Singapore #Fitspo of the Week: Masri Khairuman – Yahoo Singapore News

Life goes beyond the digits on the scale and your body is capable of so much more. Yahoo’s #Fitspo of the Week series is dedicated to inspirational men and women in Singapore leading healthy and active lifestyles. Have someone to recommend? Hit Cheryl up on Instagram or Facebook.

Name: Mohamed Masri Khairuman (@masri_sridanti)

Age: 43

Height: 1.69m

Weight: 66kg

Occupation: Personal trainer, swimming instructor, cycling coach

Status: Happily married to beautiful wife Sri with two boys Mirza (13 years old) and Maqil (12).

Diet: I am just a normal person who doesn’t adhere to a strict diet, but I will include lots of protein and carbs in my meals whenever my training intensifies or I need help with recovery. Breakfast could be half-boiled eggs with bread and coffee (a must), or nasi padang or epok epok with the wife. There would be healthy snacks like fruits, salad, kebab or sandwiches throughout the day. Dinner is whatever the mother-in-law cooks.

Training: I train for triathlon five to six days a week. I stare at the black lines in the swimming pool on Mondays, do my run workouts on Tuesdays, strength and conditioning on Wednesdays, stare at the white lines on the road for long hours on my bike on Fridays (and I add short runs after that), and keep questioning myself why am I running for hours on Sundays. I always look forward to open water swims with wonderful friends on Saturday mornings.

How did you get into the sport of triathlon?

I was a smoker for about 17 to 18 years of my life, and when I stopped it some time in 2011, I took up running to keep myself distracted so I wouldn’t go back to smoking again. Then I did some run races and got to know other runners who were into road cycling. That was what led me to get my first bike in 2012 and know some triathletes from that cycling group. I started swimming with them, registered for a triathlon race and the rest is history.

What were your backgrounds in sports growing up?

I have been playing competitive soccer for the longest time. I used to play for a club in my youth days, then I played for my army unit during national service. After that, I played for Singapore Prison Service when I was working there. When I was 34, I stopped kicking balls around and getting kicked at, because I was getting injured too many times and the recovery was taking longer as I got older. But, I cannot keep still, so I had to find a new sport for me.

What was your very first triathlon race?

My first triathlon race was in August 2012. It was a mini distance comprising of a 200m swim, 10km bike and 2.5km run. The 200m swim was basically just a lot of fighting with “kids” younger than me, the bike was like a weekend ride on the park connector, and the run was all about survival! But I learnt a lot about triathlon from then on – the transitions, the preparation, the jelly legs, the lung-bursting feeling after a swim and the heart racing when looking for your bike. It was a lot of fun compared to soccer or running races.

Singapore #Fitspo of the Week: Masri Khairuman (PHOTO: Cheryl Tay) — Masri decided in 2018 to leave his previous job of 20 years as a prison officer to become a personal fitness trainer. (PHOTO: Cheryl Tay)

What is it about the sport that you like so much?

Triathlon is unique and special. When you finish a race within the cut-off time, you get only one medal but you had to do three sports to get it. Also, training for a triathlon is never dull because there is something different to do every day and I really enjoy the whole process.

One day, it’s running at the stadium, then it’s swimming at the pool, or riding at Changi, or doing a bike-and-run at East Coast, or a swim-and-run at Sentosa, or just trail running at MacRitchie. So many places, so many different activities!

What are some of the highlights of your triathlon journey so far?

It has to be my first Ironman at Busselton, Western Australia in December 2013. I registered for that race in December 2012, so I had a whole year to prepare for it. The journey to finally get there, get fit and healthy and complete a really tough race was just the best feeling ever. What was really memorable was my wife was putting on my Ironman medal on me at the finish line.

You decided to quit your job as a prison officer in 2018 and become a triathlon coach. What made you decide to do this?

Yes, I was a prison officer for 20 years, and it was my first and only job since I finished national service. At the age of 42, I fell out of love with rehabilitation work and was all excited to start something else, but the biggest challenge was how to earn a sustainable income.

I didn’t want to wait until I am retired at 50 to start looking for a career in sports coaching. I thought that would be too late, so I took that leap of faith. Of course, before I actually jumped, I had already done some research and preparation before I felt it was a good time to leave my job.

What are your goals for the sport now?

As an athlete, I still want to win something in my very competitive age group. Maybe a top-10 placing in one of the Ironman 70.3 or Ironman races would be a dream come true. But just like my soccer days, I have to deal with a lot of injuries either due to accidents or overtraining.

As a coach, I want to help others achieve their dreams. For example, I know of some who are fearful of swimming, so I want to help them overcome their fears and guide them in a journey of self discovery. I want to educate athletes about the sports science behind their trainings, so that they do not just go out and get “junk miles”. I would also like to promote and grow our multi-sport community.

You also run Terai Melayu, one of the biggest triathlon groups in Singapore. What are your plans for the group?

Terai Melayu started way back in 2008, by four Malay guys who got together during a triathlon race. The group grew bigger each year and we have athletes competing not only in triathlons, but also in marathons, open water swim events, cycling events, adventure races and ultra trail running. The group is all about having fun together while achieving whatever you set out to do.

I joined Terai Melayu in early 2012 after I was introduced to the group during one of the open water swim sessions at East Coast Car Park F2. There are so many plans for the group and we are excited about them. One plan is to have as many Ironman triathletes within our ranks as we can.

Our Malay community was quite surprised when they discovered that there are actually Malay triathletes who take part in such tough and crazy races in other parts of the world. When they start to join us for training, they actually discover that there are just so many different kind of races in so many places to do. They also realised that Terai Melayu is not just a triathlon group. We do other single sports like running, all types of cycling and hiking too.

The biggest challenge now is to get new and younger members to continue the legacy of this wonderful group. We need passionate and driven ones, because that’s what it’s all about at the end of the day.

When did you feel the least confident about yourself?

The feeling when you have trained so hard for something; you tried many different methods in training, in nutrition and sacrificed many hours just to get into a race, all ready to smash it… and then the race did not go as planned.

If there is one race where I felt “That’s it, no more Ironman for me”, it has got to be Ironman New Zealand at Taupo in 2017. Less than two weeks before the race, while doing our last long ride, I witnessed my good friend (who was going to this race with me) involved in a road traffic accident. He had to undergo tracheostomy, in which a tube was inserted through his neck to help him breathe.

While he was recovering, I had to go to New Zealand alone to race and I did not finish that race. So much training done, so much money spent, so much time spent and I bonked at the 165km mark of the bike. The choppy swim conditions and strong winds during the bike leg took everything out of me. As a result, I couldn’t bring the medal back for a fallen friend. I kept thinking that I would never be good or even do good at this sport. My good friend had to give up on triathlon. It wasn’t fun anymore.

Then the idea of using my experiences to help others rekindled my love for this sport again. That was about the time that I took a different view on life and thought about doing coaching next, because you only live once.

Are you contented with your body now?

I have always been satisfied with my body. I am always very skinny during fasting month and put on weight at the wrong places when I do not control myself. If I gain too much muscle, I could be too heavy for long-distance running; but if I am too skinny I might not have the power to ride or swim fast enough over 3.8km. So I concluded that a bit of weight here and there is always good.

Have you ever received any comments about your body?

Fortunately, very minimal. I guess I am lucky. Old friends who met me keep saying I look the same from NS days, which was like two decades ago. I guess being active and laughing a lot helps!

The funny thing is, I get people of bigger sizes coming to me saying that they could never do an Ironman. Well, I told them that in December 2013 at Busselton, for the first time in my life I saw athletes of all sizes finishing the 3.8km swim, 180km ride and 42km run. And those who looked overweight to me, finished much faster than the fit-looking me.