Race Report: Powerman Lumut

(photos courtesy of our man Tey)
Oh my, what a weekend! I will try and put into words the weekend a la Emma’s perspective.

Simply can't stop smiling!

Saturday morning: I had agreed to give Kristoff a lift to Lumut. 9am at Kelana Jaya LRT I said. I was there early and watched the trains come and go and started to get antsy. No need to worry he was there just waiting in a different place! Arrived without delay; Kristoff earning his petrol money by becoming my co-driver cum GPS device. Once checked in I changed into my runners and went out for a 20min jog with 4 race pace pick-ups. Despite it being 1pm and scorching I felt really good. Stopped by the 7-11 on the way back to the Orient Star to stock up on water and 100PLUS and proceeded to drip all over their floor, counter and chewing gum at the till!! Opps!
Back to my room; shower and chill was the order. Tried to sleep, no such luck, tried to read, couldn’t concentrate. I was beginning to feel REALLY moody. Not nervous, but just rather antisocial, so when the offer of a ride with Marianna and Simon was mentioned I was not having any of it. “Not in the plan”, “Don’t want to”, “So there” is the shape of my reasoning. So how on earth and why I then decided to go I don’t know. But glad I did. Thank you for persisting with my stubborn side. Felt great on the bike as it happens. It was very windy and I could feel Zeberdee the Zipps been blown around. Crap, hope it’s not like that tomorrow, or words to that effect ran through my mind.
Got back to the hotel as KK and Chris arrived. “We are just going out for a run, wanna join?” Mr Cross announced”. First I had heard. My run was done and was not doing any more. 30minutes later, yes you guessed it. I was running with Chris while Simon entertained KK (poor guy). Got back to the hotel AGAIN just as Sam and Carmen drove up, my mood was now getting darker and darker so much so KK and Chris stopped teasing me. To avoid offending anyone else I quietly retreated to my room never to be seen or heard from again until breakfast.
Race Morning: Had some good sleep, always a great start if you can sleep. Went down to breakfast, no-one there so I picked a table by the window and sat down to a quiet burnt piece of toast and coffee. Realized I needed more that the crap they were dishing out so ran, ahem, walked to the lift and went to my larder supply for flapjack and a banana hazelnut muffin – YUM – NOW that’s what I call breakfast! KK kindly then gave me and George a lift to the start and we all set up our bikes, did the pre-requisite toilet duty and jogged over to the start line.
The RACE:
Run1 (49:12): Off went the gun, whistle, I don’t know what it was, that’s a blur. The first run felt pretty good. I kept Leslie in my sights all the way and over took her towards the end. I also had Sam in my sights all the way to which I was pleased about. But considering Sergeant Sam sadly had a rather bad day at the office, in hindsight, that’s probably nothing to be proud about.

T1 (1:20): Oh dear, I know I must sort my transitions out. Will endeavour to practice those in the near near future.

Bike (1:47:34): Got onto the bike feeling strong, my heart rate had been touching 170 on the run but oddly enough it felt controlled and never bothered me and dropped back down once I got into a comfortable groove. What can I say about my bike, except I LOVED IT? There were a couple of tense moments when I thought cramp was coming, I averted this by totally relaxing the calves and shaking them out as much as I could. Parts of the course are rather bumpy too and as I had to keep riding wide to make it absolutely clear I was not trying to draft a rider who was going a similar speed, some of these humps and bumps were unavoidable. On the first loop going I rode over one particular bump near the U-turn; ‘ping’! Something had broken off and fallen -SHIT. Thank god the wheels where good and it was just my gas and spare tube lost. Do I stop and pick up? Do I heck, they probably bounced off the road deep into the grass anyway. My cadence meter decided not to kick in, I always have to fiddle with it after it's been in the car and didn’t prior to set up (stupid girl). So I rode on feeling, never letting my legs get lactic but managing to push a high gear while knowing I had some reserves. Did I say it already? I LOVED MY BIKE!

T2 (1:21): At least I am consistent. T2 was the same as T1, crap, yes, but definitely consistent. Surely I deserve points for that.
Run2 (52:11): Popped the last of my four gels, scooped up some water and threw in my face and ears with my mouth managing to catch a drip or two, and I was off. Baby steps, baby steps this is my new technique. It was working, I sensed I had a bit of a cushion but knew some of the other girls were way quicker runners. The plan was consistency, push and you may cramp, slow and you WILL be caught. Really, really thought I was on line for 50minutes, so pissed about that but nevermind there is always next year!
Finish: (3:31:40 & 1st place womens 30-39): I am stoked. My target was 3:45, potentially 3:40 but never thought about getting near 3:30. Finally Emma is smiling! I went to hand in the chip and still not exactly sure of my position, I saw them note down my number on the list. I couldn’t see any other numbers checked in from my group...except one, NUMBER 409. It seems Simon wanted to race with the girls today. For late entry he was given a girls 30-39 number AND had to rack his bike with us. Hmmmn, me thinks this was probably all part of some cunning plan!

My best side!

Well done TTH and everyone else who stood on the start line. There were some good and some unlucky results and endings. Sadly Kona Carmen had an accident at the U-turn and came off, she is nursing some nasty cuts and abrasions and a bump to her head but otherwise is okay. Sam had a rough day, dehydrated and bonking the Sergeant still managed to finish. Simon had an awesome outing posting 3:19 and a 3rd place. Marianna racing in the Elite did fantastic on her new Cervelo and came 4th. KK got a puncture after just 20k that he was unable to repair. A great shame he was feeling strong and perhaps guaranteed a crate of beer. Next time KK! Chris came 8th, Bee subbed 4hours – her target, as did Dave which was his target also. Kristoff came 10th in the Elite, how he ran that first leg in 35min I do not know – AWESOME!

Don Khor: 2nd mens 45-49. 3:25:00

Simon: 3rd mens 40-44. 3:19:40

Mariana: 4th Elite female. 3:28:47

Kristoff: 10th Elite male. 3:05:45

Nice shot for the album, God knows where I was probably sulking!

My thanks to Daniel at The Bike Boutique for helping me take care of George, TeamTBB for their support and Coach Vinnie of Ironguides who was true to his word and made sure I would have some juice in the legs for the race. Thanks guys. Back in the pool tomorrow!