Terence : D-day account

The 2008 Langkawi Ironman race was flagged off at 7.30am, half hour later than customary. We were told the day before that ESPN Sports will be covering this race and morning doesn't break until around 7.15am. Also, the age-grouper would start 15 mins after the pros.

Our gang were all at the transition area at 6am. Usual fare : weigh in, body marking, fill up water bottle, pump up tires, warm-up, queue up for toilet, etc. MC announcing the numbers of participant from the 38 countries represented. One visually handicap participant from Japan, one with prostatic leg, two on hand-powered bikes. There was a absence of usual pump-up music as it was prayer time for nearby mosque.

3.8km swim
0700 hr. Slipped into the super calm sea for warm-up swim. Watched the pros pushed off at 0715. I floated on my back near the start line, eyes closed, appreciating the restful moment, minutes before the start of a long, long day.

0800 hr. Half hour into the swim. By now, have settled into some rhymn : 6-7 pull, sight. Fixed my sighting on a tall white building in the distance. Once in the while, got caught in a pack which make my strokes choppy and I have to swim away. Compared to my last race, I was doing my sighting much more smoothly, thanks to my swim coach, Bernard. But where is the 1.9km u-turn bouy?

0826 hr. Finally, I was making the turn at the half way. Glanced at my watch and was dismayed I took 56 min. I have to catch up to better my timing from last year. The swim back felt better - I realized I forgot to kick as I was getting caught in the pack in the first half, which I duly corrected. I sped up a bit towards the end. As I walked up the ramp, I was happy to see that I finished my swim in 1:36 hr.

I made it a point to transition fast this year. No more change of clothes - one suit all the way. No gloves. No socks and shoes on the bike. Look around the tent for familiar faces. Spotted Enrico, and then Roger. Downed a powergel, strapped on number tag, helmut and eye shade and I was off.

180km bike
Saw Luan (here's her blog) and the supporter at the bike mounting point. Heard her cheering "Well done, Nai". I slipped into my shoes as I rode out into the main road. Passed Seaview Hotel. Bridge. Right turn. Left turn. Enrico passed me. Then the much anticipated 10 degree Lisram Highway slopes. Blood has not quite got to my leg yet (from horizontal swim position) so the climb up the first slope was shaky. Down slope at 50km/hr. No brake this time - need all the momentum to get to the next big slope.

Next is the "PIE", the 6-lane East-west express way leading to airport. Passed a local school and received cheers from the school children. Nice. I was reminded of the two big hills from our recce the day before. These hills are not as steep as the one we encountered in last year's route (when a number of people were walking up) but it was longer and combined with cross winds, it was a silent killer. By now, Roger has passed me. Man, he was fast on the bike.

Made the u-turn at the second circle (timing mat) near the airport and then turned left to Ulu Malacca Road ("CTE") that led us to the almost northern tip of Langkawi, Tanjung Rhu beach. This stretch is mostly flat and I tried to keep to my cadence of 95 rpm. Saw Luan, Jennifer and Jimmy at the beach, cheering and snapping pictures.

Made the tight u-turn and passed the timing mat and back-tracked down south for the next segment. Saw Chris Oh earlier just before the u-turn, about 500m separating us. Half hour later, caught up with Chris. "Go, go" he told me. At "PIE", turned left towards Kuah town and was immediately faced with a big climb. Urg...

Few rolling hills later, came to Kuah town, marking the end of first loop. 65km done - 115km more to go. Back on west-bound "PIE" again and start of loop 2. Saw Ping passed me. She is a chilly-padi on the go. I remembered our first half-ironman in Desaru in Sep 06. She finished way ahead of us (in the same league as Boon Pin) and she ran with me to the finishing line.

By now, I started to experience a small stomach cramp. Oh no! Bad memory of last years' stomach cramp came flooding back. I prayed that the cramp would go away. Head winds, combined with the slopes and mid-day heat were telling my body (who was in turn convincing my mind) to give in. Told myself to get over the PIE, which was bare without trees.

On the north-bound "CTE", my stomach got worse. The word DNF was now written on the wall. I remembered my Endurolytes (Salt and electrolyte tablets) which I brought along without planning to use them - I never had to use them during training. Nothing to lose, I popped two tablets and prayed. And I recovered after 15 min. So they are right, you really need those pills.

Finally, loop 2 was over. By now, my body got the message : you can't quit. I looked at my Polar watch and was lifted in my spirit. I had a shot at sub-7 bike split (last year was 7:06).

On the third and final loop, I began picking up speed (I think). I was spinning faster, closer to my target cadence of >95. At some stretch, I was doing 110 even. On the stretch back to Kuah town, I took the risk (of thrashing my quads) by climbing out of saddle. This is what I experimented after watching a few elites rode past me : as you approach the slope, you pick up speed, then as your speed drops, drop down to one gear (heavier) and then stand up and climb using your body weight to maintain the momentum, which hopefully will bring you to the top.

Eight and a half hour later, I gladly handed my bike to the volunteer (thank you so much, all the volunteers) at T2. I was doing better than expected, up to this point. I entered the transition tent - no familiar faces. Have not seen Mecca (Michael) and Logan yet. Took sometime to splat on the Sunblock, wear my socks and shoes. Another pack of gel - my ninth or tenth pack. Strangely, I didn't find the gel so repulsive this race.

Luan and Jimmy met me outside the tent and we posed for a picture. Luan passed me a Kit Kat and off I went. The start of a marathon. 42.2km to go.

42.2km run
The marathon route was exactly the same as last year's - four laps of 10km each. Strangely enough, I was actually looking forward to the "jog" down the memory lane. I spotted Logan and Halil, outside their condo, looking fresh from shower and clean clothes. They must have DNF'ed and their sufferings have ended. I couldn't quite figure out if I was feeling sorry for them or for myself.

As I turned into Jln Air Hangat - the 6.5km stretch where car fumes mixed with oxygen powers your leg muscles - I saw Roger Chow running towards me. Also saw the guy with prostatic leg, who already has one rubber bangle on his wrist (one bangle per 10k loop). Also saw the visual handicap athlete from Japan and he was guided by a Malaysian runner who had to clear the way by uttering "excuse us".

There were drink and food station every 1km, so I can look forward to 42 buffet helping along the way :-). I finally met Michael, at half a kilometer after the u-turn, which means he was only 1km behind. (Can you imagine that Michael was a 20-stick-a-day smoker, non-active guy just 3-4 years ago.)

Somewhere in the second loop, I saw Ping and Jimmy was accompanying her. I later heard that Jimmy ran almost 30km all in all. (What's love got to do... got to do with it)

I tried to keep a pace of 8km/h or 1:15 hr per 10k loop but found that to be too ambitious. After the first lap, I had to stop at every aid station to get the anti-cramp sprayed onto my quads to relief the pain.

Luan came back with her jogging shoes on my second lap and accompanied me from Seaview hotel to Condo Istana. That boosted my morale. On my third lap, I asked Luan to buy the deep heat rub for me - didn't want to waste time going to the medical tent anymore. She did so many "domestique" work for me that she later wondered how I could have done this without her last year.

On my last lap, I told Luan to wait for me at Seaview. The plan was to run up to the finish line together. It didn't quite work out as she couldn't catch up with me and she didn't want me to slow down. Looking back, I regretted that I didn't slow down for her. (That means we have to do another Ironman - Ha Ha).

SWIM 1:36:56 BIKE 6:51:47 RUN 5:48:06 OVERALL 14:29:59 POSITION 292

Second-time Ironman.