I dunno what it means when my blog entries are race reports. But since I'm finally blogging once again, I guess no one should complain.
Training for this race has definitely been different from all my previous races. I had to swim by myself in a 25 yard (as compared to a 50m) pool in school. Cycling was only done twice a week with Tulane cycling and the insane Diego and Steve aka the machine. Running was my one real focus, thanks to the Varsity Sports crew. And this being the World Championship, I knew that I was playing with the big boys in a whole different league. As such, I had very different expectations for this race than all my others. I had aimed to do this race since December last year, when I started the training for the Singapore 70.3 in order to qualify for the World Champs.
Woke up in the morning rather anxious to get down to transition to get all my stuff settled. After a usual oats breakfast and a pre-race banana, we headed down and did the usual preparations. We donned our wetsuits and did a little warm up. Thankfully the water was not as cold as I had expected it to be, and I was feeling a little nervous, but looking forward to FINALLY getting this race underway.
This was my first ever swim in a wetsuit during a race. I dreaded swimming in one because the last wetsuit I owned had such thick shoulders that I got tired very quickly in it. I sold that one off, and bought a second hand Xterra Vortex 3. It had such thin and flexible shoulders that I was able to swim with my normal stroke. Once the horn went off, I charged into the Gulf of Mexico with the rest of my 18-29 wave.
It was insane. I finally knew what it was like to be a middle-of-the-pack swimmer, getting grabbed, slapped, kicked and knocked about by everyone around me. I was pushing people aside as well, trying to get some clear space ahead of me so that I could swim unobstructed.
Near the first turn of the swim, I found myself in the middle of a very large pack swimming our way quickly through. We caught some of the slower swimmers from the earlier waves and kinda swallowed them up then spit them back out behind us. We were like the crazy washing machine from hell.
Got out of the water quickly and employed the quick service of the volunteers to help peel my wetsuit off. Got the bike gear, and mounted DD and it was time to hit the bike course!
Whoever said that Clearwater is a flat course was stupid. It was not hilly, but it was definitely not flat as well. There were a shitload of false flats, and as usual, headwind. Cycling in New Orleans has gotten me pretty used to the headwind around here, but the false flats were definitely something I had not been able to train for in the pancake/soup bowl-like city. Add to this the fact that I had to change my cassette just one week before the race, and was not used to a different cassette ratio. So I struggled to find my usual rythmn during the bike; I was either having to muscle the gears, or spin a bit more than usual.
There were also a shitload number of draft packs that formed up on the bike leg. I know it is not easy to maintain one;s distance on this course, but if I could do it, I do not see a reason why these guys couldnt. I guess they will have to live with the knowledge that they cheated during the world championships.
Anyway, back to me since this is my blog. My left glute started to cramp with 20km (12.5miles) on the bike left. I managed to grab a bottle of electrolytes from the aid station and drank it hoping that it will help with the cramps. Finally, I hit the Gulf to Bay Blvd, which was the homestretch. Up the bridge and down, and I was back in T2. By now, all the athletes from the earlier waves were already running the remaining half marathon.
I changed into my running gear and ran out of transition feeling really good. I found my running legs really quickly and settled into a nice rythmn early on. Then I hit the bridge.
The first half of the ascent was still good, but as I neared the top, my quads started to cramp. I pushed through, and it felt better on the flats. And since most of the time, what goes up must come down, I managed to find my leg speed again and was overtaking alot of people. It was quite a rush and I was happy with my new-found confidence on the run.
Having spent most of the year since last November with shin splints, an injury that had side-lined my running most of the time, it was like a new start for me. After about a year of seeking peofessional advice, icing, grass-running, and massages, I was finally able to run almost-carefree-ly. I felt happy, and relieved to be able to be "back".
Fespite the relative low humidity of Florida, the sun was still out, and I was losing salts faster than I had anticipated. Salt crystals were encrusting on my legs and suit, and I realised this only when I started cramping when running up the bridge again. I was grabbing coke and electrolyes at the aid stations to replenish what I was already almost empty on. Thank gdness that the run leg was an amazing one, and 21km (13.1 miles didnt seem that long).
On the last uphill I cramped bad, I took 10 steps walking, then started running again on the flat top of the bridge, charged downhill, and focused on making a fast return on the last 2km home. Despite my cramps threatening to cramp at any point, I forced myself to just keep pushing onward towards the finish. Hitting the finish line I thanked God for bringing me through an amazing day! Then I a wave of dizziness hit me and I almsot fell into the arms of a volunteer. The bottle of electrolytes they gave me saved me from collaspsing into a a spasm of cramps.
Richard finished shortly after me, while Ling Er made her comeback from her horrific car crash last year to complete as well, followed by Jocelyn and Norman, who had rough days but toughed it out to finish! Must thank them for being such gret travel companions, and the asisstance they gave when I needed it. Thanks also go to Ji Wen for being out one-man support crew, all the wellwishers in Singapore, and to Diego for being my personal bike coach and training buddy, the Tulane cycling team for the rides out on the levee, as well as the Varsity Sports crew for getting me back running and loving it! To Soon Watt for the equpiment support, and KPI for the Shotz electrolyte tablets (which I should have taken more of). Thank you!
Swim- 30:13
T1- 2:57
Bike- 2:32:15
T2- 2:25
Run- 1:38:59
Total- 4:46:49
