Desaru Triathlon - Half Iron Lady!

Friday 15 Aug 2008

We set off on Friday afternoon in Melvin's station wagon, where we entrusted 4 bikes and 4 passengers in it. The drive to Desaru took about 3h, immgration clearance and all. We reached the Pulai Resort, and saw Daniel and Robert arriving shortly after. It was like a mini gathering at the hotel lobby. After checking in, we went to meet Chua, Sok Hwa, and Wee Haur fo dinner. It was a place in Sg. Renggit called "Good Luck" seafood restaurant, how apt! We had loads of food - steamed baby lobsters, cereal sotong, vegetables, wild boar and so on - and it was really cheap and good. After the satisfying carbo-loading, we drove about 20min back to the our hotel to prepare for the next day's race.

Race day 16 Aug 2008

The race time was 10am. I was rudely woken up at 5am by a calf cramp when I stretched my legs. Ouch! Then my tail bone ached, a result of the soft mattress I suspected. I finally woke up around 8am, made my oatmeal-raisin breakfast and readied myself. We cycled about 2ish km to the race site and Desaru Golden Beach resort, and had our bodies marked. I was pleasantly surprised to see Catherine beside my number at the transition area. There were many familiar faces - Prata was opposite my row, Henry, Fennel and Helen were there for relays, Sam, Hee Shen and the other regular triathletes. We went down to the beach to check out the waves. Whoa! Choppy and high waves. We swam a little into the open seas and got tossed around instead.

2km Swim (2x 1km)

We were flagged off in a single wave - no age or gender categories. There were 5 elite participants in yellow swim caps whilst everyone else had orange ones. It was a struggle to swim against the oncoming waves. I kept to my freestyle, very slowly, but at least I felt confident in it. A mass of orange swimcaps bobbed in the water. Nearing the end of my 1st round, I saw a yellow cap bobbed past me. Damn, the elites were finishing their 2km swim while I was still a few hundred metres away from shoreline - which took forever to reach. And I still had another loop to swim. Argh. By now, there were only a handful of orange caps floating. I saw a swimmer hanging on to the buoy line, resting, before he/she continued. After an eternity, I completed my 2laps, cursing with great relief that I did not have to swim anymore. 76min. Who cares? The race is not over til it's over. There were 2 more disciplines to go.

90km Ride (3x 30km)

I caught my breath and walked (haha, instead of run) to the transition area. Shortly after, Sandy and Grace came in as well. Obviously swimming was not our strength. 6min T1. We clipped into our bikes and pedalled off. The cycling route was a challenge. There were many long rolling hills, not extremely steep, but never-ending. There was no respite from the rolls, no breather, each climb was followed by a long drop, and another climb. There were hardly any flats on the route. One upslope was especially short, sharp and steep. I reached the max of my gears but not the end of the slope! No choice, simply had to keep on pedalling. I was really thankful for all my hard RPM classes. Each time the slope seemed daunting, I mentally switched to RPM mode, replayed the music in my mind, steadied my cadence and pushed on.

The headwinds added to the difficulty. The slopes per se were manageable, but the head and cross winds slowed every pedal. On a particularly bad stretch of downslope, where a typical non-pedal cruising speed would easily be 32-35kmh, the headwinds slowed it to 23kmh! Had to pedal hard just to keep going down. Where there was headwind, there was also tailwind. Somewhere whilst flying down a long slope, one of the rubber bands on my aero bottle snapped! Oh shoots. I hoped the other band stayed intact. Mentally I ran through various options on what to do should it break as well. The picture looked bleak.

The weather was erratic. We started off being toasted in the sea, to riding in drizzles, which gave way to a downpour. It continued that way until the end of the 90km ride. It was a shower blessing actually, as it cooled the weather tremendously. In between battling the winds and rain, I tried to eat my Powerbar. Bad decision. I had to remove the wrapper with my teeth, and tried to squeeze the sticky bar through the plastic, which was flapping in the wind and smacked in my face, while steadying my bike with my right arm on the handle bar. When I finally got the Powerbar through, I leaned on my aerobars and tried to chew on it. Sandy and Alber who passed me were amused that I appeared to be enjoying my food in that position. Oh boy, if only they knew. Cookies and cream smeared all around my lips, like a kid with his fingers caught in the cookie jar. How unglam!

I found extra power to speed up for my 3rd loop of cycling, and overtook Grace and Sandy. There was an 11-year old boy who was the youngest participant in the long distance event, and he was riding steadily in front of me. When I passed him, his face was expressionless, no pain no joy. Just a straight face going on. As I pulled into the transition area after about 3:24h of riding, I saw many of my friends already on the roads running. Henry had finished his swim relay, and was at the bike area. Thankfully so as he gave comforting advice while I dismounted on wobbly legs, taking care not to rush or run before stabilizing myself.

21km Run (2x 10.5km)

It was drizzling as I sat down, pulled on my socks and shoes on my rubber legs. Sandy came in with her bike shortly after, but ran out of the transition area before me. 3min T2. I followed her all the way and kept her in sight. I saw Grace running in the opposite direction after my 1st u-turn. Knowing what a strong runner she was, in no time she would catch up and cut all of us. True enough, she did just that. :) A strong runner eventually finishes better in a triathlon. Even though it was a mass flagoff, I caught up with many people who were strolling by then. No doubt they were all out of the waters before me.

I was very careful not to go too fast and trigger a cramp in my legs. The Ceepo tri-bike setup was really great, legs still felt ok, could trot along and warm up without cramping. By now, the rain was pelting down in buckets. It was torrential. I gritted through. Stay focused. I repeated many motivational mantras to myself. I kept seeing Freddy, Melvin, Alber, Chua and Lee in the opposite direction. Each time we passed one another, we gave a thumbs up across the road.

1st lap 1:02h. I could not stop now. I'm a runner, I could not possibly give up on my run segment! And I had a target to gun for, trying to come back just under 7hr. So I ran, non-stop, except for that steep sharp slope where it was better to walk than run. My legs were starting to feel very tight, the soles and calves threatening to cramp any moment. It was deja vu, like the last 10km of Sundown ultra. I cleared the last u-turn and was on the home stretch. Time check, 10-15min left before 7h. I picked up pace slightly and overtook many people who were walking. Argh, but the last stretch seemed forever and forever, and still no sign of the Finish arch. I saw the minutes ticked by on my watch, slightly past 7h. Oops. Then I heard spectators' voices and the emcee talking. Surprising he managed to call out my number and name as I entered the finishing bay. Completed! Awesome! We posed for some hard-earned photos, before cycling back to our resort. Freddy and Melvin returned to Singapore that evening, while the rest of us drove to the same seafood restaurant for a well-deserved dinner.

Yes! I survived! My maiden half-ironman. 76min; 3:24h; 2:10h. Happy to complete. So now can I call myself half-iron lady? And which half of me would that be? :)

http://picasaweb.google.com/simsps/DesaruLongDistanceTriathlon16Aug2008