Officially 1st!

TAS finally decided to update the results! Next thing to come will be the trophy, which would take a while :(

Based on my results, and my expectations, I have a lot of work to do on my swim. After my exams or when I start doing triathlons again, swim classes will be No. 1 on the list.

My bike is right where I expected/wanted them to be. The weather certainly played a part in the slower than expected run, but I'll take that timing nonetheless.

Overall, even though I didn't meet my A goals for all the disciplines, I met my A goal for the whole race, so all is well!

Right now training is taking many steps back, but I will still do the occasional run/bike like my century ride yesterday simply because it's fun! As for this blog, it will remain here until training picks up again, doubt I will have time or anything to update about.

Till then, ciao!

After the race…

Appeal results are out and they told me that I’m first! Still waiting for the official results on the website to be released and for it too be 100% confirmed.

Don’t understand why they took so long to post the results though, and trying to search for myself on www.sportsphotox.com is just ridiculously impossible, even harder than finding a needle in a haystack.

Watch this space! Will post a picture of the results once they release it, and also the trophy when I get it (which they say will take about a month; I’m assuming they gave the other one to the “1st” place guy)

OSIT 2011 Race Report

The day finally arrived! After 13 weeks of preparation since my previous race, and 104+ hours of training, my A race of the year came! With a 10.45am flagoff for my wave (M18-19, 20-24 AG), I didn't have to wake up at ungodly times and crept out of bed at a more humanly 7.40am. Ate my breakfast, packed my everything and made sure I didn't miss out anything essential.

We reached the race venue (boring East Coast Park) at around 935, giving me just enough time to set up my transition area and swim a few strokes. The waves were incredibly choppy and I knew the swim wouldn't go well. What an understatement.

At approximately 1045am I found myself at the start line of a multisport race for the 3rd time this year, hungry for another podium spot.

The last photo of the CC...

When the horn went off, everyone rushed in and it was chaos all the way until the first buoy. People were climbing over me, kicking me, groping me...I tried my best not to do the same to others, tried being the keyword.

Just after the first buoy, some hand grabbed my left ankle and the next thing I knew my ankle felt a little empty. The worst thing had happened - my Championchip (the thing which records your timings as you cross the electronic mats and makes sure you actually complete the required number of laps) had come off. Immediately I was faced with a decision to make; try to find my ChampionChip amidst the murky waters of ECP with tons of other swimmers who would try to swim over me, or just swim on, do my best and not worry about it for now. Within that split second I decided the sensible thing would be to swim on because I didn't even know if the ChampionChip would float or sink. With hopes of podium slipping away from the first 5 minutes of my race, I wasn't really happy with how things were turning out at that moment...

From the start till the second buoy we were swimming against the current, which was really difficult and the choppy seas made it worse. I came out of the first lap feeling fine physically but mentally I was in quite bad shape. As I came to the first buoy of the second lap I contemplated asking the people on kayak if they had seen my ChampionChip, but decided that it would probably be futile. This lap was much worse and my lack of swim training showed. After the first buoy my left foot started cramping a little and I had to swim breaststroke once in a while so as to not aggravate the cramp. I was really afraid it would explode into a full blast cramp which would end my race before I even got to the bike, but thankfully the foot held up and I completed the swim, albeit very slowly and with a stomach full of sea water.

I ran into T1 and my dad signalled to me that I was about 5 minutes down on the first person in my age group. I found my bike in the transition area pretty easily, and ran about 200m to the mounting line. I hammered hard on the bike to make up time on my competitors and caught quite a few of them on the first lap of the bike. I was going at around 37+kmh, which was in line with what I wanted before the race. My stomach didn't feel that great probably because of the sea water, and the extremely strong sun made me sweat buckets. I was thirsty but couldn't drink too much 'cos my stomach might not be able to take it.

Notice the missing CC :(

While the bike course wasn't ideal, it also wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. There was enough space to pass people, and there was only 1 sharp turn at the turnaround point per lap. Throughout most of the bike I was passing people and few were passing me, none of them with bib numbers starting with a 6. Starting the last lap, I passed another guy in my age group (bib 6010 if I remember correctly) who I think was the leader up till that point, which meant that I was leading! Coming into T2 I didn't see any other bikes racked at my row, but I can't be 100% sure when there's so much adrenaline in me and the heat just makes everything fuzzy. But I was pretty damn excited to see so few bikes!

Bike time (according to cycling computer): 1h08min. Amazing!

The run didn't feel that fast, and I walked quite a bit to drink/dump water on myself to cool off. The heat was really terrible and I think everyone suffered quite a bit. I was a bit conservative because my stomach still wasn't feeling that great and my suit was too tight which hampered my breathing. I reached the 2.5km mark at around 11 minutes or so, which meant that I was still on pace for a sub 45. I think I must have slowed quite a bit coming back because I only completed my first 5k in around 23min. My dad told me that I was still in the lead, and I certainly didn't see anyone in my age group anywhere near me while running. The second lap didn't go as well as the first. I was a little dehydrated because of the excessive sweat loss, but couldn't drink much if not I would vomit. I felt like barfing a couple of times on the second lap and had to walk to make sure that didn't happen. I don't think anyone would like to see my race nutrition by the side of the running pathway.

Just starting on the second loop

With about 1.5km to go, I sped up slightly and still didn't see anyone from my AG ahead of me, so I was pretty sure I had this race in the bag (disregarding the CC issue). I completed the 10k in around 46:50, which was a decent timing considering the terrible heat.

Volunteers also need to makan...and sms

After rehydrating, I went over to enquire about my situation and whether there was anything that could be done. Along the bike and the run there were volunteers who were recording the bib number of participants as they went by, so there was a little bit of hope for me. Thankfully they have manual timing, so I appealed for them to check that (deposit of $50 which will be forfeited if appeal unsuccessful). I'm still waiting for the results of the appeal which would take a couple of days, but I know that I finished in around 2h30min.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Analysis of training

Here are some interesting data from my training from Sprint Series Triathlon till now (a total of 13 weeks)

Overview
Average number of activities/week: 7
Max number of activities: 12
Min number of activities (exclude taper week): 5

Average time spent/week: 8h14min
Most time spent: 12h28min
Least time spent (exclude taper): 5h10min

Running
Average time/week: 3h24min
Most time: 2h30min
Least time: 5h16min

Average distance/week: 38.3km
Furthest distance: 54km
Shortest distance: 27.5km

Average pace/week: 5:21min/km

Total number of speed workouts in 13 weeks: 8

Cycling
Average time/week: 4h22min
Most time: 6h57min
Least time: 1h39min

Average distance/week: 146km
Furthest distance: 228km
Shortest distance: 56km

Average speed/week: 33.1km/h

Swimming
Total time in the pool in 13 weeks: 9h40min

Goals for Osim Tri

With 3 days to go to OSIT2011, it's time for me to review my goals for this race and my race plan. Best case scenario would be A and I would be super happy for the next 1 week. Next best is B where I would be pleased with how well I did but secretly pissed that I couldn't get A. If I get C I wouldn't be too happy but still accept it. If D...haven't thought of how I would feel and I hope I don't have to feel it anyway.

Overall goals:

A) Top in age group (18-19 yo)

B) Finish in 2:25

C) Finish in 2:30

D) Cross the finish line in one piece

Swim:

A) <30:00

B) 30:01-31:00

C) 31:01-32:00

D) >35:00

Bike (excluding T1):

A) <1h:05min (36.9kmh)

B) 1:05-1:07 (35.8kmh)

C) 1:07-1:10 (34.2kmh)

D) >1:15 (32.0kmh)

Run (excluding T2):

A) <44:00

B) 44:01-45:00

C) 45:01-47:00

D) >50:00

As for race plan, I plan to take it easy during the swim and not push myself unnecessarily because I know I am undertrained for it and don't want to risk the rest of my race for a few seconds that I can easily gain back elsewhere.

I plan to start pretty easily on the bike, maybe around 35kmh and start pushing the pace after the first lap (total of 4). I will also take a gel (which will be taped to the top tube) at the start of the bike. Hopefully there will be people for me to pace off (not draft off!), but seeing as how my wave is one of the last (last before the elite wave actually) I think I will spend most of the time avoiding people from the earlier waves. Add to that the narrow bike course and I predict that it certainly wouldn't be an ideal bike ride. On the start of the last lap I will take another gel depending on how my stomach feels at that point in time. Note to self: don't take in too much fluid in the last 5-10km or else the same thing would happen as in the Singapore Sprint Series.

Once off the bike I hope to be able to go straight to ~4:30 pace. For the first 5km, unless I am feeling superb and high on drugs, the goal pace is 4:30. Then from there its all out until I cross the finish line.

One important thing I must remember to do: Cross the finish line with a nice pose! Zip up my suit, make sure the race belt is at an appropriate level (if you get the drift), and smile for the cameras!

All the best to everyone racing this weekend, and let's pray for good weather :)

Weekly Consolidation: 12/13 weeks

Monday: Rest

Tuesday: Run - 3x2km

Wednesday: Cycle -41km easy

Thursday: Run - 16km long run
Friday: Swim - 1 hr

Saturday: Brick (Cycle - 93km solo, Run - 5km)
Sunday: Cycle - 80km group

The start of the taper. Not too many hard workouts, and had a good confidence booster with the brick on Saturday.

Tuesday's track session went really well. Completed the sets in 8:18, 8:14 and 8:05, which was equivalent to 4:09, 4:07 and 4:02 pace. I was pretty surprised with the time that I put in for the last set.

Thursday's long run was a little slower than I expected at a 4:54 pace, but still good nonetheless to have put in the miles alone. I negative splitted the run (8km out and back route) as I wanted to train my legs to run fast even when they are tired.

At first I didn't have anything planned for Saturday and during my swim on Friday I just decided to do a long ride and a fast brick run to see how fast I could go off a ride. Instead of riding really hard I just replaced it with distance, hoping to mimic the fatigue I would feel on race day. The 90km went pretty easily, and I put in a solid pace of 34.1kmh with no breaks or draft. My "transition" took a little more than 5 minutes or so, so not really ideal. For the run I just focused on going out as fast as I could especially in the opening km because during the race I did not want to have to "warm up" for the first half of it. Rather I wanted to be ready to go fast right off the bike.

I was rather surprised to be doing ~4:15 pace, and when I finished in 21:02 I couldn't believe that I had almost set a 5k PB on a pretty tough route after a 90km bike. With this performance I'm quite sure that a 45 minute 10k is certainly possible, and I may even break 20min in an open 5k (or at the MR25 TT!)

Ideally I would have loved to do 1 more swim this week, but it was not to be. I have reduced my expectations of the swim to within 35 minutes, which should be possible. If I go below 30 it would be a pleasant surprise. No expectations at all for the swim, just hoping to come out of the water alive and ready to own the other 2 disciplines.

On Saturday I also collected my race pack. Bib number 6004. All those whose bib number starts with 6, watch out cos I will be looking out for you! There are about 35 competitors in my age group; a little more than I thought there would be, but I still remain optimistic about my chances!

Weekly Consolidation: 11/13 weeks

Monday:
AM: Run - 12km trail

PM: Swim - 45min

Tuesday: Run - 10x400m
Wednesday: Cycle - 55km easy

Thursday: Run - 17km long run

Friday: Rest

Saturday: Brick (Cycle - 58k TT, Run - 9.6km)
Sunday:

AM: Cycle - 76km solo

PM: Swim - 1 hour

Even with a rest day, I managed 11 hrs this week. Legs were starting to feel tired and could not hit paces as easily, so decided to take a day off before any injury came about.

The track workout on Tuesday was pretty tough, and I was struggling quite a bit to complete the sets. Still managed to hit the timings though, but no improvements from the last time. Long run on Thursday went pretty well after last week's failed long run, and the 6km of tempo with all out effort at the end really helps.

Also took a break from intervals for cycling this week because it was just too boring and I decided to cut myself some slack. But the ride this morning was tough because I was trying to chase down the Joyriders 640 train but could not do so. In the process I set my fastest ever average speed for a ride at 34.8kmh. Along the way I was going at >38kmh without much effort, so I guess I must be doing something right in my cycling training!

The brick on Saturday felt awesome. The weather was superb and I cruised through the run, completing 6km in the middle in 4:29 pace. If the weather is like this on race day, I may just be able to run a sub 45 10k.

My speed for swimming is pretty much about the same since the start of the year, but I'm quite worried about my endurance. Have not really been doing any long sets, so I'm not sure if I will be able to maintain the same pace for the whole 1.5km. Another thing I worry about is my sighting, which usually isn't very good and I end up swimming more than I have to.

With 2 weeks to go, there's not much I can do that will help with my performance, but a lot that I can do to screw it up. The next 2 weeks will be slightly easier, and volume will also cut back. I will probably do more race/distance specific workout, and practice transitions. I still haven't really gotten used to running fast right off the bike, so a few more brick sessions are needed where the rest time is minimal.