For those of you who know me well, you know that I often try to use just the right words to say what I want. So you will not over-react when I tell you that on Sunday I ran in the inaugural Singapore 70.3 Ironman Triathlon. This is ½ the distance of a full ironman triathlon, ‘only’ 1.9 km swim, 90 km cycle and 21 km run.Let me now put at ease those who did not read carefully enough. I did not complete the full triathlon, I was part of a relay team and RAN the final 21 km.The day started for me very early as I was nervous as always before a competition. I woke up around 4 AM and after some tossing and turning, got up and left the house on time to get to the East Coast Park at about 7AM. The elite athletes were first off at 7:15 followed by all the ladies and than the men. Teams finally got underway at 7:45 with Audrey doing the swim for us. Richard and I were there to send her off. It was a long wait not knowing how she was doing. After a little over 50 minutes, she came out of the water and ran towards the T1 transfer area, giving her timing chip to Richard so he could start the cycling leg. I drove to the new floating platform on Marina Bay to wait for my turn. I timed every one of Richard’s 4 laps to be able to predict when it would be my turn. By the third lap, Lee Lee, Richard’s wife, arrived on her bicycle and takes this picture of him as he goes by.
In another 35 minutes, around 11:25 AM, it will be my turn.The wait is long, and more and more people complete the cycle leg and start on the run. These are the real athletes, those who complete the whole race on their own. I am relegated to the transfer area for teams, and get to talk to a few other competitors, one from Hong-Kong and another from Singapore. We all agree that (a) we could not do the whole thing on our own and (b) the wait is the worst part.
I am getting more and more nervous; the temperature keeps increasing, and there is no sign of the thunderstorm that was predicted for early afternoon. As I am getting ready, one of the competitors arrives and nearly collapses in front of me. He complains of severe cramps, but declines any assistance I offered – not sure what I could have done but…At 11:22, right on time, Richard completes the 90 km and passes the timing chip to me.
I am off on only my second ½ marathon ever. The start goes well and I am feeling good for the first 5-6 km, except for the heat – since I am carrying my own supply of isotonic drinks, I use every water station to pour cold water on my head and try to stay cool. Than I hit my first “wall”. I know that I can work through this and slow down a little, enough to recover some.
After a little over 65 minutes, I am back at the starting point, wondering if I can actually finish the race, looking for some way to cool off…
– Found it! A man with a water hose – pure heaven.
I do not stop. One thought of Audrey’s and Richard’s disappointment if I were to do so is enough to keep me going. I hit another hard spot at the beginning of the second (and thankfully last) lap. I have to slow down a little more to keep going. The promised shower finally arrives and helps, a little. But it is very brief and not enough to really cool things a whole lot. Throughout the course there are organizers, race marshals, first aiders, water providers and bystanders who keep clapping and encouraging us to continue. So I do. I finally crossed the finish line around 1 PM completing the 70.3 miles (122.9 km) for the team. Audrey, Lilly and Richard are waiting right after the finish line and we get our “finisher’s” medals; there is even a pool filled with cold water where I can try to regain some strength.
Opportunity for another team photo… with our medals!
I have no time for recovery. Tonight, I leave for Perth and a one week vacation in Western Australia.
I just have to stop scheduling these trips after a major sporting event (this is the third time this year!). It is all I can do to remain awake and functioning for a late night departure. One good thing, though – I had no problems sleeping on the plane after the day that I had!
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I really had a wonderful time on Sunday – It’s my BIGGEST race for 2007. It was also a GREAT race.
Both Richard & Pierre was at swim start to support me. My swim was unbelievable good. It was only half way thru that I shocked to see myself overtaking a orange cap. Some more ang moh leh. These are the mens 40-49 age group. They are one wave before of my wave. I looked up & saw some more orange caps. Orange Cap. Target Searched. Target Locked. Aim. Overtake. Next orange cap. Target Searched. Target Locked. Aim. Overtake. Slowly one by one I over took them. I never had so much fun. Feels so damn shiok. Even right up to the beach, I was still chasing one orange cap to beat him to the timing mat. Because I concentrated so hard on my little run, (like Jerry dashing into his rat hole for his life away from Tom) that when I saw Richard, I gave him my leg. I didn’t know that he didn’t know how to remove the chip. I then got down to remove my chip & gave him. For some reason, I could not get up – vertico effect, no choice but to drop to the ground. Clifford, the T1 Marshal, came to congratulate me is to make sure I was ok. Because I was sitting in the middle of swim run path. (huffing & puffing. Phew! I made it away from Tom’s paws.)
Once recovered, I finally stood up & Pierre gave me a huge congratulatory hug. Emotions got of me & I started to cry. A Happy Cry. Why? Because I am the only Char Boh in the entire First Tri Club that made it this far.
For once I never drank sea water. The one thing which I fail to do so in every open water swim clinic. The sea is choppy, But Thanks for my Desaru “training”, Today’s choppy waters is nothing to me. At Desaru, when I completed that 2km swim, my watch says 1:17, (Result says 1:19) I turned around and I didn’t see anyone left in the sea. I cried all the way to T1 to meet my cyclist. After I passed him the rubber hair band (Malaysian style) I burst out crying even more because I failed to meet that 1:10 cut off time for 70.3. A familiar face came over to calmed me down. He was surprised to see me finish in this kind of water condition & he admired my ability. He says if I can conquer today’s swim, I am guaranteed for good finish for Sep 2. because today’s wave is very bad when compared to East Coast. It was pre-rain swells. He says out at East Coast is not this bad + on Sep 2 is super low tide for some time. Furthermore it’s one full loop. He was right. My swim in open water has gone one level up. Talk about 1 to 2 meters of waves. Jelly fish. Sea bugs. I had them all. Just as I cleared my tears away, I saw some more guys running towards T1. WHAT? Huh? I am not the last? I turned to look at the car park and there are at least 20 bikes still left hanging. Phew! Suddenly I felt a jab of self-confidence returned. YEEES!!
My swim result : 58:17. I am swim ranked 18 out of 18 teams = 100%. Now who can beat this record?
If it weren’t the last orange swim cap that I was still chasing to beat to the timing chip mat, I would have done a star burst jump out of the sea. This is to celebrate Aviva’s tag line : “Who Say’s I Can’t”.
I like the idea of a team triathlon. I wonder about people who train for these long personal experience events. Yes, they’re determined, but I wonder if they have to be sufficiently anti-social to get enough training time in.