Aviva 70.3 Half Ironman 2009

Yesterday, I've completed my last race since the OCBC Cycle Singapore 5 weeks back; it was my 5th race in 5 weeks. My month of March has been really fruitful and very very memorable. I believe that obstacles are placed in our lives so that we have the chance to show the world how strong we are.

I dare say that the Aviva 70.3 Half Ironman yesterday was the best race I've completed thus far in life..

On Saturday, the TRI21 gang met up to deposit our bikes for our race the next day. Upon reaching there, I realised that I did not prepare any raincover for my bicycle! Thankfully there was the really-super-convenient 7-11 around, and I got myself 10 trash bags. I decided that I was going to go army style. I wrapped my bike up with around 6-7 trash bags as shown above. Joshua helped Nicolas cover up the rest of his bike with the remaining trash bags. It was really cool that Nicolas and I were side by side in the transition area =]

It indeed rained hours later..and I was glad I made the right decision. I went back to check the bikes of Jiajie, Jason, Jonathan Ma, Melvin, Joshua, Nicolas and myself after the rain as I had to attend the late briefing having missed the actual briefing the day before as I was celebrating mum's birthday. Everything was in place and everyone's water-proofing was effective.

Race day arrived and the amount of activity in the transition area was comparable to a market in the early morning. Nicolas and I started unwrapping our bikes and subsequently inflating our tires to the desired pressure. Next, I set up my equipment and we headed out to the start point.

The men's wave was flagged off at 7.25am, 15mins after the women's wave. I waited with anticipation for the start. Prior to race day, I made sure that I checked out the swim route so that I did not make the same mistakes like my race during Singapore Biathlon. I made a list of everything to bring and a rough plan for the things to do prior to the start. Having done all that, I was looking forward to a smooth race in the starting pen.

My target time for this race was 5hrs 45mins. Splits: Swim 45mins, Cycle 3hrs and Run 2hrs. I incorparated allowances in the timings so that should anything happen, I might still be able to hit it. =]

The starting horn went off and everyone made a dash for the sea. I found a nice line of approach to the floating buoy and stuck to it like a guided missile. I felt good during the swim and did not make any zig-zag movements this time.

Upon coming out of the water for the 1st lap, I felt really good; my Timex showed a 21mins. I was before time. =] Heading back into the water, I was determined to complete the swim below 45mins. However, I beared in mind that there was still the cycling and running leg, hence I was also prudent with my energy usage in the water.

I emerged from the sea after 43mins and was really delighted with my timing! It was a really good swim leg for me and I felt really good. It was evident as you can see in the picture above =]

I jogged to the transition area and was encouraged on the way by my family and some of the NUS Aquathlon members who came down to support us like Patricia aka Xiu Mei, Lemin and Qiurong. Yong Sheng and Desmond from TRI21 were also there to cheer us on, not forgetting coach David who was our official photographer and encourager =]

I quickly changed into my cycling cleats, put on my race belt and helmet and pushed my bike out of transition. I took it easy on the 1st 5mins to get my body adapted to the rhythm that was to carry through for the next 90km. I bit into a honey stick that Nicolas passed to me before the race and it burst at the other end, causing honey to squirt onto my arm and thighs. I laughed and managed to clear up the mess, not wasting a drop of honey. It tasted sweet and light. Nice snack for the start I thought. My plan was to up the pace in lap 2 and drop back abit in lap 3 to prepare myself for the run. I completed the 1st lap in 56mins.

After the U-turn at East Coast service road, I pushed up the tempo and went out for lap 2. It had been a really smooth race so far for me and it made me all the more determined to blitz the 2nd lap for the bike. After the U-turn at the other end at Keppel, I sped up again knowing that there was just 15km to go until the start of lap 3. This was where I started to get complacent and distracted.

2 lanes were sealed off for the cycle leg with 1 lane still open to traffic on the Keppel Viaduct. Huge rectangular orange and white plastic road blockers were placed between the cycle lanes and traffic lane. I saw a male cyclist veer into the traffic lane and there was a huge container truck behind him! Officials were behind him and I wanted to see what was going on..When I turned my head back to the road, I brushed pass the road blockers on my left and was sent flying into the air and subsequently crashing chin first onto the road.

The 1st thought that came into my mind was, "Norman, you are so retarded; why on earth are you not focusing on the darn race!" I was helped to my feet by the officials and escorted to the side of the road. I felt blood dripping from my elbow, knee and chin. I checked my bike to see if it was still race-worthy and it seemed OK. After wiping some blood off with a tissue paper, I rode off to rejoin the race. All this took place in about 3-4mins.

The pain caused by the wounds were like steriods to me. I was woken up by it to stop my nonsense and to focus. I maintained 35-40km/h on the way back to East Coast with blood dripping onto my bike and leg. After the U-turn going into my last lap, I saw Jonathan Ma at the side of the road fixing his punctured tire. I shouted out to him and he mumbled for a spare tire. By then, I was already pretty far off and I wondered whether or not should I stop to pass him my spare. I stopped. After that, I was away again into the race. Before the Keppel U-turn, I saw Jason and Nicolas, by then I was pretty tired and was taking it easier on the last 15km. As I entered East Coast service road for the 3rd time, I saw Nicolas and shouted to him. "Bros, let's run together!"

We ended the bike leg together and entered transition to put on our running shoes. I completed the bike leg in 2hrs 55mins. I was quite glad that I was still within target. =]

All that was left is 21km of run. I wondered how I was going to complete it alone. Now that we were running together, I was quite looking forward to it knowing that we will pull each other through.

Our starting pace was pretty fast, going at 5mins/km. If we maintained that pace, the run will be over in 1hr 45mins. That was 15mins faster than my target time of 2hrs! =] We decided to go until we felt tired then slow down for 1km and slowly pick up pace again. One thing was that was definite was that we were going to cross the finish line together..

At the 1st aid station, we asked for deep heat and I applied it onto my super sore quadriceps. The run was accompanied by the frequent "how are you feeling?", "is this too fast?" and "let's take it easier until the end of the bridge". Nicolas was the one doing most of the encouraging as I occasionally injected some thoughts and words.

We were encouraged by our family and friends at the transition area and was always looking forward to running pass them knowing that somehow they could impart some strength to us. We were determined not to let them down. My gaping wound has started to clot, but the blood on the chin has drew quite a lot of attention.

Concerned spectators were frequently asking if I was OK and fellow racers showed their concerns too. The atmosphere was really charged up. Before we knew it, we had only 4km to the finish line! At the 19km mark, my left hamstring and calf muscles threatened to cramp whenever I wanted to push abit faster. We slowed down but no walking, as agreed prior to the run. As the finishing point was in sight at the last 1km, I upped the pace a little and the cramping sensations were gone, we crossed the finishing point hand in hand with our run time at 2hrs.

As Joshua puts it, this was the best photo taken by coach David. I was really thankful that Nicolas was there with me during the run because I know that I could not have done this alone. He shares the same sentiments too. During the run, he brought up something which I always marvelled at; that we were from the same Primary, Secondary, Junior College and Tertiary institute. We have known each other all our lives, and this was really something to cherish.

This was why the Aviva 70.3 Half Iroman yesterday was the best race I have completed in my life so far. "Happiness only real when shared." - Christopher McCandless

After the race, I immediately went home to bathe and headed out to SGH for stitching work to be done on my chin. Well, at least I will have this scar for life to serve as a memory for the race yesterday where I completed it with my brother. My total time was 5hrs 45mins... =]