Ironman Switzerland (12th July '09)

Months of planning, preparation and training finally saw us through to this stage. We rode to the race site for our bike check-in prior to race day.

The 5 Ironman-to-be =]

The way the organisers prevented bike theft was to photograph each athlete with his/her bike at check-in and at check-out. Also, the organisers provided every athlete with raincover for their bike (good quality ones). Such protocols are never seen in Singapore races even though participants pay large amounts of money to take part. One finds it hard not to wonder where does all the money go to...

The weather was superb on the morning of race day. There was no hint that rain was ever going to visit the 2,222 of us racing that day. We proceeded into the transition area to set up our equipment and to put on our wetsuits.

Nicolas, me and Jiajie in our wetsuits

Flying the Singapore flag

Due to the 5 of us participating, Singapore had a whooping 11 participants at this year's Ironman Switzerland. This places us as the top asian country represented =] Cool..

After some more cam-whoring, we proceeded to Zurichsee for our warm up. Upon entering the water, my body was sent into shock and breathing was pretty hard. I tried to force myself to swim like I did that day at the wetsuit test but the cold was unbearable.

As the swim start was a mass start in Zurichsee, we made our way to the starting point. However, before we knew what was going on, the gun sounded and the race was underway. I was still pretty disorientated from the cold and was struggling to find form, it did not help that everything happened in about 5mins!

Swimming with 2,222 people was indeed an experience. There was so much jostling, kicking, pulling that you feel you are swiming just to stay alive. I kind of like this feeling as it awakens our primitive survival skills...It is a good reminder for us once in a while, lest we grow too weak and feeble in our technologically superior generation.

Jason and Nicolas were ahead of Jiajie and I and somehow we lost them in the multitude of people. The 2 of us took in the experience and even stopped to pee in the water on our 2nd loop as we could not hold it in any longer. It was super hilarious...

The water in the lake was so clear that we could see what was on the lake bed. I even saw fishes! After coming out of the swim, we made our way to the portable toilets in the transition area to pee again (I think the cold weather had a hand in this frequent peeing). Prof Sven was there supporting us too, and we saw him while waiting for the toilets (there was a queue, proving my hypothesis). It was really nice seeing him there =]

Jiajie and I then got into our cycling gear and got ready for the bike leg. We wanted to link-up with Jason and Nicolas who were around 5mins ahead of us.

Bike out

We spun at 37km/h the moment we got on our bikes. My race plan was to maintain 30km/h throughout the bike course, but this 7km/h increase in speed felt good; I felt fresh. However, this was going to be my downfall later in the race.

Preparing for Switzerland's bike course, I did many hill trainings at NUS, Mount Faber and Desaru. However, the hills, or rather mountains that we were going to face puts all these trainings to shame. First, there was the rolling hills which were pretty surmountable. Then came the climb that felt like an eternity...

My mindset on climbs is to power up it so as to reduce suffering time. I will gauge the distance of the climb and work towards the top. However, the top in this bike course was not really the top! After reaching the 'top', the route winds and goes up again...This happened for a couple more times (you can sense the helplessness I felt having been 'deceived' so many times)!

I was climbing at 8-12km/h; I dismounted and pushed my bike up the slope, knowing that there is still a long way to go in this race. After 40-50km, we saw Jason at the side of the road and shouted for him. The 3 of us continued the bike leg together. Coincidentally, the 3 of us all wore the OCBC cycle Singapore jersey. It was a sight to behold =]

After reaching the top, there was a killer descend in which Jiajie hit 80km/h, Jason 78km/h and myself 76km/h. My eyes nearly popped out when I saw the bike computer!

Heartbreak hill

Towards the final 5km, we came to Heartbreak hill. It was literally heartbreaking to go up that darn slope, but one has to because throngs of supporters lined the narrow route up. It was like a scene out of Tour de France! =]

This picture does no justice to the climb =]

After Heartbreak hill, we completed 90km of the bike course; the whole course repeats itself...

End of lap 1

I decided to throw all my timings out of the window and just enjoy the race, the experience. The bike leg was the deciding factor... After another crazy lap of 90km/h which saw Jiajie's knee begin to act up, Jason and I reached the transition area behind Jiajie who went ahead first.

Bike in

I was super glad that nothing had gone wrong with my bike in the bike leg and now knew that absolutely nothing could stop me from completing the race =] I had a very fast transition and was out of the transition area before Jason as he wanted to take it slow at the start of the run. I felt really good in my legs and so I went ahead.

1km into the marathon

3km into the run, I saw Jiajie walking infront. He could not run as his knee hurts even when he jogs. He decided to walk the marathon. I walked with him for quite a while until Jason caught up, and the both of us ran off together.

14km into the marathon

The marathon was a feast! The aid stations were everywhere and they were stocked with almost everything. I stopped to have a buffet whenever I saw an aid station and I was really certain where all the money we paid went to.

Towards the 25km mark, my legs begun to ache and I stopped at the aid stations to stretch. This was when I realised that I had not been eating much on the bike leg. My body had no fuel to function... As the weather was really cool and chilly, I did not feel the need to eat much on the bike, and now I was suffering the effects of my poor judgment.

26km into the marathon

I then met a Taiwanese guy who was walking and I decided to relax and chat with him. We chatted and I learnt loads from his experiences of completing Ironman events around the world. We walked for 8km...

At the final 8km, I started to run again and knowing that it was the last few kilometres, I ran fast. I was averaging 4.5-5mins/km and it felt good.

The final few kilometres of the marathon

Finally, I saw Lemin and got hold of the Singapore flag from him for my final sprint to the finish line. Lemin, Michelle and Xiuqing were really hardcore supporters who were there with us each step of the way. They were there for the entire duration of the race and it was always nice to see them whenever we made a lap pass them.

Not forgetting Jason's family who were also there throughout. Their encouragement and photography made it possible for us to have our memories and experiences captured in time.

It was finally over, after 14hrs 27mins, it was over... This race taught me the value of friendship, support and love for the sport. I will be looking back at this experience as a stepping stone for future races. All the mistakes made will be learnt and all the successes built upon. I look forward to more Ironman finishes! =]

Lastly, thank you all who made this possible. Thank you all who stood by us each and every step of the way. Words do no justice to the love I have been showered with...