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Aviva Ironman 70.3 Singapore
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Aviva Ironman 70.3 Singapore - Triathlon1/2 Ironman
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 Swim
Comments: The first turn was a left turn about 150m out, so I lined up on the right side in an effort to avoid the crowds and getting jammed at the buoy. My plan kind of worked as I was only banged and punched a few times. I took the turn wide and then started to pull ahead of the rest of the pack. On the long back stretch I started to catch the wave that left 5 mins ahead of our group. I also started to realize that were only 2 or 3 other yellow caps from my age group around :) At the close of the first loop I started running into some heavy traffic from the preceeding group. Somehow I managed to avoid getting kicked by a breast-stroker and exited the first loop in 1st place followed by 1 or 2 yellow caps. The second loop went well. I pulled away from the other yellow caps. During my swim I figured that I passed about 300-ish people from the previous waves. I exited the water and was pretty pleased to hear my name called as the first 40-44 out of the water, a repeat of HIM Switzerland. As far as I was concerned - irrespective of bike/run performance - the race was a success. :) What would you do differently?: Not much. A good swim.  Transition 1
Comments: Took my time to eat a gel and put on some socks. Then headed out on the bike. ahr156.  Bike
Comments: As I started the ride I could feel my left hamstring pulling, so I took it a little easy. Eventually, adrenalin took over and I pushed the avg. pace up from a planned 32kph to 33+kph. All in all it was a strong ride for me completing each of the three loops in about 54+ min; while my heart rate decreased for each lap. On a couple of occasions I could feel my legs cramping, so I backed off. If this was a 90km TT I do not think I could have gone much faster (so much for treating this race as a training session for IMSA!). I got passed by the pros at the end of the second lap - totally impressive. Their cadence had to be down in the 60s but they were pushing 43+kph. Amazing. What would you do differently?: Not much. Strong ride for me - biking is my weakest leg. Transition 2
Comments: Came into T2, dropped off my bike ate a gel and headed off on my run. ahr 146.  Run
Comments: This was a brutal run. Full sun. No shade. Must have been >100F + 10,000% humidity. By the end of the run half of the people were walking. My left hamstring also felt real sore / tight. Considering the heat, my strategy was to walk every aid station and take on water (inside and out). This seemed to work for me. While you never get used to the heat, living in Thailand you learn how to run in it - slow down, hydrate and try and keep cool by pouring water over your head. I was surprised how much I slowed down on the second loop, but managed to pick up the pace on the final lap. All in all it was a slow run - 8:30 miles - but still managed to post a run split in the top 4% of the age group. I guess everyone was suffering. There were a ton of aid stations and great support along run. This is a well run event. What would you do differently?: Not much. Post race
Warm down: Collected my medal and shirt, hydrated and hit the killer buffet they had set up for the racers. After I stretched, I headed back to the hotel, cleaned up and then return to the awards presentations. Managed to sit and chat with some of the pros (Craig Alexander, etc.), all very nice folks. Got a roll down slot for Clearwater, but opted to pass. Event comments: First off, a big thank you to my wife and girls. They have been totally supportive during my selfish extended training sessions. They are the major reason I had a good race. While I probably pushed myself too hard during the race, I did collect some great data points for IMSA. 33kph is too fast for me on the bike for 180k. I will target the first 2 hours of IMSA at 31 to 32 kph and then see how it goes. For the run at IMSA, I will start with 9 min/miles and if after 10 miles things feel good then I can pick up the pace. All in all, despite being very sore, I had a good race and learned some important things for IMSA. I'll try and upload some photo in the coming days. Last updated: 2010-01-08 12:00 AM
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 2010-03-23 9:56 AM |
Extreme Veteran  523  Brambleton, VA |  Subject: Aviva Ironman 70.3 Singapore |
| 2010-03-23 10:45 AM in reply to: #2742530 |
Melon Presser 52116   | Subject: RE: Aviva Ironman 70.3 Singapore Super job, Stephen, especially on the swim! Heard it was tough that day. Smokin' fast transitions. Really glad the bike held up, and way to go toughing it out with the hamstring on a hot, hot, run. I do know what that's like. |
| 2010-03-23 10:46 AM in reply to: #2742530 |
Melon Presser 52116 | Subject: RE: Aviva Ironman 70.3 Singapore Super job, Stephen, especially on the swim! Heard it was tough that day. Smokin' fast transitions. Really glad the bike held up, and way to go toughing it out with the hamstring on a hot, hot, run. I do know what that's like. |
| 2010-03-23 10:48 AM in reply to: #2742530 |
Melon Presser 52116 | Subject: RE: Aviva Ironman 70.3 Singapore Super job, Stephen, especially on the swim! Heard it was tough that day. Smokin' fast transitions. Really glad the bike held up, and way to go toughing it out with the hamstring on a hot, hot, run. I do know what that's like. |
| 2010-03-23 12:52 PM in reply to: #2742530 |
Veteran 493 West Palm Beach | Subject: RE: Aviva Ironman 70.3 Singapore Congratulations!!! impressive swim, bike and run ;-) and your bike held on as well! Can't wait to see the pics. I am sure you are going to do an awesome job in your IM...keep it up!  Oh...and a BIG five to your wife and girls for being supportive, that makes a huge difference. |
| 2010-03-23 1:09 PM in reply to: #2742530 |
Champion 19812 MA | Subject: RE: Aviva Ironman 70.3 Singapore Congrats! Sounds like an awesome day but very hot. Great swim~ Having your family be supportive is huge. Are they going with you to SA for your IM? |
| 2010-03-23 8:30 PM in reply to: #2742530 |
Extreme Veteran 523 Brambleton, VA | Subject: RE: Aviva Ironman 70.3 Singapore Unfortunatly, the family will not be traveling to SA - a bit of a sore point. I set up business meetings in Cape Town and Mauritius - so this is an official 'business trip'  |
| 2010-03-24 6:19 PM in reply to: #2742530 |
| Member 38 | Subject: RE: Aviva Ironman 70.3 Singapore HEY!!! You replied to my sob fest about the lack of sub6! Man! You did awesome. I saw your user name and location and said, no freakin' way! How funny you're here too! Had a great time hanging out with you while there, and hope you get a good answer on your busted frame. I'll be looking for your race update when you get back from SA. I know your family is glad to have you home! Take care! |
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Singapore
HiTri Events
35C / 95F
Sunny
Overall Rank = 91/1133
Age Group = 40-44
Age Group Rank = 16/275
The week leading up to the race was a bit of a mess - managed to pull my hamstring and discovered that the frame on my Felt was cracked. Needless to say this consumed vast amounts of mental energy in the run up to the race - I will not bore you with the details.
Traveled from Bangkok to Singapore on Friday. Checked into the race hotel and headed over to the race area. Picked up my registration packet and met some nice folks at the carbo loading dinner. As with most things in Singapore, this was a well run event. Most of Saturday was spent in the rain trying to get my bike fixed - no dice. So I crossed my fingers and hoped the bike would hold up during the race.
Woke up on Sunday at 3:30 and ate some oatmeal and a banana and went back to bed. It is always about this time when I start to re-think why I do triathlons. About 0500 woke up and started getting ready for the race. Got to the transition area around 0600. The transition area was really tight, so any extra stuff had to be checked into a central storage area.
My pre-race routine is: last food 4 hours before and last liquid 2 hours before the start of the race.
Before the pros started I hopped into the water - it was quite warm :). Swam about 100m just to test out the viz.