IRONMAN Langkawi!! - DONE!!!! - 28/02/2009

Finally... the ultimate bragging rights (for now)... I finished the Ironman Langkawi!! Took me 7 mths to get here from zero triathlon knowledge but it is all worth it. I am currently sooo in love with triathlons as well (other things I'm in love with - skydiving, rafting, kayaking, wakeboarding, rock climbing, reading, myself, someones, my work, my family... the list goes on and on) .. particularly long distance triathlons.. :) after the Ironman, that I am thinking of doing more..

All prepped to go..

3 days to raceday: Off to Langkawi in the SilkAir business class (yes, another first for me.... first time in business class... nice)... and my bike.. phew.. packing the bike for the first time was complicated, but now its like a piece of cake.. and very little luggage. Was just thinking of getting my stuff at the race expo if needed la. Chked into my hotel room... Langkasuka Hotel at RM80 a night. hehe...silly me, at first i thought there was no hot water, so I was showering with cold water for the first two days, until the maintenance guy came and showed me the BIG button to PRESS.. hahah... ok.. had hot water after that.. on with the story.. First time in Business.. just gotta take the shot..

Ceramic plates!! ..

Langkawi airport.. small, reminds me of Mulu and Tioman's

The room was small, 2 single beds and simple.. put my luggage in and went for a walk around the Kuah town towards SeaView, the official hotel. Took me about 2 hours to get there, but the walk was a gave a good leg stretch. The town reminded me a lot of Pangkor, somehow or rather, but without the Ham Yu.. simple, a bit run down, the Malaysian style. Passed through a pasar malam too.. and had Apom Balik... my most favourite food in the pasar malam!!! (other than all the ramly burgers and ayam perciks and keropoks la) havent had one since last yr... chomp chomp chomp....

Ok.. reached SeaView.. damn..registration closed for the day.. oh well.. can come the next day and get tagged.. the PowerBar company and Ironman merchandise ppl were there too.. but they were closing shop too. Cabbed back to Langkasuka and fixed up my bike. After that spent the night resting and chompin on duty free chocs and 2 cans of beer (RM 2.40 each).. mmm.. that's how life should be..

2 days to raceday: woke up, had brekkie and cabbed to SeaView for the registration itself. Reached there, and there were many other Ironman-er's arn. Had to go through a simple BP, HR, weight chk first before registering and recieving the goodies... damn..gained weight.. too much fluids in me now... haha... went down, bought some tees and PowerBar stuff. Family arrived about an hour later and chked in too. After that we had lunch together and went shopping.. haha.. more chocs for me.. yay!! happy.. I was chomping down on more chocs.. until too full.. cannot eat dinner liao, so they went off for dinner without me.. Rested well again that night... but getting nervous la.. real nervous..
Goodie bag!!

1 day before the race: Had breakfast with family, and off we went on a recce drive of the bike route. Got lost a few times before getting on track... and it was loooooong. Uh oh.... how in the world am I gonna survive this... eeks.. the hills looked like they were killers.. oh no.... oh well.. no turning back now at this point.. just need to move on...Went back to Langkasuka to hear the race briefing.. and after that, family went back.. ok.. now all on my own. Went to chk in my bike and the bags in the evening and just rested the whole night... after all, need to wake up early if i get any sleep in the first place.. phew.. getting cold sweat already..

Race Day: Rrrrringggg... my phone alarm went off.. the moment of truth is here. Time to wake up and eat brekkie... 3am.. still early, but din haf a good sleep anyways.. was too nervous. Hmm...got time to kill.. and yes... got ppl online to chat with... was so happy that there were ppl there for me... even if it was just an online chat.. :) really helped me alot.. ok.. need to be calmer.. dress up in my trisuit.. championchip tag on, goggles and cap in the pocket, chk.. ready to go.. the cabbie picked me at 5am and brought me to the jetty starting point.. phew.. went for another weigh in and chked my bike.. still there.. pumped the tyres, got some stuff from the bike bag and placed at my bike.. ok, bike ready..

Luckily, had a few guys from TBB in KL there to talk to me and encourage me... he gave me a simple run down of what to do and where to do it as he did last yr's Ironman...relax relax.. ok ..saw some trifam-ers there as well.. and they were very supportive :)... took some pics with some of them before the race.. Met up with Ben too, from CSMC.. its his third year (wow!!) and he helped to calm my nerves down too..

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