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Endurance and exhilaration

A penchant for going the distance and for adventure has kept Chan Fook Leong running and climbing over the years.

    • On the bike leg of the Roth Ironman race in Germany, 1997. The event covers a 3.8km swim, 180km cycling, and then a 42km run.
    • Building an anchor on a peak in Scotland, 2017
    • Summiting Friendship Peak on last day of basic mountaineering course in Manali, India, 2016
    • Rock climbing the Batu Caves' Nyamuk Wall, in  Malaysia, June 2022
    • On the bike leg of the Roth Ironman race in Germany, 1997. The event covers a 3.8km swim, 180km cycling, and then a 42km run. ChanFL
    • Building an anchor on a peak in Scotland, 2017 ChanFL
    • Summiting Friendship Peak on last day of basic mountaineering course in Manali, India, 2016 ChanFL
    • Rock climbing the Batu Caves' Nyamuk Wall, in Malaysia, June 2022 ChanFL
    Published Sat, Sep 3, 2022 · 05:50 AM

    TRIATHLON or climbing? It could not be both. Given the time and financial constraints, any economics student would know one should pick the preferred choice and ditch the alternative. As I sat on the ledge of the first floor of the university sports complex where I had a vantage point of the rock wall, I mulled over the options.

    I chose to swim, bike and run, and began hitting the roads on long-run days to build stamina. Marathon races further consolidated the endurance base. Multiple cross-country races, middle-distance events and painful interval sessions helped with speed. I applied the same training approach to distance cycling which was my weakest of the three triathlon disciplines.

    When it came to race day, I tended to emerge from the open waters in the middle of a competitive pack -- always a decent performance as I came from a competitive swimming background. But despite pumping the wheels up to 140psi, I would fall behind in most of the cycling stages. Naturally, I was always glad to transition to strong run finishes.

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