Tri-factor Triathlon

been training for about a month for this... days of double (sometimes triple) trainings culminated on today...

started the swim fast, though the tidal stream was rather strong today, that i kept having to struggle against it. came out of the water 4th, time check, 26 mins 0_0.

i liked my transition. grab and go, then i wore my shoes on the bike while going at like 30km/h. then the quirk of the day happened. after the U-turn on my 1st loop, the marshaller directed me and an ang moh back onto the east coast service road, where we ended up cycling against the general bike traffic. we almost ended up on the ECP! the ang moh was cursing and swearing IDIOTS! at the marshallers, all of whom had absolutely no idea what the bike route was like. so i ended up not clocking my first loop on the timing chip mat.

i was averaging 35-38km/h on the bike, and it was really quite fun. despite some twists and turns, i kept up my pace throughout. there was NO FRIGGIN WAY i was gonna slack off after all the training i had put myself through...

i overtook a cervelo p4 at the end and did a nice T2 (would have been nicer though if i didnt break off my rear bottle cage when my leg crossed over and came down on it. again.) chiong to get my shoes on and went off for the 10km run. at this moment i was about 7th in my wave. i started doing this hunt-and-kill mode to run down those in front of me. in my mind i kinda of knew that besides the 3 monsters (willie and 2 others) in front, i was probably a better runner than the rest ahead.

however, my lack of run training showed, as i found it hard to get into a rythmn. and even when i did, i couldnt maintain it for long. but i told myself to hang on. anyway, it was only 10km, i've done alot worse before.

at the last stretch, i saw this ang moh who was looking quite good and was starting to gain on me. this gave me the kick i needed, and i upped the pace, and held it there, all the way to the finishing line. in this moment of paniking, i had forgotten to end the race nicely. my zip was down and my expression was shite. so unglam.

but this was what made my day. i had finished in 2 hrs 14 mins! in my wave i was 4th! later results would show that i'm 6th (there were 2 more guys in the later waves that were faster), but nonetheless i was very pleased! technically, i was the the 2nd local finisher, as 4 of the top 6 were foreigners. willie loo as usual bested me by 6 mins.

for those of u who have never been to a tri event before, i suggest u should do so at least once. the finish line scenes are amazing, and u see the spirit of "never give up" in the faces and body language of the people. not something u see everyday, and it is something that i find really beautiful.

telling myself, to just keep going, it is almost there, hang on, dun give up, others are catching up behind! put one foot in front of the other, hold on, hold on, HOLD ON!!!!!!! the pain now IS temporary, but the satisfaction that i get, after crossing the finish line, knowing that i've put in the effort, will be forever.

UPDATE at 2311: provisional results are out!

Pos.: 6th
Swim: 26:06 <18th> (horribly slow!)
Bike: 1:06:23 <15th> (yay! was aiming for 1 hr10 min!)
Run: 41:56 <8th> (surprise! it felt much slower! haha!)
Overall: 2:14:22
Rank: 6th

thank you once again Lord for the race. at the end of it, I was more busy thanking you then psoing for a finishing photo. unglam-ness be damned. You are WAAAAY more important.