Extri 07: The improbable swim

Alas! I was headed towards my second individual extri. After the Alabang triax, Alf and I were both excited to be back on our mountain bikes but this time on the trails. It was a stormy evening as we touched down the night before the race. We were hopeful that the weather would cooperate the next day but at the same time we expected the worst as well. The morning came and the winds were pretty strong, on my estimate around 20-25 knots. I could see white caps form on the waves. This indicated that the winds may even be stronger out at sea. What to expect? This was going to be a rough swim. The race briefing began and our race director cut the swim to 2 loops instead of 3 due to the harsh water conditions. We were quite relieved to hear that but just to get through one lap seemed quite a challenge. I did a warm up swim and as i got farther away from shore the swells got even larger. I did one out and back swim and i thought i was ready to go. I started out at the left side of the pack which was not a good idea. As i headed towards the first bouy, I scrambled to get a good clear path. It was fierce, and i was losing my stroke. As i hit the turn and swam against the current, I knew this was going to be a toughie! Every breath to my right and i was welcomed by a swell in my face and salt water through my lungs. Bilateral breathing which is breathing on both sides would have helped alot. I could not go further. I held on to the ropes and i saw a few other guys hold on too. Phew! I was not alone. I dragged myself a bit just to move forward, doing so only made me tired. I gathered my bearings and swam breaststroke. So far it worked, and i moved at the same pace as a few guys who were doing freestyle. So i thought i was not losing ground. My concern was my kick. Doing this style exerted alot on my legs although i was able to breath normally and not take in any water. So i just continued until i hit the turn back and rode the waves and immediately switched to free. That one lap alone which was about 350 meters took alot out of me. I was spent. I just dug deep and went for lap two. It was like "do i really have to go through this near drowning experience again?" Doubts started to creep in. Its tough to be mentally tough. But after going through this swim it should make one tougher. I completed 2 laps and my legs were overused. Too bad because i had wanted to conserve my legs for the bike and run. A mistake i made was i did not connect the toe clip on my pedals so i overworked my quads on the bike. The first few kilometers on the bike was really heavy. A few riders overtook me and i just couldent keep up with their pace. At kilometer 12 of the 25km bike leg, i began to really feel my quads burn. Lactate acid must have accumulated due to muscle fatigue. I was pretty slow on the climbs and i just made up for it on the short downhills. As i reached transition two, most of the bikes were already racked into place. This was not a good sign. I headed up the hill and it was really steep. My heart rate did not slow down. I walked uphill and ran slowly downhill. As i reached the beach, i saw a couple of guys up ahead. They were my targets. Although i could not maintain a steady pace, i seemed to have bridged the gap. I was able to overtake one fellow but the other one was out of reach. Just a kilometer away from the finish, i sensed someone breathing down my neck. It was Wayne, the aussie who i passed on the bike. With around 500 meters to go he overtook me. I just tried to stay on his back. We approached a rocky bend and he seemed to take his time manuvering through the rocks. I took advantage and skipped and jumped my way through. As i passed him, he said something like "Hey, thats unfair mate..". I just looked back and smiled a bit. Around the bend and i could see the finish line. I dashed through forcing my way with a strong finish. Yes it was over. I met with Alf at the finish line and found out he did well although he blistered his foot because he did not wear socks on the run. Alf finished first in his age group! For me, it was another learning experience. Hopefully, in extri 08, things would turn out better : )

Alabang Triathlon 07

As we continued to enjoy our great mountain biking adventures, Alf and I contemplated that there was still something missing. Our hearts were yearning for something greater. We just had to do a triathlon, and one that we would both prepare for. I had previously joined extri although this would be my first standard triathlon. Thus, we trained and geared up for the annual National Age Group Triathlon Series in Ayala Alabang. Our journey would not be complete if we did no try to convince another good friend, Cmap, to join our escapade. Without hesitation and just for the sake of brotherhood, he agreed to join. And so our new adventure began. Fast forward four months of training and the three of us were gathered at the eve of the race. We were fortunate to stay overnight in Alabang so that we could get enough sleep. Little did I know that this strategy would backfire. I was unable to foresee that fact that when these two good buddies get together it was difficult to hold them back from their jokes and pranks. I slept alone in an adjacent room and i really wished that the walls were alot thicker. None stop bursts of laughter, which they tried to control, could not escape my ears. Oh well, its was a good thing that i read an article which said it was not the night before the race that one had to get quality sleep but two nights before. Well, being half asleep was not too bad.

Raceday came and before we knew it we were racking our bikes in the transition area. We all had mountain bikes at that time. I was fortunate to have slipped on slick tires for this race. Thank you Mark for lending me your tires. The distance for this race was a 950m swim in the Zobel 50m pool, a 4-loop 30km bike around countryclub avenue, and a 1-loop 7.5km run around the same route. We were separated into different starting waves depending on our age group. The start was fierce. There were around 20 of us in our age group who all battled to get ahead as we squeezed ourselves along the lanes. We had to swim a total of 19 laps. That meant at the end of our 7th lap we had to exit the pool and jump back into lane one. And after we exited the pool for a second time we then had to re-enter the pool back at lane five to complete the 19 laps. I finished the swim with a time of 0:23:23. We then had to do a 100m barefoot run to the transition area. On our mountain bikes, i did not really expect to have a fast time although i hoped the slick tires would give me some advantage. The course featured a few moderate climbs, steady inclines, and a fast portion but the numerous humps were somewhat a momentum deterrant. As expected, the roadies has a hay day overtaking the moutainbikers. I finished the bike leg with a split time of 1:10:07. The run started out slow as i struggled to put one foot ahead of the other. Yes, the brick feeling. Leg fatigue had settled in as i hit the 1km mark. Some say the run leg of a triathlon is more of a mental challenge. I tend to agree. Its when the mind has to take over and somewhat convince the will that the body is fine. I had this sort of experience during the last 3km of the run. "Dont stop and just go, push, push" I said to myself. As I approached the last turn that lead into the final 400m, I was relieved. I ran the 7.5km leg in 0:41:21. My total time was 2:14:51. I did not know whether that was a good time but i was happy just to finish. Alf came in 8 minutes before me. Cmap came in with his kids alongside. We all had one great inaugural triathlon race! Thanks to Gelo, Francis and Jinggo for their support and thanks to coaches Ricky and Mario of TRAP for this race. Our next race was extri07!