Monday, March 08, 2010

I got to go

(No Blogger in China apparently. Sorry no updates then).

Six of us are going to IM China from Malaysia:-

Simon Cross. 10 hrs 15 min, 20th overall at IM MY. Amazingly no Hawaii slot. We all feel for Simon. He has to do it all over again just two weeks later. We wish him the best.
Miroslav Blanarik. 11 hrs 50 min, 87th overall IM MY. Miro (from Slovak) works in Malacca. We did IMWA 2009 together. Miro actually qualified during last year's China Half IM and went on to the 70.3 Worlds at Clearwater, Florida. We wish him the best.


Carmen Leong. 12 hrs 34 min, 2nd in age group IM MY. We all know her heartbreak story of not getting her usual Kona spot. 7 girls in her age group at China and two spots to be given. Definitely in with a shout. We wish her all the best.
Hoo Ching Cheong. 15 hrs 15 min IM MY. Just one day before IM MY he was limping around with a huge swollen ankle. I was so surprised he got through IM MY unscathed. He is a regular at IM China and my advisor for the trip. Talking to him is fun cos he doesn't stop laughing. We wish him all the best.
Ong Boon Hin. dnf IM MY 2010 & 2009. IM China regular. A very good runner. Don't know why lately he keeps on dnfing IM MY. We wish him the best.
As for me (16 hrs 24 mins, 398th overall, last in age group IM MY), its 50 / 50 whether I will finish. Its a short trip leaving on Friday (together with Hoo) but returning on Monday morning. If I finish, the biggest challenge would be to pack the bicycle right after the race.


I don't normally recover well from anything. So after IM MY I did "almost nothing". I hope it was the right strategy. Sometimes it works as we have already done the training in the preceding months.

We are advised it is a very poorly organised race. The river currents could go anywhere and don't expect anything at the aid stations. Bring your own nutrition and watch the signboards. Don't go doing the Half IM..

I will try my best to finish and share a Race Report with everyone. Don't want a Race Report that is just about the airport facilities.

Lets get pumped up by the greatest song ever.



10 comments:

Simon said...

Thanks Sofian.

What about water at the aid stations - nutrition I can deal with but do they run out of water generally (we know the chaos that causes after last weeks debacle).

All Bohemian Rhapsody - the greatest song ever? Quite frankly I think you're probably right - good call.

sofiantriathlete said...

Hi Simon,
Just gave Hoo C.C. a call. Plenty of water and gatorade, just short of gels at the aid stations.

Even wikipedia saya many people find Bohemian Rhapsody to be the greatest song ever (no brainer there).

Take care, we are all rooting for you.

Emma said...

Good luck and God speed to you all. Wish I was going. Not complaining that I am not racing the IM...or the half for that matter. Just wish I was going :D

Miro said...

Simon & friends, water and Gatorade were enough last year only they both were NOT given IN BIKE BOTTLES! just standard 500ml screw cap (water) & sports cap (Gatorade) bottles. better bring aero bottle with to poor the drinks into.

As for the run, the stations were quite far apart (2km+) which was quite a nightmare in the last year's heat of 40C+. Maybe they'll change it for this year.

What you can really look forward to is the excellently smooth tarmac all the way up and down on the highway, that is completely closed for traffic.

CU all there, Miro

peter chan said...

sifu, best wishes for a great trip and a good race. hope all goes well

sofiantriathlete said...

Thank you Emma (next year then)

sofiantriathlete said...

Thank you Miro.
C U China

sofiantriathlete said...

Thank you Peter.
IM MY was just a fun journey wasn't it?

yipwt said...

all the best sofian....

sofiantriathlete said...

Thank you Yip