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Two weeks after the men’s health all terrain race… I fell off my bike…. sliding sideways, with my cleats still clipped on to my bike, along the highway on my way to Bugarin…
To my left, i could see a clear road ahead of me… to my right, i could see the under chassis and the two front tyres of the delivery truck that was oh so closely behind me… scary thought isn’t it?
Ride safe… road kills are for 4 legged creatures only
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First there was running, then came cycling, then the Animo Sprint, BUT WAIT… what about SWIMMING??? Would I be able to swim for 950 meters? It’s easy to run or bike 950 meters, but swimming may prove to be a tough challenge for someone who’s NEVER really tried swimming before. I gave myself till September 9 to cram for swimming and see if i could survive 950 meters.
I first attempted to complete 950 meters one week before the event. I sort of went into panic mode when i couldn’t complete 50 meters without grabbing on to the line to catch my breath. With the FEAR of drowning at the back of my mind, I decided to sign up for the MINI SPRINT.
PRE RACE:
Got to Narra Park @ 6am, I was surprised that the whole check in / transition set up process was simple. You just have to setup your bike, helmet, skull cap, running shoes, and make a mental note of where you placed everything so you get to transition smoothly.
GARMIN 405’s not waterproof, so the POLAR RS200SD would be the preferred choice for doing triathlons
SWIM:
I anxiously waited for our turn to do the swim leg. Due to my inability to swim freestyle continuously, I planned to complete the course doing a free – breast combination. Freestyle up to exhaustion, the Breast Stroke to recover, then Freestyle again till I complete 350m
In deep thought…..
I swam according to plan, I was able to swim freestyle continuously for 100 meters, then it was the free – breast combo all the way to the finish. During the swim, I was numb to my environment.. I was unaware of how fast I was going relative to everyone else, my mind was just focused on reminding myself to push myself when swimming freestyle and to relax/recover when swimming breast stroke. As long as I swam without stopping, I figured I would not finish dead last.
SWIM TIME: 16:28
BIKE:
The transition from swim to bike was something that I have never practiced prior to race day. After having done it for the first time, it’s not THAT difficult compared to the bike run transition.. all you had to do was to catch your breath 
As I climbed out of the pool, I noticed that D was a couple of steps behind me, and when i got to the transition area, I was surprised to see that I was ahead of K as well. I think i did quite well in the swim bike transition as I was able to leave ahead of a couple of guys who got there ahead of me… tip.. DON’T WEAR SOCKS NA… IT JUST TAKES TOO MUCH TIME TO PUT ON
Off to do the OTSO OTSO… maintain a speed of 30 to 35 km/h and not let anyone overtake you.
I started out the bike leg 100 meters behind another person (lets just call him person X), and I used him as a benchmark to pace myself. I tried to maintain my gap from person X to a manageable distance as he seems to be a seasoned athlete (naka trisuit, naka aero position lagi and time trial helmet kasi eh). But as I crossed Madrigal ave from University to Country Club Drive, the road started going uphill, and slowly, I was catching up to person X. I finally overtook him half way between Taysan and Madrigal along Country Club Drive…. it was UPHILL, and i couldn’t understand why he was still in his aero position, I was already wrestling my bike with my handle bars…. I guess that’s why I was able to overtake him.
Moving on, I remembered passing a couple of people, but i didn’t know who they were… the only person I recognized was TBR, I passed her, said hi to her, then went on my way back to NARRA park.
BIKE TIME: 26:40
RUN
The transition from Bike to Run was something that I’ve practiced a couple of times. I was familiar to the RUNNING WITH BRICKS sensation. The key here is to initially run at a pace that allows your heart rate to recover before going full blast.
When I got to the transition area, I was surprised that K had arrived ahead of me. The first thing I did was to look at HAPPY (who was busy taking pictures) and ask.. “K? Where is he? How far ahead is he?” Happy told me that K had arrived a minute or two ahead of me and has just started his run. She then went on to say “Don’t worry baby, the gap is just a minute or so… I’m sure you could kick his ass in running”
The strategy of giving yourself time for your heart rate to recover kinda went straight out the window when I found myself having to ‘literally’ run after K. I AM A RUNNER, I can forgive myself for finishing at the bottom half in swimming, or finishing in the middle of the pack in cycling… BUT I wasn’t gonna let anyone beat me in running.
As I left the transition area, my heart rate was @ 178 bpm and my mind was telling me to keep pushing. Running at a pace of 4:15/km, I finally caught up to K shortly after crossing Molave Drive. As soon as I passed him, the first instinct was for me to lower my pace and recover a bit… but up head were a couple of runners as well… if i could pass them, that would mean a few places up the standings. i continued to push, but I noticed that a lot of them where close to walking so I slowed my pace down and gave my heart sometime to recover. I remembered passing three guys and a girl. As I crossed the finish line, Happy was waiting for me… I was so out of breath that I had to give myself two minutes to catch my breath before I could even say anything
RUNTIME: 13:49
POST RACE:
Post race comments..
- I was happy that HAPPY was there, she caught a glimpse of the things that I do while she’s still sleeping She finally met TBR
- I finished SECOND (sub hour). I think I can be good at this.
- No more mini sprint / sprint triathlons for me this year, because I am focused on training for THIS.. see you on December 7, if you’re going
