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