Meeting The "Iron Mummy"

I chanced upon the blog of "Iron Mummy" and was inspired by her journey to Triathlon. First of all, the word "mummy" appeals to me :) She is a full-time working mother to 2 young boys and started training for triathlon only after she and her family moved to Singapore 2.5 years ago. I was curious and wanted to read more on how she juggled work, family and training. The more I read, the more inspired I became. I thought why not email her and ask if she was open to meet up.... After a few email exchanges, we finally met up on 20 May!

I invited a few of my kakis along and it was a fun time of nothing, but just sharing about our passion for triathlon. We were initially nervous....not sure what to expect or what to ask her. She turned out to be a very friendly lady and this was her first time receiving request to meet up :)

Without sharing too much on her personal life, these were my takeaways....

- It is possible to live without a car in Singapore. She cycles to work and if it rains, she runs. It's all about planning.
- You can train without compromising on family time. She wakes up at graveyard hours to cycle and gets home before her children wake up. She jogs while pushing her 2 children on a twin buggy.
- Overseas races are also family holidays.
- A supportive spouse is much needed.
- Don't be afraid to ask for sponsorship; the worst you can get is a "no" :)

My greatest takeaway had to be this.... "as long as you are moving".

So it doesn't matter if you are swimming breaststroke or backstroke. Or whether you are cycling at 20km/h or 40km/h. Or whether you are running or walking and catching your breath.... In the words of the Iron Mummy, "as long as you are moving".

It was a great meet-up. Looking forward to meeting her in some of the upcoming races.

TYR TRI-Factor Swim 2014

TRI-Factor Series was founded in 2009 that sets a progressive platform which aims to help sporting enthusiast to complete their first triathlon. It is a 4-leg series of sporting event that starts with a mass swimming event – TRI-Factor Swim, followed by a mass cycling event – TRI-Factor Bike and mass run – TRI-Factor Run, ending with a finale TRI-Factor Triathlon.

As I won the race slot from a Facebook contest held by SwimBikeRun magazine, I did not have the choice of which category to sign up for. Which was a blessing because it "pushed" me to try out the Sprint category. I had to swim 1.5km; equivalent to 30 laps in an Olympic-sized pool.

Of the 4 races, 1.5km swim was my greatest challenge.
1) Open water swim
2) To prepare myself for the swim, I've only tried swimming 30 laps in the pool three times
3) Worse of all, I was suffering from a neck muscle strain

1 week before the race, I was trying a new "toy"; the hand paddle. I read that it helps to improve stroke technique while building arm strength. Its unique shape improves water feel and distributes pressure evenly for reduced shoulder stress.

However, instead of reducing shoulder stress, I ended up pulling a muscle instead :( I visited my usual TCM for muscle relief massage. I was told to rest. I tried swimming a day before the race. I could still feel a slight strain; but I managed to swim 15 laps on breaststroke.

The race was held at Sentosa, Tanjong Beach. On normal non-race days, it was a favourite hangouts for dudes and volleyball gals with washboard abs... Last Sunday, Mother's Day, was my first time at the beach.

Met some friends at the race

 

I was the last few to come back from my wave... But I was a FINISHER :) Exclusive from this year’s series onwards, individual event medals will be awarded for finishers. The four individual series event medals form part of a big puzzle medal composition.

Last month, TRI-Factor announced that they were partnering with QUICKSPEED, their Official Cycling Jersey! Full Series Finishers (All 4 Events) will receive an Exclusive Series Finisher Cycling Jersey and an invitation to a Series Finisher only event after... the Series!

 

Kudos to TRI-Factor for seeking to better the events :)

 

1 down; 3 more to go.... Next up....40km bike in June :)

I.AM.A.TRIATHLETE.

I can swim.

I can cycle.

I can run.

Last September, my friend invited me to participate in the Cold Storage Singapore International Triathlon 2013.

I can swim.

I can cycle.

I can run.

I thought why not? Sounds fun. I signed up for the easiest category - Mini Open Women Category.

First of all, I had to overcome my fear of swimming in the open sea. Going for a cruise had never been my idea of a holiday. Blame it on the movie "Jaws". Blame it on "Titanic". But I never liked the idea of not being able to touch the floor or not knowing what is floating around my legs... 

On the day of my open water trial, the waves were cruel. I was the first gal in the pic. The waves kept coming into my face. The salt water I swallowed would have been enough to cure any throat infection. We had to swim towards the buoy and turned back after touching it. I felt like I was going to touch the ships...

When I received my number bib - "2013"; I knew that it was going to be a good race. On the day of the race, the sea was calm. Weather was good. I was feeling very high! I repeated the YouTube videos I've watched to prepare myself for the race, over and over again in my mind. Set up my transition the way I saw in the video.

No cleats. No race belt. No tri-suit. No competitors. My goal was to overcome my fear and to stretch my physical abilities.

I swam 200m.

I cycled 10km.

I ran 2km.

Who cares if it was only a mini category... And it didn't matter how slow or fast I was.

"I.AM.A.TRIATHLETE." and it was only the beginning :)

Since then, I have participated in...
- OCBC Cycle Malaysia 2014
- OCBC Cycle Singapore 2014
- Aquathlon (swim+run) by MetaSprint Series Singapore
- Duathlon (run+bike+run) by MetaSprint Series Singapore
- Triathlon (swim+bike+run) by MetaSprint Series Singapore

I am looking forward to my next series of races where I would be moving from mini category to sprint category. Watch this space for my race updates.

UBS Cycle The Circuit 2013

Recently a friend asked me what made me start a blog. I told her because I have a lot of stories to tell and this is one of them... My UBS Cycle the Circuit 2013 experience.

Somewhere in early September 2013, Straits Times held a "STAR" - Straits Times Appreciate Readers contest. 10 readers will win a chance to cycle around the 5.073-km track with triple Tour de France Green Jersey winner Robbie McEwen on 22 September, the morning of the Grand Prix.

This was the photo I sent for this contest.

I received an email on 17 September, congratulating me for being selected! I was elated! It was certainly an experience of a lifetime to cycle on the Marina Bay F1 Street Circuit! I collected my exclusive cycling kit from UBS the following day.

The kit consists of a cycling jersey, a matching cycling pants, water bottle, helmet cover, gloves and a bag. We had to wear these items for the ride. On top of that, we get to invite a supporter to a Breakfast Buffet in Ritz Carlton after the ride. UBS was kind enough to allow me to bring 3 and I brought my gals along :)

Reporting time was 6 a.m. The ride started at 7 a.m. and we had to finish 2 laps of 5.073km before 8 a.m. The atmosphere was very high even though the cyclists had to register very early. The hospitality was fantastic. Not long after I had registered, I realised that everyone seems to know everyone. I later made some friends and found out that this was an exclusive event organized by UBS for their corporate clients. UBS had partnered with ST to as part of its STAR program to reach out to the community. There were a total of about 160 riders in this event and I was ONE of the lucky ones!

My family joined me for breakfast and I had an opportunity to take a picture with Robbie McEwen, triple Tour de France Green Jersey winner. I was so "buay paiseh"; I went on stage to take a podium finisher pic :) Now I can say that I went on the podium before....

The organizer was very thoughtful. There were 2 roving caricature artistes during breakfast and these were what we brought home. They did one for my gals also :)

ST covered the event the following day.

Cycling on the F1 circuit was certainly an experience that no money can buy. I counted myself super lucky to have been selected.

This pic from RunKeeper was a "proof" that I really rode on the Marina Bay Street Circuit :p