Aspire Aquathon 2015/2016 Race 3

Aspire Zone, Doha Qatar
16 April 2016

I took part in the Aspire Aquathon (500m swim + 5km run) just six days after my Ironman. It's funny how your body and brain has short term memories of the pain and sufferings it endured just few days ago. I was not supposed to do any hard effort trainings let alone racing within the three weeks after an Ironman, but being stubborn, I regarded this race as part of my active recovery.

I was given a hero welcome by my fellow Doha triathletes. Everyone seems to know my name. Syafei the Ironman. People I have not spoken to, came and shook my hand. I felt like a celebrity. It was a good feeling. Few of them were even inspired to do an Ironman race themselves. To me that was the real meaning of my Ironman journey. To inspire others to pursue their dreams, no matter how impossible it may seem in the beginning.

Was given a hero welcome by fellow FIT-Q triathletes
Swim
 
Though I was not feeling tired, I found the swim was really tough. I felt lethargic and could not increase my stroke rate. I did not dare to attempt tumble turn. It was so bad I even had to steal couple of cheeky breaths at every lap. My legs felt heavy. I lost my balancing and my feet were sinking. It was my first non-wet suit/ non-buoyancy pants swim in a long time. I need to re-learn how to swim later. I finished the 500m swim in 11:51. Just awful.
 
Waiting for my turn in the rolling swim start
 
Run
My plan for the run was to take it easy and jog the 5km, but to my surprise I felt good and the competitive spirit inside me said just go for it. I managed to hold an average speed of 4:36 min/km. I need to work on my running speed again and do more shorter events after this. My speed suffered a lot from the Ironman trainings.  
 
I was surprised that I could still run at a decent speed
 
Cinta was so excited, future triathlete maybe
I know this race will affect my recovery process, but meeting my fellow triathletes in the last Aspire Aquathon race of the season is something that I cant say no to.
 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Kamus Loghat Muar / Tangkak

Aku dilahirkan di Muar (Muo kata orang Muar) dan dibesarkan di Tangkak. Walaupun bahasa melayu diambil daripada bahasa Johor/Riau, tetapi orang-orang Muar dan Tangkak mempunyai gaya bahasa yang sedikit berbeza apabila bertutur. Arwah Tok Tan aku misalnya, mempunyai gaya loghat yang 'distinctively Tangkak'. Banyak perkataan-perkataan yang biasa dituturkan masyarakat Muar dan Tangkak yang aku telah lupa. Jadi sebagai tribute  untuk Arwah Tok Tan dan orang-orang Muar / Tangkak, aku akan cuba untuk menyenaraikan sebanyak mungkin perkataan dalam loghat Muar / Tangkak apabila aku teringat. Ampar (sebutan Am-po) = Hamparan, permaidani Anu = Si folan = Dia ke tangkak dengan si anu tu, anak Noh Itik. Basan = pakaian basahan , pakaian harian Berlengas = Badan melekit Bersendor = Berdengkur Berteromba (sebut beteghombe) = Bermain-main, berlari-lari dan bersuka ria (kebiasaan oleh anak-anak kecil dalam rumah), Centong = Senduk Endut = kekasih - Kau dah ada endut ...
Read more

Hujan Emas di Qatar

Image
Lately makin ramai pula kawan-kawan rapat aku di Doha ni yang pulang ke Malaysia for good. Kadang-kadang rasa macam dah tak best pula tinggal di sini bila satu demi satu teman-teman yang rapat pergi. Baru-baru ni Rizal dan Zakiah meninggalkan Doha for good. Rasa sedih sangat, kerana Rizal adalah kawan pertama aku di Doha ni. Dia yang mengenalkan aku pada kawan-kawan Doha yang lain. Aku datang Doha ini pun setelah membaca blognya, 1001 Kisah Melayu Perantau  , yang memberi inspirasi dan keinginan untuk mencuba nasib di Qatar Darul Land Cruiser ni. Good Luck Rizal and Zakiah Kontrak aku dengan Qatargas ni pun akan tamat bulan November ni. Tak pasti dapat sambung ke tidak, kerana aku ni 'project based'. Kalau tak dapat sambung, dan tak dapat peluang-peluang lain di Qatar ni, maknanya aku juga akan menurut jejak langkah teman-teman yang telah mengucapkan 'Maassalamah' pada negeri tumpangan kami ni. Honestly aku suka Qatar. Isteri aku, Hani pun suka tinggal di sini. Kedua-du...
Read more

Dad to be

Image
Hani was constantly nauseated and tired since we got back from our Eid holidays. I suspected that she’s pregnant but she was scared or maybe too nervous to try the home pregnancy test kit. We had a couple of false alarms before. It would frustrate her if it turns out negative. Suddenly I received an SMS from her saying ‘mom to be’. I called her and she did the test at work. I was overjoyed. I broke the news to some of my work colleagues and decided to come home early. I took Hani to Al-Ahli hospital for test and consultation, but the only available slot was in 10 days. We can’t wait that long. So we went to Gulf Laboratory and she had a blood test. We had dinner while waiting for the result. We went to Thai Snack as Hani suddenly had a crave for tom yum. But she threw it all up when we finish eating. We went back to the laboratory and the result came positive. We were elated. I shook hand with the doc. Hani was 6 weeks pregnant. So all this time during Eid she was already pregnant, but...
Read more