Today, I had the deepest slumber I've had in months. After coming back to GMP from the triathlon this afternoon, I had a shower and literally died. The telly was blaring as baby watched the Olympic mountain biking event and I tried to gain consciousness to watch it too, but failed miserable, muttering lots of rubbish about being tired and hungry.

This morning, I woke early to get ready for my event, with total creepy crawlies in my tummy. I had breakfast at GMP when everything was done (bike stickers etc) and I immediately felt very nauseus. I think it was a combination of eating too much (two kaya sandwiches and two eggs), and getting total stage fright. I realised that in all my years of activity, I had never done something like this before. Yes, I've done heaps of performances and competed in sport, but it was never an individual race before. Squash and volleyball are team sports and games, and somehow, matches never scared me like this morning. So we rode to ECP and I was jittering all the way. My eyebrows were furrowed the entire time and Andrew tried rubbing the lines out of my forehead.

And when the announcer was counting down to the start of our race, I was literally shitting bricks. Rebecca was nervous too, especially for the swim. The seas were really choppy - worse than when we'd trained at Sentosa with Nick - and I swallowed a lot of horrible water. But with a bit of perseverance, I was apparently sixth out of the water and back to the transition area. Passed Nick Fang on the ramp (he was on his way to the run leg) and we exchanged a high five. Managed to overtake quite a few people on the bike and Dad said I was about third or fourth after I'd dismounted the bike. But on the run, my heart rate had shot up to 200, and I was getting tired.. so I slowed down to catch a breather and pop some energy gel, letting quite a few people overtake me.

I cannot even begin to describe how happy I was when I saw the drinks station on the run. The sun was blazing and it was friggin' hot. I passed a girl who uttered the words I think I'm going to die, so I asked if she wanted some Power Gel, but she declined.

Then, I saw him.

Andrew got some pictures of me and then started running beside me and encouraging me, saying I was doing real well and it was almost over. It felt really good to know that the race was almost over, and the end was in sight. When I saw the finish line, I gave it all I had and sprinted till I passed the clock. Hmmm...It might have helped that I was dying to pee as well.

The clock read 49mins and some (but apparently I took 47ish minutes). I have no idea how I did, but I think I'll know in about 48 hours. Ken said I was easily amongst the top ten. Chetz said I was 12th, and Hua Qin from WheelsareturningI said I was 14th. Well, I guess I shouldn't be bummed coz I didn't set out to get anything anyway, I just wanted to finish and I did. But I sure wish I ran a little faster at the end. Funny though, apparently Dad's calling me the 'iron lady' of the family. So funny!

Meanwhile, Rebecca came in first! She's such a super woman... To think she joined last minute, and was stood jittering with me at the start of the race. She is so incredibly fit, and I really want to be as fit as she is. That'd be really cool! Ken and Ming say she's a hussler, and she should have gone for the Olympic Distance. They were probably right! Then again, Nick F did the mini and came in first. Hussler! But he couldn't take part in the OD anyway, coz he's got a fencing competition tomorrow. Oh well, credit to him. At least he rode from Sunset Way to ECP!

Anyway, I was so glad my family was there to cheer me on today. It definitely made me not walk for sure!



End note:
The results are out:

Rank: 14

Bib: 586

Swim
00:04:16

Transition
00:05:20

Bike
00:23:01

After Bike
00:32:36

Run
00:13:06

Time
00:47:19

Courtesy of The Straits Times Interactive, 25 Oct '04

Biking in Plentong, Johor Bahru

I rose when the entire house was asleep, and played 'creeping kid' through the halls at the break of dawn - Woke up at 5am this morning for our bike trip to Malaysia, and by the time I got round to Andrew's, I was entirely awake. So we drove to Admiralty to pick up Suandi (the On-One sponsored rider, so we had the same bike), before heading for some brekkie at a kopitiam.

We then met Lynten and about 16 others past the causeway before heading down to the trail head together. I totally surprised myself today, riding through most of the trail with speed, and generally keeping up with the front of the pack. Obviously, baby, Suandi and Lynten were the leaders of the pack, being as swift as they are. But this time, it was a really nice feeling to be one of the middle men, and not be the one who spends most of the time biting dust, and whom everyone waits for.

I think today was one of the most fun rides I had, not only because I didn't feel like I was suffering, but I didn't feel afraid in the least. Was fairly confident the whole time, and perhaps a little too confident. On one of the downhills, I decided to pick a line that went over a bit of a hill when my wheel slipped off it. I didn't fall that badly really, but I think it was a combination of speed and surface... My knee is pretty scrapped up. The first layer of skin completely taken off and left raw. I didn't think anything of it at first. Someone even sprayed some elastic band aid on it to stop the bleeding. Erm, didn't really work (see above).

At another point, I was riding through the single track quite swiftly and my right arm got caught on a vine. So I twang back in a very cartoon-like manner, leaving my arm with a huge red line down it. It doesn't hurt at all, just looks kinda funny. I also got jabbed by thorns, and they hurt like crazy when they were being cleaned coz they might have had a bit of poison in them. Hmmm, so I'm pretty bashed up.

And then there was more pain.

After getting back to Andrew's, we washed the wound with Dettol and sprayed more band aid on it. But we'd realised that the initial layer had trapped all the grit inside the wound, and that it was getting filled with pus and grime. So... we did a painful thing. We dribbled alcohol onto it and rubbed off the elastic band aid. Except this didn't work, and I'd already been crying out in pain. So, I bit my lip, hugged a pillow, and plucked up some courage to peel the horrible thing off with my fingers. I'm not talking about some plaster that you peel off from a wound. I'm talking about a plastic layer of film that got sprayed out a can and has already melded to your wound. It was sooo painful that I don't wanna think about it no more. *turns pale with horror*

It was really funny though - Suandi was dubbed Swamp Thing coz he kept falling into yucky stuff. Early in the ride, he rode in some fresh cow dung and it splattered all over his legs. Later, he slipped and fell hand-first into thick mud. Then later, he fell again. No prizes for guessing who got the mick taken out of him the entire ride through. Speaking of cows, we got chased by a herd early on in the ride - Scary!

I was really amazed. Out of the 19 riders, only the three of us were in our 20s (Swamp Thing, baby and I). Everyone else was either in their late 30s, 40s or even 50s! But their stamina, and their energy! AMAZING. *kowtows*

Bike: 52km

I'm back from what was the most painful but the most enjoyable weekend I've had in my entire life. Okay, so maybe there've been other enjoyable weekends, but none mixed in with such pain ever. Note I've said pain three times already - Did I mention the key word was pain? So I left for KL on Friday evening after having seen the sin seh at Ghim Moh. He said I had put too much pressure on it and massaged and bandaged it with some smelly medication, saying I wasn't to put ANY pressure whatsoever on it, or get the bandage off for two full days. "Erm, ok," I said to him in lousy mandarin. But inside my head I was thinking... Forgeddabowdeed. It did hurt like dilly-oh though, and just lifting a fork to eat made me wince. But I tried not to focus on it, but on the rides ahead. Baby did a lot of encouraging, and I could see he was really excited about the weekend. He tried to mask his disappointment at my fuct hand. I secretly prayed for it to heal overnight.

Alas, when we woke the next day, it was still hurting. I washed off the gross medication and put on my kit. Then, wore a wrist guard and tested my stance on Shadowfax. Hmmm, I thought. As long as I kept the main pressure on the spot between my thumb and finger, the pain was minimalised. One false move and I could just stack it though. Not good.


The ride at Batu Dam

The first day: We went riding at Batu Dam in KL. It was a fairly easy trail (similar to BT, our guide had said, but I thought it was easier) but it was beautiful. We had a good group of riders, so everything was kept really light and humorous. I finished the 16km single-track ride feeling like I hadn't started, and generally felt very chuffed at having the level of fitness to enjoy it. And my hand had miraculously healed! The pain was totally gone - Andrew was right. It was probably a pinched nerve or something. And biking shifted everything around, and the pain just vanished. So I was kind of on a high as well, but inside I secretly dreaded the next day's ride.

I knew it was going to be horrendous, but I tried to think positive - with his help anyway. Was hoping to meet up with Stef and dan but after lunch at kiara, the entourage decided to drive straight to Cameron to save time. Good move, really. When we finally got to Cameron - still muddy from the day's ride - we had a bit of a drama with the caretakers at the Keppel Villa. Won't go into too much detail but basically we had a kerfuffle with the caretaker, before having a very very late dinner, where we got ripped off eating a really crappy steamboat served by androgynous he-she's (who were silently giving Lynten the eye, much to his horror).


My hell ride in Cameron

The second day: I can't even begin to describe this ride. Let's just say it was everything I was mentally preparing myself for, and then some. Pure torture. The first bit at the trail head entailed a 6km pure climb. I told myself not to stop and that it should be a piece of cake, since I'd been doing half hour climbs in the gym for over 10km. I was right, it was do-able, even though it hurt a little. I held it together and Andrew was very happy to spin along beside me during the last kilometre or so. Then, the boys bombed down the hill for quite a long way. We went downhill-ish for quite along way, till we go to the bit where we anticipated the 7km killer climb. Baby strapped on the tow-rope and told me to go at my own pace and not to worry if I couldn't keep up coz he would do some pulling where I fell short.

He really was my hero. Throughout the climb, he'd gasp out words of encouragment like "That's it baby, you're doing great", "Don't stop baby, don't give up", or "Come on baby, let's make it to the top". At one point, we stopped coz I cramped up real bad. We'd bypassed the other riders twice and not stopped and when I siezed up, we had to stop to stretch. He looked right into my eyes with a proud smile on his face, and I stammered in pain, fighting back the tears, the mucas and the hyperventilation.

I obviously tried to act tough by distracting myself..

Me: You need a shave.
A: [Laughs] I tell you what. I'll have a shave, if you make it up to the top with me.
Me: Deal.

I made it to the top.

(He shaved.)

The climb must have been another 7km. On a dirty-cum-dusty track. With gravel and rocks at every corner. With steep climbs at every single turn. It hurt like hell. And when we finally made it to the top, I thought I was going to cry out in pain/joy. But I decided to sit quietly and get over it, seeing as a few riders were already there and cheering us on. I attempted a feeble smile, which broke out into a more sincere-looking one (accompanied with much squinting from the sun/pain) when they dubbed baby "Android" and "Superman". It was true - I couldn't have made it to the top without him.

It's not like I stopped pedalling at any point during our climb. I hurt like crazy and I tried to push on. But him being constantly in front of me, leading the way, and encouraging me whenever he heard my whimpers, acted as huge moral support. THAT was love - I thought. A bit of a painful way to experience it though.


Suffering beside me all the way
More pix from Ming's album here.

We finally made it back to the car after a total of 47km, which doesnt' sound like a lot, but really it was considering we spent a fair bit of it climbing. It was the single most difficult thing I've ever done in my life, I thought. The other riders didn't find it easy, either. And I was with the X-Men really, so that's saying something about how difficult it was. At first I thought it was just me, but I later found out it wasn't. All I can say is that I have never been so happy to see a car in my entire life. We got back to the carpark, and the other riders whooped and gave us high-fives. We'd made it. Together.

A: I can literally say I'd climb the highest mountain for you.
Me: With me on your back.
A: [Laughs] Yes, that's right. I'd tow you anytime.

We'll be going on more rides now, coz I'm ready, he says. Accomplishing this ride apparently means I could do anything now. Well, that sounds like a great reward! All in all, it was a great weekend. Total calories burnt on that ride alone? He reckons at least 3000 calories. Hmm, that explains why Dimitrius and Margaret (my worms) must be so hungry all the time. They'd been throwing parties all weekend, and my appetite's been scarily resembling that of a man's. Always the Starvin' Marvin.

And now it's back to the grind. But if that bully at work pulls any fast ones on me....

I've been to hell and back. Get out of my way.