After being consumed by this race for the best part of a month I just don’t have the energy to write a race report in the normal fashion so here are some thoughts from the day. Excuse the mess…
Pre-race
- Had a crap season so far. A spring half-marathon resulted in a stress fracture, then a long & cautious recovery meant only one tri under my belt all season.
- Arrived in Malaysia 3.5 weeks before the race. Based myself in Shah Alam (Kuala Lumpur) for 3 weeks, then arrived in Langkawi Tuesday of race week.
- Reasonable build-up from a training perspective. My swimming felt average at best, but my cycling was strong and I was running in the heat ok. The heat didn’t really bother me. Resting HR & weight were stable after a few days of acclimatising to the time zone & change of diet. Lived as a guest with family for free so didn’t dare complain about the lack of aircon or lean meals…just took what I was given.
- KL weather is a little different to Langkawi. KL is often overcast and/or smoggy, it rains every afternoon so the temps cool down considerably late in the day. Langkawi has much clearer skies so whilst the actual air temp isn’t that much higher (a degree or two on most days), you really feel the sun on your skin. Riding around on a 50cc scooter is the only way to keep cool during the day.
- Race week didn’t exactly go to plan. A few workouts skipped due to time & logistics constraints, and got a little loose on the pre-race diet. Could’ve been worse though…
- 3am start on race morning. Early breakfast of oats and peanut butter & jam sandwiches. After a few days feasting on rice & roti, arrived at the race start 3 kgs heavier than normal. Felt bloated.
Swim
- 20 mins warm up, plus a few late last-minute strokes in front of the line so I could push back in and position myself front & centre.
- Gun goes and went all out for 400m / 5 mins…absolutely flat tack, arms flailing, 6-beat kick, etc.
- Settled into a nice rhythm afterwards and did some zigzagging to sit on feet, alternating to some bridging to faster feet as the swim leg progressed.
- Realized about halfway into the outward leg I was within the top 8-10.
- Turned at halfway and immediately moved into what I thought was the top 4. Damn, this is cool.
- Alternated mostly 3rd & 4th in this pod, Tomas Vonach led most of the way. Didn’t realise who it was until I heard the announcer on the swim exit. It appears from the results there was one Japanese swimmer waaaay off the front by himself. Perhaps the announcer missed him as I’m sure he said Thomas was first AGer. Who knows.
- Some aggression in our little group to find the fastest feet.
- Changed my entire game-plan now that I realised where I was in the field.
- Brief thought of going all-out for the last 300m and coming out of the water first…realised just hanging on was hard enough (and in hindsight would’ve been 2nd anyway).
- Out in 56:21…wow! 3.5 minutes better than my ambitious sub-60min goal. Rhodesy swam 49 so the distance was about right. My swimming had sucked ever since touching down in Malaysia so this was a real surprise. It was all about the first 400m.
T1
- Long shower (10-15 secs) to scrub off dirty water & sea-life.
- Took my time in T1 getting helmet/glasses, food in pockets just right. Ended up not getting it just right as half a Powerbar made its way into my shorts.
- 2 or 3 guys in & out of the tent faster than me.
- Good bike mount, up to speed & into shoes quickly.
Bike
- Realized early I was in good position and decided to ride a little more aggressively than I usually would…I wasn’t gonna finish the race wondering “what if?” given this opportunity…if I wanted to make a race of it I had to play my cards early.
- Overtook a few male AG & female pros in first 10km.
- Assumed I was leading my AG after about 20km, I was riding alone beaming ear to ear for a good half hour.
- Felt very lonely out front, just passed the occasional female pro every few mins.
- Was handed Gatorade bottles instead of water 3 times, was a sticky mess very early (used it for hydration and cooling body temp).
- Two AG cyclists rode up at about 35km, then we rode within sight of each other for about 50-60km. They were more aggressive on climbs & descents, we would catch back up on flats. Myself & another guy (an Australian judging by his kit) were doing the leading…the third guy just rode legally in tow. Would’ve been the smart option but there were sections of the course where I wanted to up the tempo and see if they could hang on. Gotta make hay while the sun shines.
- Didn’t notice positioning of Special Needs station on the first lap.
- Looking around for it on second lap and only noticed it on the end of an aid station…flew right past it when I was counting on the nutrition inside. Adjusted my nutrition plan on the fly…had a backup Clif bar which I resorted to, and took a gel from an aid station.
- Missed both Gatorade and water at about the 110km mark, rode with no fluids for about 20 mins over the hilliest part of the course. Just nibbled as much dry Clif bar as I could stomach.
- Big gears & low cadence throughout. Most of the ride in the 53x13, a lot of 12t gear too. An 11t would’ve come in handy. Cadence average was likely in the low 70s (no speed/cadence/computer…just HRM). Only spun up the steepest climbs (x 2 or 3) in the small ring.
- The short loops were a lot hillier than expected. Just over 1000m climbing which isn’t a lot, but the climbs whilst short were very steep. A few people walking them even from early in the race. Must’ve been doing well under 10kmh on the steepest.
- Passed through halfway in 2:23…whoa…starting to think I might pay for this later, but better make the most of it now
- Stopped for my Special Needs bag on the 3rd loop, grabbed my new gel flask, my new hydration/calorie/sodium bottle and sandwiches. Ate a peanut butter and half a marmite sandwich. Lost the two AG cyclists mentioned earlier and never saw them again ‘til the run.
- Bike course started to get congested lapping back markers now…spent the last 80-odd km just zipping past people. Caught & passed a few male pros towards the end.
- Second 90km at 2:26ish so kept similar speed throughout…might’ve actually gone a little faster than the first (relatively) as the second half was all small loops…ie, the hilliest parts of the course. There was also the complete stop for Special Needs.
- Knew I wouldn’t be running a 3:30 marathon with that bike split. Ended up going 4:49:41…holy sh*t…epic ride but at what cost?
T2
- Legs wobbly off the bike. Oh crap.
- Sat down and took my time in T2. Pulled a smeared Powerbar (yes it was a Powerbar) out of my butt-crack…I had Gatorade, Powergel, Powerbar, snot, sweat and god knows what else all over me…what a mess.
- Came out of the tent and no-one around…wasted about 20 secs asking for directions until someone noticed me and told me where to run.
Run
- Immediately started eating a Clif Bar and downing salt caps.
- Wanted to run the first 10km as slowly but efficiently as possible (hence the eating to slow me down)…got a feel for the layout of the course a few km in and changed that to the first 14km (one third).
- Just put one foot in front of the other with very little push-off or knee-lift…had a real Kona shuffle going on.
- There were aid stations every km and for the first lap or two I got anything I wanted…grabbed full bottles of water, and when my hands weren’t full, iced sponges, a Powergel once, orange slices about 3 times, a banana once, some sports drink half a dozen times, etc…there was no plan to the run hydration/nutrition apart from coke and only coke in the last half…just grabbed whatever I could, the dominant features being bottled water & salt caps (must’ve taken 40+ in total on the run). The aid stations got a bit chaotic towards the end with runners going through in both directions and kids from the local villages trying to help but getting it all wrong. They meant well though and I made a point to thank them each time…most of them got a surprise and kick out of me conversing in Malay.
- Got to 14km in about 1:15 so thought that wasn’t too bad…still moving at a decent clip. Definitely no 3:30 today but might sneak a 3:40-3:45 which wouldn’t be bad given the conditions. Decided to keep the same slow pace to the halfway mark, then it was all downhill from there (figuratively).
- Got to halfway feeling pretty spent. Grabbed the second container of salt caps at Special Needs. It was overcast for what felt like a third of the run, and felt a few spits of drizzle at one stage…really didn’t want that because it would mean a more level playing field for the other foreign athletes and I felt I had an ace up my sleeve with the 3 weeks training in Kuala Lumpur pre-race acclimatizing to the heat & humidity. Fortunately the drizzle only lasted 5 mins and it was back to clear skies
- Started looking at time splits. Ok, what was feasible? Doing the sums I couldn’t believe what my watch was telling me…a 3:45 mary = 9:3x? No way…I’m not a 9:3x athlete, am I? Wasn’t gonna accept a blow out with a 4+hr marathon so 9:5x wasn’t gonna cut it. If I paced very conservatively I had a shot at 9:45. 9:45 was beyond my wildest dreams going into the race but very very achievable now. 9:45 it is. Get to work, get it done.
- All that deliberating slowed me down in the third quarter…it wasn’t a good one and a few AGers started passing me…both for overall and a lot just starting their mary.
- Running style was getting very laboured now. Just counting off the k’s, running as slow as I could to reach the amended goal.
- With 9km to go (one full lap) I knew I wasn’t gonna falter now. Figured I’d definitely be in the mix for a podium but didn’t have any spotters on course nor kept a close eye on race numbers as they passed (they actually number you rather than write AGs which makes keeping tabs on the competition a guessing game).
- Just kept running.
- Final quarter was pretty good…the last 5km seemed to be at roughly 5 min pace by my watch. I think smiling is more aerodynamic at those speeds…you couldn’t wipe it off my face
- I finished the run in 3:51:43. Not the run I wanted, not how I envisage the end of a good race, and it’s not the year-on-year improvement in my swim/bike/run balance I was seeking, but it was all I deserved for riding the way I did.
Finish
- Saw my Dad and my girlfriend off to the left of the chute so high-fived Dad and gave Alex a big kiss before crossing the line.
- Needless to say I was overjoyed crossing the line. A few feelings of disappointment with my run split, not that you could tell from my face.
- Didn’t actually see the finish time until I stopped my watch a few seconds later. Started my watch well before the gun so I wasn’t sure the exact time. They still had the pro clock showing 9:58:xx so I guessed it was 9:42-43ish.
- It was actually kinda lonely on the other side past the tape. Not too many athletes milling about like I’m used to.
- Asked around for the food & massage tents. Food choice was poor so I just ate icecream. The icecream was good. Had a quick (clothed) shower then made my way to the massage tent. Wow. OMG…the absolute BEST post-race routine ever. I never have massages so to me this dude was a freakin machine. Wow. I got off the table stumbling around after my legs had been mauled, prodded & stretched for a good 20 minutes. One of the highlights of my day
The Aftermath
- Didn’t stick around long.
- Picked up the bike & bags and threw everything in a taxi van home. Had a quick shower back at the hotel then went back to the race area for dinner with Dad.
- By now I still didn’t know my finish time or placing. After dinner we went back to the finish line and watched some of the 15(ish)hr finishers. I looked around to see if results were posted but no luck.
- Thoughts of stopping at an internet café evaporated as quickly as our energy so we jumped on the scooter and headed home to sleep. Had enough IM stuff for one day.
- I had a restless sleep and was up early on Sunday.
- We got a few texts from the night before and Alex checked them in the morning.
- The best was from my neighbour…“congrats on your win”. WHAT?!?!
- It seems I won my age-group.
- Hang on…I won my age-group…I won my freakin’ age-group!!! Couldn’t believe it so I had to see for myself.
- I got Alex out of bed a little early (sorry) and we headed down to Starbucks to use their wifi.
- Sure enough, there it was on screen. 9:43:00.
- I led my AG wire-to-wire and won by over 11 mins with the fastest swim, fastest bike, and fourth fastest run (at 3:51 that’s saying something about the conditions).
- 24th overall.
- Damn, just damn.
- It hasn’t really sunken in yet, still pinching myself.
- Not much more to say…here are some pics instead:
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s179/show_pony_photos/traveltoMalaysia253.jpg
Nervous excitement…a long day ahead
**
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s179/show_pony_photos/traveltoMalaysia260.jpg
The swim was a out n back one loop affair…non-wetsuit with tropical water temps
**
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s179/show_pony_photos/traveltoMalaysia269.jpg
Head down tail up all the way
**
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s179/show_pony_photos/traveltoMalaysia271.jpg
I chose this photo from less than 1km into the run…it’s the only one showing respectable form 
**
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s179/show_pony_photos/traveltoMalaysia290.jpg
Still pinching myself in disbelief
**
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s179/show_pony_photos/traveltoMalaysia349.jpg
Looking kinda lost…my first podium ever…and a win no less