewakan sbb T-shirt tak berapa lawa & material tak best.. Goodies pun takde. Tapi takpe, masuk race bukan sbb T-shirt & goodies.

Ahad pulak kayuh individual time-trial kat Putrajaya, tapi baru 5 minit kayuh tayar pancit pulak. Repair tepi jalan je dah 1/2 jam. Biasa la, time genting mcm ni masa tu la nak jadik cerita. Tapi semangat punya pasal, sambung jugak kayuh. Habis nak dekat tgh hari dah. Dapat jugak 48km. Average 31.5km/h! Perghhh!!! Tu jalan berbukit-bukau tu. Hopefully flat road kat Lumut nanti boleh average lagi laju.

Hotel pun dah book. Blue Bay Resort Lumut. Dok sorang jek. Takpe lah. Sure ada lagi competitor dok kat situ. Geng je lah ngan diorang. Hehehe

Satu malam di 7-11

Pukul 12:00 tgh malam semalam, kat 7-11 depan rumah aku. Pegi beli roti & air.

Cashier: Aik, makan malam² ke?
Aku: A'ah. Lapar pulak.
Cashier: Study lagi ke? Ke dah keje?
Aku: Eh dah keje la. Lama dah (sambil tersenyum sbb dia ingat aku study lagik)
Cashier: Adik keje kat mana?
Aku: (Eh, dia panggil aku adik? Biar benar dia ni heh heh) Bank Negara
Cashier: Abang nak cari keje permanent la, Bank Negara ada kosong tak?
Aku: Ada. Hantar je resume kat Bank Negara.
Cashier: Kalau abang pass kat adik je boleh ke?
Aku: (still menahan gelak) Boleh je. Nanti hari Rabu ye.
Cashier: Ni adik ambik no phone abang
Aku: Ye lah

Yang lawak tu, aku dah mention aku dah keje lama. Dia still panggil aku adik. Cashier tu, aku tgk, max umur 23-24. And dia jugak penah tanya aku kalau aku ada member nak beli kereta Myvi full loan, the sort of questions orang yg baru kerja akan tanya. And masa tu dia panggil aku abang. Maybe sbb dia nampak kereta aku park depan pintu 7-11 tu. Semalam parking jauh sikit.

Sebelum keluar pintu tu, rasa nak je tanya dia umur berapa. Kah kah kah dia sure tak expect aku ni dah 8 tahun keje. So agak² la umur aku berapa. Dah 30 dah dik oii... hehehe

Ni mesti sbb baru potong rambut pendek dia tgk mcm muda semacam hehehe takpe rabu nanti dia bagi resume aku bagitau jek lah kat dia