Malakoff University Duathlon Series (UKM Bangi) - 19/7/2008

Well well its been a while since i took part in a race. And this one was wat i've been waiting for pretty much the whole year.

This race is called the Malakoff Uni Duathlon Series (MUDS). Sponsored by Malakoff and organized by Quick Release Adventures, this race is a 3 part series with 3 host universities using their campuses as the race course. Purpose? To encourage sports (duh) in Uni and College students and bring racers together. Its held for 3 consecutive Saturdays beginning July 19. And venues are in order UKM Bangi, UM KL and UPNM Sg Besi.

UKM race includes a 3km run + 13km bike + 3km run. Neat huh?

And today was my first day at race!

Again excitement got the hold of me pretty throughout the nite. Was having trouble sleeping. Good or bad sign i duno.........

Woke up at 5.30am.......prepared all my stuff.....then rode over to Jons place in Cheras. Once again......early morning ride along the MRR2 is pretty nice.......less cars. Arriving on scene, and after getting chased by 2 stray dogs.......Jon picked me up with his 2 other female companions. Actually one of them picked us all up. :P Luckily she used a Proton Juara. Fits 3 bikes (Me Jon n Lai Tee) and 4 ppl perfectly. Another of Jons fren i forgotten her name. Sorry.....Jon.....dont blame me. My memory lapses are more frequent.

So at abt 7am we went to UKM Bangi, not knowing what i will see. Arrived just before 8am. Set up all the bikes. Checked my running gear. Oh yeah....i finally got Macs New Balance shoes. Model 720.......used 2wice and easily cost RM200+. But Mac gave to me FREEEEEE.........THANKS MAC! Owe u alot. And they fit snugly like a pro runners shoes. I was amazed how stiff they are yet light. Anyhow, checked our bikes into transition area and just do some warm ups prior to start. After another briefing.....and some bike porn. Race was gona start at 9am sharp. Met lots of old faces on my biking adventures there as well.

Honestly i was unsure how i will do since this is my first duathlon. I was especially worried abt the transition from run to bike n bike to run coz i DID NOT TRAIN FOR THIS AT ALL PRIOR TO RACE.........why? No time mah....... You need to let ur body adjust to the change from one discipline to another with some training. Or else u can get a nasty cramp somewhere in the legs.

Just trusted God i be fine. Horn blared at 9am and everyones dashing frontwards. I took things easy at first, though i had a slight problem finding my tempo. Anyway i was there to have fun and see how well i can do. Run leg is 1.5km loop x 2 laps. With abt 200 people around me.....things were looking ok. I finished lap 1 in abt 6 minits....which is fast considering UKMs roads are HILLY. REAL HILLY. Lap 2 i was done at 15minits. And NOW........transition.

For any duathlon or triathlon......coming into transition can be a real tricky thing for beginners. U've just done running and now u gotta take of ur running shoes.......put on ur bike shoes......wear ur helmet.....GET OUT OF TRANSITION FIRST.....then get on the bike and ride. For me it went ok. I just took my time in transition to wear my helmet n shoes under some light rain as well. Thank God my bike rack was near the exit. Got on the bike......and i felt pretty good.....so apa lagi? REMPIT la....No doubt hilly the course.....i rode pretty much flat out staying around the 30 - 35kmh mark. Only big hill was the one near the start finish line and the hill up to transition for Run 2. 2 laps of 6.5km route was so fast and so short. I was begining to want more. Haha. Probably coz i enjoyed overtaking all the slower pokes :P

Rain got a little heavier on bike leg. Bumps here n everywhere...but the bike leg was alrite. After up that last hill to transition to run 2.....and changed and everything and got out for the last run , my legs were a little twitchy. I mean my muscles. And i was feeling some pulls. The onset of cramps was abt to hit me. Both legs........

Ran slow to recover abit. And after lap 1 i was feeling good to do the final push for the line. Finally i came to the run up to the finish. Which i was gladly greeted with much applause and photography....and the emcee announced all the runners numbers that came in. I crossed the finish tape (First time crossing that tape ^^) in 58 minutes. WOW. i was stunned myself i did the race that fast. Under an hour is something i shud be proud of. And since its my first time here......another thumbs up for me. Lai Tee came in behind me after abt 10 minutes (Impressive for a small sized girl). But Jon? Err.....he came in abt 20 minutes behind me. Sight seeing i suppose. No la.....he said his mind was detaching from the body and he couldnt run in a straight line. Hahaha.

So after some free drinks around, lepaking and talking to other racers....finally went home. NOT JUST YET. Well Jon dropped me at Cheras and i cycled home under the 12o clock cloudy skies. Bet u tot i was gona say sun eh? Reached home at abt 12.30 and bathed and lunched and blogged now.

So was it fun for me? Yeapzz! So looking forward to next weeks race in UM, KL.

Im so proud to be called a duathlete now. *Sniff Sniff*

Race 2 Report next week!!!