Port Dickson Triathlon 2009

Marina bay. We have to swim here..

After the swim..

At the end of the bike section

(pic from Faisal..)

Firstly, thanks to all THG members who had made this trip fun and exciting. Tri races is actually more of a gathering of friends and athletes, and maybe, the race itself secondary, unless you have your own target to win.

I went into the race with an elbow still injured, and still having fatigue from last sunday's long ride. So I don't expect much.

Now for the swim, I think everyone did badly. It was high incoming tide, and boy, swimming in it can get you sea sick from all the waves pounding. I opted to start from the rightmost side because of the wound on the right arm. If someone were to hit it at the right spot, my swim is surely a goner. And not being able to swim for a week made the effort a weak one. The time of 35 minutes says it all.

And for the bike transition, I spent a whole minute more, putting on socks, helmets, sunnies. Must've been the whirpool swim.

Biking section wasn't a blast as well. I couldn't find the strong rythm which I could usually pound. I was not there. When Simon Cross went blazing by in his black beauty, I tried to hitched a ride, but am only able to maintain 1-2k before I figured out I could get a heart attack. We were going 45 above and 50km/h.

The route itself is dotted with rolling hills. Nothing much too hard to overcome. Soon, I settled at a slower pace while trying to draft some guys. I did some lead as well, until I reached the u-turn clocking 37 minutes. Then it was heading back, where I stuck with a Look 496 biker lady for most of the time.

Now, I don't know if this is cheating but I noticed one guy drafting a motor bike. I thought, this ain't right. But then you have like 10 bikers following it. The motor bike would slow down if it gets too fast so the biker behind could catch up. Go figure...

As we head towards the highway, only then my legs came back. They were lost for most of the biking section. We stuck in a peloton, which I lead a bit, then it was off to running. If only this was how it was back.

Since, I haven't pushed much during biking, the legs were so fresh, I thought I just started doing the race. Was with Sam Matsunaga for awhile, then I left him at 2km point. I was hoping to do a 5 min pace. Then caught up with Zabil who said he was cramping, so I went pass. Caroline was happily splashing the runners with a hose.

Met Andy as well (did a 2:24) running the opposite direction. Then reached the u-turn in 23 minutes. Great!...So I quickly turned a faster pace back so I could hit 46 by the time back. Finally nailed the run in 45 minutes, which turned out to be just a nice negative split.

The girls did well with Siok bee, Mich, Jenn, and Lydia Tan winning top 10 position. Wondering when will the guys win something?

Time: 2:34:58