The stage was set.
I am going to do the 2nd craziest event in my life.
This is going to be epic. I have never done any trekking before!
30 years ago, I wasn't able to go.
1 month ago, I wasn't able to go.
So when Tekko casually mentioned about the trip end-May, I jumped at the opportunity.
The trip was paid within the next 24 hours.
Had my first training within the next 48 hours.
I have to plan some training between work and holidays. ;)
Injured my elbow, shoulder, ankle and knee all within a span of a week. :(
Flu and fever decided to pay me a visit too.
How 'cool' is that!
When the ankle got a little better, I went for my first trek at Bukit Timah Hill.
As it was a last minute decision, I went with what I had.
T-shirt, shorts and slippers!!!
Trail trekking in VBF is fun!
You learn to be extremely cautious.
Did some geo-caching at the same time and managed to find my first cache. :)
Develop a blister coming downhill and decided to go barefoot. ;p
D-2
Reached KK, spent a night in town and sample their local fare.
D-1
Last minute purchases before proceeding for lunch en route to Don Bosco Orphanage.
Part of our trekking costs went to the orphanage. :-)
Reached Mesilau Resort and had dinner cum briefing.
Mostly spicy food, so I make sure I dun take the gravy.
D-Day
Din sleep well. Not too sure if it was the excitement or the altitude.
Took Panadol Max in the middle of the night to ease the headache (probably due to the hard pillow). Lol.
First thing I noticed was the bloodshot eyes. When the rest are up, I noticed they have them too!
I guess we are all not used to the altitude.
Missed out on the final group shot cos I was stuck in the loo. :p
Have our Laban Rata packs weigh and tagged.
We are all curious how much we are carrying along the way.
Jancy 5kg, Gilbert 6kg, Daniel 8kg!!!
I had 2 liters of water with me (1.5L 100-Plus , 500ml water)
Turned out that was one of the worst decision I had made.
I lost 500ml of 100-Plus before I even before I start the climb. The drink just fizzle out from the air opening and drinking tube in my Sawyer bottle.
I had about 300ml of 100-Plus along the trip and I am not too certain if the drink contributed to my DNF.
Although I was already short of water, I decided to pour away the rest of the 100-Plus...
All started well, we were all making good progress.
Before 500m, the group of 12 has already progressed forward and I have only Sarah to play tag. Lol
I went uphill faster, but she literally flew downslopes.
The pondoks (shelters) along Mesilau Trail are not spaced 500m (which is the case for Timpohon Trail), so we were glad when we finally hit the first pondok at 1 km mark.
Had a short rest before proceeding. Definitely less than the stipulated 5 minutes. ;)
With a running engine, you won't wanna stall it.
The scenery from Pondok Schima is awesome! Definitely a preferred trail if you wanna to take in the scenery while climbing.
After Pondok Schima, it is mainly downhill for about 1.5km before you reached the swinging bridge.
From there onwards, it is all uphill.
I was all systems go till the swinging bridge.
After about 3.3km mark, every uphill step I took, I feel nauseous.
I vomit some gooey stuff. Stuff that I dun identify and pretty sure it is not gastric fluid...
The stomach is swelled to its max.
I am thirsty and hungry, but I do not dare to touch my water and food.
I am afraid that once I eat or drink something, I will throw out more than I ingested.
Waited for Dragon, our last guide and asked for his advice.
To trek 4.5km to Laban Rata or am I able to turn back towards Mesilau Resort.
He advised me to go back to Mesilau, where he and Tony will arrange for my alternative accomodation and transport.
Thanked him and proceed back towards Mesilau.
Trekking to 3.5km took 3.5hrs.
Trekking to the second Pondok Bambu at 1.5km took 3hours.
Resting here, I decided to ditch all my 100Plus and food sans the Snickers bar.
Rationed out my 500ml water and had a Snickers bar.
I feel much better after a while.
Things got better, but it still take me almost an hour to reach Pondok Schima.
Resting at Pondok Schima, I spotted the water tap that we have all missed earlier.
Refilled my Sawyer bottle and drank to my heart's content.
The driver (with his 7 and 10 years old sons) and Search and Rescue guide were worried when I did not reach the Mesilau gate at 3pm and came looking for me.
They were so glad to find me at Pondok Schima.
When I rest enough, the S&R guide follow me all the way back to Mesilau Resort.
My first trekking trip is short lived but I do gain much from the experience.
Immediately after the climb, I told myself that there is no way I am coming back.
But slowly understanding the conditions, I am aware that there are many factors affecting the climb.
Mitigating these factors, there is a greater chance of me ascending Mount Kinabalu successfully.
1. Obesity. Think it play a huge part.
2. The waist pouch. It works like a pump, pressing against the protruding belly. Lol.
3. No more 100-Plus.
4. Do not prep the food intake as though I am taking part in a race. I need real food! Lol
5. My fever and flu 2 weeks prior to the climb. No way to mitigate this. Just unlucky...
Friday, July 4, 2014
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
First Post of 2014
8 runs in 9 days.
Nah... that is not what I am going to write about.
Rather it is more of what happened lately.
First, I took the advice of blogging less and exercising more.
This helps as I do not face a back log of blog entries to fill. Lesser stress. :p
In November 2013, I got into such bad respiratory illness that I had to undergo 5 rounds of antibiotics that it finally cleared.
Then came the Rapha Festive 500 Challenge. The first real challenge that I am doing on Strava.
Of all the previous Strava Challenges that I have signed up, I have never complete any. :-(
What entice me more for this challenge is the coveted woven Rapha badge.
Without any training going into the challenge, I think it is pure perseverance that I managed to complete the challenge.
What really helped and made the whole challenge a wonderful experience is :-
1) Tires 23 Front 25 Rear. After my epic year of punctures and numerous suggestions that I swap to a 25, I dutifully did it. (Check online first to make sure your frame can take a 25.)
One can never imagine the comfort of a 25!!! Save my butt and thighs...
Moreover, there is no loss of speed.
If u read cycling articles lately, a lot of pro teams are switching to 23/25 too!
Having used Continential tires all my life, I decided to try out German technology Schwalbe and it did not disappoint. ;-)
2) Cycling partner helps. LG was my unlikely partner for two of the rides. I have never rode with her before but since both of us are keen to complete the challenge, it is game on!
SE accommodate me for a ride too! Thanks, boss!
For the record, I makan every 40km during the entire challenge and both LG and SE went along with me. Thanks, guys!
3) MaxiFuel Electro Tabs. I have always used Endurox, Clif Shot Electrolytes and Gatorade for my drinks but none of the supplements has as much effect as MaxiFuel.
4) Go Pro. It gives me a sense of security when I cycle. After Freddie's Loyang incident in July 2012, I have never venture onto Loyang till I got the GoPro. Some say it is a false sense of security, but I beg to differ.
5) 50-30. The climbing combination. But to me, it is the best combi that I can ask for. I can understand why I suffered so much for the past few years.
I started with 53-23 -> 53-25 -> 50-25 before I got the 30 from IN and never looked back.
After the Challenge, I was hoping to keep up the momentum, but things dun always work out.
It was back to a ride a week. :-(
Worse was to come during January 2014 to mid-February 2014.
The night was so cold that my nose started dripping when night falls.
I had to rely on Piriton to sleep.
10th February 2014. The day my running craze started.
I was feeling full during lunch time so I decided to put on my running gear!
Turned out it was the same day that the weather has turned warm, but I like it aplenty! :-)
A week later, I started evaluating what had happened.
Turned out, Strava was the greatest motivator. As long as you do not sign up for the wrong challenge. Lol.
I have always set Garmin Auto-Pause to 'Off'. I felt that it give a athletes a false sense of accomplishment.
Much like why I am never keen to get a cyclometer anymore.
A race simply does not give you time to pause.
Strava simply termed total as moving time.
Haha, spin it any way you want, but it help motivate me. :p
I have since use RunKeeper and Garmin as my backup.
I have always been a number guy. But since the last week, I forgo the numbers game.
No more 4 x 10km equals 40km.
10 x 4km will give you the same outcome but at 2.5 times the effort.
In fact, running a shorter distance, I have fuel in my tank and legs after the run.
I used to think that I should run till I am exhausted. This usually happens at the three-quarter stage of my run. I literally have to drag myself the last 1-2 km home.
It probably turns me off running.
This past week I was filled with endorphins that I was not able to sleep.
The thighs are not sore after a run, so there is literally zero downtime.
I turned off the 4am alarm clocks and let the body clock dictate.
Results dun lie. It has worked wonders.
Ohhh.... And the number crunching game has taken a break for now too.
Ohhh.... If anyone is wondering, I have only signed up for the MetaSprint Series this year.
So I am not training for any significant races. Purely due to work commitments than anything else.
In fact, I missed last weekend's MetaSprint Aquathlon due to work.
2013 I have miss so many races and I am not keen to throw money into the drain anymore.
Chapter 0.
Undoubtedly, this has also help to get me back into the fray.
There has been many offline chats about the current state of affairs that we realised that a separate group is warranted.
It is awesome to see many pioneers coming back to ride. :-)
Okay, time to sleep. :-)
Nah... that is not what I am going to write about.
Rather it is more of what happened lately.
First, I took the advice of blogging less and exercising more.
This helps as I do not face a back log of blog entries to fill. Lesser stress. :p
In November 2013, I got into such bad respiratory illness that I had to undergo 5 rounds of antibiotics that it finally cleared.
Then came the Rapha Festive 500 Challenge. The first real challenge that I am doing on Strava.
Of all the previous Strava Challenges that I have signed up, I have never complete any. :-(
What entice me more for this challenge is the coveted woven Rapha badge.
Without any training going into the challenge, I think it is pure perseverance that I managed to complete the challenge.
What really helped and made the whole challenge a wonderful experience is :-
1) Tires 23 Front 25 Rear. After my epic year of punctures and numerous suggestions that I swap to a 25, I dutifully did it. (Check online first to make sure your frame can take a 25.)
One can never imagine the comfort of a 25!!! Save my butt and thighs...
Moreover, there is no loss of speed.
If u read cycling articles lately, a lot of pro teams are switching to 23/25 too!
Having used Continential tires all my life, I decided to try out German technology Schwalbe and it did not disappoint. ;-)
2) Cycling partner helps. LG was my unlikely partner for two of the rides. I have never rode with her before but since both of us are keen to complete the challenge, it is game on!
SE accommodate me for a ride too! Thanks, boss!
For the record, I makan every 40km during the entire challenge and both LG and SE went along with me. Thanks, guys!
3) MaxiFuel Electro Tabs. I have always used Endurox, Clif Shot Electrolytes and Gatorade for my drinks but none of the supplements has as much effect as MaxiFuel.
4) Go Pro. It gives me a sense of security when I cycle. After Freddie's Loyang incident in July 2012, I have never venture onto Loyang till I got the GoPro. Some say it is a false sense of security, but I beg to differ.
5) 50-30. The climbing combination. But to me, it is the best combi that I can ask for. I can understand why I suffered so much for the past few years.
I started with 53-23 -> 53-25 -> 50-25 before I got the 30 from IN and never looked back.
After the Challenge, I was hoping to keep up the momentum, but things dun always work out.
It was back to a ride a week. :-(
Worse was to come during January 2014 to mid-February 2014.
The night was so cold that my nose started dripping when night falls.
I had to rely on Piriton to sleep.
10th February 2014. The day my running craze started.
I was feeling full during lunch time so I decided to put on my running gear!
Turned out it was the same day that the weather has turned warm, but I like it aplenty! :-)
A week later, I started evaluating what had happened.
Turned out, Strava was the greatest motivator. As long as you do not sign up for the wrong challenge. Lol.
I have always set Garmin Auto-Pause to 'Off'. I felt that it give a athletes a false sense of accomplishment.
Much like why I am never keen to get a cyclometer anymore.
A race simply does not give you time to pause.
Strava simply termed total as moving time.
Haha, spin it any way you want, but it help motivate me. :p
I have since use RunKeeper and Garmin as my backup.
I have always been a number guy. But since the last week, I forgo the numbers game.
No more 4 x 10km equals 40km.
10 x 4km will give you the same outcome but at 2.5 times the effort.
In fact, running a shorter distance, I have fuel in my tank and legs after the run.
I used to think that I should run till I am exhausted. This usually happens at the three-quarter stage of my run. I literally have to drag myself the last 1-2 km home.
It probably turns me off running.
This past week I was filled with endorphins that I was not able to sleep.
The thighs are not sore after a run, so there is literally zero downtime.
I turned off the 4am alarm clocks and let the body clock dictate.
Results dun lie. It has worked wonders.
Ohhh.... And the number crunching game has taken a break for now too.
Ohhh.... If anyone is wondering, I have only signed up for the MetaSprint Series this year.
So I am not training for any significant races. Purely due to work commitments than anything else.
In fact, I missed last weekend's MetaSprint Aquathlon due to work.
2013 I have miss so many races and I am not keen to throw money into the drain anymore.
Chapter 0.
Undoubtedly, this has also help to get me back into the fray.
There has been many offline chats about the current state of affairs that we realised that a separate group is warranted.
It is awesome to see many pioneers coming back to ride. :-)
Okay, time to sleep. :-)
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