70.3 Singapore...podium and PR!
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Finally getting around to this. I’ll start with the race while I have your attention, but then throw in some notes in case you choose to read on.
Swim: the course involved an inner and outer rectangle with a short jog on the beach between. They started folks in waves based on age groups, in what seemed to be reverse order of projected average finishing times. The result for me was a crowded swim pretty much the whole time. I got my goggles dislodged 1 min in (although was able to stop and re-adjust ok), had trouble sighting, and never got into a rhythm. Eventually found myself surrounded by a group and just swam along and relied on them to sight. Big mistake. I think we went way off course from the corner buoy and had to swim diagonally to get back out around it. Checked my watch after the first rectangle loop and couldn’t believe how far behind target I was. Disappointed, but kept my cool and decided to just focus on getting into a rhythm rather than making up time for the rest of the swim.
Bike: 3 loop course on closed roads and paths. Nice and flat, although very narrow at times and a bit more wind than expected (unless I was just not used to the sounds and feel from my aerohelmet). Started making my way though the field. Stuck to my nutrition plan of 2 x 750 ml bottles of Infinit and water bottles with Nuun tabs (needed the extra sodium) to reach target fluid intake. Ended up working out great. I occasionally glanced at my power, but went more off feel. 100% of my training on my tri bike was done inside on the Computrainer, so it was unclear to me how well the numbers would translate anyways.
Run: 2 loops on a path in a park next to the beach. By this point it was 30 C (86 F) and the humidity was climbing. I kept hoping it would eventually break with an afternoon rainstorm, but this did not happen until 1 hr after I finished. Neverthless, I seemed to manage. I had coolwings and a visor on, in addition to layers of sunscreen from the night before and morning, and did not feel the effects of sun stroke like usual in these conditions. Yes, I was hot, but I suppose the others were too! Kept a pretty steady pace throughout the run. Found it difficult to take in calories, but was surprised at how little I actually needed to get through run. I just needed to make sure I got in fluids.
Caught somebody at the approach to the finishing chute and we ended up sprinting (or whatever you want to call it) the last 100m. It was awesome. We finished dead even, however, right down to the second. He was in my AG too. Turns out we were racing for 2nd in M30-34. It’s amazing how after all the small things taking a second here and there during 4.5 hours of racing, we still ended up with the same time! Nice video of it though.
All in all, I enjoyed the event despite an all-time low in the swim. Still had a PR, no sunburn, and felt okay post-race. Other interesting notes:
- Splits:
Overall Swim T1 Bike T2 Run
4:29:59 0:44:41 0:03:06 2:15:36 0:01:15 1:25:21
- The guy who won M30-34 was the 1st OA AG'er and finished in 4:16. Even if I had a great swim (it was nonwetsuit), I don't think I could have made up the time difference. He was the only AG'er to out run me. So the good news is that I guess I did the minimal amount of work to compete for the next place!
- Enjoyed meeting fellow EN'ers Kevin (Kiwi living in Singapore) and Venkatesh (living Ohio). Will be catching up with Venkatesh in Wisconsin.
- Post-race tent had lots of food, but was not what I was used to. Not a single piece of fruit in sight. Nor bread/cake or beer for that matter. All Asian noodles and rice dishes. Weird.
- Post-race massage was amazing. Not your typically 10-15 min rub down of the legs. I had a solid 45 min treatment.
- Putting on the De Soto coolwings in T1 definitely added some time, but it was a must for me given the tropical climate and my pale skin!
- Very odd to train for a race in like this throughout winter in Denmark. All bike workouts were indoors but for a week in Spain on the road bike. I can, however, get my pain cave quite steamy!
- Did the 70.3 two years ago when I found out it overlapped with a business trip. Last minute entry, no bike with me (ended up loaning one), little training. Had a great time and always wanted to go back. This year I planned on doing the race, and then scheduled a business trip to help defray costs! Trained for it like an A-race, but business made it tough to treat race-week like it should be treated. Full days of work Thur and Fri meant that I was doing more running around on Saturday than planned. Won’t be doing that again.
- Had a flight to India a few hours after the race. Went back to the hotel (which I had checked out of in the morning), packed my bike up in the lobby, and then headed to the airport. Oh man, I could write a whole second report about traveling with the bike in India...
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Comments
Congrats on everything especially your attitude!
Carrie
Congrats! Great race and video!
Adam - very cool; good luck with the rest of your season. Get some open water navigation practice!
Awesome race and report Adam! Congratulations. Oh, and what Chris said re: the swim.
Impressive...great job.
See you in Wisconsin.
Joanna
Look forward to meeting you in Wisconsin.