The return of…..
endorphin March 7th, 2010
I used to hear people complain about how frustrated they were with work affecting their sports training, hearing of people whining about how work affected even simple daily gym workout regime / sessions and weekly leisure ride performance. I never understood then because I was in a role with one single big KPI. As long as I deliver the bottomline, nobody bothers if I work during office hour or middle of the night. But ever since the switch to operational, compliance with business operating hours become important. Often time, staying late for work is unofficial expectation from boss. The 4th month, I realized I have joined this class of complaining & whining people. 
I was never sick in the past couple of years. It can be everyone else having flu, cold, cough, fever,…whatever in the office or home, I was never “touched”. My ex-boss used to say his best bet was me. But 3rd month into my current role, I caught the flu & cough bug from my partner. Holy cow, it lasted 3 weeks !!! Worse, I still can’t shake that stupid cough till today and this is the 6th week !!
Since I retired from RPM, weekly workout sessions have been reduced to Tues nite ride, Sat & Sun. When the flu & cough bugs visited, it was down to KOSONG !! I attempted to ride. 70-80km ride used to be short. Not anymore. A ride to Batu Arang was flat battery and in need for rescue. Timing for a 8 hills intervals was gap up by 6-8 min. WTF !! The distance with the EPS increased from 800m to a difference of between front & mid peloton, and different range of average speed. How sad can that be ?
Today, I decided I will make a return, be it blardy or not. 95km to Malaysia Gold Coast. It is either inspired by LTDL or the up and coming IS, we saw a good 30ish riders with several newbies. It started out cool & nice coz it rained earlier. 20km into the ride, the sky was still covered by heavy clouds but holding up. 30km we felt some drizzle. 40km, no rain. 47km @ gold coast, clear sky, the sun was out. Sorry, late comers cycling god & pfir was caught in heavy down pour but thanks for doing support though. 
Unlike earlier, the ride leaders didn’t make pit stop @ Shell or Salak Tinggi From Shell onwards, the front pack up the speed. I decided not to push it. I want to make this return a success. I drafted Tony for a while but after the up slopes, he & Vincent were dropped. So, I sucked on Time Jeff until Petronas. After a brief break, I rolled out with Azahar and YK. Surprisingly, De Palmar Hotel hills was not a monster after all. After that, I was just making sure I followed Azahar’s gears & speed closely. 
Heard a lot of gear change at the back and just before the 10km mark, I realised YK hilang. The last 10km in this route is always mental. It plays on you. Somehow, my speedometer decided to fail on me today. So, I can only mentally gauge how close to base am I based on experience. 12.25pm, yes, I made it. I am sure glad I made this return. Thanks to 4 strepsils and Azahar for the tarik.
Moving forwards, lets adjust life for living, fitness & health then only work. In any case, should I need to make sacrifice, work can go. Lets see how the next three months turn out with this alignment.