The Singapore 70.3 - race day

To be honest I had no expectation of crushing any records in this race. I had not trained sufficiently to do this. I thought I would participate, have a good time and finish with a respectable time. Ummm it didn't quit work out that way. Although in the end all was well.

I had heard it happen to others but had never experienced it myself. The "Bonk" ( AKA Wall, Crash etc ). Overall, it was just a bad race for me. I had made an assumption that since I had already trained for and completed a 1/2 and a Oly and completed both in good form that I was in good enough shape to race here without much specific training. I was wrong.

First let me say that the race itself was well run and managed. The volunteers were awsome. The race itself was done mostly around Singapores bay with some beatiful views. However, the logistics for the race was just too complicated for my taste. The two transition areas was just weird to me.

I started the day waking up ready for breakfast only to realize the hotel has no room service at that hour. Thus I had Shot Bloks for breakfast. Yummy!! Not!!

That was mistake #1 did not consider that most people are still sleeping at 4AM, and that I was not home. Thus no breakfast. Anyhow I got in by Taxi at around 5:45AM, and headed into transition with my bike a swim stuff.

The swim was a rectangular shape, The race started at 7:15, but my wave started at 7:40. There was some chop in the water. ALOT of people for some reason were breast stroking from the git go, which I found strange. Other than that, nothing eventful here other than my right goggle leaked and the salt water aggravated my eye. Finished the swim in 49 minutes.

Then onto the bike. First thing I see, my bike computer, yet again is not working despite the fact that it was working when I put it together and tested it out just a few days before. This is a real pain for me during a race. I rely on the feedback from it to guage my speed and also I get pumped when I see that I am hitting high speeds. The backup is my HR monitor to guage effort, and that also for some bizzare reason was not working even though its a new Polar RS400. Never had a a problem with it.

So I just went along on effort. The ride is fairly technical with lots of turns, but also mostly Flat.
I started out hard, maybe too hard. The course starts with a 10 K route that leads into the city where you jump on a 20K loop that has to be done 4 times. By the time I finished the second loop I was not feeling right. My left foot was sore and I was feeling tired. Leading me too believe I pushed too hard in the first two loops. I toned it back for the last two but I think the damage was done.

When I finished the bike, the heat and humidity had settled in and it was bad. I did not expect it would effect me in such a way. Maybe because I was already in a bad way when I started the run. But I found the run to be unbearable. Normally this is my stronger of the 3 skills. I suffered no leg cramps but I was just out of it About 3 miles into the run I just walked. I had no energy left. The heat and humidity was killer. ALot of people were walking. It even got to the point that I wanted to just Stop. Just DNF because I knew this race was a goner time wise. But then I decided thats a bad idea, mentally I turned it into a training session and now my job was to acclimate mysef to push myself to finish even when I do not want too. Especially if I plan on doing an Ironman race. To get by, I focussed on reaching the next aid station and then the next after that, until reaching the end. Running in with all the other walking wounded.

It was just a bad race for me and I am glad that I at least finished. I am glad I did the race because there are lessons to be learned here.

1) I underestimated this race. I thought it was Flat and so it would be easy for me who is used to riding in Hilly terrain. Never underestimate a 1/2 iron or more distance race. It is still a substancial effort.
2) I severely underestimated the effects heat and humidity would have on me. It truly sucks the life out of you if you are not ready to deal with it.
3) I really did not train for this race. I had thought about it a few months ago, but did not decide to do it until a month before the race. As such I was just not physically ready to do something like this. A 1/2 ironman race is a substancial distance and should not be taken lightly. Not something to just throw in for the sake of doing a triathlon.
4) I did not really consider all the logistical requirements of doing a race when staying at a hotel in a foreign country. In NY in a pinch I could head over to a diner that are often open 24 hours. No such luck here. I just did not think of breakfast.

So what did I do right? I stuck it out and beat back my desire to quite. I finished :)

Pre race confusion

Ok so I am getting ready for this race and man oh man it is confusing. they have two transition areas, so your gear has to be distributed to both. To assist in this the organizers has given "transition bags" to all athletes. 1 Swim bag, 1 Bike bag and 1 run bag. I am supposed to put what I need for each part of the race in each bag. It does not sound like much of a big deal, but I never put that much thought into transitions, I simply bring everything I have in my race bag and worry about it on race day when setting up the transition area.

In this case I will not even see the run transition because for all practical purposes it not a traditional transition area, its a tent with a bench so I can change shoes. Thats it.

In a way its probably good because it forces me to think about what I am doing, but its different and that makes me nervous.

Another thing I never even considered. They use the British system here for driving ( drive on left part of road) So the race is following that. So for this race you have to stay on the left side of the road and pass on the right. Otherwise they will give you a "Out of position" penalty. This means that instead of being able to zone Out and worry only about the race, I have to keep myself from following my natural instinct to stay on the right and pass on the left. Also it seems they are going to be very strict on the rules here. In fact being its Singapore you can almost bet on that.

Overall its not overwhelming stuff but its different.

Training in Singapore

Here are some photos taken during my training runs and time here in Singapore. My stay here has been busier than I expected. Aside from the work I have to do which has been extensive. I made myself busier by forgetting and losing key pieces of gear. So I ended up having to seek out these things here in Singapore. This was not as bad as it could have been thanks to Darren, a Triscooper that Adam had introduced me to online, who was gracious enough to drive me around to different bike shops in search of a multi-tool, and tire changing gear ( which was a strange adventure in itself!).

Darren and me at the Japanese barbecue place

Protein!

During my run in Ft Canning Park, this is the "14th Century Walk"

A Building viewed from Ft Canning Park

One of the few peaceful moments in my ride in Singapore

Preparing for Singapore

Well tomorrow night I am leaving for Singapore. So this evening I started to pack the Bike and triathlon stuff up. This is the first time I travel with the Bike so it was a bit unsettling taking the bike apart not 100% certain that I will be able to put it back together. I am 99% certain I can. In fact I went through a practice run the other day so that I could feel confident about putting the bike (AKA Dusty) back together. However, some things I did NOT take apart then such as the rear derailleur, or the aerobars and handlebar. I made sure to put tape everywhere just so I know what position to put things back at, but its still just not natural!

Anyhow I am probably packing too much. But since I do not know what to expect when I get to Singapore, I am bringing everything I have sports wise. Now I know that Singapore happens to have GREAT shopping ( locals tell me shopping is their national pass time), so I am sure if I could find a bike or sports shop I could replenish anything I need. Its just the finding of the stuff is the problem.

Since I am going for work purposes, I will not have allot of time to explore prior to the race. So I would rather have everything with me. Better safe than Sorry.