OSIM triathlon, Aug 2, 2009

Tough swim, great bike and hot run. That'd sum up the OSIM triathlon for me. End of race report.

That's the executive summary. For the long winded report, here goes:

Logistics was the first concern. The car parks close to the race at East Coast were closed from 6 pm, and the transition area opened at 8:30 am and the wave I was in started at 10 am. So MBH and I decided to park at NSRCC and take a leisurely stroll to the sand castle (between food centre and Bedok jetty).



The race is basically in waves, starting with the elites and then the women and then the men, starting with the veterans. I was in the 45-49 wave, and given a green cap. Apparently, the colors were repeated. At the transition area, I was surprised that there weren't allocated slots by bib number. Any where along the rack for 3500 would do, was what I was told. No wonder some bikes got mixed up during yesterday's mini and sprint races.




But because of the wave starts, the bike out and run out exits were closed, and I couldn't do the usual warm up routine. So I did the next best thing, which was merely to simulate running to the exits.

Got my arms and legs marked, and went for the warm up swim. MBH remarked that the waves were pretty strong. I didn't think much of that, only to find out that the currents were stronger than I thought, when I was out on the second and third legs.

Met up with IN, who did Bintan as well. Chatted with him about his plans ... a few halfs next year, before the IM in 2011! Sounds like a good plan to me.

There weren't too many in my wave, about 50 or so. So there weren't any frenzied kicking and splashing. We caught up with a few white cappers (ladies) and pink cappers (>50). The current was strong, like I'd mentioned. Especially on the approach to the second turning buoy. I had to switch to breast stroke to power past that segment. I was among the last few to exit. 48 min. That's terrible. A full 12 min behind my last swim time.



It was a rather long way to the TA, going up a ramp and it was a huge TA. From my Garmin estimate, it took 4:20 min from exit to bike mount line. The grounds were uncovered, so had to wipe off the grass and dirt off feet. Another longish way to the bike out area. There's this guy who ran without shoes to the mount line, and then put on his shoes. The trouble was that he took up half the lane. :(

The bike route called for 6 loops. I was skeptical about how fast we could go, as there were many turns, relatively short straightaways and of course many riders. My strategy was to go out fast in the first few loops, before the younger guys joined us. There was only one turn that was nasty, right off the start. I was told that a number of cyclists had accidents there. The straightaways were easy, and I picked up some speed there (above 30 kph). The traffic, even on the 5th and 6th laps, was pleasantly low, much to my surprise. Any way, I slowed down on the last two laps, not unusual, but trying to maintain above 28 kph. Much much easier ride compared to Bintan.



Did not witness any incidents, although just one or two guys on the side, probably due to punctures. One guy gave me a jolt overtaking me on the left. "Overtaking on the left!" That's not good etiquette. "Overtake on the right!" was what I shouted back!

Didn't recognize the other participants until Jodan called out to me on my last lap, and overtook me just like that. Couldn't even see him in my sights after that. He's fast!

Before I forget, I must thank LT for giving me this great tip: I had six rubber bands tied to my hook. Towards the end of each lap, I took off one rubber band. This is an easy way to keep track of the number of laps. MBH told me that she saw a number of participants who used the same system. Works for me!

View bike leg on Garmin connect.

Very pleased with my 1:23 time for the bike leg. Took a quick transition and up the ramp again to the run. However that took 3:38 min! Gobbled down a gel right off the run. Timing was pretty good. 6:15 for first km, 6:30 for next two, and then the heat got to me. Notwithstanding the isotonic drinks (I hydrated well on the bike leg), sponge (thanks to Tribob) and misting stations, etc. the heat was on. Noon time. Slowed to 8 min pace, but there was a respite when clouds came in. On the second lap, I checked the overall time and realized that I could improve my time in spite of the poor swim. So I picked up the pace for the last two km. Jodan found me again about then. Wow! He really crushed the bike leg.

A strong (by my standards) finish past the two MCs and under the ramp. 3:29:xx by my Garmin. View run leg on Garmin connect.

Because MBH had to go send the kids off for a birthday party and the wave starts, I didn't hang around. Had my weight taken (73.1 kg), probably not much change, so my hydration was ok. Spoke to another participant (we were on the same rack) and he also had a longer swim (38 instead of 29 min). So I felt somewhat consoled. A short ride back to NSRCC, cooled down and went to pick up MBH. Along the way, a number of participants were still on the bike course. These must be the young chaps and relay teams. I couldn't complain about the heat,could I.

On the way, we heard on the radio about the mishap to one participant - he died after getting into trouble on the swim. We were just shocked. Our sincere condolences to the family. That piece of news reinforced the need to train and race safe.

So overall, not a great PB, but I'll take it.

Official results:
Swim: 47:26 (39/66)
Bike: 1:30:22 (30/66)
Run: 1:12:12 (46/66)
Overall: 03:29:59 (36/66)

Honor roll: Wilier Cento Uno, Saucony type A2, DeSoto suit.