My first Duathlon!! Some tough sh*t. No joke.
I couldn't sleep the night before even though I was really tired after a long day of floorball. I went to bed around 10pm after fixing up my bike and getting my shoes and clothes all ready. But after turning and tossing for almost 3 hours, I still couldn't fall asleep. My heart was beating so fast 'cause I was super anxious about my race the next day. Haha. First time ma. And I was all alone.
Long story short, I didn't sleep much. Woke up at 4am, and my heart beat even faster than last night. So fast I bang sai-ed twice before heading out. HAHAHA. Super kan cheong I tell you.
I reached the race site around 5:30am, but it was already peanut butter jam packed. And after seeing how professional and muscular everyone looked, I felt so intimidated that I wanted to just go back home. But then I look at the little biceps and leg muscles I have, I told myself, "I can do this!". =)
Our Chief Minister, Mr. Lim Guan Eng was there to flag us off. And I tell you... I waved at him like a crazy girl. Hahaha. 'Cause he was standing only 1 meter away from me!! Hahaha!!
My first 5.5km run was strong. And easy peasy. Came back to T1 and prepared myself for the bike leg. A friend of mine, Dexter who is a professional triathlete in Singapore told me not to go too fast in the beginning of the bike leg as my leg could easily cramp up after the first run. So I went at a comfortable speed, and eventually picked up pace. Of course, the steep climb at Teluk Bahang Dam and the 800meter climb didn't make life easy for my legs, but surprisingly, I pedaled fine. Probably because I was familiar with the route so mentally I was prepared for it.
And you have no idea how fast I rode downhill. I checked my speedometer and I actually hit 47km/hr!! Now that I think about it, I really thank God that I didn't crash, and am still in once piece, with my teeth and face still attached. Phewww.
The one part that pissed me off a little was when the volunteers taking care of the traffic yelled at us to pedal faster, as some cars are waiting for us to pass. In my heart I was like "Dude, do you know how hard this is and we are actually going as fast as our legs could?" =.="
[Thank you Velocipede Works for the photo]
Then came the toughest part of all, the final leg. The gruesome 10km run that felt like a never ending one. After entering T2 and dropping my bike and changing back into my running shoes (Oh oh!! I tell you. All triathletes and duathletes should invest in elastic shoe laces!! SOOOOOO convenient!! Ok. Back to the story), I grabbed my Powergel and some raisins, and off I went. The first 2km was good. Then came the pain in the muscles slightly above both my knees. It keeps cramping. And it got so bad I couldn't even walk, not even slowly. Each step I take, my legs go jelly, and I will tend to drop straight onto the floor. Probably muscle fatigue. =( So I walked really, really slow. Like snail speed slow. =(
I finished the race eventually, time was so sucky I don't feel like telling you now. HAHA. Okay la okay la..4 hours and 20 minutes. I took a really long time for the last 10km. Close to two hours. My legs just couldn't go on. Next race!! I promise I'll be more disciplined, stronger and fitter. I pwomeessee. =)
[Post race kek sai smile]
[My skin tone literally went from fair (2nd line) to brown (6th line). Haihhh.]
But the best part of this race, is meeting a friend I haven't seen for 10 years!! =)
[Meet Christine!! Haven't seen her since highschool.]
It is indeed an amazing experience. And I know it sounds crazy, but I'm looking forward to the next triathlon. But firstly, gotta get my front crawl fix! =)
Yours,
