Race DayI arrived at the transition area quite early, about 7am. I then got my body 'numbered' and set up my gear (cycling shoes, helmet, sunglasses, jersey and race number belt) for the first transition. Ate a banana and drank a bit of water.
Saw some fantastic looking bikes, including a good few Cervelo's. As I'd missed the race briefing I headed for the water to find out the route. We had to swim around the two furthest yellow buoys, which certainly didn't look 300+m away. After that I thought I'd test my new goggles anti-fog coating by going for a swim. The water was quite warm and I was delighted that my goggles didn't fog up at all. The water was calm, with perhaps only 1-2 feet of movement further out. That left about 10 mins until the start, so I hung around a bit, went for another dip.
Swim
We got underway at 8am. I started from a wide position, as advised for the slow ones. After a few minutes I was quite surprised that the leaders were still only a short distance ahead and that there were others with me and behind me. As a breast-stroker I fully expected to be miles behind the bunch within seconds! As I continued it seemed that the buoys were indeed at the correct distance - they weren't as close as they looked! Had to stop for a second or two as a zig-zagging front-crawler swam across my path (at least breast-strokers go in a straight line!). I got to the first turn in about 8 minutes and was quite puzzled as I had expected it to take me about 13mins+.
On the return leg I had the odd look ahead at the beach and couldn't see anyone running up it, so was even more surprised that I'd done 3/4 of the swim before the leader had finished. I kicked somebody behind me repeatedly for about a minute, but only once badly. My philisophy is that if you're behind, it's up to you to avoid those in front. I eventaully reached the beach in about 17minutes. The leader finished in just under 12mins.
T1
I jogged to the transition area and puyt my bike gear on. Was shocked to see my HRM reading 177bpm - the highest it's ever been. As swimming doesn't feel too strenous I think this reading might be an anomaly due to the change in environment from salt water to air (this affects the transmission of the signals). During the transition my left small toe caught the lining of my cycling shoe and after a few seconds of toe-wiggling to try to fix it didn't work, I resorted to removing and replacing the shoe - losing time in the process. This transition took me 1m33s. The fastest T1 time was 30s!!
Ride
The first 500m was gently uphill and I was shocked to find myself struggling in 3rd gear. I was however fast enough to pass a couple on mountain bikes. My legs felt pretty weak, but after5/10mins they got used to the new motion. However I still felt quite slow and wasn't particularly enjoying the ride, especially as the haze made the atmosphere seem a bit depressing. I kept going and was pleased that I didn't see the leaders passing me in the opposite direction until I was almost at the u-turn point. I had 4-5 riders a few hundred metres in front of me but didn't manage to catch them. My heart rate was hovering just above 160bpm and I wanted to keep it there so I didn't push too hard. After the u-turn I slowed down a bit as I wanted to the start the run in the mid-150's bpm. I was passed by a couple of cyclists as my speed dropped, but morale was boosted by an official shouting "good climb" after the final hill, on which I think I caught up the guys in front. The final 500m downhill was easy and I even managed to get onto the big chainring! My ride time was 45m20s, inside my target of 48mins. The winners ride time was 35m36s.
T2
T2 is much easier. Shoes off, shoes on, helmet off, headband on, turn race number to front, run. I abandoned the idea of using lace clamps and tied my laces the normal way. This transition took me 1m17s, which is very slow. Next time I'll see how I can speed up lace tying!
Run
My least favourite disclipine and the first 5 minutes were awful! My body was telling me "you shouldn't be doing this!" however I plugged away at almost walking pace and felt gradually better as my legs got used to the second change in style. I seemed to be running very slowly, and was overtaken by a good few people. After 10 mins or so I realised that my stopwatch had stopped as it was in auto start/stop mode - very annoying, so I had to start it again manually! After the run u-turn I was pleased (for me anyway) that were at least a few people still behind me!! It was an almost flat course and I kept my HR at about 156bpm as I knew I'd speed up at the end and wanted to keep 10bpm in reserve. My no-sock running preparation earlier in the week worked a treat as the plaster on my big left toe prevented any blisters, although after 4k or so I could feel some other blisters but they weren't too painful. As we approached the end the organisers sneaked in a 200 or 3oo m loop past the point where we entered the course. I put a bit more effort and checked for anyone behind me, as I didn't want to be overtaken again...no-one there so I ran along the final striaght to the finish. I don't normally feel inclined to raise my arms after a 10k run, say, but as this event had been quite tough and tiring, I did this time!
TimingAccording to the provisional results posted after the race finished, these were my times...
The individual winner finished in 1:12:55. My time was only 40% slower than the winner. In my recent duathlons I have finished 60% slower, and am normally around 100% slower (i.e. double the winning time) in runs. Does this mean I'm a bit fitter?? Hope so.
For individual disclipines, my swim was the best (29th) next to ride (30th) and run (a lowly 43rd). My T1 and T2 times were 29th and an awful 47th respectively. There's no excuse for that as it's organisation and kit based, not fitness. However in my defence in T1 I had to replace a shoe and put on a cycling jersey with a broken zip. Next time I'll wear a top that I can swim with and be wary of shoe malfunctions! For T2 I'll sort out a faster way to tie my laces!
Post Race
I waited around for a while after i finished to cool down, drink some 100 Plus and water and watch the final finishers come in. I quite like the idea of a massage courtesy of the Pulai resort but there was a bit of a queue. I spotted Kristof Van Houdt and decided to introduce myself to him. He's a regular on the Malaysian running/duathlon/triathlon scene and finished 2nd in the long-distance event the previous day. We chatted for a few minutes and he seemed like a thoroughly nice bloke.
Homeward Bound
I had to head home then as I was planning to shop for a new printer for the PC with Jackie in the afternoon. I packed the car, changed, checked the results on the noticeboard and then headed off. I stopped at the nearby Petronas station and loaded up with petrol, water, Pepsi Max and a mars bar. I was feeling pretty tired on the way up the expressway to KL so stopped to buy a drink and Pringles to keep me awake! To avoid a repeat of yesterday;s episode when re the car engine wouldn't start after stopping whils quite hot, I decided to lock the car with the engine running, but keep the remote control so I could open it. Guess what - the remote wouldn't open the car. After much fiddling around with a long steel ruler, the Polis Bantuan (Help Police) came along and pryed open the drivers door and pushed the auto window button down with a long steel bar. They refused a "thank you" RM10. Another 30mins of my day wasted! I overcame this frustration by listening to some hip hop with extremely bad language in it.
1 comment:
keep it up..
:)
Post a Comment