My 1st official triathlon event. Yes, I did participated in the A’Famosa Sprint Triathlon in Melaka this year, but since I got disqualified from that, not considered official mah.
My training mate, Hannah & I drove down to Calypso Bay (near Gold Coast) on Saturday to check-in our bikes. Since we weren’t staying at venue, we had to also time ourselves on travel duration coz we’ll need to drive down again on Sunday morning. Nearly 45mins drive.
The weather for the weekend was predicted hot and windy, hitting 32deg. We’re gonna burn!!! Calypso Bay is an waterfront development marina with expensive boats & houses waiting to be built. No wonder the race was here. Normal public wouldn’t even come here. So no interruptions.
Upon registration, I was told that I had registered under the Open Category, do I wish to change to Age Group instead. The difference would be; Open Category not allow to wear wetsuit while the Age Groupers were optional. Open Category consist of Elite athletes. Well, pros & cons. I wanna wear my wetsuit coz water was at 22° so it’s still cold and I don’t wanna “paiseh” swim with the Elites. So Age Group it is.
Loitering around, we met up with the other Croc members to check-in our bikes in the Transition Area. I was turned away as I didn’t have handlebar plugs. I panicked. The “lubang” at the handlebar has to be covered to avoid accidents such as penetration/“kena cucuk” into any body part. The Expo bike tent sold out of the item. Panicked again. If I don’t get this in, I can’t race.
Drewe offered to take the plugs out from his bike for me to check-in my bike, then replace it tomolo morning. Good idea but problem. By the time I get back to the city, the bike shop close liau. So we taped it up instead. As long as it’s covered. Thankfully it went thru. Thank god for friends.
Hannah & Annee decided to go for a short swim to test the water. From what I see is zero visibility and water was still too cold. I hate having the hot sun burning on my back while the water is freaking cold. I rekkie the site hopefully I don’t get lost along the way. Good thing the route was only 1 circle. I wouldn’t wanna make the same mistake again.
The big day came. I slept at the ungodly hour of 9pm and woke up at 2am. Both of my housemates were out partying while I’m preparing to leave. Well, at least I can make as much noise as I like. Met up with Hannah at 3am & arrived at Calypso Bay in darkness. We were like the 4th car there. It was a good thing too that we were early coz I heard later there was a massive jam getting in.
Morning check-in was our bike helmets & setting of transition stuff. Bike stuff : helmet, sunnies, pump tires, taping powergels. Run stuff : cap, powergels, shoes & socks.
I followed advice from a fellow mate spraying Canola Oil all over my body for easy on-off wetsuit. This will be the only time I would consider it without 2nd thoughts. The water was still cold but the buoyancy was magnificent. I didn’t even need to thread water to float.
Swim (1km)
My wave started at 6.10am. After 400m, I floated on my back to unzip my wetsuit. I was hyperventilating. I waved to a lifeguard whom calmed me down. I wanna continue but I was afraid. I went on, with good comfortable strokes. Water started to fill up in the wetsuit, loosening it. 1km came & went pretty quickly but loosing out at least 5mins due to panic.
Cycle (33km)
I made a mistake of hooking my handlebars rather than my seat. So I had trouble getting it off the rack. Lost a few precious seconds there. This sport was my worst. Always with the excuse of lack of practice plus the seat was extremely uncomfortable. I didn’t wanna invest too much on the bike as I intend to get a new one in the future.
Now I understand why cyclist love hills. What goes up, must come down. You suffer cycling up, but cherish the speed on downhill. It gets kinda boring on flat road coz all you do is cycle cycle cycle. My bike comp went “gila” showed 18km when I cycled 33km.
Run (7km)
Running had always been my forte. I’m not fast, but I’ve confidence in it. Sufficient water stations to go around, to drink & also pour over your head. At this time, the sun was already up-high. The sunscreen I applied would have been wiped out during the swim. An extremely flat route around the empty land of Calypso Bay. 7km worth of roads & 5 U-turns. I was able to “cut” a few of the athletes who passed me during the cycle.
I was glad that I didn’t give up. I wasn’t worry too much on the time, just completing it. I was just sore that we didn’t get anything out from it, other than the experience. No finisher medals nor shirt. No certificate also. Sigh….for such an expensive race.
Quite a number of my team members, the Croc Squad received placing for their Age Group category. There was even a Weight Category. I found out that there were only 2 ladies in the Open Category. Damnit!!! Should have remained in the Open, then no matter how slow I was, I would have taken 3rd placing. I went for a 10minute massage ($1 per min, only $10 in my pockets). The cycle took its toll on my knees & butt.
Hannah & I stayed till around noon to give support to the Half Ironman participants. I slept on the way back, recuperating for a Raya lunch waiting for me (see JOTR-Raya in Brisbane).
P/S : It has its advantages being the only Asian in the squad. I can dubbed myself as tourist, being the only unofficial photographer around.
