Tri-Factor Triathlon

Woke up at 4am.
It is raining heavily!

Looks like I am not fated to complete any Tri-Factor Race this year! 无缘!!!
Took my brekkie, read the papers.
The rain does not seems to let up.

Tempted to go back to sleep...
But hey... I dun pay money to sleep leh.
I pay money to race. =D

Alamak, forgotten that I can check the Rain Animation.
I have been out of action too long to remember to check for such updates. =(
Did a check and it looks promising... Passing showers only and we are in the midst of a thunderstorm at the moment.
Decide to wait out the rain.

At 6:30, the rain became a drizzle.
Okie... Time to finally pack...
Haha, yeah... It is a regular fixture now.
Packing only starts an hour or two before the race.
How cool is that. =D

One thing is for sure.
As long as you go through the drill of checking what you need during and after the race, it does not really matter when you pack.
Keyword : Just dun panic...

Was surprised to see CarPark F3 almost empty...
Dun tell me few people turned up for the race!

Cannot be leh... Triathletes are siao one...
As witnessed during one of last year's triathlon race where the race site is almost full despite a drizzle...

Reached Race Site @ 7:50am.
Race Starts @ 7:45am...
How cool is that...

Learnt from my race neighbour, Desmond Goh that the race has been delayed for 30 minutes. =d

Joined the HP personalised queue to get my body marking. =p
Raphael helped me fend off volunteers and officials who tried to kick me out of the queue.
Thanks, mate!!!

Proceed to the Swim Start together.
Took a few pictures with Team Kilat.
Proceed to check out the race course...
WPE... Not a pretty sight...

Race Organisers are concerned, no doubt...
Race was not issued an all-green till the very last minute...

Feel sleepy waiting for the race to start...
Yawnz...

MP Teo Ser Luck and the new HP MD Kelly Tan flagged off the race. =)

The Swim Start was surreal...
I think I can survive this...
Freestyle seems effortless...

The left turn at the buoy brings up another story!
The waves keep pushing me into the lane rope.
Resorted to do breaststroke.
Every single time I do freestyle, I crashed into the lane rope.
Be it 1m, 2m or 5m away...
Breaststroke is slow when u try to cut the waves, but I do not have a choice. =(

Turning towards the shore, the condition did not improve.
I was sent crashing into the lane rope time and again.
When is the ordeal going to end???

Near the end of the first lap, I observed that everyone is running towards tranistion.
Sheez.... this is bad... really bad... I am the last man standing for my wave...
This sux... It sux BIG time...

Running onto shore, I realised that everyone was forced to run through the timing mat before turning left...
Haha... tunnel vision... Opps...
Now I dun feel so bad... =D

The second lap, the waves seems to have gotten bigger...
Drinking salt water becomes a normal occurrence...
Hmm... today's salt water dun taste that bad leh...
And it seems to soothe the throat...
Eureka? I found the remedy to my cough?

Second lap is a battle of the waves...
The swim out just never seems to end and I am drifting further and further away from
the buoy...
Feeling sleepy again...
WPE, what is happening to me?
I had my eight hours of sleep before the race leh...

Swimming towards the second buoy, it is clear that everyone is struggling...
We are swimming pretty much in the same pack...

Struggled to cross over the rope tying down the second buoy...
Keep tumbling back to the wrong end...
Gosh, I am really battered and weary....
There is no way I can do a 3.8km swim...
The Dream has gone bust again. =(

Hmm... the pink goggles has overtook me once again.
Where did he appear from?
This is probably the fifth or sixth time I saw him on my right...

Further up, a guy on my right is swimming like a submarine...
He seems to be cruising through the water!!!
WPE, how does he do that?!?!?!
After 30m, I thought I better stop to observe...
Chey... he is doing breaststroke...
Talk about timing and speed... =D
He is swimming alongside me all the time...
His pace and mine matched up, so everytime I turn right to breathe, his blue cap is just bobbing on the water...
The take is quite amusing, you guys gotta experience it. =D

Swim ended and I walked to the Transition Area...
Too weary to run...
Time taken : 51 minutes...
Been quite some time since I breached 50 mins for a swim...

Did a do-able T1... Objective is to keep everything out of the mud...

While picking up the bike , saw Chek.
He has his cycling shoes clipped to his bike... So pro. =D

Carry the bike and cycling shoes to the road before putting them on..
Experience has told me that running with cycling shoes in the mud is a tiring affair.
Not only the shoes get stuck, you ran slower.
Mud gets into the cleats, thus the pedals and make everything slippery.
The drainage hole for our tri-shoes only make matters worse, introducing "tons" of mud into the shoes...
You will feel your feet kena custom-molded to your shoes. =D
The shoes get heavier, the legs get heavier... If u get my drift...

Tried to go aero during the straight towards the Sailing Center...
Different feeling from Fi:zik but the butt is hurting...
Sleepy on the bike... not a good thing...

Start to feel hungry on the second lap...
Quickly gulped down a gel...
Ahh... feel much better...

Third and fourth lap past without incident.
I am tapping up the gears without tapping down...
Interesting...

Hmm... Sarah Ng keep overtaking me on the straight towards the Sailing Center...
Fourth time in succession.
She looks like a sponsored athlete, with her name Sarah on her tri-suit.
Anyone knows who she is?

Tan Yen Yen overtook me on her Pinarello...
Ironic... the lady who fronted the company that sponsored today's race is no longer with the company.
(Understood that Kelly is an athlete herself, so the sponsorship may continue...)

Had my 2nd gel during the fourth lap...
I sure am hungry today...

Lap Five... Shouted at a volunteer to get his bike off the race course!!!
Stopping to help a downed rider is fine, but do you really need to park ur bike diagonally on the concrete path!!!
The route is wide no doubt, but ur bike park on the bike course still proves dangerous!!!

300m away, a few of us shouted at a photographer who was strolling across the path immediate at the right turn beside the Skate Park while checking the photos in his camera!!!
He could have easily brought down a couple of riders.
Blind spot, right turn and all...
WPE, where are the volunteers manning these crossing points???
(Found out later that due to the thunderstorm, only half the volunteers turned up)

Riding towards CarPark F2, the stomach is screaming hunger again...
Something sure ain't right...
Too little training turns up a huge appetite during races?
No wonder I crashed during Army Half Marathon...
So much for any nutrition plan... All out the window...

Gulped down the last gel I had for the Bike Leg...
This is getting gross...
If I need 3 gels on the Bike Leg, I probably need 2 for the Run...
Eeeks...

Was wondering why I din see Sean or Jonathan during the Bike Leg at all...
Ninja racing?

Last lap turns out to be frustrating...
The kids are flooding the lanes..
"Right" "Keep left" fall on deaf ears for those kids on road bikes...
Haiz... how comes these kids always learn to ride road bikes without learning to observe traffic rules.
A really bad idea to run a Kids' race together with an Adult's race.
If the kids get hit, the parents will blame the racers when it is purely the kids who are at fault.

Dropped the bike, ensure that all my stuff are secured from the mud in T1 before jogging out for the Run Leg.

The MC for the race :
"Another triathlete has decided to do it the smart way... Triathlete 131! =D"

With my feet full of mud, I put on my socks and running shoes...

Wah...can feel the full effect of the actuators...
Long time on run on Newtons... Probably a bad idea...
Shld have used NB904...

I walked while drinking after the first water point.
From behind, I heard a "Ai ya ya ya ya..." and got a friendly push in the back. =D
Haha... it's Trudy! Thanks, Trudy. =D

Birdman Derrick overtook me on the run and I drafted him for about 500m...
"Overtake me if you must", he said.
"I'm good. Thanks! The pace is just right!". Thanks, Derek.

Just before I crossed the timing mat for the end of my first Run Leg, Chek overtook me.
This guy is speedy!

While enjoying the scenery at the Water Ski Park, Raphael came from behind me and said "Dun let the Barefoot Runner over take you. =)"

He promptly walked with me and "forced" me to go on a 5-min run with him. =D
Just pass the 3 minute mark, we reached the slope and I started walking.

On the walk break, Sean overtook us and prompted us to run. =D
Sorry, bro... I run, sure ponchet one. =p
Next time, perhaps?
Wah... Sean is wearing Reebok ZigTech...
How's the shoes, bro?

Raphael is very prompt with his timing...
He has decided to downgrade our pace to 3 mins run, 3 mins walk. Thanks, bro.
He is learning from SunBird's Azhar during Team FatBird's Run.
"Cannot discipline oneself, so must pay money to learn" he said.
Keke... looks like I am leeching a lesson here. =p

A few times during the run, I asked if we can walk. A firm "NO".
When Raphael mentioned that his blisters is hurting, I tried to "chao keng" and request to stop, to no avail...

3 minutes run, 3 minutes walk was how we completed our run.
We finished the race together.
Raphael tried to let me run ahead, but I won't let him...
Hey, you have paced me so far, there is no pride in finishing ahead of you...

While he proceed to join Team Kilat for lunch, I left for home.
Thanks, Raphael!