The day started at 540, and drank some coffee to boost the system and some ham and cheese bread. By 630 I was out of the house and on the way to Changi Beach Park, with my parents sending me there and to support me.
The Mercury all ready to rock and roll!
Reached the race venue around 7am, and went to the transition area to set up my area. Chose quite a prime spot in the transition area, and one point race directors can improve on is to make the transition area more fair, and the position of bike racking wouldn't make any difference.
Met Ben Khoo, who got the best spot in transition. He was in the elite wave, and ready to own the race.
At 740, half an hour before my wave start, I went to do my swim warm up and get used to the salt water. Water was murky as usual, but thankfully there was no sea bugs who would give me hell for 1 whole week and make me look like a chicken pox victim.
At 8am the elite wave was flagged off, and next would be my wave. 10 minutes later, my first proper triathlon started!
You can just spot me at the right side of the picture
The Swim:
I ran into the water, and scrambled for position for about 100m or so. After that I settled into my rhythm and focused on a high elbow catch and high cadence. However my sighting was quite off and I was swimming quite far off from the line. The course was 1 triangle loop and the sea was very calm. Thanks to the small wave start, my body did not face much abuse from the foot of other swimmers.
After around 15 minutes (which I found out about after the race) I emerged from the water. Saw my dad and smiled for the camera.
Took off my cap and goggles while running to transition. Entered T1 and did not have a problem finding my spot. Put on my race belt, aero helmet, unracked my bike and off I went. The run to the mount line was a good 100m away, and I was so thankful to not be running in my cycling shoe.
The Bike:
The bike course was 2 loops of Changi Coast Road, pancake flat. This was my first time cycling after a swim, and thankfully there was not much difference. Was going at speeds faster than 37kmh pretty easily, although there was not too many people to overtake on the 1st round. Compared to races at East Coast Park, this bike course was much much better. Roads are much wider and there was nothing to focus on but to keep my speed above 37. I was taking in quite a lot of sports drink on the bike, which on hindsight was not a good thing to do.
Clearly my cornering skills needed more work.
At the halfway point, the distance was around 12km (!). Lost some time whenever there was a turn, but overtook quite a lot of people on the whole. Nearing T2 I slipped out of my cycling shoe and my practice paid off.
Dismounted at the line and ran past the crowd into T2. Racked my bike, took off the Specialised TT2 helmet, slipped on my Zoot and zoomed straight out for the run.
The Run:
Starting the run my abdominal area started hurting, and I knew things wouldn't be good. The trisuit was too tight around my torso area, plus the whole bottle of Gatorade slushing in my stomach didn't help things. The stitch was getting quite bad and after the 1st km which I ran in around 4:15, I had to stop and walk for a bit. After around 30s I felt much better and could continue my run, but I knew trying to achieve a 5k PB was not going to happen today.
I took the second km quite easily to ease off the pain, and was not that surprised to see 5:15 on my watch. The 3rd km went by much better, although breathing was still hard due to the tight suit. And my race tag kept slipping to the back and I had to keep adjusting to keep it in front.
The 4th km was pretty slow and I just couldn't push hard even though my legs weren't feeling tired. Somehow
managed to up the amp in the last km, and ran down the finishing chute with a 4 min flat last km.
Final race results:
Swim (750m) - 14:46 (5/18)
T1 - 1:20 (3/18)
Bike (25km) - 42:19 (4/18)
T2 – 1:06 (2/18)
Run (5km) - 22:46 (5/18)
Overall - 1:22:19 (2/18)
Went to check my results on the computer right after the race, and couldn't believe it when I saw "2" under Category position! Lost out to Ben Khoo by a good 7 minutes, who had a blistering fast race. Stayed around the race venue until 11.30 for the prize presentation. It was only when my name was called out before I believed that I got 2nd with my mediocre timing.
First time on the podium (or stage in this case)!
Overall the race was pretty well organised, with a great race course. However, there was one major problem: the bike course was 5km longer than supposed to be! Thats 25% more and clearly not accidental. Also, the transition area could have been set such that it would be more fair, and the mount/dismount line could be closer to the transition area.
It was my first proper triathlon, and I'm stoked to place 2nd in my AG, even if my timing wasn't excellent. I could have pushed much harder on the bike and run. And I learnt that I should not drink too much before the run, but rather just rinse my mouth and spit out the water.
I already can't wait for my next race!
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