Ironman 70.3 2013, Cebu, Philippines Race Report

Part 2: Race Day

4:00AM our alarms went off and after a surprisingly good night’s sleep I was feeling good for the race. As anticipated it was still raining  but no surprises there. We made our way down to breakfast which started at 4:30.

For breakfast I had a selection of bakery items, some corned beef hash, fried rice and a good sized coffee. Items I had tried and tested 2 days prior so also no surprises there. From there I made my way back to the room to test my pre-race toilet strategy. Thankfully everything went to plan and feeling a couple pounds lighter, I collected my remaining items which were all packed the day before to await the bus.  A deja-vu of Phuket and Bintan appeared as Tevis, Casey and I stepped onto the bus to take us to transition – we all wondered “who had done the most secret training this time!”

When we arrived the transition area was already buzzing with many of the participants checking their bikes. It had been raining all night so bike seats were soaked – perhaps a good lesson to learn here is to always bring some bin liners to cover the bikes in case of rain overnight!

Pete & Macca’s bikes in transition

Nutrition & Hydration Plan:

From the last few Olympic + distance triathlons I have participated in I have learnt that nutrition is key in maintaining good form throughout the race. A couple of the big mistakes i’ve made in the past:

- Only bringing one flavor of Gel/ too many caffeinated Gels! – Gels can taste horrible when you are on your 6th one so mixing it up helps. Also make sure you don’t take all caffeinated ones

-  Not drinking enough. I’ve realized that I typically need about 500mls/hour during the race. And considering you can’t drink during the swim that means over the bike leg i’m drinking almost 2 litres of liquid. Now, you have to be careful not to over hydrate so find out what works best for you during training but being properly hydrated is imperative. During IM 70.3 China I was severely dehydrated (lack of drinking during bike) and barely finished the run clocking in over 2 hours 45 mins.

So what did I bring? For Cebu I brought 5 gels  for the bike which I taped to the top tube for easy access. I decided to bring all my water bottles (3) which I placed on my torpedo mount and double tail mount. My thinking here was that I would go through my first bottle quickly to make up for the swim. I’d then dispose of that and have my remaining two bottles for the race and a spare cage for an additional bottle that I would pick up during the race. For the run I brought 4 additional gels and a pack of gel cubes – the course had plenty of water and Gatorade available so I did not bring a water bottle.

Race Start!

Swim – Sea Swells, Jelly fish and kicking!

The Cebu swim is beautiful. Perhaps one of the only races in South East Asia with clear visibility in the water. You literally are swimming with the fish! It was the first deep water start that I’d done so I decided to start in the middle of the pack. I’m an average swimmer with approximately 1:50-2:00 min./100m pace – this was a mistake. As the gun went off I was caught in quite a surge of legs and arms as athletes fought to secure a clear spot. The pack did not clear up for about 1KM and several times I had to stop to try and get to clearer water. The swim felt like it took an eternity  sea swells hindered regular bilateral breathing and a couple stings on the neck by invisible jelly fish made it a less “enjoyable” swim leg. However 39 minutes later (definitely one of my slower swims) I emerged to head to T1. T1 was quite a long run I took 4 minutes in T1 and probably around 2 minutes of that was running to my bike. Coming to my bike I noticed Tevis  leaving his bike station and it appeared that Casey  had already come and gone. Knowing I had a stronger bike this time round I knew I had to use this to catch up!

Race Day was raining!

Bike –  Cross winds, drafting and rain!

The bike course takes you over the Cebu bridge onto a long highway which you double back on for 4 lengths before returning back to T2. For the most part the course is fairly narrow – this meant that in many instances it was impossible to not be illegally drafting as packs of 10-20 bikes were moving at constant speeds. Marshalls however were unforgiving and broke up backs by penalizing randomly people in the packs. Strong cross winds and occasional head winds also made parts of the course more difficult – especially for those with deep rimmed aero wheels and less experience in handling such winds. As my usual training ride in Jakarta often has cross winds I was  fortunately adequately prepared for this.

Upping my pace on the ride I decided to go above my planned speed to around 34KM/H to try and catch Casey and Tevis. However given the narrow roads I didn’t manage to make much ground until the highway – fortunately because of the turn arounds I knew that unless they had a big margin I would have the opportunity to see them. I saw them at the first turn around and this motivated me increase the pace further. Passing Casey at around KM 30 I moved ahead to catch Tevis. I soon reached Tevis and we rode together for about 3 Kilometers but as we neared the 2nd turn around I decided to use the outward bound leg and tail wind to make some ground. I accelerated to a avg. speed of around 35-36KM/H to overtake him. Tevis, with his “Macca Set” training, was a strong runner so I needed to get any advantage I could. The combination of focus on the bike in training and pushing to get more lead time on the run helped me proceed to a PB on my bike finishing in 2 hours 41 mins.

With Caroline Steffen winner of Female Pro’s

Run – cool, amazing support, hitting a wall at KM 17!

The run takes you right out of the hotel (vs. left which was the bike) towards the tip of the peninsula. The roads are lined with supporters  the entire way with plenty of hydration and cooling stations. Coming out of the run I checked my watch and saw I was running a pace of 6:00/KM. Switching to my combined time on my Polar it looked like even with a 2 hour 10 minute run I could be on for a sub 5:30 – could this be true? This spurred me on but on every turn-around I was on the look-out for Tevis who had caught me with a devastating sprint finish at Bintan. At the large turn around on the peninsula I saw him – I figured he was probably about 800M behind – I thought I was safe.

The run takes you on two loops and the race marshalls hand you a red arm band on the first and a black one for the second. Much of the run was without shade so we were VERY fortunate it was mostly overcast on the day. Things all seemed to be going well until I got to around KM 17. Suddenly my legs felt like lead and daggers stabbed my hips at each step. My pace slowed to around 6:30 but based on my watch I estimated that was still on for a sub 5:30. Then to my surprise Tevis sprinted by – he looked like he was doing around 4:30-5:00 on the last 4 kilometers! Crazy?! I didn’t try to follow and instead focused on trying to keep things together for a sub 5:30.

Coming close to the finish – every spectator and marshall seemed to say it’s just round the corner but zig zagging around the hotel grounds to the finish line seemed to take forever. I finally crossed the line at 5:40 on the official  race clock and 5:35 on my official time. Only then did i realize that the combined time on my watch did not include my transition times when i stopped my watch!! (doh!).

Tevis finished 5 minutes ahead of me and Casey with a very respectable sub 6 so a great race for all of us.

Summary:

Overall Cebu was a fantastic race – my only regret was to not stay an extra day and enjoy the resort more. The combination of the professional preparation, the “star” value with pro’s and celebrities and amazing support throughout the race make it a go-to event for Ironman in South East Asia. Next year is bound to sell out even more quickly (Fred predicts 3 days!) and will open registration in October. It’s already on my race calendar for next year but for now it’s all about Busselton at the end of the year.

Feel free to contact  me if you have any questions about the race – i’d love to share more!

Adrian

Ironman 70.3 2013 Cebu Race Report: Part 1

August 4th, 2013

Summary: This post details my experience at Ironman 70.3 Cebu, Philippines, August 4th 2013. It is intended both as a diary of my experience and also to help provide triathletes an overview of this fantastic South East Asia race.

The last 6 weeks prior to Cebu 70.3 Ironman were not optimal for training as my wife and I had our first child. This resulted in lower volume and intensity training than planned and so I entered the race unsure of how I would perform. However a resulting 5 hour 35 minute finish time ultimately served as a great confidence booster for my year end Ironman Western Australia attempt and helped remind me that it IS certainly possible to train for an Ironman and maintain a semblance of a normal life! (You can see my week by week training plans here

Arrival, Hotels, Briefings:

I decided to arrive at Cebu on Thursday – two and a half days before the race. While I was flying from Jakarta and only 1 hour time difference I felt that having an extra couple of days to deal with any technical issues and also allowing for plentiful time to review the course would be beneficial.

We stayed at the Movenpick hotel which was not originally an officially sanctioned race hotel (despite being 5 minutes walk from Shangrila Mactan – the official race venue) but was upgraded as soon as the Shangrila was full. A word of advice here for future participants would be to book a room at this hotel early in advance as once it became an official hotel it was much more expensive.

We booked a 2 bedroom suite for the 3 participants (Tevis Ong, Casey Au and Adrian Li) which was very good value. We had a sea view from which we could see the swim course for the triathlon.

Arriving two days before turned out to be a good move. Tevis’s bike unfortunately had a damaged rear drop out from the plane and hence had to go on the hunt for a spare part. Also – the entire Ironman event at Cebu is like a show and the pasta party on Thursday night was complete with fire dancers, singers and celebrities.

With the Pro’s

The fun did not stop there. On Saturday the race briefing featured Pete Jacobs giving us advice on how to deal with the heat (although that turned out to not be a problem at all!). During an introduction to the Pro’s Black Eyed Peas Ap.le.dee appeared as the “secret” competitor and sang for everyone and the National weather man provided the weather outlook. During the entire pre-race the event was very professionally organised and provided a very family friendly atmosphere for all the participants.

Meeting Fred, CEO of Alaska Milk and Sunrise Events – what started as a hobby (triathlon) has now also turned into a full blown triathlon company – Well Done Fred! Even Race Numbers were temporary tatoos vs. the usual permanent marker!

The race however would not be without its surprises. On Saturday morning we woke to a full blown typhoon storm. In what was later described as a “localised thunderstorm” we experienced a gale force winds, horizontal rain and lightening. It seemed like the much feared heat of the Cebu 70.3 would be the last of our concerns! During the race briefing the national weather man gave us the run down:

The forecast was for more rain – with strong cross winds and perhaps some sun by noon. Suddenly everyone’s concerns about heat stroke and overheating vanished and were replaced with the prospect of battling cross winds and slippery roads (not to mention sea swells on the swim). The good news however was that the race would go on and that currently cancelling any part of the race were not on the plans.

After the race briefing we were stranded at the hotel as torrential rain continued to batter the hotel. We managed to find some black bin bags to cover ourselves as we walked back to the hotel. That night we ate early at around 6PM and were all in bed by 9 thinking about what the weather would bring the next day. With alarms set for 4:30AM and all our gear laid out and bikes checked we were as ready as we could be for the big day. Next up – Cebu 70.3 Race Day Report!

Race Day!

Morning and checking in:

Bintan is an unusual race in that it starts in the afternoon at 1:45PM. This was the first race i’ve done which doesn’t have a early morning start so the early dinner preparations and bathroom strategy was not as important. That said, we were all slightly confused as to what and how much to eat for breakfast/ lunch  for the day of the race. I ended up eating half of a leftover sandwich and a couple of bananas for a late breakfast/ brunch. Weather conditions for the race were near perfect. We had an overcast day which blocked most of the sun but it was still warm enough to dry up the rain that had fallen earlier in the morning. So we headed to the transition area at around 10:30AM to set up. Transition area was quite spacious – in total there were supposed to be 600 competitors but apparently only around 500 competitors turned up for the race which is always comforting to know with the mass swim start. During the transition we practiced the the T1 exit. After picking up the bicycle from T1, competitors face a steep uphill climb of around 100 meters to get out of the resort area. In fact, you mount on a slight incline so you have to make sure that your bike is already in a low gear. Speaking to past participants we heard that spectators often gathered at the exit of T1 because cyclists often fell over in this area when struggling up the hill – especially if they were not in the right gear! So practicing this segment was a priority on race day to avoid embarrassment!

Checking out the swim start

Race Start: Swim: 1.5K – 28+mins

In my past triathlons I had always started on the outside at the back of the swim. The swim start of a triathlon is a melee of arms and legs thrashing in the water. It’s the only part of the triathlon I always get nervous at and so before i’d always start at the back to try and get my own space. This time with the increasing “friendly” rivalry with my friends Tevis and Casey and newcomer to our trigroup Dave I decided I would try starting midpack to get more of a head start. The strategy paid off as I emerged first out of the group (although I did not know it at the time) but this definitely resulted in a tougher swim. Instead of having a clear lane when starting out at the back I was fighting my way with and through swimmers all around me for at the first  3/4 of the 1.5KM swim. Several times I swallowed sea water but fortunately my goggles did not come off. Later I learnt an important swim draft fact – that the best place to draft is off the the side of a swimmer by their waist – NOT right behind them as I had been doing and getting kicked in the face!

‘doh! Casey’s water bottle springs a leak!

Bike: 40K – 1hr 11+mins

Coming out of the swim I knew I was in the top 1/3 from looking back out on the people still out on the swim course – this boosted my confidence and a friend standing by the T1 entrance, Eng Kim , told me I had a sub 30min swim time confirmed this. So running through T1 I quickly slipped on my shoes (no socks), helmet, glasses and wheeled my bike onto the course. I quickly settled into the bike and aimed to keep my avg. speed around 32-33KM/H. Since my bike refitting I was a lot more comfortable in aero position and this was perfect for the rolling course. I didn’t see any of my competition during the entire cycle and was beginning to think may be I had the lead. But turning my focus on my own race and knowing that hydration was key to a being able to maintain my pace during the run; I ensured I kept drinking during the bike every 10 minutes. In all I estimated an intake of around 2.5 litres of Accelerade during the bike.

Run: 10K – 50+mins

The run course follows a path around the resort with short hill climbs, forest runs and beachside paths. There were a number of turn arounds that let’s you see the pack of competitors up to 100m behind you. In all it is a two lap course ending at the transition area so plenty of spectators to cheer you on. My legs felt okay coming out of the bike and I immediately went into a 12KM/H pace for the run. However watching my HR creep to 180 (it had been around 175 for the bike) I wondered if I could keep it up. At the same time checking my watch I saw total elapsed time of 1hr 41′ out of T2 and although I fancied a shot at a sub 2:30 time; I was already on course for a PB (previous PB was 2:48) by a wide margin which I would be happy with. Then my inspiration came – during the first turnaround I saw Tevis coming up behind me looking strong. He’d clearly done a lot of work on his running with his “Macca sets” and was less than 10 seconds behind. I resolved to run faster and tried to increase the distance between us. Each lap there were 2 turn arounds and each one I estimated that I had may be gained a second or so. As we came out of the second turnaround on the second lap and with 2KM left I felt that I probably had him as I could no longer see him. I was wrong. in the last kilometer I decided I would do a quick check and there I saw him – he’d massively increased his pace and had strategically saved up to sprint the last 400m! By then it was too late at around 200m to go he flew past me to finish just 5 secs ahead.

Tevis with his 5 sec lead!

Super fun race, beautiful course, well organized (great marshalls!) will be back again next year!

All in all it was a great race – made even better when we found out later in the race results that Tevis had received a 2 min. draft penalty bringing me back on top! Both Casey and Dave finished sub 3 which was remarkable given it was Dave’s first ever triathlon. Casey – clearly resting on the laurels of his Phuket victory has work to do for Cebu! (or significant upgrades to his bike!).

Tevis after 2min penalty!

The best post race nutrition – beer n burgerts!