Wilson's Adventure Racing, Multisport & Triathlon Sanctuary

One of the coldest mornings on record... and what am i doing? Riding the bike, of course. All i can say is: at least i wasn't out kayaking. Woke up early to crank out a strength set on the Hawthorn Velodrome... then toodled down to Vigor to say hi to the roller gang and also breakfast later.

Simon conducting roller class atop his E-motion rollers.

The boys hard at work!

After rollers, we rolled down to a little hole-in-the-wall cafe just off Kerr St. There, we discussed at-large plans for the Daggy Ride this coming June 1 (YES!). I promised a great new daggy outfit (an upgrade from last year's 12-hour Enduro fairy costume).

Our bikes outside Minlokal, the quaint little cafe just a stone's throw away from Vigor.

Soon, Ray called and arrange to meet at Swanston St (the State Library) for the ride to Mordy. Braving the still-chilly air, i toodled into the CBD, where i took in the morning bustle of city-folk going about their lives. Elaine and Ray soon rolled up (Elaine said she was rugging up against the cold... therefore late!). Ray was the exact opposite - just short sleeves and bib shorts - i can honestly say that the cold treatment during NS must have served him well this morning! Kinda slacked our way to Mordy... but once we got there (the toilet stop), we took a photo:

It was shaping up to be a brilliantly sunny morning, so things weren't so bad coming on the return leg of our ride.

And here we are riding down Beach Rd on the way back to the city. So for the AM workout, i covered 90+km or so... not much time for contemplation of the morning's events, cos it was off to school for tutorial at 1pm! Eeek! Talk to you soon about how the weekend went (it was... interesting)!

This just in! I got a time of 1:31:37 and 28th out of 1063 finishers for the 23km distance! =) Gotta be happy with that (legs still sore though!).


Finish line @ Apollo Bay.

I headed out on Saturday afternoon for the Great Ocean Road half-marathon. Doing the trip solo allowed me to live very cheaply for the weekend, and i could pack all manner of junk into the (beat-up) Charade without much worry. Check surfboard! Check pillow and sleeping bag! Check books! Check running kit! Check 1x grubby uni' student!

The Great Ocean Road Running Festival would incorporate four running events (five if you count the wheelchair race) over 6.5km, 14km, 23km, and 45km. I was up for the 23km 'half-marathon' which obviously was longer by two kms. But the organization kindly measures out the 21km mark near the finish, places a timing mat there, and provide runners with a finishing time for both an official half-marathon as well as the full 23km.

Drove in quite late and reached Apollo Bay around seven pm. Wandered around thinking of food but after seeing the cut-throat prices of the local eateries, decided to do some camp cooking. So, i assembled the ultralight methylated spirit stove set and proceeded to boil some water for my dehydrated pasta (a leftover packet from a trip i did last year). The water was boiled in a titanium cooking billy and i ate with a titanium spork - which is a combination fork and spoon -like utensil - yes, i am in love with titanium!


The chef is in the house - kitchen in background.

I ate my meal straight out of the packet. All i spent on for food that night was a 50-cent box of matches (i'd forgotten to bring my lighter!). Then i proceeded to hunt for a space to pitch my hammock, but to no avail.

So... i slept in the car... aaaaah! The wind and rain picked up sometime around 4 am, and all i can remember thinking at that time was "Boy, i hope it clears tomorrow in time for the start!"

Not a chance.

Sunday morning dawned grey and chilly as i boarded the shuttle bus to the half-marathon start line at Kennett River. I was pleasantly surprised to meet Julie Lau on the bus, and we chatted during the shuttle and while waiting for the start. In the light drizzle and gusting morning breeze, I prompted her to go on a warm-up run with me to wake up the muscles: that certainly felt much better than standing around getting cold. Just before the start the MC was calling for some guy called Luke Bell - ok not some guy... he's a pro triathlete living in Melbourne and i reckon he was doing this 23km as part of his build-up to the Hawaii Ironman (as I was).

Some guy called Steve stood on a platform at the race start and was dishing out some advice to runners and wishing them well. He then jumped right into the crowd, just as the starting gun went off.

The first climb in the opening 3km went by surprisingly easily. I knew this would be a matter of getting caught up in the 'start high', and had to keep control of things for when it would really count later. Then this Steve fella cruises up, striding very easily and overhauling a small group of us ever so slightly. I thought to myself:" Wow, this guy looks relaxed. I could go with him, but... nah, stick to my own game". I watched the long-sleeved-, beanie- and glove-clad Steve trot off into the fine drizzle with a couple of other guys latching on to him and trying to match his pace. Of course, i only found out later that Steve was none other than Steve Moneghetti, a brilliant Aussie runner and patron for the whole GOR Running Festival!

The run was bloody cold, to say the least. Lucky i had a long-sleeve wool thermal on. Rain was intermittent, but the headwind was another trouble maker. Lucky some tall dudes were trying to push the pace in the flatter, exposed sections, and so i took advantage of their efforts and drafted them for a fair while... haha! The advantages of being a shorty!

So far so good and i was keeping on a schedule of roughly 4 minute-kms. The lack of km markers did not help in the middle section of the run, but i felt strong and just used intuition more than anything else to dictate the run pace. From the energy management standpoint, i was on the money, even without a heart rate monitor or a pace counter thingy (such as the Garmin Forerunner 305 watch that Julie had). I was so glad to see the half-marathon timing tent, because that meant i had two options: either pull back and cruise the remainder of the run, or go all out for just a few more minutes! Chose the latter option and felt really strong coming into town. It was a great vibe and quite a number of spectators were out cheering runners to the finish.

After crossing the line, i warmed down and wait for Julie to finish her run. Feeling peckish (as i usually do), i bought a bag of crisps and a Nestle Club dark chocolate bar as a pick-me-up.


Julie and me with our finisher medals.

Later, i met Janet Miller and her friend Sharon (whom Janet ran the haf-marathon with) at the finish. Janet ran kinda easy accompanying Sharon for the 23kms, so she turned around to do another 10km to Skeene's Creek and back! Of course, she was training... daggy compression socks and all (according to her!). She definitely loves her triathlon more than i do!

Janet, before heading out for another 10 kms!

Janet and I later met around noon and as we waited for a couple of her friends to finish, she sat down with me and we talked about her experiences in Hawaii last year as an Ironman World Champs qualifier. As an Ironman Hawaii finisher in 2007, her words were like gold to me, and i could not thank her enough for helping a hack like me out! She uploaded a folder onto my computer full of photos and talked through each one, guiding me and advising me on course notes, places to go, and what to expect for October 11.


Ironman finisher Janet and Ironman noob me.

We also met her friends Mark and Karen (GOR full marathoners). Had a nice chat with them at the Apollo Bay 153 Cafe sipping on hot drinks and putting away hot food (i had a pasta bolognese).


A not-so-good shot of Janet and me chilling at the cafe.

Later on, as part of my recovery regimen, i tried surfing at two spots (one past Airey's Inlet, and at Bells Beach). both were getting too messy this late in the day unfortunately, and my meagre surf experience did not help. Breaks were too boily and i was also rather tired from the run. Could stand for only two waves before splashing down... ugh! I guess the only benefits i got were a foot reflexology session (Bells Beach has some pretty bruisy rocks under the coastline cliffs) and the cold water treatment for my achy legs. Guess it's time to head up earlier and fresher next time (I'm banking or the Torquay surf beach) to a more beginner-friendly spot to work on my skills. =)

La-di-dah... long solo drive back to Melbourne, singing to myself and nibbling on munchies. It was one more memorable weekend in the bank of memorable weekends in Australia!

Hey all,

a bunch of the Melbourne Adventure crew is heading down on Sunday June 1 to Kino Dendy in the city to be some of the first people to watch this very promising new movie from The Collective, 'Seasons'! Nathan is coordinating the Melbourne leg of the tour, and i just can't wait to check it out. This would be a last good hit-out before bunkering down for the exams.

Check out the trailer below!

The maddest weekend i've had in a long time... lucky there were no races!

Start with two assignments (due Thursday and Friday); two dinner appointments on Thursday; an early morning swim on Friday morning; a biggy road ride to play on the hill towards Kinglake on the P2C; and a long run to cap off Sunday morning.

Throw in a fantastic second-hand bike deal (for Ray) on Friday; more makan on Friday evening and Saturday afternoon; a desperate yearning for my adored MTB - and we have lift-off!!

The first dinner appointment involved a Keen post-race gathering. Big swap of photos, videos and cheerful recounting of the fun at the Keen Adventure Race last month. Great networking opportunity and i'm sure Melbourne Adventure got a bit more mileage out of that with a good number of our members turning up to talk about goings-on.

The second-hand bike was nice at $1800 (only thing i could really fault was the noodly FSA crankset; rest of the stuff is solid as they come) and i hope Ray is happy with it. It's all downhill from here...!

Oh yes, here's how Saturday went:


Early bird: met our lovely support crew Jan heading out on her first ride with Liam's crew. This is her beloved ute she's posing in front of (pity that Kaya, Jan's dog/car alarm was not around).


The main gang in front of Liam's studio prior to heading off. Nice and social, and with lots of good energy. We later split up so that the small group could pick up the pace and do a bit of hill work near Kinglake.


My P2C outside the coffee place at St. Andrews, post hill-repeats; later, it was a birsk-paced, caffeine-powered pull back to the city via Eltham, led mostly by Simon.


The crew that headed up to Kinglake, enjoying the cafe stop. Simon seemed to enjoy my snakes (giving me the thumbs up), and he put them to good use later enroute to Eltham, trying to break us with his tremendous power!

I was bloody knackered by the time i got to Clifton Hill, so some food was in quick order.... Speedy arrangments with the MUAC trio found me in a cafe at Victoria Market anticipating some much-needed brunch. Elaine, Iylia and Ray had just done their morning run at Bellbird Picnic area (the batty place on the Yarra) and had kindly waited for me to finish my ride before placing orders. Not wasting any time, we got stuck into our post-work-out pancakes.


That was just one lemon pancake, but it was a PHAT ONE - the equivalent thickness of three normal pancakes!


A Berry Bliss pancake about to meet its demise =P

Said my goodbyes after the very scrumptious meal and ambled home. Total ride distance: 160km with an average speed of a lowish 28kmh... quite happy with that considering the inclusion of the three 15-minute climbs.

Sunday (today):

Felt shite upon waking up, so slept in a bit. Of course, once i got out the door onto the scheduled 100min run, all was good. Finished just in time for a good brunch at Red Rhumba cafe. Quite relaxed during the meal, so spent some down-time in the cafe chipping away at "Flying Scotsman" and also having a browse through The Sunday Age.

Got my MTB back this evening from Andrew. My shout for dinner as Andrew had kindly taken apart most of the drivetrain for a thorough cleaning. We headed to Lygon for Ying Thai, but it was bloody chockers, so we settled for Papa Gino's instead. It was good to catch up with Amy and Andrew again for dinner, and i ended my day/weekend on a high note.

Oh yes... am still waiting on Ray >=) to pass me the rest of his photos, including the pancake shots!

P.S: I gotta get me a smaller camera.

I finally made it as a glam cover model =) All kudos to Nathan for finding the money shot of Brendan and me hitting the beach!

Funny thing happened to me today. Was surfing Togoparts (bored, as usual) when i saw this post by someone asking what i meant when, after my first-ever triathlon (OSIM 2004), it was "all downhill from there... jialat!" Asked things like whether i blew my budget or whether the sport was not for me. Forced me to go revisit basic questions about triathlon like "Is this what i want?", "Am I spending wisely or not?" and "Why do i keep doing this to myself?!"... hehehehe!

Hi (name with-held)!

Triathlon is a good way to keep fit for adventure racing. Shhh, don't need to tell anyone else on the forums (my head is already quite big, i'm trying to reduce its size), but i found i could adapt to the sport of triathlon... and was adaptable enough that i got a slot for this year's Ironman World Championship in Hawaii and now i have to train for that.

So is triathlon for me? I still don't know how to answer that question properly, IMO.

Take care, friend. I hope you find the sport to your liking! Given the current boom of triathlon in Singapore, too many Singaporeans blow their hard-earned money on the sport by spending haphazardly or prematurely on equipment. Avoid regrets and maximize your enjoyment by taking things at an easy pace and applying common sense/logic.

All the best,

Wilson Low

P.S: The frame on my TT bike is on loan to me... i have to borrow stuff like race wheels and a bike box closer to the race... and i don't own a heart rate monitor... that's the state of my budget.

Like i said, it's like a revision of 'what i've learnt so far', the whole truth, as best as i can figure it out. There's the big-headedness coming into the picture for sure, but I don't know all the answers - just that i do my best to make the most of what i've been blessed with.

Days like this don't come very often....

Woke up, threw on the Macpac, then rode my SS to town to catch Liam's bus to the start of the Great Train Race. I was very happy to see Elaine and Iylia already there, and soon Ray joined us.

Now, Ray i haven't seen for a loooong time (not since before XPD 2006), so it was lotsa catching up to do on the bus. Ray brought his camera, which we put to good use (led chiefly by Elaine) taking all kinds of silly shots throughout the whole trip.

The run went well. I was so grateful to be running healthy and at a brisk pace (contrast with last year, when i was a wreck and a mere passenger on the train). Elaine, Iylia and Ray had run a race just yesterday, but their enthusiasm was such that they could just clip off another 13.2 km today. Kudos! I ran comfortably on the whole (although i did feel like going for a number 2 at some points!).

The bus ride home was quite long due to the jammed traffic away from the finish line. Ray had thoughtfully brought fruit and chocolates to share. The ride itself was filled with more neurotic misbehaviour, candid photo taking, snoozing (Elaine and Iylia), and all-round chit-chat, so time - for me at least - seemed to fly past. Of course we were hungry as heck by the time we returned to Liam's studio. At Iylia's suggestion, the four of us Sinkapolians headed up Smith St to this cosy little restaurant for lunch (Deelish). The long wait for the food did not help, but it sure tasted good when it did come. Ray had beef lagsane, Iylia had a veggie pizza, and Elaine had scrambled eggs and sausages on toast. I ordered an item called Eggs Royale, (which sparked off a discussion of the movie Pulp Fiction between Iylia and Ray).

In the past years living in Melbourne, i honestly can't remember the last time i was part of a group conversation over a good meal - after having accomplished something worthwhile that day together; in nice, relaxing surroundings; as people with common interests - all talking with Singaporean accents about a wide variety of subjects which i really liked - and who i really appreciated being in the company of.

Rare... all too rare. =)

After that the Melbourne Uni' trio headed down Smith Street to stroll off their lunch, while i had to toodle back home, drop my gear, change into bike kit, and do my afternoon session. Was feeling lazy initially, but once i hit Beach Rd, there was a fairly good tailwind from the north. So the P2C and myself sailed down to Frankston BP before turning around. On the return journey, i was daydreaming for a bit on the aerobars and almost joined the parked car club: i nearly slammed into a van parked on the road side! I could have very well ruined this very rare (and thereby, very precious) day by just allowing my attention to slip. I backed off after that but was very focused the rest of the way.

Coming back home, i was feeling so-so (even into the headwind), but after a one hour easy run (about 11km of laps around the oval) i was intent on finishing off the day on a good note - ideally with a good meal. Focused on technique and feeling loose all the way, and stretched well after that, so i knew i would deserve my big makan to replace all the proteins and carbs and fats! Went to Sofia's for minestrone soup and a medium Tandoori Chicken pizza.

Now i'm officially knackered from the day. But like i said, days like that don't come very often.