Ironman 70.3 Singapore - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Everyone was confused about the swim route on race day. The race packet and race briefing wasn't very clear on the swim layout. So we all watched the pros go off to make out what was a very confusing & poorly communicated swim route. By the time I figured it out, I hear the announcer say: "all 30-34 age groups should be at the start line. the gun goes off in 5 mins" Oh sh$t!! In a "slight" panic, I ran through the crowd (along with a few others who weren't paying attention) and made it to the start a minute before the gun went off.

Swimming is my weakest discipline & I knew I was going to put in a slow swim, so I tried to take it easy. There was a current going against us from left to right, which made for slower swim times. I think most of the good swimmers were coming out of the water in the low 40 mins (avg). One thing I learned about HIM swimmers are that they're way more competitive than any other race that I've done. Example: 1. I got in a few clusters & some swimmers actually switched to breast stroke just to kick people out of the way. 2. I was drafting a guy for a bit and when I decided to make a pass, he also switched to breast stroke and gave me a few kicks to the ribs. As my first HIM, I didn't expect it. Lesson #1.

Sight less & trust that I'm swimming in a straight line. Be ready for anything.. even after the first 200m.

There was about 200m from the swim exit to T1, which made for the longer time.

nada..

I came out of the water feeling pretty good and relieved to be done with that section..

As I got on the bike, I kept saying: "pace yourself. you still have a HM after this.." My target was to average around 32-33 km/h.. I blazed through the first 30km clocking a 35km/h pace, but my GPS and speedometer said I was averaging around 34km/h. I knew I was going faster than planned, so intended to slow down a bit on the 2nd lap. I got some favorable gusts of wind and I think the race & other competitors around me got the better of me. I whizzed past the next 30km at a 35.6km/h pace. ooopppss... I knew that if I kept this up, I was going to bonk on the run. Last lap, I though I slowed down considerably, but I still managed a 34.7km/h pace on the last 30 km. I knew I went faster than planned, but my legs still felt pretty good & "fresh".

I thought I managed my nutrition well. I had 2 cliff bars, 1 power gel, & three 32oz bottles of Gatorade.



Lesson #2: pace myself and really stay within the my race strategy
Lesson #3: take more calories on the bike to prevent cramping on the run
Lesson #4: don't fully rely on technology. I should have noted my bike split times instead of letting my GPS & speedometer do the work.

T2 was fine. nothing unexpected and I was feeling pretty good.

nada

I came out of T2 thinking: okay, I'm still on track, my legs feel fine and I need to ease into the run & maintain a 6'15"/km pace...

The first 4km: 6'04"/km pace and I felt pretty good. I think I averaged around 6'10"/km for the next 4km and then that's when it happend.... out of no where, my left calf and right hamstring just gave out... it was the wierdest feeling & I've never experienced it before. Going from a 6'10" pace to a dead stop.. I tried to walk it off for a minute and started to jog again.. 30 secs later, cramps again, but this time even worse.. I spent the next 5km walking & running when my body would let me. It's the most frustrating feeling.. your heart & mind is totally focused and ready to run, but my legs just froze up the moment I started to push again. At one of the aid stations, I grabbed two bananas & a power gel and walked/ran for another 2 km. All of a sudden, the cramping subsided a bit and I gave it a go. I muscled through the next 3 km without stopping or cramping and then my legs gave out again.. I knew I was low on potassium and needed more nutrition, but it was too late at this point..

I finished up the last few kms with at a painful walk/jog pace. I did manage to work up a decent jog down the finishing chute!!

Lesson #5: don't go too hard on the bike no matter how good I feel. stay within the race plan..
Lesson #6: more nutrition, more nutrition, more nutrition.

stretched and made my way into the post race dinner.. I was starving and needed calories!


1. going too hard on the bike
2. more nutrition
3. relying on technology to pace myself


This was my first HIM and I expected a lot of unexpected things to happen on race day. Unfortunately, I wasn't really sure how to tackle any of this since I was in uncharted territory. My first goal was to finish the race and everything else was a bonus.

I had a great time & really learned a lot about my body and racing at this distance. It's a completely differnt beast than racing an Oly.. I've had a lot of help on BT & my MG (thank you all!), but sometimes you have to find out the hard way to learn what has been preached ;). Only thing left to do is learn from my mistakes, impletment the changes, and execute on my next HIM!!! any suggestions for my next HIM????? :)