Last week-end did not turn out exactly as I intended.
And I am not one to like that … I tend to plan ahead and not be too happy when I have to change my plans.
After all the time spend with Papillon and practicing for the Dragon Boat races, this was to be a week-end for me. While I enjoy being with good friends, I also need time for myself regularly.
On Saturday, I was very nervous. So much so that I could not really eat much all day. I tried to relax by preparing, testing and re-testing all my equipment, but that did not help much. I went to explore the race site, but that did not help either.
On Sunday, I was awake early, and just went to East Coast Park. I was as ready as I will ever be for my first Triathlon.
I still had to wait a long time. I saw the start of the “Elite” Race, both men and women and saw the finish of the men race two hours later. And I was still waiting.
It was finally the time for us ‘mortals’ to depart. Ladies went first; men over 50 were next and at 10:30, it was finally my turn to dive into the water. The start of the swim is always difficult because there are a lot of people trying to swim over, through and across each other. I had two laps of 750 m each ahead of me. The first lap went OK. As I dove back for the second lap, I could see really black (and I mean BLACK) clouds approaching. By the 250 m mark, the wind was getting up and whipping waves of 1 to 1.5 m; the rain was not far behind. The last 250 m of the swim, which I barely survived, were the toughest I ever had to swim. The sea was like a washing machine, with waves 1.5 to 2 m high coming from all directions. There were kayaks and jet skis around to help any swimmer that might have a problem. I actually glanced at a jet ski rescuing a kayak that had capsized! I finally got out of the sea in driving rain.
Just a thumbnail, but it proves I was there …
It was now on to the bike, and 40 km ahead of me. I rested a bit during the transition, but quickly got on all my ‘stuff’ and waded through the mud to get to the bike start.
I started on the first lap of 10 km.
By the way, for all those who wondered, it is not that bad to ride a bicycle with wet pants.
The going was tough as the wind was still building, and the rain was still falling. The return was even tougher, as it was against the wind. By the time I arrived at the starting point, ready to start my second lap, the organisers stopped us and I found out that they had stopped the whole race as conditions we getting too dangerous. Lightning was detected nearby and therefore they preferred to stop and wait.
I had just swam and cycled for close to one hour and I was not sure that waiting was really what I wanted to do. I discussed with a friend who left 20 minutes after I did, and he told me that he was not even allowed to do a second swimming lap. He was also the last group to be allowed to leave.
I decided to go home.
Than I called my friends from Papillon who were racing in a “Charity” race on the Singapore River, representing ExxonMobil who was one of the main sponsors. They told me that they were in the finals and so, I went to watch.
When I arrived, I was coerced into rowing. Vincent was king enough to let me use his team shirt as I did not even have the right uniform; I left my camera, phone and wallet with friends and I decided that I did not really mind if I got my shorts wet.
Fortunately, we had help from unexpected friends:
and our vice captain Jonathan had put on his ‘game face’
We were competing in the “Open” division, and therefore against mostly men’s teams.
The race was tough, and very competitive. First, second and third were separated by only 1.5 seconds and we finished 0.08 seconds ahead of third place! Silver medal for Papillon.
We were part of the award ceremony with Derk Hartgerink (the Chemical plant manager) also waiting for his reward as a sponsor
and we finally got our reward – and the whole team rejoiced once more with the Singapore skyline in the background
Not quite what I had planned, but sometimes, that is good too!
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Too bad abt the tri. Give it another shot – Corporate Tri on 3 Nov.
I’ve never heard of a triathlon called because of weather … but then I don’t follow the sport. I guess it’s really not a spectator sport!
On balance, I guess you got more workout for your arms that day, and less on the legs.