But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
As i've said before, the Aviva Ironman Triathlon would be the last race for me. Having accomplished an established endurance event like the Ironman 70.3 is an experience i will never forget and that will be with me for the rest of my life.
I've also considered the fact that injury is something i'm concerned about, especially my knees. If my objective is to keep fit, there can be other ways of doing so, and i was toying with the idea of learning a new sport like Muay Thai after i 'retire' from doing my triathlons. And if i keep up my work and training for more races, i will not have the time to pick up new experiences like Muay Thai and perhaps even get the chance to fight in Thailand!
I would also have more free time to pick up diving which most of my friends already have license to do and those dive trips really look fun and chillax! Considering all this, giving up my triathlons seem like the next logical thing to do. I've also finished the Ironman 70.3 on a high and if there's only one way to exit a sport, then that's the way to go.
What a way to end off three consecutive weeks of racing - the Ironman 70.3 Triathlon.
It's more painful than running a 42km marathon, but i certainly prefer doing the multi-disciplines of swimming, cycling instead of just running. Absolutely painful, but i wouldn't have it any other way.
(photos courtesy of Jane Yeo)
A big heartfelt 'thank you' for your kind prayers and support. Especially during the bike leg, you not only see people who get 'suay' and have their bike tyres punctured, but there were couple of crashes leaving most people bloodied and in bandages. But thanks to all your prayers, i truly felt that i was being watched over. I had a few near-misses, but His protection was on me.
My toughest endurance race thus far and i did well below my set target. Again, without sufficient training, this result goes to the One who makes all things possible.
It is full-blown now. This is one i will never forget. I'm really excited to do my very first Ironman 70.3 tomorrow. Was this how it felt before you said your wedding vows? When you held your baby for the very first time? Before you started on your final examinations? Before your first driving test?
For me, it didn't help that unlike most other races, the Ironman is a superbly organised event with 3 full days of activities and briefings. Not surprisingly, world champions are in town to participate in this event. So i got three full days of the event pumped into your head.
Speaking of world champions, at the briefing, i was 2 metres away from this man...
..that's two-time world ironman triathlon champ. The feeling is surreal; to be watching him on youtube for inspiration and seeing him in the flesh is an incredible feeling.
I'm excited, but calming my nerves and preparing myself mentally now. I'm psyching myself with these thoughts..
Swim - Go SLOW. It's 1.9km and i will force myself to go slow. Don't kick the air out of my system at only the first leg of the race, save it for later. I should use it as a warm-up, and warm-up only. The real challenge is coming later.
Bike - This is misleading. There's a 'high' going onto the bike. 90km and my mind will be kept busy with traffic, overtaking and proper handling (i.e. getting drinks from aid stations). But i must still go slow. My legs must feel fresh right up to dismount. Take your time, let others overtake you, it's your race and your race only.
Run - I tell myself, this is my strongest leg (although its obvious my swim is). My legs are powerful. Take my time, feed off the power in my legs and maintain a comfortable pace. It's about lasting as long as possible, not completing it as quickly as you can. Breathing. Don't get the wind knocked out, not just yet.
Overall, it is an endurance race, not a sprint. Not like my competitive swimming days where every second and every stroke matters, a sprint at the end won't even affect much of my overall timing. Not when you're racing for more than 6hours at best.
Maintain, slow and easy, last as long as possible, eat off the muscles you've got. Take it easy, don't care about the rest.
Well, silly as this may sound, the Singapore Biathlon over the past Saturday was a good encouragement for me. Considering that i haven't been fully prepared, i maintained a good pace and did a decent time of 1:19 (hand-time). That alone betters my previous year's time of 1:22. And i definitely felt like i could do faster.
[Too bad i can't have the rematch with the best friend as he is currently celebrating his birthday in Japan. What?!]
Why i can do better? I woke up at 8.20am. My flag-off was 9am. So i got up, brushed teeth, pulled on my suit and with only my transition bag, house keys, handphone and wallet, i cabbed down to only reach the registration counter at 9 sharp.
"Hi, i'm mike cheong. I'll like to register for my race." The very second after i said that...
The guy at the registration counter just stared blankly at me with disbelief.
But thankfully, the civillian lady at the other counter had the brains to register me for a later wave at 9.30am. By the time they did all the logistics, i had 10 minutes to get my body marked, setup transition area and report to start line for briefing, etc.
So in all modesty, i didn't do a proper warm up, i ended up breastroking the first 300m swim because i have to navigate past slower swimmers, before i got to my proper pace.
I moderated my pace slowly, especially during the transition so i lasted very well for the 10km run. Yes, no way am i ever going to beat overall champion Mr. Mok (he clocked 55minutes. WHAT!) but i'm happy with my own result.
So that's 2 events down, 1 more biggie this Sunday. The Aviva Ironman 70.3 Triathlon is here. I haven't had this feeling in a really long time, probably the first OSIM triathlon back in 2008. I've progressed through various endurance races until i got rather comfortable with the distance and focused on doing PBs (improving timing).
But the Ironman this Sunday is a totally different animal. Yes, it is all about completion, so i should just take my time and do it safely. WRONG.
Only a noob like me would have missed the fact that there is a time stipulation of 8:30. If you fail to complete the thing within 8.5hours, you're out. CRAP. That is brutal. And as you know, i'm not totally prepared for this race, or at least i haven't been clocking enough mileage to sustain 8 hours of racing and torturing practically every single muscle group in the body (yes, that includes the brain...mental endurance). So how?
One hour, twenty-two minutes. 1,500metres of an open water swim and 10kilometres of road running.
A year on, although i do not feel as fit as i was, it is definitely a reasonable timing to beat. I'm getting faster for my training runs, but somehow i don't feel like i'm getting any fitter.
I'm feeling confident that i can improve my timing this Saturday and take it as a small step up to next week's Aviva. Perhaps feeling this comfortable is not fantastic as i don't have the drive or excitement i wish for, but on the other hand, i'm learning to trust in the Lord for an enjoyable race.
That means - not worrying about over-strategizing my pace, worrying about every single morsel of food i put in my mouth and repremanding myself for every missed training session. Especially the last bit.
I admit i'm not as adaquetly prepared as a proper athlete should, but then again, i'm not like the most unprepared too right? It's all about doing it within the right expectations and i'm not going to beat the pros, i just want to complete it safely and soak in every bit of the 1.9km swim, 90km bike, 21km run.
Well, for now, looks like i have to do a run tonight, a run tomorrow morning, a swim tomorrow night and then rest before Saturday's Singapore Biathlon. All that on top of work...oh God.. only by Your Strength.
1 event down, 2 more to go. I couldn't qualify for the 50k super challenge, so i did the 40km challenge. Actually, i'm really blessed that i did. Amidst the grumbles that the startoff timing got changed to 6am in the morning, it was definitely alot cooler to ride at dawn then at 10.30am in the sweltering heat...
Mike and Felicia (the lovely Felt S32).
I only saw one other tri-bike throughout the entire event!
Oh, but i didn't mount Felicia until 6.45am cos it took rather long for each wave to start.
They played Queen's 'Bicycle Race' for every damn wave start.
Too bad (or thank goodness) there weren't any nude fat-bottomed girls to promote the race, ala 1978.
No complains there, i heard there's a record number of riders for this year's edition and safety is first. But being as modest as i can, most other riders were on mountain bikes, even cute foldable ones. They were there for an enjoyable family, community event so i didn't feel like it was a good tune up for the Ironman in 2 weeks.
I couldn't pick up speed for most of the race and was a tad frustrated at slowing down on many counts and yelling "watch your right!". I felt bad that i scared some riders, but i also encountered a fair share of riders who plugged into their ipods and totally ignored my calls. Seriously...
...Damn.
Well, time for Sing Bi on Saturday and it's the Aviva Ironman 70.3 the Sunday after!
