Our annual drive up to Port Dickson for an OD triathlon race. I was feeling fluish, had a sore throat, and totally untrained. The last I touched my bike was since IMNZ in March 2011 (4 months ago) and last swum in June (a month ago). I was naturally a little jittery about the two disciplines since I was not a cyclist nor swimmer to start with. I kept thinking whether I would forget how to front-crawl, or how to clip into my cleats... I enjoyed the convoy drive. Along our way, we had a fabulous seafood lunch, completed our race registration etc, and had another seafood dinner. It was an eating escapade!
Race morning, the body surprisingly went into clockwork. I remembered how to wake up and get ready for a race. After the bike check-in and body-marking, we went for breakfast. I kept thinking I might have forgotten something because the last couple of races I did were long distance - half or full-IMs - and the logistics involved were a lot more complicated.
Anyhow, the females were the last wave to be flagged off for the swim. It was an extremely low-tide morning, and swimmers had to walk-hop-jump in the water for a fair distance before we could start swimming proper. I got into the water and yes! remembered how to pull and crawl. Haha. The sea was very calm and my body felt fresh (from not using all that non-running muscles). I was quite enjoying myself in the water. :) The swim distance felt much shorter, I completed in 35min.
Next up the bike. I mounted without any accident and pedaled off. Legs felt fresh, the feeling of cycling returned. It was a rolling hills route and I forgot how scenic it was. Funny how I never really stopped in previous years to appreciate the view. The weather held up fabulously too, all cloud cover and no sun. I also forgot that I was riding my Renault Assault wheels and wondering how come I gained speed. Gaaah.... I was that divorced from my bike. Oops. In any case, did not improve or deteoriate. 40km, 1:25h.
Last leg, run. This year, Uncle Chan (the organiser) decided to make participants do a semi-trail run and put us winding along the beach front for a good 2-3km. It almost felt like the Real Run in Singapore - tarmac, sand/ beach, some trail. I kept smiling to myself as I imagined many participants cursing the route. I was happy, and happier the longer I stayed on the trail. :) I stopped to stretch a little after the trail section. A fellow runner enthusiastically ran over, asked me how I was, and sprayed SalonPas on my calf! How thoughtful and generous!
After the u-turn point, I picked up speed and tried to catch up with friends ahead. About less than 1km to the end point, Alber met me and wanted to pace me. But he was also tired. So I passed him my bottle instead and ran off. Afterall, the end was so near. In typical Uncle Chan's discounted race distances, the run was only about 8.5km. I took about 45min.
All in, 3:01h.
A happy, no-frills, and no-stress race. :) The sea and clouds cooperated, and the stars were aligned. Everything went well for many participants.
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