A tough but good race. A feared swim course, deceiving “flat” bike course and uphill run lasting for nearly 15kms provided a good challenge. The weather in Melbourne is famous for being unpredictable and we exactly got that. 3 days before the race, it was warm and sunny but come race day it was cold and windy ..really windy which made it much more challenging . Well, who said Ironman was easy J . But I still managed to attain my Personal Best (PB) of 13hrs 41mins. That sums up my experience of Ironman Melbourne 2014.
Here is the highlight video from the race. Watch the sea of swimmers descending the waters at 1:05min of the video. Truly amazing!
Preparation for Ironman Melbourne 2014
Having finished a marathon on the first week of Dec 2013, I was recuperating from the hard run and I was getting worried about clocking enough mileage on the bike and swim before the 23rd March race. I thought of experimenting with a minimalist training program as I was struggling for time. Somewhere in mid Dec 2013, I realized that I had only 15weeks to train. OMG!
Given that I had totally neglected the bike and swim during my marathon training, panic was setting in. Have I become more complacent? Or is ironman fatigue setting in? Would I have enough time, or energy to train ? How about time with family and what about my work? Panic and doubts.
As I looked at my previous ironman training plan and compared them with other plans, one thing stood out . Key workouts. I had to focus on key workouts and drop workouts that was not helping me. Getting my bike fitness and swim fitness back on track became the key focus.
My buddy Kana had just finished his 3rd Ironman race in Western Australia with an outstanding PB of 11hr 57 mins and therefore had a good base to work on. So I had a lot of catching up to do.
As the weeks went by, the bike fitness seemed to come back a lot faster than I had expected, Thanks to the group ride with the Tri Makkals and Kana. But I seemed to be struggling with the swim, My buddy Kana had just finished his 3rd Ironman race in Western Australia with an outstanding PB of 11hr 57 mins and therefore had a good base to work on. So I had a lot of catching up to do.
The ironman swim is psychologically the scariest but the “shortest” among the 3 legs. As the days went by, I started focusing on the “smoothness” of my swim stroke instead of mileage. That proved itself to be a good decision.
Pre Race
The “Fab Five” contingent from the Singapore Athlete Lab was represented Teo Seow Hian & Teo Yep Min, David Chee, Kana and myself (Ramesh). Angelin is our race manager, driver, advisor etc .. Such a great help . Thank You Angelin for making all the arrangements :)
We were greeted by nice sunny weather 20C in Melbourne on few days before the race. “This might turn out to be an ideal race weather” we thought to ourselves. The weather forecast for Sunday 23rd March was to be partly cloudy with temperature from 18C to 23C. Perfect !
But Melbourne weather patterns lived up to its famous reputation. 2 days before the race, the weather forecast was revised to be cloudy with southerly winds and temperature ranging from 11C to 18C.
All of us stayed near the race site at Beach Motor Inn, Frankston. The motel was about 10min walk from the swim & bike start. The practice bike ride on Saturday morning was the coldest ride we had so far. The southerly winds were coming in hard chilled our arms as rode for 30mins. The thought of riding 180km in these condition literally sent a chill down our spine.
Fortunately we were able to buy arm warmers from Jones Cycling Store at Frankston and some of us had warm wear to keep us from freezing during the race. Lesson learnt. Always have a Plan B as anything that can go wrong will go wrong.
As we headed to the Frankston waterside for the practice swim, we realized that there wasn’t any organized swim session on Thursday or Friday . We were left to our own devices and we approached the freaking cold waters with much reservation. We spotted a few brave souls swimming near the Frankston pier and stayed together with them .. Safety in numbers J . As our eyes scanned the clear waters and fairly shallow waters near the pier, we swam till the end of the pier which was about 300meters out from the beach front. Swim practice done. Whew !
Later that day we went for a short 30min run to just jiggle the legs.
Race Expo
St Kilda is a pretty place with nice cafes, waterfront activities and good looking people. We descended the race expo with our cameras and credit cards to go on a shopping spree and oh boy… we shopped. Our pockets slightly lighter and our hands heavy with all the merchandise, we headed for race briefing.
Dinner was at Asian restaurant and all of us were decked out in Singapore Polo T shirts. That felt really good to be in a group and wearing our country colours and flag.
Bike Check in
The day before the race, we checked in the bikes and all the bags (Run, Bike & Street) and left the bikes parked in the transition area. It always amazes me to see all the high end tri bikes and all the fancy carbon wheels and equipment. Wow, this is bike porn at its best !
I got pulled over by firstoffbike.com photographers who were highlighting age group bikes and was lucky to be featured on their site. Below is the photo that was published.
Race Day
Alarms were set for 4:30am but it wasn’t till 5am that I woke up. My buddy Kana was first to be up and I had to drag my sleepy ass to get ready. I usually transfer all my race jitters to my buddy and he worries on my behalf. 5:45am and we were out of the door taking the slow walk to the race jetty.
A cool breeze greeted us at the beach, cloudy skies threatening to pour and 2000 anxious people waiting at the beach fighting the cold and nerves. An explosive avalanche of power was awaiting to be unleashed and the trigger is the start horn …… No turning back now.
The swim turned out to be better than I had expected. Being one of the last to descent into the waters, I tried to find my space and navigate through the buoys and the sea of kicking limbs. . With all the splashing and kicking, it became increasing difficult to see or swim through the crowd. I tried to find my rhythm and sight the buoys as I swam. As I turned the last corner, I looked at my watch and thought … I might get a good timing. It turned out that I did swim faster than my previous races .. 1hr 27mins for 3.9 km.As I ran to the change tent, with my arms up in jubilation, the race just started for me and my buddy Kana. I met Kana at the change tent and he had done a 1hr 26min and we were so happy to see each other there. These are the beautiful and reassuring moments of the race, to see your buddy and friends at the change tents, race course and aid stations.
Words of encouragement, complaints and hope all shared within those precious seconds as we pass by each other. Change of clothes and bike in hand, I rushed out to start my bike ride. Encouraging crowds calling out your name and cheering gives a nice push and off on the bike we go.
Bike course – 2 loops of 90km ride on Eastlink highway. On paper, seemed like a flat course. As I rode the first 45km, I reached average speeds of 35km/hr .. Not bad .
At the end of the 45km ride, we had to ride through a descending tunnel that took our speeds to at least 55-60km/hr . It was damn scary. Well, whatever that goes up must come down and vice versa. The uphill climb reduced speeds to about 15km/hr . The southerly wind that was giving a good tail wind push became headwind as I turned around. Pay back time . It was very important to be as aerodynamic as possible and I had stay on my aero bars to fight the headwind. It seemed to take a toll on my back, neck and shoulders .
Loop 2 brought us back to Frankston town and back on the Eastlink highway. The wind were getting stronger as the day passed and casualties on the course were increasing . It was disheartening to see a bike crash or medical staff attending to a injured participant. Time to focus and stay safe on the bike .. There was a FULL marathon (42.195km) waiting for us. I struggled through the last leg of the bike course with the headwind howling and swaying me. I saw Kana on the opposite side of the ride and he was headed back to Frankston. As I approached Frankston, the crowd had thinned out and I returned to transition area to find almost 90% of the bike parked there. Whew!
Time check – It has been more than 8hrs since I started the race. Time to run . My left feet was hurting badly. Must have been the hard pedalling in the last 45 km of the windy bike leg.
In an ironman race, the run starts ugly and that was exactly the situation for me. I was just praying and hoping that the pain would subside. Eventually it did after about 5km of pounding the streets. Now it was time to focus on the pace (<7min/km) and 145bpm heart rate.
My fuelling strategy on the bike seemed to work and I kept to that formula. Keep a easy pace and have more solids on the first half of the race and have the gels and cola towards the 2nd half of each race leg. The aid stations were spaced 2km apart and there was ample food and drinks available at aid station. The Volunteers were amazing . They made everyone feel like a king. They would constantly cheer, call out your name , offer help, give out drinks and all that in a very warm manner. Very very touching.
In the last 2 ironman races, I always made it a point to talk to fellow participants during my run. I did this for a few reasons. It takes away the boredom and you might meet a really awesome person. It can really boring in between aid stations and that's ironman race for you. There is ample time to think. As I tried my luck with passing runners, some kind folks would engage in a decent conversation and some don't. Having a good chat seemed to make the race faster and much more interesting.
From the 7km mark to 21km, I was running with a guy named Matt who was attempting his first Ironman. I was joking with him that the race starts at 30km mark and it is all downhill from there. But as we approached the 30km mark, the run seemed to be literally going uphill for a long time. And Matt commented "who the hell said it goes downhill at 30km mark" We shared a good laugh.Such light moments really lift you up.
I saw the sun setting over the beautiful bay and the gorgeous sunset provided some relief as I pushed on. At the 32km mark, I looked at my watch and realised that I might be able to finish the race just below 14hrs and that gave me a real boost. The weather turning chilly and stomach was growling from hunger and all I could smell was hot dogs were being grilled/prepared by the supporters at the beach. What torture!
The last 15km of the Ironman run seemed to play mind games . I must have been day dreaming or rather run dreaming. I say this because ... I remember passing an identical looking blonde girl 3 times during the race. She work a black yoga pants, red t-shirt and a grey pull over. For a while, I thought that I was in the MATRIX. For those who have seen the movie, you should know what I am talking about.
Or maybe it was just a popular colour combination. As I came back to my senses, I met our local Singaporean Enrico Varella, 18 time Ironman, who did the KONA Ironman in Oct 2013. Shared a quick word with him and headed off into the darkness.
I told myself that if I wanted to go below 14 hours and get a Personal Best (PB), I had to HURT. As I checked my heart rate, it was hovering around 140bpm and I pushed it up to 149bpm. It may look like a small increase, but it could mean that I might bonk out at 39km mark and might have a good run. So I ran slightly harder than I possibly can, withstanding the cold air that was coating my lungs and making me feel cold.
As I approached the 38km mark, I noticed a slight spring in my stride and one volunteer said these magic words "When you turn the corner ahead, you will see the beautiful city view and hear the announcements, Keep Going!"
The last 4kms were amazing. I didn't feel anything but the excitement of the finish. The cheers were getting louder, the lights were getting brighter and I could hear Mike Reilly "Voice of Ironman".
As I ran down the last 500m, I vainly combed my hair with my hands, placed my bib and high fived at least 20 people as I ran down the chute. I was happy ... I had shaved off nearly an hour from my previous race at Cairns.
Meanwhile, my buddy Kana watched all this drama from the hospitality tent and came over to congratulate me on my PB. He obviously had done really well and he came in at 12hr 25mins. He looked really fresh for someone who just did a good ironman race. Well Done Buddy!
As I finished the race and sat down, the ever helpful volunteers took off my timing chip and warmly placed a towel over me and helped me to the tent, I heard a voice calling out my name. It was Matt, the guy that was running with earlier. He had finished the race just behind me and he was happy to see me and I was happy to see him finish. We wished each other and went off. Now with the big medal in my hand, all I felt was a sense of peace.
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