East Burwood Cup

The horses have their race around a 3200m track in the prestigious Melbourne Cup, while the Masters runners have theirs on the track as well, albeit a synthetic one. I'd only knew about this race when I was browsing through some of the event sites in Melbourne. The track is about 4km away from my cousin, Elvin's house in Burwood. So decided to bike over my cousin's house on Wed night and stay here for couple of days.

Earlier, I went out to get lubricant to clean up my bike chains. Had to walk for miles to get to Bunning Warehouse, then to Coles supermarket. Add in the sweltering heat. Came back home at around 4pm, I was already exhausted and felt more like sleeping than participating in a race. The race only starts at 7:45pm but I had to be at the track at 7pm to register. I ran to the track as warm up but my legs already felt tight and tired. Anyways, it was just a fun run and it will be good to test out how fast I can run a 3200m at my current fitness. At least I can know where my weaknesses are.

Reached the track just before 7pm and registered myself. The race won't start till 7:45pm. Most guys and ladies who turned up are in their 40s and over. However, Victoria Masters Athletics are for men and women aged 30 and over, so I am well qualified. Some of the odd distances (60m, 600m, 200m, 1km walk event) started earlier and the East Burwood Cup was the highlight of the evening.

The race started in a fast pace led by the fast guy & lady. Both came to the track together so I guess they must be training for something. Both looked like lean and mean machines. The guy probably cycles too since he has got the tan lines on his muscular legs. After a lap and a half, I took over the 2nd place from the lady. As I sense the pace was slowing down by the guy in about the 3rd lap, I gladly went into the lead and led for a while but I knew I won't be able to hold on to the pace for too long, as I was already feeling tired. Pretty bad move but winning here wasn't my priority as I want to test out how fast I could run, so I wasn't going to let the pace slow down.

Well the thing about shorter distance, is that you have little time to come out with a strategy. Once you made your move, you'll either make or break it. For this case, I broke it. Soon, there was another guy, who went out fast passing us and he really pushed the pace hard. That was the point where I lost contact with both of them and my strides were no longer smooth. I can hear the lady breathing down my neck from behind. Soon enough, she was in front of me. We got about 3 laps to go and the two guys were way out in front. Then I saw the guy who broke up the field apart was standing beside of the ground, just after the start/finish line, cheering. It's official that I'm in 3rd, but I wanted hang on to the lady's butt (well she is quite fit. Haha) and see if I could outrun her in a sprint finish. With about 1 & half laps to go, she accelerates and I was left for dust. All I could do was to guide myself to the finishing line. I'm a little disappointed that I could't go any faster but glad that at least I broke the 12 min mark. Just barely.... 11:59.

I didn't win anything for 3rd place. Only the first male and female gets prizes. The MC even joked about how slow the time was. In Melbourne Cup the horses were probably doing at about 3 mins or so for the same distance. Haha, hey, we don't have horses legs. Anyway, when it came for the spot prizes (lucky draw as we called it) for the EB Cup participants, I was so surprised that the first number that they pulled out was No. 3, and that was me. I won a AUD200 worth of weekend spa package to Hotel Bruce County or Gateway on Monash which nearby. Too bad this weekend will be last, so am giving it to cousin, Elvin.

The fast guy

The fast lady

Results (time only):

1. 11:25 (The fast guy)

2. 11:50 (The fast lady)

3. 11:59 (Me)

4. 12:13

5. 12:27

My lap time - split time (Avg, Heart Rate)
Come to think of it, spending too much time pressing my watch buttons to get the splits, instead of concentrating in race, but I need to know my weaknesses.

1. 1:24 - 1:24 (155)
2. 1:29 - 2:53 (168)
3. 1:31 - 4:24 (169)
4. 1:28 - 5:53 (169)
5. 1:34 - 7:27 (170) - this should be the part where the lady caught up
6. 1:30 - 8:58 (170)
7. 1:30 - 10:29 (170)
8. 1:30 - 11:59 (168) - I think I gave up on this lap, explains why my Avg HR dropped.

Time for 3000m was 11:15, so I think my fitness is ok, except I need to work on my speed and threshold training. Doing too much long slow runs are not helping. Once upon a time, I could do a sub-10mins for this, well that is once upon a time story. Haha. Time for me to get back to basics in speed/threshold training!

A Hot Hot Day In Melbourne

Days are getting warmer in Melbourne. Today it peaked at 36.3 C. Being exposed to cold weather for so long, to acclimatise back to a warm day seems a difficult task. I tried running today at around 6:45pm, but I seem to be struggling in my run eventhough I wasn't pushing hard. My mouth dried out fast and had to stop for water break 40mins into my run. My average heart rate usually will be around 145 bpm, but today I think it was 155-160 bpm.

I decided not to continue my run, after taking the water break. Instead did some speed drills to cap off the day. I think I will have a tough time acclimatising running in KL weather when I head back next week.

On other note, my cousin got his new 42' Toshiba LCD. No longer does he need (or me) struggle to view on the old 15' TV.

Out goes the old TV...

In comes the new one....

So how much different does it make? See for yourself......

One good thing is that he didnt need to buy the Digital Receiver to receive digital channels in Melbourne or even HD channels. It seems his apartment already has a centralised access to it. Wonder when Astro will provide us with a digital feed in Malaysia? It sure is nice to watch sports channel in High Definition (HD).

Mount Dandenong Solo Ride And A Date With Wii

Since I'd only 2 weeks of stay left in Melbourne, I just had to try riding up Mount Dandenong at least once. I've already been up there with my cousins, Elvin and Fei, but that was driving up.

Melbourne is a relatively flat city. Instead of riding the usual Beach Road, some cyclists from Melbourne will head east of the city centre towards Mount Dandenong to test their climbing skills. The most popular of all is the "1 in 20" climb which starts from the Basin to Sassafras via the Mountain Highway. It's named after its steady gradient of an average 5%. This route is not as tough as the climb I did in Genting Peres, Ulu Langat. The route starts from the 60km/h signage near the shops. There's even a yellow painted "Start" marking on the road. Each kilometer are marked to give the riders indication of how far they have left. The distance is 6.75km in length. The road is relatively quiet on weekends but it is very narrow and riders had to be cautious of passing vehicles.

Reading up some of the postings in the internet, a time of sub-14 mins will put you as one of the best times recorded and a time of under 20mins is respectable.

1 in 20 Climb: The Basin to Sassafras

http://www.bikely.com/

I started my ride from home at around 7.20am. Little did I expect that riding from home to the Basin would be a lot harder than climbing the 1 in 20 due to the short but rolling hills via the Toorak Road and Burwood Highway. The Basin is about 33km from the apartment. I didn't see many cyclists along the way, only 1-3. I tried to draft behind each cyclist I see but they dropped me at the hill. I was expecting the worst when I start my "1 in 20" climb. I was glad when I reached the Basin but still I had a long way to go. the climb and the ride back. There are quite a number of cyclists there either starting their climb or already made their descent from the top.

Starting the climb I didnt really know what to expect, although I really wanted to go under 20 mins. I started at a good pace but not fast. In my mind, I thought there will be a steep climb somewhere along the route (which I found out there's none), so was kind of saving some of my energy for that big climb. As I reached the mark of 2km to go, I look at my watch it was already 17plus mins.



There's no way Im going to make it under 20mins, but I push it as fast as I could. I saw the 250m to go mark and push a little more and was trying to find the finish mark sign in front of the 60km/h signage, but didnt find it. There's two 50km/h sign in front, so I guess that was the finish line. Stopped my watch "21:22". There was a thought of going back down and to try it again but had to save up for my ride back later. Although a little disappointed with the time, I'll just accept the effort I've put in for the day. I guess the ride from the apartment has already zapped my energy level.

Luckily the road up to the mountains are shadowed by tall trees and offers scenic view of flora and fauna. This offers riders a cooling ride up eventhough the temperature on the day soared to near 30C.



Reaching Sassafras, I made my way up again to SkyHigh Mt Dandenong. Entry fee applies for cars and motorbikes, but didnt see any charge for cyclists. When I reached the security checkpoint, the guy just told me to go in to P2. Took a long break at the top of SkyHigh and had some food I brought with me. Just couldn't resist to get someone to take a photo of me up there, at least I have a proof that I did ride up there.



At the descent, I accidently took another route, instead of making my way back to the Basin. I ended up in Upper Ferntree Gully, which is still alright since it leads me to Burwood Highway as well. Top speed reached almost 75km/h at the descent. Cyclists will need to be cautious here since at certain parts there will be tight corners awaiting.

As I reached the foot of Mt Dandenong, now it's the dreaded ride back home. As I was passing Deakin University, thought I called up my ex-colleague, Syazrin, who's studying her Master degree in Melbourne for brunch. I had a Subway six-inch for my meal and I just felt so lazy to ride back. After an hour break, made my way back slowly. The weather is not humid as in Malaysia but I can feel the sun ray piercing thru my shirt and burning my skin. It was huge sigh of relief to see the shops along Toorak Road, as it indicates that I'm near home. Total distance covered for the day was 96km.

Upon reaching home, I was still feeling a little hungry so cooked myself "Cha Bee Hoon".


Post recovery brunch

Later that night, Andrew called me to have dinner at Josiah's place. Den was cooking his specialty, Cabonara pasta. After dinner, we ended playing Nitendo Wii till the "wee" hour in the morning. Looking at the photos and videos, you'll realised how foolish each of us looked playing the motion sensored game which took the world by storm. Anyway, I suck at playing video games and I really got wiped out in most games played.

Check out the funny antics......

Now my body is aching!

Why We Shouldn't Add Our Boss in Facebook

This is a funny one.....and a good advice for all...

What To Do When the Sun Is Out?

It's funny how two different people from two different countries react when they see the sun is shining brightly in the sky. I was walking pass a park on the way back and just amazing how many people are out basking in the sun.

Here's how the "ang mohs" (mat salleh/caucasian) react when they see sun.....

While Asian will probably do this.....

Asians will try their best to look as fair as possible while "ang mohs" will probably try to get tan as much as possible. Good to be brown?

Best Blog Award

Thanks Nat for awarding me the "Best Blog Award". Hehe. Feels like winning an Oscar now. Now I got a list of names to thank....nah. But thanks for reading my blog. I haven't tried out any of your recipes but if anyone of you out there need recipes, please click on this "Krazy Monkey Tale". Lots of yummy food recipes in there, but when you cook it, don't forget to invite me over ya?

The Whole of Australia Stops for A Horse Race?

"The Horse Race that Stops the Nation", that's what Melbourne Cup is all about. It's a public holiday for Melbourne, not all parts of Victoria though (A upblic holiday for a horse race!). I was in the city this morning andthere were a lot of people dressing elegantly, ready to head towards Flemington Racecourse. Betting agencies were full of people trying their luck in picking up their horses. Well, I did put some money into it, just too bad my total winning is only AUD2.25 after deducting my losses in other bets. LOL! Still a win, right?

Shocking winning the Emirates Melbourne Cup

Yesterday, me and a friend from KL, Chun Man, drove down to the famous Great Ocean Road, which is a 243km stretch of road along the south-eastern coastal road of Victoria. We didn't go all the way to Warnambool as we need to get back to Melbourne, as Chun Man's catching a flight back to KL at midnight.

We rented a car in the morning and started our journey at around 9am. The drive took us to Geelong (we didn't stop by the city centre), Torquay, Bells Beach, Apollo Bay, etc towards Port Campbell before making our way back using a shorter route in the inner land. Reached Melbourne only at around 9.30pm. Chun Man picked up her bags from the backpacker she was staying in before driving her to the airport.

Woke up early this morning to get some groceries from the supermarket, before returning the car at 9am. It saves me the trouble of carrying heavy bags and walking back.

Some photos from the trip yesterday:

Well, there's no longer 12 Apostles as some have erroded.

For those intending to make a trip here for the Great Ocean road drive, it's better to stay a night or 2 along the coast (Plenty of hotels, resthouses, B&B to choose from). That way, you can take your time to explore more.

Burning The Calories from Laksa Loading

My sister and her friend, Stella, who were here for a week's holiday, came over to the apartment to cook Sarawak Laksa on Fri night. All our cousins here in Melbourne (all 9 of them). Only Den couldn't make it. Anyway, it was a good to see all my cousins in one roof. Of course, we had our "adopted" cousin, Stella and Josiah. LOL! Josiah's wife, Kim came later in the night to "ta pao" some back to eat.

Most photos of the gathering are in my sis's camera, so can't upload many photos here...

My sister and Stella in action

The next morning, followed my cousins, Den and Andrew with Josiah for a ride to Frankston again. This time around we didn't go all the way to Frankston town. Stopped by a cafe about 35km out from where we started to have our breakfast. It's one of the hottest day I felt since reaching here, where temperature soared to about 32 C. Den went on a solo ride to Inverloch which is about 140km from city. For the rest of us, we rode back facing a headwind throughout the whole journey back. Well, me being the weakest, just sat back behind the 2 strong riders. We covered about 70km in about 2:37.

So what did I had for lunch? Well none other than leftover laksa from last night. Well we had a lot left from the night before, so better finish it before the laksa gravy is spoiled. Me and Keng could not even finish the leftovers for lunch. So invited Andrew over for laksa dinner again. Not too sure how many bowls I had since Fri night?!

Followed the Cool Running group for a run this morning. We started our run at Morell Bridge near the Tan. There were 7 of us who turned up for the day. Tony led the group. We ran along the Yarra River till Dight Falls, turn into Yarra Bend Park, passing thru Richmond, MCG before coming back to Morell Bridge. Total distance covered today is around 23.5km, with my extra 2.5km run to the start, that makes my mileage for the day 26km in about 2:27. Longest run I had since Melbourne Marathon. Legs sure do feel sore near the end of the run. We then head to our usual cafe in the Royal Botanic Gardens to have our coffee and food.

Some parts of the run we've covered this morning. A mixture of both concrete road with trail running.

A group photo we took at one of the rest stops.

From left: PJ, Steven, Bruce, Tony, Baz and Michael

With me in it