Learning to tri from Bali..

I read in someone's blog that everything you do in life can be a lesson to be learnt for races.

after coming back from a tiring weekend in bali, let's see if that's true:

1. this is me fooling around in the hotel pool:

of course, you'll wonder.. what's the lesson here? well, i thought about it too and found this other video:

what happened? i'll tell you what happened. i tried to do a new trick unprepared and something i'm not familiar with. water went up my nose and ruined the video.

so lesson 1, tying back to triathlons is.... never try anything new on race day!

always ensure you try everything (a friend of mine does not even try new socks on raceday) during training and not on race day itself. even if the item is old but has not been tested for the distance, don't risk it.

earlier this year i had hoped to wear my matching pink decente cycle shorts for langkawi. i had worn it for desaru 2007 and it worked out well with the long distance. but i figured "180k is double the distance".

so when the opportunity came up to cycle to lumut from center point, i took it.. and would you know it... 50k no problem, 70k nothing, 90k still in tact, 95k ouch! but not too bad, 100k what the...

i retired shortly after with really bad chaffing. strange isn't it? good but just not that good enough. good thing i found out before langkawi, it saved my race (of course along with the pills mom gave for the tummy ache)

2. this is me checking out my swim strokes

i'm sure some of you 'quick-eyed' ones will say "is that her bikini coming off?" (haha... made you watch the video again, didn't i?)

well, if you must know.. it was hanging.. semi off the right side.

so, lesson 2: wear proper attire.

seriously! and there's no hard and fast rule to what is proper. you will still need to test it.. and not on raceday. i once wore a new tri top bought day before the race. i figured, it's a tri top, must be appropriate.

nope! it was too loose and i had loads of air pockets in the swim. very uncomfortable. so make sure you wear and test your attire before a race.

o yes! and feel free to give constructive feedback on how to improve my swim strokes

3. Tough women (note the lady with two dive tanks on her head!)

i dived for the first time in my life over the weekend. it was a good experience and while waiting for my lunch to settle, i saw these women carrying dive equipment back to the car. one lady in particular had two dive tanks on her head! i was thinking.. lordy me! i can't even carry one on my shoulder! (the dive instructor actually had to help me put it on in the water)

so how does she do it and what's the link to races?

lesson 3: it's not the equipment. it's the skill.

how many of us have heard or are guilty of blaming our lack of speed, endurance, strenght on our race equipments? c'mon.. honestly..

i think we all have. one point or another it's either bike too heavy, shoes to stiff, swimgear chaffing.. etc. as a result, we spend more and more money upgrading our gear in hope that along with it comes an 'upgraded' performance. newsflash: it's not the medium, it's the engine..

i do, however, have friends who do not seem to matter what equipment they have. in fact, some ride and run in the most basic of levels and are super fast.

ironman randy is one of them. of course at races he whips out his super duper tri bike. but at training, his bike is heavier than mine! and yet, he flies.

ngae is another star to learn from. while perhaps running barefoot is not for most of us, it is a clear example that your equipment does not define your preformance. i remember i once saw him at the start line with tapes around his toes and selected areas of his foot. it was one of the first times i've spoken to him. being ignorant i thought he had blisters. i asked him "did you hurt yourself?" he replied with his charming self "no la. i woke up early today.. so i dress up a bit more la.. normally it's totally bare". i think i'm still dumbstuck by his ability and talent till today.

then of course there are those whose equipment outshine their performance (i'm slowing trying to balance mine out). here we have proud owners of the latest trends.

admirable as well, as they are proud of who they are and what they have chosen to be.. or ride..

but seriously.. it's not the bike or the shoe or whatever gizmo you have that's weighing you down.. :)

unfortunately, my trip went by in a daze and i didn't take anymore 'interesting' videos. will do so again on my next trip.