Monday to Sunday absolutely doing nothing - no swimming, no running and no cycling. I was too lazy to do anything.   There's no BIG project come up, only small small project like Kayakton and Bicycleton, so I'm too lazy to train. The only competition I've registered already are Bukit Patoi Challenge in Temburong - trail running - 27th december 2009 and I'm not even motivated to train. Maybe I'll just join as a participant not as a competitor and join the back groups - makan angin.

Maybe this can be considered as an off-season. The only thing that I'm 'rajin' is online window shopping for my road bike components upgrade. Actually it's not window shopping anymore, it's ready for checkout. ALL the items are already in the basket. I'll just need to confirm the order. Maybe I should wait for my wheels to arrive and then baru order the upgrade items. Time will tell............

I need motivation to train - some BIG competition or a well planned training schedules. The only thing that I can think of is 31 days  of running in the month of December. The project will be like this:

Event: 31 days of running
Date: 1st December 2009 to 31st December 2009
Time: anytime from 12:00am to 11:59pm
Location: anywhere including on treadmill
Distance: from 100m to maximum distance I can covered
Pace: any pace will do as long as it is faster than walking.
Rules: Once a day is miss, the project is considered DNF - Did Not Finish. No carried forward RUN

Actually this is still easy. I once read in a Runners' world magazine, there's  a group of runners in the United States that have been running everyday for over 10 years and some have been running for about 30 years without missing a day running. That is a strong dedication to running. - ZERO absent.

Keep on running.............................. MY LIFE, MY RUN, MY DREAM

Lastly, on Saturday night, 11th Zulhijjah 1430, 28th November 2009 at 10:36pm, I'm officially a father to a healthy   baby boy. Will he be the next triathlete..........time will tell. For now he'll need to learn to swim before he can walk and cycle before he can run.

Or this is commonly known in Brunei as Miri Triathlon because it is being held in Miri. The event will be held on Saturday,28th November 2009 for Sprint Triahtlon and on Sunday, 29th November 2009 for the Olympic Distance.

Start List  - http://www.triathlonmalaysia.com/race-details.php?eventID=16&tab=startlist Edited to show only Brunei Triathletes

ID Name Nationality Category Type
6 Baharudin Haji Nordin Brunei Darussalam Men 30 - 39 years Olympic Distance
19 Zaeidi Haji Berudin Brunei Darussalam Men 16 - 29 years Olympic Distance
20 Hamsul Sulaiman Brunei Darussalam Men 30 - 39 years Olympic Distance
23 Ahmad Fathi Junaidi Brunei Darussalam Men 16 - 29 years Olympic Distance
24 Hj Ali Sofian Hj Thani Brunei Darussalam Men 30 - 39 years Olympic Distance
78 Hamsul Sulaiman Brunei Darussalam Men 21 - 39 years Sprint Triathlon
79 Ahmad Fathi Junaidi Brunei Darussalam Men 21 - 39 years Sprint Triathlon
99 Hj Osli Hj Md Nor Brunei Darussalam Men 50 years & above Olympic Distance
104 suhimi anak siba Brunei Darussalam Men 30 - 39 years Olympic Distance
115 FAIZAL BIN HAJI AHMAD Brunei Darussalam Men 21 - 39 years Sprint Triathlon
116 FAIZAL BIN HAJI AHMAD Brunei Darussalam Men 30 - 39 years Olympic Distance
128 Keeran Janin Brunei Darussalam Men 16 - 29 years Olympic Distance
129 Keeran Janin Brunei Darussalam Men 21 - 39 years Sprint Triathlon

From the above list only 9 Brunei triathlete registered for this event and unfortunately Zaeidi and me have to withdrawn from the event due to personal reasons.

Some of them registered for both events Sprint & Olympic Distance since the events are being held on separate days. Sprint event on Saturday afternoon and Olympic distance on Sunday morning.

Last year 2008, I did registered for it but cancelled it due to PSK being held. This year again, cancelled. Hopefully next year I’ll be able to compete in Miri.

Good Luck to you all and Brunei Yakin…………………………….

Cyclists

• Lance Armstrong (USA) 
• Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn)
• Sam Bewley (NZl)
• Jani Brajkovic (Slo)
• Matthew Busche (USA)
• Ben Hermans (Bel)
• Chris Horner (USA)
• Daryl Impey (RSA)
• Markel Irizar (Spa)
• Andreas Klöden (Ger)
• Levi Leipheimer (USA)
• Geoffroy Lequatre (Fra)
• Fuyu Li (Chn)
• Tiago Machado (Por)
• Jason McCartney (USA)
• Dmitriy Muravyev (Kaz)
• Sérgio Paulinho (Por)
• Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr)
• Gregory Rast (Swi)
• Sébastien Rosseler (Bel)
• Ivan Rovny (Rus)
• José Luis Rubiera (Spa)
• Bjorn Selander (USA)
• Gert Steegmans (Bel)
• Tomas Vaitkus (Ltu)
• Haimar Zubeldia (Spa)

Management

• Johan Bruyneel (Bel) - Sports manager
• Dirk Demol (Bel) - Sports director
• Alain Gallopin (Fra) - Sports director
• Viatcheslav Ekimov (Rus) - Sports director
• José Azevedo (Por) - Sports director

Note: I can see that a few of ASTANA riders have also joined Team Radioshack.

Since reading the website http://www.everymantri.com/everyman_triathlon/2009/11/zen-and-the-art-of-triathlon-brett-completes-selfsupported-ironman-in-1315.html, introduced by Ahmad Fathi in his facebook, I’ve been thinking of doing it myself. But doing the full Ironman of 3.8km swim – 180km bike and 42 km run would be too much for me, instead it would be enough for now just to try half Ironman – 1.9km swim, 90km bike and 21km run.

This year I’ve missed a lot of opportunities to race the half Ironman distance in Singapore (Singapore 70.3) and Malaysia (Putrajaya 70.3) due to work commitment, Swine flu and due to time constraint. If it wasn’t for swine flu, Zaeidi and me would have taste the pain of Putrajaya 70.3. They rescheduled it 10 days after Hari Raya Aidilfitri which to us is not favorable.

Doing a self organize half ironman would need proper planning especially the routes to be taken during the cycling and running.

I would predict the time taken to complete the whole cycle of swimming, cycling and running would be around 6 to 9 hours. – 1hour for swimming, 3 hours for cycling and 2 hours for running for a well fit person e.g. Ahmad Fathi.

Swimming in the open sea/river/lake without any person looking over you is very dangerous and in Brunei it is not advisable since we don’t have a proper locations for open sea swim. For safety reasons, swimming pool is the best choice.

Public swimming pool in Brunei is mostly government own and the pool is usually open around 8:30am, so for a 6 to 9 hours event, I would probably finish my run around 2:30pm to 5:30pm.

So the next best option would be JPMC, Jerudong. They have 50m pool (I think so) and they open around 7:00am. The entrance fee for non-members would be somewhere between $5 to $10 – need to check again. If we start around 7:00am we would finish around 1:00pm to 4:00pm.

JPMC is located in Jerudong. Next to it is the Muara-Tutong Highway – a favourite place for cyclists and the Jerudong Park Playground – good area for the running route.

The route
The Swim – 38 laps of 50m – 1900m


The Cycling – JMPC – UBD Campus – Highway Tutong – U-turn at  Kg Penanjong bridge – Highway Muara – UBD Campus – Highway Tutong – JP Polo Club - JPMC



The Run Route – 3 Loops of JPMC to Jerudong Playground with the last lap just go straight to JPMC instead of going to Jerudong Polo Club.

The run route passes a few strategic areas such as restaurants, toilets, shops and some areas are shaded with foot path.

If I’m feeling ready, I’ll try it sometime before Christmas or early January. Its good if the rest of the guys will be doing it also so that the spirit of competiveness is there.

Actually the idea is from Ahmad Fathi and most of us are willing to try. He said he will try to organize it around December. It all in the planning. Maybe I’ll go and do it or maybe not.

Keep on dreaming………………………

Event: Cabaran Bukit Patoi 2009
Type: Trail Running
Time & Date: Sunday,7:00am, 27th December 2009
Venue: Bukit Patoi, Temburong
Registration Fees: NONE
Dateline: Sunday, 29th November 2009
Registration Form: LINK

The full results of the day. 500M pool swim – 22km bike ride (2 laps) and 5km run (2 laps). Out of 36 participants only 2 females and none of them are locals.

Today’s weather was extremely very good. The rain stop just before 6am and the sun did not come out until we all finish the event. So it was not hot. It was slightly cold. It only rain again in the afternoon when everybody was already at home – resting

Bike transition point. You can choose anywhere you want to park your bike. You can also bring your own bike stand.

Getting ready for the swim – 6:43am. We were the second group. The guy next to me sharing the same lane no 24 – Edwin Punselie. The swim is 500m – 16 laps. At first I was leading in front and I thought this guy was slow. I was wrong. He wasn’t slow, he was drafting behind me. He was doing freestyle and breastroke. At one time, when he was overtaking me, he was doing his breastroke and he accidentally kick me. Luckily it wasn’t my private part, it was just my thigh. So to avoid any mishap, I just let him pass by. He finished his swim just a few seconds ahead of me. Never mind, I’ll catch you in the bike leg. 6:55am. My swim time was around 11mins

6:44am. Zaeidi and Hamsul getting ready at the far end of the lane. Sofian is waiting for his turn to swim.

That is Ahmad in front and I was behind him. Edwin(no 24) was still busy doing his transition. 6:56am

- 6:59am - As you all can see from the 1st picture above, Hamsul is leading after the 1st transition. According to Zaeidi, Hamsul’s swimming has improved a lot and managed to beat Zaeidi in the swim. His strokes count is less compared to Zaeidi. That means Hamsul swim techniques are much better and economical – Streamlined. Glide like a fish – swim like a fish. That’s the advantage of having a good coach with no coach or lousy coach.

7:16am – Keeran. 7:17am Ahmad Fathi. I was somewhere behind them trying to catch them.

7:17am – a few seconds behind of Ahmad. 7:19 – Zaeidi – still 2 minutes behind me and his catching up. The guy in front of me is Edwin (no 24). He managed to catch me and for 2 laps, we take turns drafting. Every time I’m in front, my speed was around 35km/h and he said I was too fast for him and when he is in front his speed was around 32km/h. It was slow but it was good for me, so I have time for recovery. My bike time was around 42 minutes.

7:22am – Sharif doing his final laps. Sofian Thani at 7:15am just coming out of Panaga.

7:28am – Suhimi Siba and 7:34am Sofian Thani – I guess they are in their first lap

7:44am and one minute later Zaeidi. His catching up. Actually he is already winning the race since I started the race 2 minutes before him

7:48am – Suhimi Siba and Hamsul Sulaiman – 7:50am

Ahmad Fathi doing his final laps and just few meters to the finishing line.

- 7:58am - Zaeidi managed to catch me up and I was way behind him. I guess it was around 10 to 20 meters. Luckily at around 3.5km checkpoint, he had to slow down because of stomach pain. Lucky for me. So I just follow him side by side

  

At the final beach run, Zaeidi increase his pace and I decided to follow him side by side but I could not keep up, so I just draft behind him.

I know I was already losing the race to him but I’m not going to give up on the run. So with the energy that I still have even though it is not much, I sprinted the last 500m and I expect him to follow me and fight it to the finishing line but he didn’t. So it was a one man show.So I slowed down where I just walk to the finishing line. My final 5km run time was a disappointing 30 minutes.

After six time competing in Panaga Triathlon, Zaeidi finally managed to beat me and this year alone he has managed to beat me in all events that we compete.

BIKE PICTURES