Jimbaran Bay, Indonesia Bali International Triathlon LLC 28C / 82F Sunny

Total Time = 1h 47m 52s Overall Rank = 124/162 Age Group = F 30-39 Age Group Rank = 15/28

WARNING/AWAS! THERE HAS BEEN REPEATED SERIOUS DISREGARD FOR ATHLETE SAFETY AND NEEDS ON THIS COURSE IN PRIOR YEARS WHICH HAS NOT BEEN ADDRESSED AND RESULTED IN NUMEROUS ATHLETES INJURED OR UNABLE TO FINISH THE RACE. TAKE CAUTION IN SIGNING UP FOR THIS RACE UNTIL ORGANISERS HAVE PUBLISHED SPECIFIC AND DETAILED INFORMATION ABOUT CORRECTING THESE FUNDAMENTAL PROBLEMS.



WARNING: DO NOT READ THIS BLOG. You will dream dreams you never thought possible. You will want to do things that upset the rhythms of your life, annoy your wife, and change you forever. Then you'll actually do this race, and it will spoil you for all other races after, and the only thing that can satisfy you is returning to this fantasy race in paradise year after year to have an even more mindblowing experience.

Anyway, that's what happened to me in the last five years of doing this triathlon. :) I even moved from Los Angeles to Bali, and not just anyplace in Bali, but the actual neighborhood of this triathlon so I could train on its hallowed ground!

Well, you've been warned. Read on ... if you dare.

The Bali International Triathlon is once again, far and away with no comparison to any distant second THE BEST TRIATHLON IN THE WORLD. No other triathlon, not even the big-show Ironmans, offers a three-day, red-carpet, free-flow, five-star, uniquely cultural experience for ALL its athletes ... at cut-rate triathlon prices that elsewhere gets you a small local race in a boring setting.

THURSDAY

I haven't unpacked my bike from Ironman Melbourne … on March 25. On June 21, I finally took it in for assembly and repair (under warranty). Note that this means I haven't ridden my bike in three months.




Agus has been working on my bikes since the first Bali Triathlon six times and five years ago.


FRIDAY

Early Morning: I pull up to the Intercontinental, the staging area for most of this year's events, to attend the first event of the Bali International Triathlon: the group course reconaissance ride. Oh, look! We're official!



The course ride also serves as a dress rehearsal for the hundreds of police and military ensuring event and course safety. The triathlon organizers take security verrrry, verrrrry seriously, and after last year's bike course fiasco, took great pains to ensure the viability and safety of the race course.



If you look in the middle of this shot, you will see that we even have a sniffer/security race puppy!


We even have armed piglets. We are in good hands.


Me and the Bali-based tri piglets Colin, Franck, and Joerg. (That's four different countries right there. This year there were 29 nations represented at the Bali INTERNATIONAL Triathlon and 900 racers in the three events!)


The recon ride takes off! No, this isn't a one-way street ... why do you ask?


Curious onlookers, including a squished baby.


It still is a beautiful and charming course full of local flavor (and what isn't, is at least fast along the Bypass, Bali's main highway). Parts of the bike course are on cobblestone!


In my six goes at the Bali Tri, I had never been on the recon ride. I was missing out! This was a wonderful opportunity to cycle on the streets of Bali, complete with our own police motorcade, sweeper vehicles and SAG wagons, and for new Bali Tri athletes to become familiar with the course, or brand-new-to-tri athletes to become familiar with riding on a race course. To my knowledge, no other triathlon offers an official, staffed course ride beforehand. The ride also allayed my fears and doubts about whether this bike course could truly be adequately secured (my head and ribs still ache sometimes from last year!).

Late Morning: BLESSING OF THE ATHLETES AND BIKES. What other race arranges an elaborate traditional ceremony to give their athletes and equipment that extra lift? Also, piglets in sarongs are HOT (especially in socks and sandals, amirite?).



The offerings are laid out to be blessed by a priest and assistants.





This is a very open non-sectarian ceremony, all of us being from different faiths or no particular faith.

Athletes and bikes gather in a gorgeous tropical garden to be blessed.




Los Angeles based race organizer Robb Strom gives a few welcoming remarks.


I can’t think of a better way for athletes to come into a positive frame of mind or be more open to having a wonderful race experience than these breathtaking ceremonies (well, several months of consistent and focused training would probably help too. I’ll let you know how that goes if it ever happens for me). While the athletes take part in a group meditation/reflection, Bali-style, woven banana-leaf offerings are tied to their bikes and sprinkled with blessing water.





It’s not every day you see an Ironman tattoo or a blue Spinning® sock next to a sacred offering.





The priest leads us in meditation and ceremony, using incense and bells, and we the flower blossoms in our individual little offerings.







Oh hey! I didn’t blow up in smoke or get burned by the holy water; just goes to show that ANYBODY can take part in these lovely rites without fear. The priest now sprinkles us with sacred water to signify the conclusion of the process.



Brennan Lindner (whose name I can spell correctly), the other LA-side race organizer, wraps up with remarks about the rest of the day’s activities, but forgets when and what they are (there really are so many great things happening around this race weekend!) and has to consult the athletes’ guide.



I pick up the beautifully blessed Red Robber, replete with fragrant offerings.



See, if I’d only had all this before Ironman, of course I would have finished! (Oh, and that training thing. Why does it always all come back to that training thing?)

Afternoon: As I approach the water for the guided group course swim (there’s one on Friday and another Saturday), what should I spy with my little eyes but a poor piglet desperately needing assistance getting sunblock on hard-to-reach places. Being the great giver I am, I offered help right away.


Caption: Post-Race Treat #1

Hot piglets in (perhaps too-bright) Speedos. Need I say more to promote the swim?


Brennan’s (yes, this is his pace booty I joyfully draft each year in the group swim) is lime green with skulls and pink hearts on it. Need I say more, at all, about this? I think not.


The group heads in to the sparkling waters. Of COURSE I am giving you hot female piglets in bikinis, too! Do I ever disappoint? These two both killed their age groups, so it definitely pays to go on the swim.





That’s the Four Seasons resort, one of the race sponsors and venues, built up across yonder hillside.


Evening: Onto the first feast! It’s the annual opening Cocktail Reception—free-flow drinks and canapes at a stunning Four Seasons villa. Right this way, please.





They also have two screens showing video clips of the race and events from previous years.



What joy reuniting with old friends, making new ones, and tackling any waiter-piglet carrying those irresistible curry-chicken-satay skewers. (Oh, it’s a real cocktail party. Waiter piglets in uniform walk around offering you drinks and nibbles. Of food.)

Brennan and Konrad, who came back again to be our superstar announcer, and who looks even better running down the street with his clothes off. Yes, I have pics and video of that. No, it’s not what it sounds like. Really, it’s not.



Capping the evening off with a fresh-seafood feast on the beach amongst old and new friends, and being serenaded by the usual band (who can sing ANYTHING in ANY language. I kid you not. Just ask).




SATURDAY

Morning: Group Run! (To be clear, I did not go on the group run. What, you think I’m going to get up early THREE mornings in a row? Are you kidding me?)





If anyone is wondering (or even noticed) why there’s a Spanish and Polish flag flying in an Indonesian village … Indonesia, I would even say above Brazil, is the most FOOTBALL-CRAZY nation on Earth. It’s the European Championships right now, and there are giant flags of the European nations still in the running flying everywhere. I’ve never seen that number and size of Indonesian flags flying, on any occasion!

After another group swim (which I did not attend) came an all-new event and to me, what may become the most important event at the Bali International Triathlon besides the races: ocean education and beach cleanup by Ecozine, “Asia’s premiere online environmental community.” Additionally (and you know how important this is to me) the Ecozine athletes were definitely the best-looking AND some of the fastest racers there!



It was fun and interactive, with games and giveaways, and truly the most worthwhile and community-enriching part of the triathlon events. I’m no eco-idiot, but I was still flabbergasted that, on one of the cleanest beaches in Bali, in front of a five-star resort that’s cleaned 12-15 times A DAY, a small group of volunteers collected and documented THOUSANDS of pieces of trash, which filled the bags you see below! The documentation becomes part of a global database with statistics used to inform and effect government policy, a lasting contribution of our afternoon’s efforts.





It’s just an incredibly gorgeous view around these parts.

Oh, and the beach, ocean, and sky are lovely too :)

And now … off to registration! Yeah … I didn’t register until the last minute. You see … I’ve been having this little gigantic huge massive ongoing problem with typhoid fever … that went hemorrhagic … which is why I’ve done ZERO since IM Melbourne in March. I wasn’t feeling that great in the days before the tri, so I waited to register. Saturday afternoon I wasn’t feeling terrible either, so I figured I would do the Sprint distance and treat it as a nice walk-through introduction back into training. But shhhhh … don’t tell the race directors. They’re going to stop letting me do this race and make me manage the transition area instead (No, God! PLEASE, NO! ANYTHING BUT THAT! I’d rather race with dengue fever like in 2010! Or finish it with busted ribs, a concussion and road rash like last year. What can I say? I really love this race, and I’m a certified psycho.)

Last year, there were serious problems, mix-ups, and extensive delays with registration/packet pickup/chip check … this year, even being a last-minute walk-in, it went smooth as silk. Thank you, Race Poo-Bahs! So to my surprise and delight, I had a couple hours to kill before the mandatory pre-race briefing and (most importantly) Banquet.

The goodie bags were AWESOME. Really nice, high-quality white tech shirt without the logos being obnoxiously big (just about the nicest tech shirt I own, and hands-down the best race shirt I've ever gotten), huge fluffy thick towel (so good it doubles as a yoga mat!), and another free cotton shirt with triathlon and Herbalife logos on it. Even the 5K participants received this super race packet!

Robb (helmet?! ha ha, you've become a real Balinese now) and Brennan off to do important race stuff.


The Baliwistas (Bali Life Guards) breakin' out the boards. This is an extremely well-staffed course, swim bike run and post-race area.


No detail too small: the race hired offering-women to place blessings throughout the race sites.


Dear Lord, please bless our transitions, too.


You know it's a great race when one of the sponsors is the leading national beer ... make the most out of T1 and T2! Stop and have a refreshing adult beverage!


This really is an outstanding transition area. Roomy but not too big to run into/out of, even ground, well-manicured grass. Look closely--it is the Intercontinental's helicopter landing pad. :)


Another outstanding critical detail: the best porta-potties I've ever seen. That's a real toilet in there! With flushing! And choice of butt-shower OR toilet paper! Look, I was not well when I did this race. I got intimate with these toilets. Multiple times. A decent bathroom vastly improves the quality of one's life ... not to mention race ... at such times.



The pre-race banquet is always dressed to impress! Yes, there are uniformed piglets just waiting to whisk away your dishes and refill your water glass.


The tables are beautifully appointed. (I have no idea what that means, but I'm sure they were).


The buffet was as delectable and fine as the decor would indicate, and plenty of choices, even for vegetarians. This is all included in your low race fee!








OH MY GOD we've finally arrived at race day! I bet you're relieved! Me, too. (It's harder for you and me both to get through this race report than it is to actually do this race). My usual pre-race breakfast is Pop Tarts and coffee with milk/sugar. I am a Pop Tart FANATIC. However, I was not feeling good and could not finish the tarts. Normally, this means someone should call an ambulance for me. However, I had a race to do!



My packing for this race was very minimal. However, I made these important last-minute additions to my bike bag:


Because if the bike course turned out like last year, then I may as well have condoms, cash, and a razor blade to party with! (Okay, really. All three have important and legitimate race uses.)

Hey, it's the balloon boys! Now it really is a party!


I'm glad they were in my row--balloons can definitely annoy other competitors, but for someone who consistently loses her way in transition and on the race course, bright balloons marking my rack are a gift! Yes, I racked right next to these guys!

This year, entering the transition area was very smooth, proceeding through body-marking (SHAME on the line-cutters ... SHAME). Marking racks by age group was also a huge improvement over last year's free-for-all.

My super-simple setup (on the left). Folks, this is what a transition spot should look like. Leave the coolers, spare outfits, portable showers, radio, lunch boxes (YES, I saw all of this there!) at home.


As usual, I was humbled by how many folks personally wished me luck, and I met all kinds of wonderful people before the race itself. I was most impressed by a woman doing what I knew was possible, but just waiting to see as a first--racing covered up and with an Islamic head covering. I often swim in a burkini to ward off jellyfish, but I knew that a burkathlon suit was possible--and she did it! We passed one another and exchanged cheers several times on course. Here's her finishing pic!



And now for the opposite end of the scale ... Budgie Smuggler: Australian for Speedo! Well, that's a lovely sight to start my race on ... I'd like to end my race on that, too ...


Having the race start close to transition makes a huge difference in the ease of logistics for the competitors and is a big improvement over previous years. It also cuts out that nearly-kilometre-long coral-studded-sloping-soft-sand run between swim exit and transition. Hey ... I kinda miss that run ... ;)

Racers were properly corraled behind a starting ribbon and between posts this year, and the events started right on time (no small feat in Bali! NOTHING is timely here!), with competitors rushing into the water to the tune of thrilling, rhythmic Balinese gamelan music.



After the Olympic distance began, I popped a caffeinated gel with some water, got in the ocean to warm up and swam easy until the water didn't feel cold anymore. The way the race is set up, it's very easy to warm up in the water without getting in the way of other competitors.