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!