WE are TRIUMPHANT - 2015

And so we come to the close of 2015.

It's always nice to look back on the year and see what you have done.

How many of you did something you had never done before this year?

How many of you did something you never thought you could do this year?

This year was a year of many firsts for me, and for Team Triumphant as well.

There were some setbacks of course...but what matters is how you overcame those setbacks.

Arriving at the starting line, everyone has their own story, their own struggles they overcame to reach there.

It's how you overcame these setbacks that define you.

I made a video highlighting some of our races and events. Never realised we had so many activities together!

Awesome team, always great fun training, racing and feasting together.

Watch out 2016, here we come!

Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore 2015

Marathon. 42.195km. The ultimate distance in road run racing (baring crazy ultras of course).  Yes there is a certain mystique about it.

After finishing my 2 half iron triathlons, I was told I didn't know the discipline needed for a full marathon. Hmm challenge accepted. Coach David had also mentioned plans to ditch bike and swim and just focus on runs in preparation of SCMS2015. Sounded like a good plan, and heck I've had many firsts this year already so why not throw in a marathon.

As I've mentioned before, run is my weakest in triathlon, last year I focused on swim and improved enough to be more confident in it. Again, I'm not athletic, so I know I needed to work hard to get some results. And when I say results I'm still slower then most people, but races are a race against myself, and to prove that if I can do it, so can anyone.

Races for me are goals for the year. If I sign for a race, I'm gonna make sure I train for it. Why bother otherwise? So the training plan kicked in about 6 months before.

I'm following Hal Higdon's marathon training plan novice 1. I went to novice 2 about a month before race day to bring in a bit more speed work. The plan incorporates a 4 day run week with cross training on Sundays. Means I can still cycle on Sundays! The plan builds mileage progressively so your body can adapt and reduce the chance of injury. Tuesdays are a low warm up run(3-5km), Wednesday mid mileage (8-13km), Thursdays low warm down (3-5km) and LSDs on Saturday.

Of course with the haze, the new baby and so on, training didn't always go to plan. Most of my trainings were early in the morning starting at 5:30am, and even 5am on Saturdays. Sometimes I just couldn't wake up on Wednesday mornings especially after  Tuesday night swims. Still I did what I could. The ultimate was running one Wednesday night, puking after 500m, struggling on another 4km, walking back 4km, and collapsing at home after bathing. My family called an ambulance and I had a terrible night at the hospital finally leaving at 3am.

Well this is the path to my marathon journey. No easy way, I covered roughly 750km in 6 months. Most of them in the early hours of the morning with scarcely a soul in sight.

So race day approached and race pack collection was at Singapore Expo. I went to collect it after work, strangely there were more full marathoners in the queue then half-marathoners. Took about 15mins to queue, and went to find my name on the board. So Ironman! Walked around the expo a bit and got some socks and a fuel belt.

Spot my name!

We had arranged to meet at the Christmas tree outside ION on race day. I decided to take the MRT as the finishing point would be at the Padang, so taking the train back to Orchard,  well 2 more stops and I would be home. I've never been on a MRT so early and it was full of runners! Went to the last carriage and met up with #teambm. Always nice to have company.

Selfie while waiting for the train 

Team BM! 

A quick bag deposit and bumped into Peilin, and we took some pics before proceeding to the Christmas tree at ION, where we met up with Jasper, and walked down to find Andrew and Jerlyn.

Peilin regrets standing in the center 

All ready!

Andrew, Jasper and me headed into Pen 4 (below 6 hours) and waited for the start. The crowd moved forward and somehow we ended in Pen 3 ( below 5 hours). Er ok whatever, though I noticed a few people looking at our bibs. They didn't look below 5 hours type either so....

At 5 a.m the elite wave headed off and we were flagged off 7 mins later.

Perhaps it was because we were in Pen 3, everybody started off pretty fast. Jasper and Andrew sped off too and I lost them within 1km. At the canal after Orchard Central, there were lots of people lining up peeing!

It was also really hot even though the sun wasn't out yet and I was already drenched with sweat.  My garmin beeped 1km at 6:36min, HR was 170 and I knew I was going too fast too soon.

An important part of training is the weekly LSD. Not only does it condition you for long distance running, both physically and mentally, on your LSDs, you figure out what is the pace and HR you can maintain for long distances. You also figure out your nutrition and hydration needs and how to fit it in. That's why I run fully loaded, gels, Bonkbreakers, and water. Water stations for me is to drink up isotonics, and refill my water if needed.

I realized after PJ and Desaru, drinking 2 half-full cups of fluids at each water station is definitely not enough. Also I cannot depend on aid stations having gels, at the times I need them. I also know I get hungry after 2 hours, which no gel can relief, so I take my trusty Bonkbreakers. On my LSDs, I've trained myself to be able to eat while running.

And so I told myself, we're 2km into a long race, time to slow down and get the heartrate down. Marathons are not a sprint, but to be able to maintain your speed thruout the race. There is no use banking time, I.E going fast first to get a lead time for later. The trick is either a negative split (which I've never been able to do), or ensure your km splits are within 30 secs of each other.

And this was my race plan, which had worked during the Newton 32km. This course too had many turns and curves as we wound our way thru the CBD and ECP, and another trick I learned was to take the shortest, straightest route thru the bends. On a long course this can add up to a lot of mileage saved!

And so we entered East Coast Park where most of the route would be. Flat long and winding, shady most of the way, so not much of an issue. Hit the U-turn point and I felt like a milestone had been reached.

After the 21km mark, I realized I felt similar to how I felt after the 90km bike on a half Ironman course. I continued on as best as I could but I knew I was starting to tire. Around the 24km mark, I felt a commotion behind me. It was the 5:15 pacers!

I knew I had started maybe 5 mins before them so I was going to be in trouble. I decided to run with them, and it felt like drafting in a bike peloton! They cut thru the crowds, blocked any headwind and gave you motivation!  I stuck with them as long as I could but they were going thru water stations fast too and it was a bit tough catching up with them after water stations. Still, I managed to stick with them till around Fort Rd and got dropped hahaha. However, I'm grateful they helped me get thru the worst of ECP.

They say a marathon starts after 32km and exiting ECP was 32km. And that's when the pain really started. The sun was blazing hot by then and there was little shade now for the rest of the course.

Around 34km at Gardens by the Bay East. Smiling coz it's Sotong from Running Shots! 

I had been running with my top rolled up most of the race, finding out why ol skool triathletes loved racing in half tops. Now it was so hot my cap and singlet had dried up! There were lots of people at the sides stretching, some were vomiting, most were walking some just seating down with the heat overcoming them. I have to say though PJ was hotter, but there were ice baths and sponges there.

By now I was on a roughly 4min run/1 min walk schedule, if my HR was too high I would walk more. And then I was greeted with the Benjamin Sheares bridge.

No shade, long and towering. I shortened my steps and swung my arms more to make it up, walking after every 4mins. To be honest, it looked worse then it was, as although it was long, the gradient wasn't very steep. Finally crested the apex and went down slope the rest of the way.

After Benjamin Sheares bridge. Phew!

3 more km to the finish!  I was almost there! Flashbacks of all the time and effort I had put into training came to me, and I knew I was almost done. The 5:30 pacers caught up with me then and I actually swore lol. Thinking ah heck can't make it 5:30, but as close as I can would be good enough! So I jumped on the peloton and followed them.

Anderson Bridge...almost there!

Somewhere at the esplanade bridge, we were all surprised to see a Kenyan runner, and we actually overtook him. First and only time we probably would do that! Either he was injured or sick or er maybe running his second round.

The pacers then shouted "Go ahead, go ahead if you can!" to all those around them, and I did so. Thank you Running Department pacers, you guys saved me twice on this race!

And so I rounded the last bend with the finish line in sight...I slowed down a bit to relish the feeling...and as tradition now, jumped over the finish line. I am Triumphant!

Jump shot!

I am Triumphant!!! 

Yes a marathon is no walk in the park, but it can be done. I think if you can complete a half-Ironman distance, you can do a marathon. If me, someone who just started running two years ago, and only because of triathlons, can do it, so can anyone. All it needs is training, planning and a good strategy.

The happy finishers!

Race certificate... Not a bad timing for a first timer I hope

Another hard earned medal 

A big thank you to the family for being supportive, and to the Triumphant family for always making the impossible seem possible, and fun too!

Newton Challenge 32km 2015

Running has always been my weakest discipline in swim bike run. (Well it used to be swim, but as I don't feel so drained after swim anymore, I'm putting it no.2) Clocking 3hours+ for half marathons during half Ironman distances was no fun, and affects my overall time a lot.

With the triathlon season more or less over, I decided to focus on run for the rest of the year. Signed up for SCMS full marathon this year because...well just because.

Ironman legend Chrissie Wellington once remarked "There is a special mystique about the marathon, for example, because of it's length - but that's just the bit you do at the end of an Ironman''

Well she is an Ironman legend afterall.

I have been following Hal Higdon's novice marathon plan for SCMS, and decided to sign up for the Newton Challenge 32km as a gauge of how well I've been progressing.

My longest run prior to this race was 25km, and the haze has been affecting us pretty badly so the weekly mileage hasn't gone according to plan. My LSD's though gave me an indication of pace, HRM and nutrition planning and the Newton Challenge would be a good opportunity to put these to the test.

On race day, I arrived at 4:30am and managed to get one of the last parking lots on site. Saw Priscilla my colleague and her hubby who got the last slot. They were doing 18km and had arrived early to get parking. Kiasu!

Looked for #teambm Benjamin and Marina who were going to be the pacers for 18km. After selfies with them and a visit to the toilet, Andrew and wife hadn't arrived yet. It was 15mins to flag off so I proceeded to the start pen to wait.

#teambm pacers for 18km

It was hot, stuffy and humid in the pen as everyone waited for flag off. At 5am sharp, the gun went and we were off!

Race target was 4 hours which meant a 7:30min/km pace. Started off comfortably, I had expected many to speed off like most races, but apparently this crowd was quite smart with most doing a regulated pace. The first 5km was hot and stuffy however as everyone remained in a jammed pack. Bit of bottlenecks here and there of course, but nothing too bad.

Most of the race went according to plan, keeping within my planned pace with about 30secs variants. Nutrition was on target as well as I had set alerts for them. Based on experience, I knew I would get hungry after 2 hours, so nutrition was GU Energy Chocolate Outrage (Rinny's favourite!) after first 45mins, 1 Bonkbreaker Peanut Butter and Chocolate at 1:30, then gels every 45mins after. I'm quite fussy about food and don't like all the usual fruity flavoured gels provided in races.

Well it was a long run and most of it went smoothly. Before the first Uturn, one of the tacx tabs i used to fasten the bib dropped off so it was dangling. Pretty irritating, it was later on when i saw the mobile medics did i stop to ask for a safety pin. Fortunately they had one so fastened it and off I went.

Nothing much to say about a run at ECP, it's flat and scenic. Weather was good, not very hot and I was wearing my Triumphant trucker cap. Did a steady pace only stopping at water points to rest and hydrate, but soon my stomach was full of Pocari Sweat and felt a bit like puking. 

I hit the hurt locker around the 23km mark, which was expected but it wasn't that bad and could keep going. Kept a constant eye on HR and pace though and started to take more walk breaks to bring down my heart rate. The Newton Distance III were hurting a bit at the lugs too but found they were more painful walking then running. Hmmmm.

Passing the 26km mark, told myself if I'm hurting so is everybody else and just pushed on. Although I was being overtaken by quite a number of people, I was overtaking quite a number too which felt good. I'm a really slow runner so being able to overtake anyone at all is something!

At the 30km mark I suddenly received a phone call. Fumbled my phone out to answer it and saw it was Benjamin. I answered the call and he hung up! Grumbling as I tucked my phone away, I looked up and saw a lady's hand in my face doing a peace sign. Shit photographer! 

Quickly ran to the side of the lady and photobombed her shot and had my own pic taken.

After recieving a call from Benjamin...

phew posed in time!

2km to go, and well it wasn't the longest 2km in my life I'm glad to say. The longest was in IM Putrajaya haha. So crossed the line and checked watch, exactly 4 hours.

almost there! 100m more! (pic Pixelated)

Took my medal and finisher T, refused more Pocari Sweat and looked for water and did my warm down stretches. Called Benjamin back and he and Marina had left grrrr.

  

Waited for Andrew and his wife Jerlyn, grabbed some food and recovered. Newton run is famous for post race food with either Nasi lemak or box of snacks like pandan cake, nuggets, eclair etc. There was also ice cream but was too lazy to go queue. 

curry puff for you sir?

Happy finishers!

#iamtriumphant

Nice 32km finisher's medal

All in all, enjoyed the race. Run races are quite straightforward without as many things that can go wrong as a triathlon. Glad my training is on track and will rest a few days before resuming and hope for the best in SCMS! 

steamboat that night with the families and rest of Triumphant!

Official results

113 Triathlon Desaru 2015

After IM 70.3 Putrajaya, I had a feeling of unfinished business, and with the new baby due in August, I wanted to get another half iron distance under my belt.

I had always heard Desaru would be a fun race, and there were some friends who signed up so I decided to do it too.

The race would be on 13th June, the day after my birthday, so my birthday was spent travelling there and pre-race prep.

loading up the car for departure

Changi Ferry Terminal parking was free, and with my parents, wife and son coming along, I decided to just hook up the bike, drive to Changi, and leave the car there.

Keith, Abel and Danny would be taking the ferry too, along with respective wives and families.

Group selfie before boarding the ferry!

Scary to watch them load and stack the bikes on the ferry...the ferry was very full with lots 
of bikes!


















The ferry journey took about 20mins, cleared customs and boarded the bus to Lotus Desaru. The land transport was better organised, there was a seperate caravan for the bikes.

The bus journey took about 30mins to Lotus and it was raining when we reached. The lobby was madness as they were clearing those checking out first and we were told we would have an hour plus to wait. Hungry and wet, we decided to go eat. The first restaurant had only buffet and was a madhouse, so we went to the Seafood Restaurant.

Roger, Adrian and Neyton started arriving and after eating, we went to check-in. Just in time as my number was being called when we reached the reception. After settling in the families etc to the rooms, we proceeded to collect our race pack.

*like!*

apparently, this IG account does not exist...

Race pack collection was smooth, but I was starting to find some of the staff familiar. The lady informed me of the family dinner that night, with no limit to the number of pax. Cool as I had 5 pax with me. So after race pack collection we went back to our rooms to rest, and a bit later I brought Lucas to the pool for a  short while.

We met later at 6pm for the 113 Triathlon family dinner and race briefing. There were about 450 participants, not including their family etc, and it was really crowded. The queue for the food was very long and the food ran out most of the time. Still it was free and the food wasn't bad.

are we having gels for dinner?

the racers tomorrow!

The race director started his brief later in the night, and I was thinking he looked very familiar....when I saw Neyton later on I confirmed with him and yes...he was the same guy at last year's 2XU Biathlon in Singapore, a race which I volunteered at. I knew then we were gonna be in for an interesting time...

Well after dinner it was time for last minute preps and bedtime!

Alarm was set at 4:30 and I woke up, got ready and went for breakfast.

Race number on.

I went to check in my bike to transition first and found that my original slot had a small drain hole right behind, which my feet could slip into the grilles. It was covered with red carpet, but there was still a danger I could twist my foot. I approached the race director and he found another slot for me, which was a nice quiet corner heehee. It was time for breakfast!

Original transition slot

After setting up, I had to go to the toilet twice, which was a bitch in my back zip Zoot speed suit. Everyone was asking I'm not wearing Triumphant? Well I was inside. I knew this suit was good in the water, and wanted to test it out as a swim skin. It wouldn't work though for the bike and run legs of anything more then a sprint distance.

Toilet done and went to find the rest at the start point. It was picture taking time!

Beautiful sunrise over Desaru

licks

We look on to the start of our 113km adventure

and we're off!

The sea was pretty calm, not much of a current and quite clear to the first marker. There were supposed to be 6 buoys for sighting, but due to 'technical problems' there were only 3. (Neyton and me had a chuckle over that, it was sooo familiar.) I think the 3 buoys worked to my advantage though as it meant less messy sighting.

I had talked swim tactics with coach David Yellowfish before, and I asked myself what he would do. The answer was simple. From start, do a straight diagonal line to the furthest buoy on the left, right turn to the last buoy, right turn centre buoy, again to left most buoy, furthest buoy, and then a straight diagonal line to swim exit. This is opposed to blindly following the ropes, which is about 50m out to the centre buoy.


Sighting this time wasnt that bad for me, I followed other swimmers and tried to spot the one buoy. More or less managed to make straight lines and exited the water in 47mins. A PB, as my PJ swim of 1.9km was 47mins as well. This meant I shaved off at least 2mins. Garmin shows an avg pace of 2:13/100m vs 2:23/100m for PJ. I think also my Zoot speedsuit had a part to play.( I swam with the Triumphant tri top and bottom in PJ)

exiting the water

running to transition

they had showers installed for swim exit! love this pic lols

So feeling pretty good for the good swim, it was a quick change in T1 and out for the bike!


The bike route was described as rolling hills with some pretty windy areas. OK.

Rolling hills and windy was right. It was also 30% of rough roads, which rattled your whole bike and there were potholes everywhere. Climbs and descents could be on these rough areas which meant your energy was wasted a lot. Near the U-turn point, saw Roger on the opposite point, after uturn I saw Keith. I slowed down a bit after the Uturn and Keith overtook me. The rattling had shook my Xlabs Chimp cage loose by then and it was dangling with my rear bottle. Promptly the whole cage dropped out and I threw my bottle away too. Caught up with Keith a bit later, he was following and attacking some riders, I stuck with him for a while but then i went to the front and lost him.

bike elevation data from Strava

There was a bit of hooha at the race dinner the previous night about drafting. The French guy who had podium multiple times spoke strongly against it, reminding us this was a race against ourselves and drafting was cheating. Out on the course, I saw quite a few people drafting, especially roadies would draft TT bikes. less then 5km out I already saw one doggedly drafting a TT. I told the TT rider he had a tail and he was like sigh what to do...I turned to the roadie and looked at him and he gave me a big grin. I asked him drafting shiok ah? and his smile faded.

I have to admit though when I caught up with Keith, there were groups around us whose speeds were more or less the same. Slowing down would have been a lost of momentum and speeding up would have been expanding too much energy. So we were probably in a draft zone for a while. But after I went up front, I didn't draft anyone all the way. 


It was a long, grueling ride...learning my lesson from PJ, i stopped at 2 aid stations to grab some cold 100plus, gurgling it down as fast as I could. I changed to my 39 teeth chain ring for a lot of the climbs, and Strava data shows a total of 600+m of elevation. 
 
After the last Uturn, my neck and shoulders were aching, some climbs I could only climb less then 14kmh, and I was riding 25-28kmh only. I could barely lift my head and hallucinated the roundabout to the hotel a few times. Good thing I went for the bike fit at LOUE Bicycles though, it would have been much worse if I hadn't!

My garmin beeped 90km....and still the roundabout was nowhere to be seen! After struggling on, I finally saw it with relief. This meant there was about 5km more to go.

Neyton had overtook me some where around here, but I could still see him. Finally I caught up nearing transition and it started to rain! I grumbled to him about the distance, we both checked and had about 95km by then. Then we both laughed as we remembered who was the race director. We then rolled into T2 together.

rolling into T2 with Neyton

I aged 50 years on the bike route!

Feeling a bit fed-up with the extra distance and wet, I took my time in T2, drying myself off and changing. Felt good though that I didn't have any cramps (thanks to the bike fit again!) and so I was off for the 21km run.



The family was waiting and cheering on at the transition exit which felt good, and I ran off happily. I was determined to maintain a slow comfortable pace, with a 4min run / 1min walk strategy.

Lucas cheering me out of T2

Exiting T2 and after two turns, we were greeted with a steep slope up out of the hotel. Too early to go all out so I just jogged up slowly. This was to be the first of many slopes on the run course. After exiting the hotel, I found that Team Bandung had set up a volunteer aid station handing out drinks and Neyton tells me later bak kwa! Great spirit! I found out from Kat later that many thought they were part of the organisers, and they were being scolded for running out of drinks etc at other stations.



I stuck to my run/walk strategy and felt pretty good. After a few kms, I was averaging slightly less then 8min/km, a calculation in my head meant if i could keep it up I could finish in 2hr 48min, which I would be happy with. So I maintained it for the first 5kms until.....I was greeted with the most soul breaking sight.


The U turn point would be at the top of a HILL. It was really a HILL. With about 50m elevation, and you would be going at a steep incline for at least 500m. No way was I going to kill myself on that slope, and fortunately my 1min walk time was up most of it so this was more or less according to schedule. Saw Neyton coming down and he shouted encouragement.


At the top was a waterpoint with redbull along with the usual water and 100plus. Took a drink and jogged down the slope with relief. Saw Janlex climbing up on the other side and tried to encourage her and she was cursing and swearing too lols.

the crazy run elevation!

So I struggled on with the run. There were more slopes but nothing as bad as that hill. After passing the hotel and U-turn, I saw Keith and Abel at the next water station. Keith was cramping bad and looking for muscle relaxant spray. I told him to put ice on the cramps, that had helped me in PJ. Passing them I ran on. I was pass 10km now and starting to fade, walking and walking more. I felt tightness in my chest at some points so I took longer walk breaks, and also found I couldnt run the full 4mins anymore. Approaching the hill the second time, I sat down beside the road and wringed my soaking socks off as I didnt want to get blisters on my toes. Up the hill, I saw the distance marker as 15.1km, but my garmin was showing 16.1km. I knew the run was going to be longer too.

Going down the hill, Janlex overtook me saying go go go...erm ok you go ahead lol. I was close to bonking by now, finished two gels already and starting to get really hungry. I started thinking of burgers...



So I continued on, somewhere along the way, a gal wearing Seamonsta with another guy pacing passed, the guy asking me if I needed muscle cream. I said no , thank you! and they passed on. I passed them at the next water station and then they passed me again, the guy telling me come run with them. I tried to for a while and told him I really need a burger lols. After a while I couldnt run anymore and they continued on.


Finally passed the hotel to get to the last U-turn point and collect the last rubber band. Down to the hotel, down the slope, up another slope, and finally down the last slope to the finish line!

Saw my family near the finish line and Lucas cheering me on, he ran down the red carpet beside me... approached the finish line and did a jump (making sure I landed on the timing mat though!)

concerned about traffic from the back lols

  

finish line!

I am TRIUMPHANT!

And so I completed one of the toughest races in the region! Although I felt a bit disgruntled that I couldn't PB, I was reminded that yes this is one of the toughest races around and completion is something to be proud of.

I cooled down with the rest of the families, went to collect my bike and change and went for the burger I was thinking about for the last hour or so.

hard earned medal

That night, we all had dinner at Jade Garden Seafood restaurant. Neyton helped us to tag along with Team Bandung and Kat generously let us take the coach with them and helped us reserve a table and order some dishes first. Next year, if Team Triumphant returns to Desaru, we will gladly contribute to Team Bandung's aid station!

the famous Jade Garden Seafood Corner

these lobsters cost RM980!

It was a great dinner together, talking about the race, relaxing and chilling out together. We had done it!

wefie!

Roger had already left with my family. Thank you Roger for ferrying them!

The next morning, it was an early breakfast and check out and back to Singapore.

Did I enjoy the race? Well, after I got over not being able to get a PB, yes I did. The race was very value for money, easy to get to, convenient, the hotel was pretty good (but I think if you want to relax, dont come during school holidays), food there was good as well. 

There is no Ironman branding to this race, but it is a sense of family and community, and it is one of the toughest in the region.

Will I come back next year? I think I will!

the finisher T and medal

 


Pic credits go to Keith and his wife Jasmyn, Neyton and fiance Rica, Shanaz Shamsuddin, Cycling Magazine Malaysia