First ever event - half iron man - I am am now a triathlete.

Am back home. I just finished my first ever triathalon, a half iron man, on Saturday at Subic, Philippines. It was one of the hardest things I have done, but also very worthwhile.

The night before was NERVOUS. This race was the culmination of 4 ½ months of intense training!

We stayed at White Rock Resort – the resort that was the starting place for the triathalon. Was sharing a room with Ria (training friend who was not racing) and Kit (friend, doctor, acupuncturist extraordinaire).

They and Doc Kim (my faithful, patient, demanding coach, and also race doctor) kept telling me to go to bed. Did not feel like sleeping. But all the triathletes (about 100 of us, including the 11 relay teams, and about 67 individuals; 4 women for the half iron man and the rest men – mainly good looking with eye candy bodies) were heading off to bed early in anticipation of an early start.

Went to bed at about 9.30. Had just fallen asleep when felt the bed moving. Woke with a start and felt the bed still shaking. Felt my pulse. Not palpitations! It was earthquake. Talk about “we will rock you” the theme of the White Rock Triathalon. Anyway, the shaking stopped and I went to sleep again until Ria and Kit got back to the room, chatted for a while and then sleep again. Miraculously I slept (as Ria reported – I was snoring!). Woke at 5.00 with Ria saying Get Up! Get Up! Triathalon time. Dragged myself out of bed. Dressed in Tri Suit (nice red, black and white number) and called room service for hot water (need my coffee in the morning). They told me to call back at 5.30. Ria was sympathetic and went out in search of Hot Water and had it promptly sent up – and I was drinking coffee, downing a couple of muesli bars, putting in contact lenses and in business.

Down to do a final check of my bike. Pumped the tires. Body marking. Black ink on arms and legs. I was number 6 and currently have a nice white number six on my otherwise tanned arms. Being greeted by everyone who knew me or had heard of me. Television crew there. Did an initial interview with me (I had been targeted as a first time triathlete, not to mention a Caucasian woman) and promised to ‘catch’ me on the course.

Did a 200 m warmup swim. The water was calm and clear. I congretated with all the eye candy on the beach. My heart rate, normally 70 something was close to 120. Talk about high adrenaline. 7 am after a brief prayer, we were off. The swim was great. I managed to draft (catch onto the wake of other swimmers) quite a bit and finished in decent time (about 43 minutes for the 2000 m ocean swim). The swim is a really nice time to focus on the coming race and relax. It was three loops. After each loop had to come out of the water around a post and back in for the next loop – smiling for the cameras each time.

After the swim… transition. Run through some outdoor showers for quick rinse and into the women’s changing tent. Only 4 of us so it was not crowded. One other lady (Tricia Chongbian) in the tent. Put on helmet, shades, more sunscreen, socks, drink diluted Gatorade, put on race number, forgot to put on gloves (that was not a good move, as I found out when my hands went numb during the ride), then out to collect the bike. Out on the course. I struggled to get my feet into my bike shoes for the first few minutes then off at a good pace. Maintained 30 something km per hour on the way out. Still managing to smile and wave at spectators as I went past. The TV crew caught me as well and had to keep smiling and looking comfortable just for them. The countryside was beautiful. Lush and green. Hilly, pastoral scenes. Lots of goats and local cows “carabao” around. In this part of the world it is harvest season and the farmers dry the rice “palay” on the road. Had to steer around many patches of palay laid out to dry.

They had marshals and police to keep the roads relatively clear and at all cross roads. Still had to slow down through the towns – for safety sake. One bridge in construction. Probably rideable, but I didn’t want the risk of falling so walked across. The course out was slightly downhill other than a few hills and was pretty fast. At the 45 km turnaround stocked up on Gatorade and headed back.

Had to temporarily stop for a funeral procession complete with band. Overtook quite a few tricycles. Made the ride interesting. Going up was slightly uphill and my pace was about 26.7 km/hr. Felt pretty good. Was eating all the way….. muesli bars, e-gel (a sweet energy gelly thing), Gatorade. We target to eat about 240 calories per hour of event. This is not enough to provide all the energy needed for the run but is sufficient to prevent bonking (this is what happens when one runs out of energy and though I have never experienced a proper bonk it is said to be very unpleasant) and to facilitate fat burning. Coach Kim said that ‘fat burns in a carbohydrate fire’ – like that analogy. Was definitely not hungry – and energy levels were very good. Focused on pacing myself during the ride. Finished the ride is just under 3 1/2 hours. Good timing was on target.

Back in transition to the cheering crowds and organizers. All encouraging me and the other participants. Handover bike. Back to changing room. More sunscreen, clean socks, running shoes, cap, water bottle, turn race number to the front. Toilet stop! Then out on the road. By now it was hot hot hot! Mainit na mainit! Must have been in mid 30’s (degrees celcius). Started running. Promptly twisted my ankle in some invisible hole! That was a real ‘Oh Shit’ moment. After a few limps did not feel too bad so ran on. Adrenaline and so much sugar taken in during the bike was surely helping. Ran to the first aid station at 2 ½ km. They had showers. Ran though, felt brilliant to be temporarily cool. Big mistake. Water in shoes = blisters!

Kept running. Got to first of 4 hills. Could not run up that one. My lactic threshold heartrate (LTHR) is 165 (this is maximum heartrate I should reach, but we target 90 – 95% of this for the run). As soon as I tried to run up the hill my heartrate went up to 165. If you get this high your performance will likely deteriorate very quickly (you are exceeding the sustainable exercise level). Despite my desire to run, was feeling weird – heat and high HR and all and decided to walk fast up the hills. Besides my fast walking up the hills seemed to be closing the gap on people ahead who were trying to run. So strategy was walk up the hills and run down. When HR too high walk, when down again (about 150) run again. Kept doing that. Aid stations every 2.5 km had iced water and sponges – could feel the blisters and tried not to wet my feet, but keeping cool was a priority. Even went as far as grabbing ice and putting it under my cap.

Was passing quite a few eye candy guys on the run – that felt pretty good (Hunky Eyecandy being passed by a curvaceous first timer!!!). Seems that not only I was feeling the heat and finding it tough. The run was 19 km with four long steep hills. Only partly shaded. We were running in the middle of the day in the tropical Philippine sun! Plenty of people cheering us on. All yelling out Babae Babae (this means woman, or girl in Tagalog (Filipino)). Tried to keep smiling (grimacing!!!) at the cameras that kept flashing in my direction.

One long steep rise had a cemetery on the side. Amused myself as I powerwalked up the hill by reading the epitaphs as I passed….. and passed more eyecandy men – no longer as eyecandyish as before in all their sweating suffering cramping glory. I had cramping during the swim and during the bike (but manageable as I usually have cramping problems and have worked out how I can work though it) but fortunately not during the run.

Finally the last 2.5 km. That was the hardest. Was running 100 or 120 steps then walking 50 steps then running again - trying to keep my HR slighly less than 160. Managed to run the last few hundred meters. The organizers texted that I was coming in and everyone was yelling and cheering as I entered the final path to the finish line. Crossing it felt so good.

Kit (friend, race doctor) asked me if I was ok (I nodded distractedly, while taking off my shoes, feeling ok if a little out of it) and he hustled me into the outdoor showers to cool down. Studio 23 (a local television station) was there with a camera asking me questions as I was in the shower, squinting cause I was losing my contact lens, and trying to coherently answer questions – as if I could really work out how I was feeling when all I could feel was relief at being finished! Am sure I wasn't looking particularly sexy at that particular time.

Finally the cameras left me alone and I went to the massage tent for brief rub down. Someone had a bin full of ice water and I hopped in (supposed to help prevent muscle soreness) – that was an interesting experience. Pain! Exquisite Pain! And my legs cramped up immediately. Kit pulled me out of there (he definitely has bedside manner), but after a few moments of bracing myself went on with the icing, one leg at a time.

Finished my first triathalon third place amongst the women and 51 overall with a time of 6 hours and 31 minutes. The wining woman came in at 6 hrs and five minutes. Got a nice bronze medal and a little prize money. They tell me that is not bad for a beginner!

After that - shower, eat, talk with the other finishers (nearly everyone finished, no serious injuries, very very well organized race!) more photos, an interview with the television reporters (nothing like being singled out), rest a little. Then awarding dinner (they played “Mustang Sally” – ‘my song’, party (though it ended early – triathletes are not really good at partying after such exertions as half iron men events)), and well deserved sleep.

So that was it. Feel a bit (LOT) let down after such a build up. Guess that is pretty normal after all the adrenaline and focus of the past months. Need to look forward to my next race (a 25 km run in a few weeks time). I am sore today, including the ankle (but fortunately only a minor strain), but not so sore as I had anticipated. My knees, which I had been worried about (some muscle imbalance patella tracking stuff I need to work on) held up pretty well also (probably partially at least due to the acupuncture skills of Kit, combined with careful training, my rehab exercise program, and some judicious taping).

Swam yesterday to get things moving. Felt strong. Felt good. I love this lifestyle. Sure beats being a pub crawler and triathletes are nice people and have good energy! Am sorer today, but will do a swim tonight as well. Tomorrow will start back with spinning on the bike and running.

So overall a good race and a good start for my triathlete career. I have learnt heaps (much thanks to Doc Coach Kim, and Organiser Extraordinaire Eric, and my own trigeeky inclinations which had me researching everything I could lay my hands on in the past months) and have achieved a level of fitness I had not thought possible. Still not slim (that neverending quest!) – but very fit, and some of that weight must have converted from fat to muscle). Four years ago (at 210+ pounds and very unwell due to endocrine problems - which I still have but now manage) I never would have imagined could do this and here I am today a “real triathlete”! Wow!!!!!!!!

Sally