Nature reserve trails

I was curious to get hold of maps of the many trails that we came across last Sat - Kampong, Belukar, Gangsa, Butterfly, etc. So I looked up my street directory and was pleasantly surprised to find most of these trails there!

However, the trails toward the reservoir were not mapped. Perhaps they are secondary trails.

The good news is this message from the NF100 organizers:

"there will be trail markings on the actual race day. :-) (And we will seek approval from
National Parks to put up markings for the Sept progressive run too.)"

Kranji-Neo Tiew-LCK-CCK 57k ride

It had been a long time coming, but finally we persuaded AY to lead us on this "extension" after Mandai shell station. PK and JN were already waiting for me at the guardhouse when I arrived at 4:45 am. These guys sure knew how to put pressure on me! I was with them at 4:58 am, with 2 minutes to spare. We rode off, and RV with AY at the Adam Road junction.

The ride to LH was uneventful, and AY took us on the Old Upper Thomson Road that joined back at Upper Thomson Road just before SLE. A quiet one-lane two-way winding road (about 4 k long). Pleasant enough change of scenery. Took a left into Mandai Rd. I was looking forward to this stretch and started to pull, hoping that my legs would hold up after the previous day's trail run. They didn't. Perhaps it was because I could get into the big chain ring (need to get that adjusted), so I rode on the small chainring all the way.

The undulating Mandai Road was a rush, as usual. Then after a quick regroup at Mandai Shell station, AY led us left up north on Woodlands Road. A sharp turn into Kranji loop (no heroics for me!) and a traffic wait at the railway crossing. Many workers were waiting for their transport - even on a Sunday! Tough life.

The bridge across Kranji Reservoir was pretty, much nicer than the other reservoir bridge at Yishun. Neo Tiew Road reminded me so much of the good old farm days. The smell, narrow winding roads. JN had a broken spoke and had trouble freeing his rear wheel. We managed to open the brake calipers and with a prayer and some luck, we hoped to make it back. (And we did!)

The north part of Lim Chu Kang is pretty scenic and tree-lined. The south section by the cemeteries is open and a little windy and slight upslope. LCK rode shorter than I'd imagine.

We turned left into Old Choa Chu Kang Road, past the airbase and beside KJE before turning right into Brickland Road. The area here is more built up and there's more traffic. A left into Bukit Batok Road where we took a short break to stretch our legs. It was a challenging ride especially those who had less miles on their bikes. Frankly, I was very pleased that we did as well as we were doing!

Along Upp Bukit Timah, just past Linear, we stopped for breakfast - prawn noodles! Hot and succulent. Best prawn noodles I'd had for many months. It was about 7:30 am when we left for the remaining 12 k back to Trevose. Joined up with three other cyclists along Dunearn Road for a make shift peloton.

Distance covered: 57.4. Average speed 24.3 kph. Very decent speed considering all factors - crampy legs, wobbly wheel and limited road experience!

View ride on Garmin connect.

PS: How did it feel with two long training sessions back-to-back? It felt like completing a 42k run. Compression tights, tightness in the right leg, some pain in MRK (but minor), and that familiar limping walk. Boy do I miss these post race feeling! Anyway, 24 hours later, I was 85% back to normal. More long back-to-backs please.

NF100 20k progressive run

7:15 am, car park at lamp post 46 along Riffle Range Road. More than 200 runners (est) gathered for the NF100 20k progressive run. We were going up towards Bt Panjang and KPE. This would be a good recce for many, as most are not familiar with these trails. The route was:

Rifle Range trail, Senapang Trail, Lasia Track, Belukar Track, Chestnut Ave (Meeting Point 3 - Water Point), Chestnut track, Chest Nut Ave, Butterfly Trail, Gangsa Track, U-turn back at the "Restricted Sign" area, Gangsa Track, Zhenghua Garden, exit
underneath bridge to Zhenghua Park and back to Rifle Range.

There were 5 pace groups, starting from the 3.5 min/km (is that even possible!?!), down to the 7.5 min/km group. Also a shorter 10km route for the faint hearted. I was planning on the 7.5 group, but decided to follow IN and his partner E for the 6.5 group. Another friend and wife were in the 7.5 group, but caught up soon.

Wrong group was my conclusion after just 1 km. I was just not used to the terrain going downslope. Wide gaps opened up and soon I was running with the 7.5 group. The waterpoint at Meeting Point 3 was a welcome break.

Just as we were at the reservoir area, it rained. No it poured. The ground got muddy in a hurry. My glasses misted up and I had to pick my way through the roots and overhanging branches. Wonder how the mountain bikers negotiate their way through this!

View run on Garmin connect.
The rain stopped as we reached the PUB station, and we could see the faster runners heading back. Into the bushes and we linked up with IN's earlier group. They were lost and were back tracking. So it was a case of the blind leading the blind. As the organizers put it ever so nicely: "We ended up with many variations of the route."

We knew that we missed the outer most check point, but going back sounded good. But heading back into the dense vegetation by the reservoir we almost got lost again. But we made it back to Meeting Point 3 for some nice cold 100 plus.

With about 4.5 km to go, my friend's ITB kicked in and he had some agonizing moments before limping and walking back. We hooked up with the couple again, and had a good time chatting. The sweepers passed us about then.

Many had already left by the time we reached the RR carpark. Overall covered only 16km.But it was a good experience sloshing through the mud and tripping over roots and vines.

TLog: All the usual suspects and Lost in Transition

Tuesday: 44 laps including 6x50m pull buoy and 6x200m fast paced swim.

pull: 0.59, 0.57, 1.00, 0.59, 0.59, 1.00 with 30s recovery
200m: 4.31, 4.39, 4.47, 4.40, 4.42, 4.42 with 1 min recovery; decent timings compared to last 200m's.

Without realizing it, some bad habits started creeping back. Noticed that the legs and hip were sinking, kick was too strong (outside shadow zone), head too tilted when breathing on the left, not waiting for the recovery hand to catch up before pulling, not catching, etc. All the usual suspects! So this session main focus was to remedy the above faults as best as I could.

Wednesday: 35k bike + 3k run brick session.

Forecast was for rain in the early morning.. not again! It was not raining when I rode out and thankfully the weather held up. Went on aerobars and big chainring most of the time now. Quite pleased that I was able to maintain close to 30 kph speed even on aerobars. All the way to Changi village and back with detours to commando camp and Simpang Bedok.

5x10min fartlek (give or take a few minutes, as I use 5 km instead of 10 min, and depending on traffic lights). After some getting used to, it is actually more comfortable and easier riding in the aero position. Half way through, I found the arm rests soaked with sweat, a new discovery! :)

Ave 26 kph, time taken 1:20, ave HR 136

Run leg: Ave pace 6.33, ave HR 151. Started off quite fast, below 6:20 pace and had to slow down to maintain expected race pace. Good transition run. Started to drizzle and rain after 2k, but that's a welcome relief. I enjoyed running in the rain, but not cycling in the rain for obvious reasons.

Follow Up Visit with Changi Sports Centre

Had an appointment at Changi General Hospital Sports Centre this morning as a follow up for my VO2max test last year. I wasn't keen to do another VO2max --- since I don't think it went up. But used the chance to run my hypothesis by the doc.

This is my Right Knee Pain hypothesis - that the pain I experience in my right knee (and only my right knee) is due to a leg length differential. My right leg is slightly longer and the long pounding (only if I run over 20k or run hard) caused the knee pain. The evidence? (1) I don't get pain on my left knee, (2) the wear on my right shoe is always more severe that that on the left, and (3) so says Alex (my friendly mechanic from Passione Bike).

The doctor made me walk up and down the consultation room, and thought that it was my left leg that is longer. Then he had me lie down and measured my legs. Turned out the right is longer. But only slightly (0.5 cm).

Is this proof that my hypothesis is true? Not quite. For I now have three more appointments scheduled for the next two months to fully determine and "correct" the fault.

I wonder if this is all worth the bother.

TLog: hitting the trails and NE ride

NF100 training update. After an abortive start on Friday afternoon due to heavy rain and thunder storm, I managed to run MacRitchie Reservoir 10.5km trail on Saturday. Before that, I went for a short warmup run with folks from PMC at Pasir Ris. It had been one year since I ran at MR, and what a major change! Now there's this multi-story carpark (no complains, really, since parking is free and more lots are available) and it took me a while to orientate myself. Recognized the start of the trail run from the east-side and off I went.

There were many folks about - fellow runners (training for NF100 for sure, with their waterbags and compression tights), walkers, families with young children and even a baby in a stroller. It was a busy trail.

I went a little too fast in the beginning, and paid the price for it over the last two km. Didn't notice the wooden walkway after the ranger station last year. Hhhmmm... The flat stretch along the golf course was nothing exciting except for the sun. Last two slopes I walked up. HR was way high (over 210... must be some error with the watch, since I wasn't really panting that hard!). Overall a good run.

Sunday morning's plan for a Mandai ride with the roadie gang was dashed with another storm that started about 3 am. And it rained again in the late afternoon. Too many storms these days! Disappointed.

So I decided to make up for the ride on Monday morning. Out about 4:40 am to try a "new" route. Was praying that it wouldn't rain as I felt drizzle 5 min into the ride. Well, my prayer was answered. :)

Went via Old Tampines Road (nice & quiet) to Hougang, Seng Kang, Punggol (strong winds) and of course to Punggol Point. Clocked a max speed of 51.7 on the last slope towards Punggol Point. Quite a rush.

On the way back, I was a little lost, and had to backtrack three or four times.

The stretch along Hougang Ave 3 and Eunos Link was getting busy, with the early morning commute. Next time, I'd return via Old Tampines Road.

Almost all the way on big chainring, although cadence is on the low side (<80). 46km bike ride, ave 23 kph.

Looking forward to this week's long run (20k) and long ride (50+k). :)

PS: Found out that the high HR was caused by overhead electrical cables. I was worried for a day or two! :)

Quotable quotes

"If you start to feel good during an ultra, don't worry you will get over it."
Gene Thibeault

"I'm training the mind. I don't train to win. I train to keep going when the body doesn't want to go anymore. By doing something that you hate everyday you start to realize that everything comes to an end. The feeling you have after is the feeling of victory. I think that is what we are all looking for in life. Then you realize you have to do it again the next day. That is why I tell everybody that my life has no finish line."
David Goggins

Trail Running: instructional videos

Scott Jurex (7 times Western States 100 champion) on body alignment:


Scott Jurex (7 times Western States 100 champion) on common mistakes road runners make:


How to Trail Run from Livestrong.com

How to Trail Run -- powered by http://www.livestrong.com

The North Face - Get Inspired: Try Trail Running

TLog: gearing up for NF100

The primary focus for the next two months is training for NF100, with another tri in Sept along the way. So I tracked down my trusty NF hydration backpack and started planning trail runs during the late morning and early afternoon. Enjoying bike rides and swims too much to give them up, but some sacrifices would be necessary.

Tue: 44-lap easy swim with 6x50m pull
Wed: 36k bike ride in the early morning, and 10k easy run in evening.

Yesterday was a good training day. Starting to get comfortable with the aero position. Held it for most of the stretch down Changi Coastal Road. All the way on the big chain ring, through all the slopes and all. The toughest was the climb up Tanah Merah. Slowed to a crawl at the top. Thought I was going to topple over from lack of forward momentum, but I didn't. :)

Ran with the NF hydration backpack. Felt easy, able to maintain HR around 150 at close to 7:00 pace. Perhaps it was the cool evening breeze.

Note to myself: need to get a 2.0 liter waterbag (bladder). The old one is only 1.5 liter and leaking.

SAFRA Singapore Bay Run and Army Half Marathon 2009

Taking part in this event - touted the largest running event for Singapore - for the third consecutive year. This year, many friends and MBH took part. MBH signed up for the 10k race (actually I signed up for her - and thought it was for the 6k fun run, much to my chagrin!). While the 10k start time was 7:15 am (new start time for women 10k), she went down with me for the 5:30 am start.

Met up with DA from PMC, we agreed to run this together, at a modest 7:30 pace. This year, the start time was brought forward one hour, a good thing for me, as we would be running most of the 21k before sunrise. As usual, we had to hold back our pace at the start. The turnoff into the ECP and Benjamin Sheares Bridge is sooner than in previous years. The climb up BSB was easy as the organizers had staggered the start times. Non-competitive army runners were in a later start, so that gave us more room to navigate.

Amazing how quickly the skyline changed over one year. Last year, the Marina integrated resort was only about a few storeys done. Now, it had reached to top floor.

By the 5k mark, we had cleared the bridge and at Fort Road. The lead runners were already turning back from the east coast. Some slight drizzle that lasted only a minute or so. Too bad, it stopped.

Waterpoints were situated every 2 km, well stocked with mineral water and 100plus. More cheerleaders this year, with bands, belly dancers (a perennial favorite with the guys!), stilt walkers, etc. The distance markers were clearly displayed, and more importantly accurate (more or less - although I thought the total distance was 350m longer!).

DA and I picked up the pace a little from 10k onwards, moving at close to 7:00 pace. However, at the water point just before the 15k mark, we lost contact. DA went for water and I followed, but going to the next table. There were many runners and when I looked back, I couldn't see him. Slowed down and kept looking for a few times, but no sign of DA. Could he have gone ahead? So I picked up the pace. Still no DA. Decided to keep going.

A glance at my 310XT, and I realized that I could still shoot for 2:30. Maybe I'd get 2:29:59?

The course got more crowded as the 21k runners merged with the 10k runners, but it was still manageable. Some weaving was inevitable, but manageable. My pace picked up to about 6 to 6:30 over the last few km, and a strong finish to complete in 2:30:23 by my garmin 310XT (too bad!).

Waited around for friends to complete. DA came back soon after. AY had already completed at 2:22 and having breakfast. IV had left for his rounds. PK came back with J, accompanying her all the way for her first 21k! Jodan did a PB. CONGRATULATIONS to all!

MBH's left knee bothered her on the slope down from BSB, and had a tough run. May have to go on an anti-inflamatory course.

Overall, a good race, considering the little training I put in for it.

View race in Garmin connect.

Honor roll: Saucony Triumph 6

Official net time:
BFG- 2:31:05.70
MBH- 1:39:33.15 (much better than she thought. She reckoned she finished at 2 hours!)

Breakdown from runpix:
Result in Entire Field - 5543rd place (53%)
Result in Gender (Men) - 4812th place (57%)
Result in Division (MEN'S VETERAN) - 1078th place (64%)
From 17k to finish, passed 620 runners and 23 passed me.

TLog: taper right after recovery?

It makes no sense to talk about recovery and taper when races are two weeks apart. So the title is completely misleading just to keep things interesting.

Here's what I did this week:

Mon: 30 k bike (should have been 42 k but shortened due to heavy rain)
Tue: rest
Wed: 15k tempo run
Thu: 1.1k easy swim
Fri: 6k tempo
Sat: 400m easy swim
Sun: SBR half marathon

Starting next week: Facing up to my next fear - the fear of heights!

All will be explained in due course.

A Triathlete's Prayer

O God,
You have taught us to compete with perseverance the race that is set before us. Give me good courage to run this race to the finish. Be with me when I am in the water and on land, so that I may feel your presence in all things--in wind and in weather, in the beauty and magnificence of nature, in the passing scene, and in the health and vigor of my body straining to meet this challenge. May I compete in this race in a way that brings honor to you, myself, and those with whom I compete. When I finish the race may I do so humbly and should I not finish may I accept it with equal grace knowing that I have done my best.

A more humorous version from 220Triathlon Forum:

Our father, who art in transition
hallowed be thy race number
Thy swim to come in open water as it is in pool
forgive us our swim fight and we forgive those who swim over us
but lead us to transition
But deliver us from DNF - Amen

A Triathlete's Prayer
by Jessica Stanley

Make my elastic laces tight,
Make my goggles sit just right,
Don't pull hammies, quads or calfs,
Cut my swim time almost by half,
Let my transition be fast and neat,
Let my lactic legs be fleet,
And regardless of whether I lost or won,
The reason I came was just to have fun!

A Runner's Prayer

As we prepare for the Singapore Bay Run - Army Half Marathon this Sunday, I found a runner's prayer that seems appropriate:

Our Father,

Accept our gratitude for the opportunity to participate in this contest and in the larger race of life. We accept with thankfulness the wholeness and well being which running contributes to our living. As running brings pleasure to our lives so may our efforts on this day bring pleasure to you, our Creator.

We give thanks for physical bodies wonderfully made. Help us to exercise good stewardship of the health, energy, and clarity of mind provided for our use. Bless our efforts in training to develop these gifts to their full potential.

Give us the strength to endure and the passion to persevere. Protect us from injury and illness. May we possess courage and character in adequate supply to meet the challenge before us.

Grant each of us the integrity to do our best in the quest to finish well. We can do no more and desire no less.

Thank you for the sense of community created by our common commitment to run. As we seek to realize personal goals help us to also celebrate the accomplishments of others. Grant that we may find joy not only in competition but also in the privilege of running together.

Remind us on this day and through all of life that we never run alone.

Amen.

For more runner's prayers, please visit

Running is Mental
Kurt Winikka's Runner's Blessing

National Day ride in heavy rain

Singapore celebrated her 44th birthday yesterday. And a bunch of riders in their 40s took to the roads in our celebration of Singapore's national day. SY enthusiastically mapped out the 40 km ride through east coast, Changi Coastal Road, Loyang Ave and Upper Changi Road. This was our largest group thus far, with AY, IN and PK joining us making a party of 6.

We went slowly initially, just to get comfortable. The service road along east coast was quiet, although there were more parked cars along the side than I'd thought. Going past that stretch reminded me of last Sunday's ride for the OSIM tri.

A brief stop at NSRCC and we took off onto Changi Coastal Road. I was point, but not for long. AY overtook me just as I went into the big chain ring, and I followed. For about 2 minutes, and I was dropped. Even so, the I managed the following average pace for that segment: 31.2, 32.7, 33.7, 33.2, 31.1, 30.4, 29.0, 30.6. AY was probably clocking 35 and above.

Encountered strong headwind at the turn before Changi Village, and it felt like rain. Indeed it rained after we crested Loyang Avenue. We regrouped at the turnoff into Old Tampines Road, and that's when the sky opened. We took shelter at a bus-stop for 15 minutes or so. Then we resumed, only to stop again at another bus stop along Upper Changi Road North. A caucasian cyclist gave us the thumbs up sign as he rode past. He's probably thinking that we were whimps.:( So be it. Better safe than sorry.

We restarted when the rain subsided. But our respite was only temporary. It literally poured. There was like riding through a wall of water and the wind plummeted us with water making visibility an issue. Thank God we navigated the tricky stretch with the two turnoffs to PIE without difficulty. The highlight of the ride - a nice down hill cruise - would have to wait for another time. With rain running like streams under our tires, we gingerly feathered the brakes. Safety first.

We decided then to cut short the ride and rode to haven at my place - towels, hot coffee and refreshments. And time for man-talk (MBH called it buaya talk).

Incidentally, there is a strange coincidence here. PK likes running in the rain. And biking as well, from what we can tell, from this ride. Hhhmmm... :)

View our ride.

Cambodia, COSI and alternative realities

There's a good reason for the silence this past week. I was in Siem Reap and determined that it would be a wonderful run and bike destination. December would be cool and dry.

Then I spent some time in COSI and Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Did a short 5 km run at COSI.

What I really came back with is an added sense of urgency for the work we are committed to.

The two girls, aged 16 and 15, appear like any other school girls. They attend the Methodist School in Phnom Penh and have been with the school for some time. Originally from Vietnam, the girls stand out with their fair skin and complexion.

While most school girls would be happy during vacation time, these two girls are very anxious for a good reason. There's a good chance that their mother would "sell" them. Many girls have been "sold" before. Their older sister was "sold" for a week, and came back to class after that. Apparently they can be "sold" again, albeit for a lower price.

Such is the reality for teenager girls in Cambodia.

Read on.

Open water test for Garmin 310XT

First, let me say that this watch is an attention grabber. My friend, a fellow triathlete, IN noticed it immediately before the swim leg of the OSIM tri. So some free advertisment for Perfect Watch.

Second, the erratic GPS tracking that I observed at the pool continued on the open water swim. The swim route of 750m was captured as 1.83 km. And if you believed the GPS tracking, I swam in zig-zag fashion all the way.

I'd be the first to acknowledge that I am not a good swimmer and I'd to sight and change course frequently. But I believe the tracking error on the swim is quite large.

Also, the elevation measure is unreliable. Apparently I went 40 m under sea level at one point and did not drown.

So my 1.5 km swim was recorded as 4.19 km. :(

View swim on Garmin connect.

The HR capture was good once I exited from the water. So no issue there. And it was a breeze thereafter. The GPS tracking for the cycling and run legs were spot on.

Next question I had was how well the synchronization upload would work. In the past, I had some trouble uploading multisport workouts from the FR305. The good news is that this time around, it was fuss free. The three legs were uploaded as three different events. No problem whatsoever.

So the good news is that the Garmin 310XT works well as an all-in-one watch for triathlons, but not one that I would necessarily want to rely on for data capture features while on the swim. But then, won't it be nice to record HR, swim pace, etc for the swim leg?

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.