Ironman 70.3 Singapore 2011

Today is one of those days where making it back to the finish line was good enough for me......it was plain suffering out there!:( My legs felt like cramping the moment I got out of bike transition and it took a while for me to shake off that wanting-to-cramp kind of feeling in my hamstrings. Initially, my quads (vmo area) also felt like someone was stabbing a knife into it with every footstrike that I took, but that subsided after a while. I spent a lot of time walking today. In fact, I dun think I ran more than 100m at a time after I hit lap 2 of the run! After a while, I kind of just gave up trying anymore and just walked. Normally, if I see people cheering, I would force myself to run, but I was so totally out of it today I just could not be bothered anymore. Mentally, I was not really into the race. In fact, I told Des that I was thinking of withdrawing from the race a few days before, but that would have been a waste of the entry fees. On hindsight, I think that it is a very bad idea to do a half-ironman distance race for the first tri race of the year. Ideally, it would be good to do the shorter races first, and sort out all the problems before moving to a longer and more difficult one.

On a happier note, I am quite happy with the bike time and an ave. speed of 39.1kph for the first 30k. Hey, maybe I can break 1 hour for a 40k time trial! That has  been a longtime goal of mine! My cycling has seen a breakthrough this year, and I feel that the main reason for it is consistency. Every Saturday morning, I am busting my guts out trying to keep up with the faster riders from Anza, and that has made me a stronger rider. Those sessions where I ride off the back of the fast Changi or Kranji rides, yet still keep up with them for the entire ride also gave me the confidence that I can ride well.

For the last couple of days, I have been thinking about not racing triathlons for a while. Save for a short period between 2001 and 2003, where I din race much, I have been pretty active in the local tri scene since 1997. I dun know why.....maybe it is the troubles in my personal life that is draining me, or maybe I am just getting old:( I just feel that I dun have the desire to put in the dedicated training anymore. I still want to be fit, and fast, but I just dun feel like racing. Maybe this is just a passing phase, and will get better in time to come. Maybe I should join a trg group; it would be easier to motivate oneself when there are other people around. Maybe, i just need a break. Maybe, I should try something new, like focussing on running fast for a 5/10k, or maybe take part in my first cycling race.