A "Fool" Print

It was my ever-first attempt to do a full tri. In the past, i had been doing relay for the cycling leg. If not for friend's encouragement, i couldn't have taken up the courage to challenge my greatest fear - so called sea swim. I always have phobia in sea swim and imagining that i might be drowning in the vast sea. Added to that, i did not do much long distance swim until 2 weeks before when I swam 30 laps in the pool 3 times a week. Certainly, the swim I did one week before at Sentosa bumped me with more confidence to handle the sea.

To start off the race, we had a wonderful weather with no sun and a cool wind welcoming us. The sea was clam and having an extremely low tide. In fact, Uncle Chan commented this year PD Tri was unique. We had a Run-Swim-Run-Bike-Run event instead of the normal Tri. I remembered the advices given by Senior Melvin, Chua, Henry and the rest, which i should keep to the right so as not to overrun by other good swimmers. I ran about 50m before dived into the water, using my breast stroke to swim. After swam for about 30m, i still couldn't get into the rhythm and my breathing was not smooth. For a few moments, thought of swimming back to the shore and giving up flashed into my mind. I later remembered my friends' advices to relax, swim slow and take it easy. The thought of giving up was just too unbearable in my mind. If i gave up now, it could be even harder for me to try on for the next time. I swam slow continuously. noticed the swimmers around me and carefully moved on so not to be overran by others. I am making progress although it was slow. Gradually, i felt the confidence in me coming back. The panic and the fear was submerged by my mind focusing in my stroke and breathing technique. Also, since the swim was held in the lagoon, i felt relatively safe from the watching eyes of the spectators. Finally, I took 44:48mins to reach the shore but still feeling strong.

The bike leg was no problem to me. This was the first time i used the Ceepo for race. Initially, i was unmotivated since i was the few last that came out from the swim leg. Nevertheless, after overtaking one after another, my drive and competitiveness took better of me. Makoto from Next Stage had did a wonderful job of tuning my bike. I felt the shifting was much smoother than before and the speed was faster than my usual ride. I loved my Ceepo Venom. It was a fantastic experience riding on it. The bike was stiff and responsive, and effortless in climbing the hill. In the end, my ride took 1:16hr to complete.

For the running portion, i took it slow in the beginning to avoid any cramp. Surprisingly, my legs didn't give me problem usually that came from the Powerman or Dualathon. I did a 6mins pace and made a few stop or walk here and there. The route led us to a the main road, where we turn towards the beach. I loved the feeling of my feet landed on the sand, which felt more like a massage. Subsequently, we crossed over a wooden bridge, and made a U-Turn and back to the road again. It was near to 10am, and the weather was getting hot. Still, I am able to keep on to the pace and reached the finishing line by 0:53mins. Weird, was that i felt the distance i covered for the run was less than 10km. With my pace, I would expect to exceed an hour. Later, i found out the distance coverage was short of 1km or 1.5km.

For the overall results, i took 2:58 to finish the whole race. I was happy with the results and did better than i expected.

It was my first time participated in a triathlon race, not to say it was a relay event with Gal as the swimmer, me as cyclist (40km) and Karen as the runner. It was much stressful to participate as an individual event since I was in the second lane. Any poor performance of mine would affect the runner or the whole team’s performance. Certainly, I could not like the idea of us being the few last groups to arrive at the finishing line.

After yesterday’s night briefing and carbo loading session, the race picked up at 8.30 am promptly. The relay team would start around 9am after each wave had begun. We, the relay cyclists, were all crowded at the transition point waiting impatiently. The event coordinator had repeatedly pleaded us to move back as we might block the other racers. Gal arrived at the transition area half an hour later as predicted by him accurately. Immediately, once received the red band, I ran towards my bike and cycled on.

The weather was marvelous today with the blessing from the hot, cloudless sky. The cycling route was same as last year except the running route which using the same route as cyclists Once out from the starting area, I’m made a wide, right turn, carefully not to skip and fallen down. (I still have problems in making a turn with my tri-bike). There were polices standing by the side of the road blocking the traffic for us. After 1 km ride, I made a left turn and headed towards the highway, which stretched for 4km. Henry was in no time catching up with me. I was trying to overtake him but the narrow lane forced me to slow several times at the back of him. Subsequently, after bypassed him, it was a joy ride to me. I stick to my strategy and using my second gear of my front wheel, keeping the speed at 30km/hr.

After the highway, I made a right turn again with the rolling hills and green fields by the sides welcoming me. I had some problems of adjusting my gears, especially at the uphill. Henry managed to overtake me by then. Nevertheless, the numerous days of training and riding my bikes had finally paid off. After playing with my front and rear gear, I got used to the new terrain and pedaling at a satisfying speed at uphill (20~25km/hr). On the downhill, it was a roller coaster ride. My speed would hit up to 45km/hr and above. Constantly, I applying engine brake to make sure I stayed at a comfortable distance from the front rider. Although drafting was allowed, I certainly no wish to attempt, especially with a tri-bike.

At 20km mark, I caught sight of Henry. Mike hailed me from behind and overtook me about 5km from the U-turn point. I was cycling relatively consistent, marveling the cool-looking, expensive road bikes beside me. After a while, I saw PS riding a constant speed heading towards the U-turn point. Judging from her speed, my guess was that she was riding at 28km/hr.

At every steep slope, I started to recall Lee’s recommended strategy of pedaling hard, especially to stand up and pedaled. I applied the technique, but encountered problems of balancing. Every time I tried to stand up, in no time, my butts were back to the saddle position. In addition, I was thirsty with the sun kissing fiercely on my sweaty body after riding for more than 20km. However, I couldn’t care to quell my thirst as I was too focused to maintain my cruising speed. Once I turned to the highway again, I could saw those fast-pace triathletes was running in opposite direction against us side by side.

In the last 4km, I changed to heavy gear and pedaling hard to the finishing line. Alvin and Karen were waving and shouting at me. My legs felt like slightly cramp when dismounting from my bike, and managed to “crawl” towards Karen to pass her the band. Total time taken was 1:20mins. Happy with the result. It was an enjoyable and memorable experience to able to ride at such a beautiful landscape. Moreover, not to mention of making new friends as well. :)