Pre-Race (Sat 24 July 2010)
My 3rd PD triathlon! This year we drove up in a convoy of 21 cars (!) with my Yellowfish training mates. The lure of food in Malacca on the way back was the main reason why we drove instead of taking the coach arrangements with Alvin. In true-blue Singaporean fashion, food, quickly & easily, replaced the race as THE reason for the trip.
We set off on Saturday morning from Tuas Checkpoint. Kat did an incredible job of issuing car number stickers and walkies to each vehicle. It was like Operation Walkie-talkies, the last time I saw such heavy duty equipment was on a mountaineering expedition...
The drive took about 5 hours with 2 meal stops in between. We arrived at the Admiral Cove hotel (the official race hotel) and did our race registration before checking into the rooms. Every Malaysian race was like a big social outing and gathering for us Singaporeans. There was a jovial atmosphere at the hotel as almost everyone knew everyone else. Some friends whom we only 'saw' on Facebook but never in Singapore, we would catch up with them in person at these races.
We collected our race kits and went to our room. It was the first time that I was in this hotel and it was a good choice. Nicely furnished spacious suites overlooking the Marina and sea. The swim-route was right outside our window! I quickly unpacked and took a nap. It had been such a long day.
We met Chua, Lee, WeeHaur & Gary for dinner, skipping the official carbo dinner (word had it that the food was bad). The guys had to have their stouts, so we drove to some random Chinese seafood place. The food was surprisingly good, much better than the one near our hotel, where most race participants would visit. Then it was back for a quick check of race gear, and off to bed. There was a lot less to prepare compared to an IM, and strangely, that felt a little discomforting.... like something was amiss.
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