First Half ironman race (2012)

First Half Ironman race
With a few triathlon races under my belt, it was time to go the "distance" ... with the Half Ironman race.  1.9km swim in the sea, 90km bike and half marathon(21km). Daunting task.

Training Plan & resources
Went straight to library and i borrowed some good books on Triathlon. I chanced upon Joe Friel's "The Triathlete's Training Bible".
http://joefriel.typepad.com/blog/books.html

The book was very useful for first timers like myself to orientate with all the different aspects of long distance triathlon racing. Correct equipments (bike, watch. goggles, trisuit, shoes), nutrition, swimming techniques, biking and racing strategies. So much to  learn in such a short time.

Phoon and myself at Aviva 70.3 Pre race briefing

The Singapore Aviva Ironman 70.3 was in March 2012 (now discontinued in 2013) and i figured that finishing it would be a great way to start my 40th birthday. So based on all the research done and books that i had read, there was a training plan ready... it required at least 12hours of training a week. Now comes the hard work.

Training Alone ?
Training alone is always difficult and if you do that, there is no one pushing, reminding or motivating you except ... yourself. So i tried teaming up with some friends who into the Tri scene and luckily found 2 buddies who were willing to train together. Phoon Teck Seng, my ex-boss,now good friend and Dan Tung, another kaki whom i got to know during my marathon training days.

There was alot of sharing of information, usually i am on the receiving end and i tried out the techniques during each training session either be it a run, swim or ride.  Long ride/run were reserved for the weekend where i was able to have a good nap/rest after 4 to 6 hours of riding & running. These long sessions were made slightly easier only because someone is riding or running along with you.
I suppose, having a training buddy or group will make the hard training much more bearable or even enjoyable