Subic Triathlon 2009

The biggest Subic International Triathlon event (SUBIT) was held last Sunday with over 400+ participants. What’s new about it was the swim part, which was done at Dungaree Beach, instead of the usual beach at the Boardwalk. This was a welcome change as Dungaree offered clearer waters and a much pleasant swim. The consequence of this was that there would be two transition areas: T1 at Dungaree Beach and T2 at the Boardwalk area.

For the first time, we managed to catch the pre-race briefing and dinner. After getting our race packets and getting some food, Butch, Jerome and myself settled into Legenda to prep our bikes.

We woke up at 3am, had several peanut butter sandwiches, proceeded to bring our stuff to the T2 area, then went to T1 to unload the bikes. The additional complication here was that I had to bring the car back to the Boardwalk area, since I didn’t want to go back to T1 after the race. Good thing JP Dy offered his driver to bring us back to T1 from Boardwalk, which after this whole operation, we got to reach at 6:30 am already. We just had enough time to do some warm up and settle down. Mental note: next time bring a driver.

By this time the elite men had already started their race, followed shortly by the female age group and the team relay. The adult male age groupers started at 7am. Imagine 200 participants trying to paddle and splash their way through in a small area, and so it’s not a surprise why everyone describes this as being in a gigantic washing machine.

I positioned myself at the back, and managed to settle into a comfortable pace just before the turn-around. One thing that worked for swimming in a crowd is that I didn’t have to do as much sighting, since i could follow the swimmers ahead of me and at my side.

I tried to enjoy the clear waters, the corals and some fish life, when I was jolted by the dark abyss that suddenly appeared. Good thing this was already near the turn around, which provided some comfort that I would be back to clear waters again. I was quite happy with my swim, in the sense that I felt comfortable all throughout. Maybe I just need to improve my kick. Mental note: Be serious with the drills.

After 2 swim loops, it was on to T1. My swim time: 43:18. I rinsed myself at the showers, put on my socks, bike shoes, helmet, visor (I decided no gloves this time). Then off to the bike.

The bike route went up the hills almost immediately. I found myself already huffing and puffing in short order, with a couple of athletes overtaking me. Mental note: get some serious hill training. And shed those extra pounds fast.

Halfway through the ascent, it was quite a sight to see the first riders going down at breakneck speeds. The striking thing was that all of them had wide grins, or maybe that was the wind plastering their faces. In any case, the rest of the ride was quite pleasant, the slow ascent being compensated by the fast descents after the turnaround.

As I approached the boardwalk area, I could see most of the triathletes starting their run already. And I still had to make another 10K bike loop! Luckily, I still had a few guys in company so I had better just get on with it.

I finally got into T2. Bike time: 1:49. I changed socks and shoes, had a few gulps, then sped off for the run. Or maybe it was a fast walk. I could not make myself run faster. The hot blazing sun made it worse.

As I began my first loop, I was wondering why it seemed I was suffering more in this race, compared to previous races. Could be the new age group I’m in . Most certainly it was the inadequate training. The second and third loops were even harder and it seemed longer, seeing almost everyone finished already. I had to run-walk at the 4th loop, but the thought of nearing the finish made me pick up the pace. My run time: 1:19.

I finished in 3:51, certainly not my best time, but the thrill and fun (ok, more like relief) of finishing was there as it had always been.

Race results here.

Subic O3 Triathlon 2008

Last Saturday, I was at Subic to join the Standard Distance Triathlon, a side event of the O3 Asian Long Distance Triathlon. The plan was to leave early afternoon on Friday to have plenty of time to settle down. Between one thing and another, however, I was only able to leave Makati at 6pm that Friday; it took me about 2 hours to get to EDSA Kamuning where I was to pick up Butch, who was doing O3, and Chelo. At Shell Balintawak, we passed by for Laarni, also doing the O3 distance. Poor Laarni, she had to wait a couple of hours for us. It was already past 9pm by then, and with a quick dinner at Shell NLEX, we arrived at Subic already past 12 midnight!

We brought Laarni to Subic Homes where Team Fitness First was billeted, and we proceeded to our hotel, the Legenda. It took some time to settle down and prepare our stuff for the next day’s event. I got to sleep at 2am, while Butch didn’t even get a wink!

I was up at 5am, proceeded to the transition area and had myself body-marked. By this time, the O3 swim event was about to start, and the participants were hurrying about to get to the beach. I did a warm-up swim trying to get to raise my heart rate before going back to the transition area. While waiting, I was chatting with some of the guys, one of whom was fellow tri-blogger Levy Ang.

The swim started unceremoniously. There was only one wave for all the O1 participants, which is a first for me. At least I wouldn’t be starting at the last pack. There was the usual chaos at the start. I couldn’t see the line marker; it turned out that somebody was stepping on it, and actually trying to walk on it!

One thing I noticed, the waters were clean. No floating particles, no stinging on the skin. I’m guessing it’s either the rains washed clean the ocean or they fixed up the old leaking sewage pipes by the beach, yikes (I saw a construction sign at the beach announcing it). Anyway, I labored through the swim, in the process bumping O3 participants on their 2nd or 3rd loop, and tired swimmers hanging on the floaters. I managed to finish in 45 minutes, fifth to the last, but at least I was 5 minutes faster than last May.

The weather was actually good for the race. There was some slight rain every now and then but the day was completely overcast, the sun not appearing at all. It would have been perfect except for the wet roads. I sped to the transition area, put on my gear, and off I was on the bike. I don’t know why, but for me this triathlon had a just-another-day feel about it. Perhaps because I had raced on this course twice already. I felt good on the bike, trying to go a little above 30 kph before going up the hills. I should have done some hills training, but then this was no time to complain. I passed by a triathlete fixing a flat by the roadside. By the time I came back from the turnaround, there was a second triathlete on the same spot with a flat as well! The roads were wet, and I thought how dangerous it was running at 55+kph, rounding a curve, and trying to overtake. By the time I came back to the flats, I still had some energy to do some sprinting to the finish line. I finished at 1:30, just about average for the race.

The run was pretty uneventful. I did my 4-and-a-half loops, trying to chat with fellow triathletes along the way. I saw Laarni pass by on maybe her 2nd O3 bike loop, still fresh as a daisy. To think that this is only her 3rd triathlon, the first one being White Rock last year, and the sprint at Subit last May. I finished the run at 1:03, quite surprising for me.

One thing about this triathlon was it was covered by a team of professional photographers led by Jun de Leon. In fact, each finisher had a solo picture taken by Jun de Leon at the finish line.

It was my fastest triathlon so far. I managed to get within my 3:30 goal, finishing at 3:23. I guess it was the cool weather that made it possible.

After a quick shower at the hotel, I had lunch with Chelo at Pancake house. This time the O3 participants were starting their run. Matt (the eventual champion) was speeding around the loop, and we actually saw him zip by 3 or 4 times, that was how fast he was. We waited for Butch to appear, which was around 1pm already. At 30 km to go, I estimated it would take 3-4 hours still. I dozed off at the hotel, woke up feeling refreshed and went to the finish area.

Rick Reyes was there, still doing the announcing chores, but after 10 hours of doing that, looked as if he had done a long distance triathlon himself! I was chatting with a girl, who did the bike portion of their relay team, and who had an unfortunate crash. Turns out that it was Marga, gutsy girl, still up and about, cheering on, hematoma and all.

Laarni soon appeared at the finish, flashing her winning smile, followed shortly by Butch, who somehow bonked at the 2nd half of the run, but still managed to finish (inspired as he was) with enough energy for a victory celebration. This was truly an Ironman feat!

It was a quite long day; by that time, most of the O1 participants had gone, and there were just a handful of people by then. I guess it takes as much stamina for the spectators to watch as the triathletes to finish

Next stop: White Rock!

Click here for race results.

A nice account from Ricky Ledesma can be found here.

Some photos from Chelo.

Additional: photos from Leo Castillo (part of Jun de Leon’s team)

Open Water Dread

Subic O3 is coming up in Aug 2 and I’m signed up for the Olympic distance. This will be my 4th open water triathlon, yet I still feel the trepidation of swimming on the sea. My first open water swim was a sprint distance in Subic 2 years ago. I had trained for a freestyle swim but ended up doing breaststroke for the most part. I had a better swim at the Punta Fuego tri last year, basically doing freestyle most of the time and resting by doing breaststroke in  between.

Compared to Subic, Punta Fuego is almost like a swimming pool with its clear waters and shallow beach. Subic’s deep, dark murky waters, and the numerous floating tiny sea creatures floating, adds to the dread of swimming in it. In my last tri last May in Subit08, I had a panic attack, and briefly thought of quitting the race! I was at the halfway mark of the first leg; my heart rate was shooting up, and I was coughing up seawater. I actually looked at the beach wanting to go back, but realized I had gone too far already to actually quit, so what the heck, might as well complete the swim. From that point, everything was OK. Not that I was gliding through the waters, I was more like trudging through it. The second loop was much smoother as I settled on my own pace, and the main pack had gone ahead.

Which means that it was all mental. The thought that kept me going was the fact that I knew I could do the distance, as I had done it numerous times on the pool. Training really does count! And so off to the pool to do more laps for the race this Aug 2; hopefully by then I would have conquered my open water demons

Subic Triathlon 2008

Last Sunday I managed to complete my second Olympic distance triathlon. I struggled at the swim, and did a decent bike and run, good enough to land me at the bottom 15! I finished with a time of 3 hours, 40 minutes, but I guess the most important part was that I was able to do it feeling comfortable the whole time.

We set out for Subic on Saturday afternoon and arrived early evening. We spent the night fixing our stuff, attaching the race numbers and energy gels on the bikes. We woke up at 4am, went to the transition area, and had ourselves body-marked.

Our wave at the swim portion started at 6:40 am. This was the biggest wave, the 30-39 age group. It was a chaos at the start, with about 80 bodies trying to hurtle past each other. I was a bit disoriented on the first loop, choking on seawater, and feeling my heart rate race up because I didn’t warm up. I felt better on the second loop as everyone settled at their own pace, which for me meant being at the last. By this time, the last wave consisting of the women, had also started. As I floundered through the waters, I could see female bodies gliding past me. At least I still had company. Mercifully, I emerged out of the sea after 49 minutes.

By this time, I was at the end of my age group wave, and practically joining the women’s group. Same story here, I felt what it was to literally eat dust as the women athletes sped past me. In any case, the bike was best part for me. It was a good thing that we had scouted the route a week before.  At least I knew when the uphill stage was going to be over. It was pure pleasure going downhill, as we were racing down at speeds up 55 kph. I finished the 40K bike in 1 hour 37 minutes, with just enough energy to finish the 10k run in 1 hour 13 min.

From subictri08

Race results can be seen here:

More pictures here: http://arnik.multiply.com/photos/album/14/SUBIC_INTERNATIONAL_TRIATHLON_2008_40_photos

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nikilangit/sets/72157605023926126/