Race Report: NUS Biathlon

Pre-Race (Sat 16 Feb '08)

I am having a nervous week leading to the race tomorrow. Even though I had timed it such that I would have the race at the end of a rest week, I just do not feel like I am recovering well from the previous 3 weeks of training. I did short run and swim intervals this week, but felt slow and lethagic. This will be my first ever biathlon, and my first 1.5km open water swim in race conditions. I am still half serious about sleeping in tomorrow and forgetting about the race. :-)

I decided to use my "Chinese New Year" red New Balance 835 (bought at a warehouse sale for SGD$35/USD$20) as my race shoes because they are lighter than my regular MR846 training shoes so I switched the Lock Laces over. Somehow, switching over the laces had a calming effect as it made tomorrow's race finally REAL somehow.

Let's hope I feel MUCH better tomorrow morning when I wake up.

Race Day (Sun 18 Feb '08)

Didn't sleep too well the night before - too much nervous energy - oh well. I don't believe in omens, but perhaps I should have guessed that the swim won't go too well when I saw the swimming caps being handed out. Yes, that is what you think it is - a swimming sperm!?!? I tried to encourage my buddies by reminding them that we were all made by the fastest swimming sperm at some point, so DEEP down inside us there must be a fast swimmer. :-))

Well, the swimmer DEEP inside me didn't quite surface - the swim was downright awful for me. There was a deceptively strong current going from right to left, and the swim lap was an inverted U - we swim 250m out, turn right for 250m and then swim 250m back (2 loops to make 1.5km). On the swim out, I got kicked a few times and decided to head for clear water. Problem was, the current brought me about 50m out to the left. Then I turned right at the buoy and pretty much came to a standstill because I was now swimming against the current. Sounds funny now, but it was pretty demoralizing to swim 8 strokes or so, sight, and find myself at pretty much the same position as before. When I finally get to turn back to shore, the current was literally pushing me against the ropes and I couldn't really swim proper strokes, but at least I was finally moving again. It took me 26 mins to swim 750m, that's 10 mins more than in my last Sprint Tri. When I had to run back and do the 2nd swim loop, there was STRONG temptation to just give up on the swim. There wasn't even a timing mat to record the number of swim laps completed! Somehow, I found the fortitude to continue and jump back in, despite noticing that I was literally one of the last swimmers still heading back in for swim loop 2.

The 2nd lap was pretty much a repeat of the 1st lap and I finished the swim in an embarassing 50:56, but at least I finished, and it looks like I even did a negative split (since the swim times included the swim-run transition). Out I go for the run then, which was pretty uneventful, except that again I got stitches on the run, which made breathing difficult and speeding up just about impossible. I don't know why I get stitches in races but never in training - can anyone help? One of my buddies say it is probably because I am too tensed up in races, gotta learn to relax a bit more. After the disastrous swim, I somehow managed a sub-60min 10km (59:23) - ok, not by much, but sub-60min it is, and a PR it is. Someone I met started telling me that the run course was probably short, but I just DID NOT want to hear that. :-)

So total time was a disastrous 1:50:19 for a 1.5km swim and 10km run, and race results confirm that I am in the last 10% of the Men's Open. (So my fears about coming in last in a race organised by the local university - where most of the participants & organisers are half my age - came true.) I sure hope this sets the baseline for improvement towards the international triathlon I am planning to do in June/July.

Swimming with Sharks

So I went for my swim test for the NUS Biathlon today, and as expected, everyone (and I mean everyone, including the organisers) is half my age. I usually don't mind being called "sir", but I detected a bit too much of the customary Asian respect for the elderly in the "sir"s after I told them I am 40.

Undaunted, I proceed for the swim test and started chatting with the swimmer who starts after me. A young, well-muscled and tanned chap, he confessed to being a slow swimmer. After more deferential chatter (these kids must not meet middle aged guys very often), Ol' Nitrox was eager to just get going. I mean, I am a big advocate of respecting the old, but I have never been this much on the receiving end before.

1st lap and I noticed that Tanned Young Boy (TYB) who started after me is using the breast stroke - heh heh, I thought, no pressure then. A few laps later, TYB seemed to be catching up (still using breast stroke). Forgeting the ravaging effects of 20 extra years on the body, I pick up the pace, refusing to lose time to someone using the breast stroke. Mid-way and this ol' body is over-heating, I am having difficulty breathing and keeping my heart rate in check. I cannot even think about a smooth stroke anymore. BUT, I am not giving up any time to TYB. I can't really remember much after the mid-point, just a lot of discomfort and threshing around. TYB and I finished the swim test at about the same time (36 mins or so - YES, I passed!), but I could not help notice how he was breathing a whole lot easier than I was as we walked to the changing rooms.

Man, this could be one tough biathlon... Maybe I should go talk to these guys about creating a seniors category...

One Door Closed But Another Door Opened...

Remember how I was kicking myself for missing the Singapore Biathlon? Well, sometimes when one door is closed, God opens up another - the NUS Biathlon. Praise God! He is such a kewl God. Best part is that it is pretty much the same course (just about all the biathlons/triathlons in Singapore are held at the same venue), and the same distance - 1.5km swim, 10km run.

This biathlon is organised by the National University of Singapore, which means I will be racing with young and lithe (read: fast) men/women, but I am thrilled just to be able to do a biathlon as a build-up to the International (Olympic) Distance triathlon in June. Someone's gotta come last anyway! I have not swam 1.5km in the open sea under race conditions before, so this will be a good experience to have before going to the Triathlon.

I will have to take a swim test tomorrow (30 X 50m in 40mins), and though I am reasonably comfortable of passing, you'll never know with these things, so your prayer support is much appreciated. :-)

Oh, and that's one of R1's painting from art class by the way. Pretty good huh? :-)