I know I made it sound really simple and some of you may misunderstood that because I'm a good swimmer I don't take it to heart that it is a Olympic Distance Triathlon.. It is still a big challenge for the untrained people and a strain even to the well trained ones. A 3.5hrs to 4hrs affair is as long as a marathon can take you.. So make no mistake, I am concerned for you guys, to say the least.
Remember that you need to have different things to focus on to drive yourself to perform continuously. Read my previous post on what "doing your best" is about.. Then formulate a strategy on a piece of paper and read through it. I do that for ALL my races, from 50m freestyle sprint race to my marathon to my half iron man.
Don't leave anything to doubt or guess work. Cover every single possible detail you could manage to think of. Once you do that, you'd have "gone through" the race once. Read through it several times whenever you have free time and then write down KEYWORDS that your mind can easily remember and think of during the race to remind you of what is next to come and expect.
Here's my very simple try. Mind's shutting down after training in the hot sun in the afternoon, so bear with the mistakes if any.
- Race day, wake 4hrs before, finish breakfast, do all tagging.
- Reached Race venue 2 hrs before start. Nerves creeping in stomach.
- Unpack things at transition area. Rack bike, place helmet on aerobar, shades, bike shoes, bottles, run shoes, socks. Fingers cold -- > Remind warmup will cure all coldness.. =)
- Take goggles, swim cap, Anti fog, apply anti jelly fish sun block.
- Take small expendable bottle of H-TWO-O OR water and gel.
- Recce Bike in, Bike out.
- Recce Run in, Run out.
- Recce Swim start, Swim exit, Swim route - How many buoys are there out there and divide equally to the distance (200, 350, 200) so you get some pacing knowledge and know how far you've covered. The math will take away a lot of anxiety and worries.
- Warmup at sea. Check Tides and Current. (Porpoise, 3-4x20 strokes out easy, Moderate to Hard come back) Make sure goggles don't come out when porpoising.
- Start of swim, everyone will be rushing, I stay cool and calm from start to first turn.
- After turn, I ease into my rhythm with the waves.
- Sight frequently (Every 4-5 strokes if choppy, every 8-10 if not) and conservatively, don't come up too high if not needed.
- Do not follow crowd unless in lead pack. (Even if in, check once in a while, maybe leader HOLLAND.)
- Upon exiting the first loop, walk 5-6 steps or more.. don't run immediately as blood is in the top of the body and you will cramp up easily. The run will not earn you much time unless you're chasing lead/draft pack.
- DON'T BE SHOCKED IF YOU GOT INTO THE NEXT WAVE'S START. Handle it calmly and watch where the main crowd go, if you are a flanker, FLANK ACCORDINGLY. Nobody will penalize you for staying on shore for a longer run across the beach to get yourself into a more comfortable position to swim.
- Repeat same strategy and find rhythm ASAP in second round of swim.
- Once out of swim exit, walk a little, then jog.. If need be, walk up the ramp. Across the bridge then jog down slowly. It's gonna be WET, SANDY AND PAINFUL a little bit.
- Into the transition area, get your HELMET FIRST, then bike shoe then bike and drink on the bike if you are aiming for timing, else drink then go. After 1.5km of swim, will be a little disorientated and getting a sip on the bike may prove a little more difficult to balance than whatever you've experienced before.
- Push the bike out to the mount line and mount and go.
- Start with easy gear for first 2-4minutes. Ramp up gradually to your Time Trialing gear if you're aiming for timing. Else just keep shifting to a gear you can hold at 85-95 RPM according to how you feel throughout the race.
- It's 6 rounds, if you have a speedo, press LAP on every time you pass the bike out.
- Every 15minutes DRINK SOMETHING.
- Every 60minutes, eat a gel.
- POINT OF CAUTION: when you pass the bike out, most likely they'll make you do a U Turn near the toilet area. It is really pretty tight if there are more than 2 bikers turning with you. Last year, they placed COOLING WATER SPRINKLERS AT THAT CORNER. (Like What the.....).. so it was slippery also. JUST BE PREPARED. I saw NUMEROUS CRASHES at that area.
- POINT OF CAUTION 2 : They may make you do another U turn at a LONG KANG, if that happens, it is EXTREMELY TIGHT. Only 1 biker will squeeze through. Reason they gave was they don't have enough fundings to get another chip sensor to spread the whole width of the road. Ridiculous but true. BE PREPARED TOO.
- POINT TO DRIVE THROUGH: ECP IS JUST NOT A NICE PLACE TO TIME TRIAL.
- Upon finishing the 6 laps of biking, dismount at the dismount line else you'll be given some 10seconds penalty I think.
- Get the bike on the rack THEN remove helmet.
- Change into running shoes, go for an easy 10km run. It's 2 loops of 5km, I assure you it'll be H.O.T. But I'll be there. --> Got link meh? =p
- That's all, for my simplified version of race day draft.
Cheers
KK
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