TriBob Sprint Aquathlon 2009

Well, all the months of swim drills and training have a focal point - the sprint aquathlon event organized by TriBob. 750 m swim and 5 km run in the idyllic isle of Sentosa.

Upon reaching Tanjong Beach before 7 am (to avoid road closure along ECP due to OCBC cycle), I anxiously looked at the swim course. It appeared longer than I remembered. And the turn-in point is closer to the start point than what was indicated in the map. My heart sank for a few minutes and doubts started to creep in. Talking with some other early birds - one of whom is a seasoned triathlete - helped.

Next, set up my stuff in the transition area. The designated area is smallish. My concern was the limited space between rows for changing. Especially with my big butt and limited flexibility.

As I was early, I sat down and tried to relax. The beautiful morning and sunrise helped. With the arrival of more participants and supporters (bf, gf, children, etc), and with the MC and music, an aura of excitement and anticipation permeated the atmosphere. There were about 1,000 participants who registered for this event.

The men friendly wave was scheduled for 9:10 am, which meant that I had lots of time. So I went into the water to warm up. Swam some, practiced sighting and then walked over to the start point to witness the start of the mini wave.

Met up with a friendly first-timer, WK, who is an avid trekker. We both lined up at the rear of the crowd. To our surprise, there's a fair size crowd for the men friendly wave. So there are many beginners after all.

So the swim. Good news is that I still have my full set of teeth, no bruised eyes and no scratches. Bumped into a number of other swimmers, even though I kept a wary eye out for breast strokers. Not unexpectedly, my direction was off, and had to make many adjustments. I had to break into breast stroke a couple of times due to the congestion. The crowd and frequent sighting also made it difficult to get into my usual rhythm. I did manage to get into some rhythm midway through the lagoon.

The U-turn point at the beach was about 400m, and I took my time to walk. Noticed that there were not many swimmers behind me. Although on the way back, I passed a few female swimmers (they started 10 min before the men friendly wave). The return leg was not as crowded, since I was one of the laggards. I stayed too close to the right markers, so a friendly lifeguard pointed me to turn left. I didn't drink that much water, but was woozy only a couple of times. That's good.

It was good to see the finishing point for the swim. My guess is that I was one of the last few to exit the water. Anyway, no hurry and I took my time. I glanced at my watch and was rather surprised that it read 21+ min. I thought I would be slower than that, with the disruptions and all.

On to the transition. My bib tore free of the safety pin and I had to re-pin. Kinda regretted not using my race belt, but never mind. Exchanged a few words with another competitor beside me, and what I said was that the swim was terrible. I didn't really meant it.

The run. Started off fast and with HR racing, I decided to slow down. Many other racers were returning, but hey, I am an old guy. Nothing very eventful, except that the marshals and supporter manning the water points were really encouraging. Appreciated that. So much so that I stopped at all the water points to drink a cup of isotonic and a cup of water. Just not used to having that saltish taste in the mouth.

The sun was out in full blaze, but the run route was in the shade. And flat! No wonder they say this is a friendly course.

Caught up with WK after the turnaround. Chatted some. Then saw a familiar lady who attended the Trizen swim session in Jan. Chatted some more. When I saw the lagoon, I speeded up. But where's the end point? My bad. This is the Palawan beach, not the Tanjong beach. Mistake. I was panting hard. Entering the last 200 m, with the many supporters cheering, I managed to end strong.

Glanced at the watch again, and it read 30 min. A second surprise of the morning. I thought I took longer, what with the chats and everything. Overall, 53:53 (my unofficial time). Better than my anticipated 60 min. And surprise, surprise, I wasn't the last finisher.

The official results:
swim 21:40
T1 02:17
run 29:48
overall 53:46
Finished 96/143 in 40-49 category, 373/475 in all men category.

I suspect that the course is shorter than stipulated. But it did not matter. I completed my first aquathlon.

What's the feeling like after the race? Interestingly, the main feeling on the drive home was that this was a short event. Before I realized it, the race was over. And after all the months of swimming! Perhaps it is because I am used to longer event such as the marathon, but an hour seems very short.

Could I have swam a few hundred metres more and ran a few km more? Probably. I guess that's good news. I am now looking forward to the Bintan OD event in May. But before that, a sprint triathlon in April to go through the paces.

PS: trekking in Nepal sounds like fun.