Well its been about 1 month after the Singapore 70.3. I had to nurse a bad case of road rash; daily dressings on my ever increasing scars on my shoulders and hip; i ruefully noted i had fallen on the same spot 2 times in 2 years! Thereafter it was the frozen shoulder as a result of reduced mobility that took 1 week to sort out. I also made the ill-advised attempt to switch to barefoot running and after running twice at a grand total of 5 km at true worm pace of 8min/km, i developed a tendo archilles strain that wouldn't go away. Finally I was all ready to go and then I came down with the flu for a whole week. At the start of the week, I was all raring to go and then suddenly I had a heck of lot of cases to clear at work, including a near all-nighter of a case. Thankfully I fixed the problem by midnight but the die has been cast, no training the next day as I was dead tired from the surgery.
Lost opportunities or part and parcel of the game. My good friend CH and I always remind ourselves in our pursuit of triathletic passions that we remain grounded and not be deluded into the possibility of being podium finishers. In short, we are the Ironman journeymen, the guys who go out to race because we enjoy it; the sure act of endurance training day in and day out( ok, not quite daily) justifies and makes up for the numbers on race day. Personal victories in dealing with what we initially thought to be insurmountable odds; the pursuit of excellence other than our vocations which for the greater parts of our lives was an all- consuming passion.
But in pursuing this hobby, we end up with adopting attitudes akin almost to "resenting our occupation getting in the way of our past times" and gasp God forbid, family time eating up our training time because of our obsession and we view them as lost opportunities for training. That is what I thought would be a sentiment which requires thoughtful rejection.
As such, I am grateful for the opportunity to train and engage in what I enjoy when time permits and numero uno is family time and work time: maybe that's why I am crap at triathlons!
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
IMWA 2011
Well i have signed up for the IMWA; was supposed to have done it last year but procrastination, stories of shark sightings all culminated to a belated registration which of course closed a lot earlier than i had anticipated. Just as well as i would have been really unprepared for it.
Well, this year i hope i should be. After having done 3 70.3's and some O.D's and sprints, I should be ready. Its still sometime more and I should use this"off season" to do some strength training. with renewed responsibilities at work and the prospect of being called now at ungodly hours, i worry about whether i can keep to a reasonable training program. Well all in due time.
The skin loss has re-epithelialised so i am back to some light training. Down with a slight flu I caught over the weekend so will go slow first.
Well, this year i hope i should be. After having done 3 70.3's and some O.D's and sprints, I should be ready. Its still sometime more and I should use this"off season" to do some strength training. with renewed responsibilities at work and the prospect of being called now at ungodly hours, i worry about whether i can keep to a reasonable training program. Well all in due time.
The skin loss has re-epithelialised so i am back to some light training. Down with a slight flu I caught over the weekend so will go slow first.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Singapore Aviva 70.3 2011 race report
in truth, this erace was very different from last year's race. For one, I came into this with another race under my belt( the Asia-Pacific 70.3 in Phuket 3 months ago). I had trained and swam further than i did last year coming into the race, my bike has been upgraded to a 1080 set of wheels. i am also in an older age group!
The swim was tough this year, and with the strong currents, we kept being pushed closer towards shore. In the end i think i swam probably 500 metres more! i got out of the water on the first lap and was surprised that i took 30 minutes. the second lap was any better and i finished the swim at 1:03, a PW( even worse than the Phuket race!). KL who was 2 waves behind me came out of the water about the same time as me; but i was comfortable out of the water and in fact felt good, certainly better than last year!
The bike route was a fast course and once on the coastal road, i went aero and was averaging 33 km/hr comfortably; there was a bit of a headwind but nothing that was too tough. I finished the first lap at an average of 30 km/hour and realised the last 3 km leading into transition and out the speeds could not be more than 27 km/hr because it was narrow. i pushed a little harder and got behid kc. this time, we were averaging 35-36 km/h and going faster all the time, no doubt with a tailwind! kc pushed forward and i rode a little more conservatively; and then it happened.. as i reached aviation house, my gaze landed on an athlete on the ground. i hit the vertical grrove on the road which was a rut from the interface between tarmac and cement and went down heavily on my right; i was still in an aero position on the ground. my right shoulder hit the ground at speed and i slid for about 2 meters. i tried to get up and a sharp pain emanated from my shoulder.My first thought was i had probably fractured my clavicle . As i stood up and bore weight, i experienced another sharp stab of pain in my right hip. Skins come off i reckon and visually confirmed it. I was in amazement my zoot ultra shorts was not torn and tattered like my orca when i fell last year. Race is over for me nad i sat there forlorn waiting for the ambulance. after awhile; i felt better and a few shoulder rotations later, i thought i have what it takes to complete the race still. I hopped onto my bike and amidst protests from the well meaning stewards and promply got off the saddle again. the drivechain had been dislodged so i had to get off again and re-fixed it. As i rode on i glanced at my speedo and realised despite that 15 minutes enforced stop, i still averaged 31 km/hr. I rode a little more conservatively on the 3rd loop and because of my injuries all raw and burning averaged about 29km/hr. I got into transition at 2:55 and had some cramps building up on my left leg. I must thank all my fellow athletes who encouraged me during the race! Met CH at transition and i actually took my time to make sure i had my nutrition and all the gear on before i started the run. I got out and was doing a 5:45 pace till the 5 km mark when i developed cramps on my left side. spasms started over my intercostals( a first!) and left leg, no doubt i have paid the price of pushing on the bike leg utilising my left muscles a bit too much. i slowed to a 7/km pace and walked some stretches. My shoulder was killing me and i couldn't move it very much as any of that will send an electric shot into it. i was feeling a bit sick in the stomach and threw up when i downed a gel. that was a truly down in the boots moment. at the 12 km point i was feeling better and trotted a bit and then i saw my two princessess shouting out at me and carrying a banner that says " Quitting is forever!" how poignant it was. I managed a big grin and the girls ran with me for a little while. they had alos picked up some powergels from the ground that some athletes have dropped. i took it but i couldn't stomach another gel. the last 9 km i picked up my pace again to a 5:30 and finished the race at 6:25. a pb for me and under these circumstance i was happy with my performance and grateful once again that i had great support from my family.
The swim was tough this year, and with the strong currents, we kept being pushed closer towards shore. In the end i think i swam probably 500 metres more! i got out of the water on the first lap and was surprised that i took 30 minutes. the second lap was any better and i finished the swim at 1:03, a PW( even worse than the Phuket race!). KL who was 2 waves behind me came out of the water about the same time as me; but i was comfortable out of the water and in fact felt good, certainly better than last year!
The bike route was a fast course and once on the coastal road, i went aero and was averaging 33 km/hr comfortably; there was a bit of a headwind but nothing that was too tough. I finished the first lap at an average of 30 km/hour and realised the last 3 km leading into transition and out the speeds could not be more than 27 km/hr because it was narrow. i pushed a little harder and got behid kc. this time, we were averaging 35-36 km/h and going faster all the time, no doubt with a tailwind! kc pushed forward and i rode a little more conservatively; and then it happened.. as i reached aviation house, my gaze landed on an athlete on the ground. i hit the vertical grrove on the road which was a rut from the interface between tarmac and cement and went down heavily on my right; i was still in an aero position on the ground. my right shoulder hit the ground at speed and i slid for about 2 meters. i tried to get up and a sharp pain emanated from my shoulder.My first thought was i had probably fractured my clavicle . As i stood up and bore weight, i experienced another sharp stab of pain in my right hip. Skins come off i reckon and visually confirmed it. I was in amazement my zoot ultra shorts was not torn and tattered like my orca when i fell last year. Race is over for me nad i sat there forlorn waiting for the ambulance. after awhile; i felt better and a few shoulder rotations later, i thought i have what it takes to complete the race still. I hopped onto my bike and amidst protests from the well meaning stewards and promply got off the saddle again. the drivechain had been dislodged so i had to get off again and re-fixed it. As i rode on i glanced at my speedo and realised despite that 15 minutes enforced stop, i still averaged 31 km/hr. I rode a little more conservatively on the 3rd loop and because of my injuries all raw and burning averaged about 29km/hr. I got into transition at 2:55 and had some cramps building up on my left leg. I must thank all my fellow athletes who encouraged me during the race! Met CH at transition and i actually took my time to make sure i had my nutrition and all the gear on before i started the run. I got out and was doing a 5:45 pace till the 5 km mark when i developed cramps on my left side. spasms started over my intercostals( a first!) and left leg, no doubt i have paid the price of pushing on the bike leg utilising my left muscles a bit too much. i slowed to a 7/km pace and walked some stretches. My shoulder was killing me and i couldn't move it very much as any of that will send an electric shot into it. i was feeling a bit sick in the stomach and threw up when i downed a gel. that was a truly down in the boots moment. at the 12 km point i was feeling better and trotted a bit and then i saw my two princessess shouting out at me and carrying a banner that says " Quitting is forever!" how poignant it was. I managed a big grin and the girls ran with me for a little while. they had alos picked up some powergels from the ground that some athletes have dropped. i took it but i couldn't stomach another gel. the last 9 km i picked up my pace again to a 5:30 and finished the race at 6:25. a pb for me and under these circumstance i was happy with my performance and grateful once again that i had great support from my family.
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