I headed to Lumut, Perak, for the Powerman Malaysia race (http://www.powerman.com.my/index.html) over the weekend. It was a 11km run, 64km bike, and 10km run race event. I'd raced in duathlons before but that was my first overseas and the longest race. It would also be my first time using my brand new cleats and aero-bars.
On Friday night, Eddie, Alber and I waited outside my house for Alvin to pick us (and 3 bicycles) in his van. When we reached Golden Mile Complex, many others had already arrived, some of them cycled from home. There were about 34 people and 32 bicycles to transport in 2 super-VIP coaches. A few of us were first-timers (Aili, Eliza and myself) amongst the many race veterans, like Chin KK, Freddy, Eddie Toh (Safra MF), Eddie Chang (Safra Tampines), Chin Ye (Safra MF), and James (Safra TPY). Mika Kume (of MR25) and Sumiko Tan (national athlete) were there as well - names I'd always heard but never formally met.
The loading of bicycles was an eye-opener for me, being the sua-ku that I was. We removed all front wheels and perched 2-3 bikes on the back/headrest of each seat. It was an impressive sight with 32 bicycles neatly resting on the seats. 8 of us travelled with the bicycles while the rest filled another bus. Alas, Alber and I had the seats right in front of the rows of bicycles, which meant a 8-9h ride without being able to lean the seats backwards! We departed about midnight, had a few supper and pit stops before arriving at our Lumut hotel at 8am the next 
morning. Our drivers were fast, we overtook the other passenger bus to be 30min ahead of them. We unloaded all the bicycles and fixed back the wheels before the rest of the group arrived. Hungry and tired from the long ride, we had some breakfast from the hotel's buffet - which was mere functional.
Melody from the Powerman organizers brought the race packs to our hotel and briefed us on the next day's details. I was not aware that there was a 5h cut-off time. Oops, I hope I could complete within 4:30h. After the briefing, Alvin arranged a small bus to send us to the stadium (race start point) as some people wanted to buy powergels at the race booth. By the time we reached our lunch venue at 3pm, majority of us were starving. It was a seafood tze-char venue, and they took nearly an hour to prepare all the food for our 4 tables. My table tackled the most food, we wiped our plates clean and even polished up food from the other tables. I was so hungry that I had 2 plates of rice. 3-4 of our guys cleaned off 8 flower crabs. 
We joked that hopefully we could race as well as our appetites. We returned to our rooms at 5ish pm and prepared for the race. I made my tuna sandwich for the breakfast, attached all the stickers and packed my transition gear. We had to cycle to the start point (~8km from hotel) early in the morning, while our bags would be transported to the end point later. I was asleep by 8pm, lethargic from the good food and previous night's poor sleep.Race day!
I woke up at 5am feeling fresh from a long deep sleep. I munched on my sandwich as I got ready. Then, with a flick of the table lamp switch, I somehow triggered the circuit breaker, and the whole room plunged into darkness. Excellent... so I pulled the bicycles from the balcony and turned on the head lamps. We were supposed to check out by 545am, and everyone was gathered, ready to go. There was an excitement buzz in the air, everyone looked more pro and serious than the joking group the day before. We only set off at 630am as we waited for a few late comers. The race start time was 730am and I was starting to get jittery about not reaching there in time - I was not a fast rider and I certainly did not want to sprint to the stadium before the race. Mika had some problems with her bicycle, so Ping and Alber helped her while I went ahead. I decided to wait for them after a left turn. Forgetting that I was in cleats, I braked. But it was too late to unclip my shoe, and I had a classic sideway-0kmh fall, bruising my right knee. Damm. I cursed mentally along the way, adding to pre-race jitters.
Luckily we reached the stadium before 7am and had enough time to settle ourselves at the transition area. Sok Hwa's bicycle was 2 race numbers after mine. Last check to ensure that I had everything in order, took photos of the area, and went for a warm-up run on the tracks. We gathered at the start line, people saying hi to familiar faces. At 730am, the officials flagged off the Individual category - mens and womens together. I started near the end of the pack, not wanting to push with the fast runners in front.
We had to do 2x run laps. For the 1st lap, I was trotting along slowly before being overtaken by Snr Chua and Mr Lee. I only warmed up after the first 5km, and sped up in the 2nd lap. My cue was to look for the next female runner ahead of me and aimed to overtake her.
I reached the transition area in 1h, and headed for my bicycle. The ride was 2x 32km loops (or 4x 16km stretches). I was a little apprehensive on the 1st stretch, trying to get a good feel of my cleats and aero-bars. The seat post felt a little low when I was in the aero position. But it was too much trouble to get off and do a very small adjustment, so I lived with it. I experimented with the cleats, and using the hoods, drops and aero-bars, and feeding myself in the interim. I was overtaken by some of the slower runners but stronger sprinters on their bikes. Zoom Zip, I heard the wheels fly by and I recognized the more prominent jerseys. Snr Chua rode past me again - I think in endurance races, it really helps to be experienced and knowing where/ how to pace oneself. I rode past Aili, Sok Hwa and Alber near the 1st U-turn.
After I completed the 1st stretch and was more familiar with the route, I started cranking up my pedals. There were 3 bridges along each way, much like the ones along West Coast Highway and Jln Buroh in Singapore. One was rather steep and I saw cyclists slowly trudging upslope. I reminded myself that I was in cleats and I must never stop pedalling on the upslopes. It would certainly be headline news if my bike rolled backwards with me attached. I was also mindful of lifting my thighs instead of stepping down, to save some muscles for the run. Slopes were advantageous to me as I was light. I typically overtook many riders on the way up (including some who went past me earlier) and pedalled furiously down, enjoying the rush of wind in my face. Of course I was no match for the guys and swanky tri-bikes on the flats. And so it went. A couple of riders and I would play the catch-up game for the remaining sets. We recognized one another's bicycles and number tags after a while.
The weather was relatively cool, though humid. The sun was behind the cloud cover and only shone through during the last run leg. The police and traffic marshals were rather effective, the road junctions were well-manned and they stopped traffic for approaching cyclists. Unfortunately, Alber recounted that an errant truck driver left turned into his path, causing him to jam-brake and almost skidded. Cyclists behind shouted at the driver, who drove on nonchalantly. Alber insisted on using his MTB for the race and completed race in 4:55h. Quite a good showing for his very 1st duathlon with a MTB.
Finishing my ride in about 2:15h, I started on my run. I thought my legs felt good, and might have a chance to finish strong in good time. Alas, my quads started to cramp after a few minutes. Oh shoots. I had always suffered cramps after riding in all my duathlons. To be fair, the cleats helped tremendously and my cramp was not as bad as the Oakley Duathlon earlier this year. Still, the walk-jog-stretch-apply-muscle-rub routine cost me 15min before I was able to start running proper. :( Sumiko lapped me at the end of my 1st run lap to finish her race in 4:00h with a top 3 placing. Going into my 2nd and last lap of the race, I mentally willed myself to finish the run and not stop. I had a mental image of me at 39km of a marathon, with a few more km to finishing line. I am a long-distance runner, and I must not quit on a running segment of a race! That would be embarrassing, to say the least. I hung on, took my powergels and drink, and kept my steps steady, bypassing many participants who were walking back. The last drink station had ice-cold water and I poured them over myself. It was a perk-up, and I picked up speed to the finishing line, coming in at 4:32h. The organizers held out a race banner for all finishers to run through for a nice victory photo. Someone thrusted an icy dripping cold towel and drinks into my hand. The towel felt so good as I doused myself with it.
Everyone cleaned up and waited for the buses to arrive and reloaded all the bicycles. It was going to be another long ride home. I did not have enough carbo-reload after the race, and perpetually felt hungry. Sumiko treated our bus to KFC enroute using her prize money, and we happily devoured fried chicken on the bus. After several food stops, we finally reached the 2nd link at 130am. Some of us alighted at Tang Dynasty and had to wait for people from the other bus to claim their bicycles. By the time I reached home, it was 3am.
From our group, Mika took 1st position in the women's individual 45-49yrs category, Tanya (from NZ but staying in Spore) won the women's sprint event, and Sumiko was 3rd in the women's individual 20-29yrs category. Well done! Mika finished her race in 3:40h, I could only gape in awe of that sort of timing. It meant having to complete the 21km run in a strong sub-2h pace. I chatted with them during the trip and found them to be friendly and had no airs. Mika heartily enjoyed her seafood lunch and beer (no rocks!) with us the day before. Sumiko and I had some common friends, and she cracked me up with stories of all the F&B places she used to work at. She's a really gregarious and outspoken girl, very young with lots of potential. It is interesting how we tend to form stereotyped impressions of people we do not know firsthand except to hear of their glowing achievements, only to realize that they can be rather pleasant and charming in real person.
My results (http://www.powerman.com.my/results.html): 11/18 position for W30-39 category & 212/293 individual participants by 5h cut-off; 4:32:15h, Run 1:00:24 (31.21min, 28.43min), T1 0:02:25, Bike 2:15:07 (33.44min, 32.40min, 33.28min, 33.33min), T2 0:02:29, Run 1:11:47 (40.42min, 31.11min).
It was a good race experience, and I am already looking forward to more races. :) Meanwhile, today is a eat and rest day, to recuperate my sore cramped quads, and recover for marathon training this week.
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