Ironman China account by Edwin

For the Swim:-
I was totally lost and disoriented in my swim. I did not clear the 1st buoy, and only to realise that the current was sweeping me off my general direction and heading me towards the 2nd.
The 3rd buoy was a pure luck it was purely river current that does the work. Also the canoeist was calling us to turn immediately to head for shore. From 3rd to 4th buoy, was the toughest journey. It was like swimming in endless pool until I realise that people are walking faster the I could swim...So walk lah!
For 2nd loop, smarter this time...just swim up stream and let the current do all the works. Again upon returning back to shore, it was like swimming in endless pool. Increase my cadence and managed to clear it..

For Bike:-
Initial 10 km was bad. My muscle had cramps. This tells me that I need to do bricks. Then it was ok thereafter, but the head winds took a toll on me. I am not too particular about the hills as it is doable even without compact cranks. I should not have change to compact crack and stick to my Q-ring.

For Run:-
I still have the energy left after my bike as I did conserve it, and pace myself well agaisnt the heat. But I was simply too sleepy to run and decided to seek the company Andrew, so that the journey isn't as boring. Then we caught up with Joe. That was were we decide to end together with Mark.

So in summary..this was indeed a tougher course.
For me the difficulties comes from :-
1st) Strong river current.
2nd) Long headwinds for the bike portion.
3rd) The heat is unbearable hot even for a seasoned every weekend Desaru like myself.
4th) The lack of sleep...this is the most important.

I will train harder and be more prepared to overcome all these 4 obstacles in my next Ironman race. I am glad that I did not DNF and am also glad to have the company of Andrew, Joe and Mark for the grand ending..

So should we do PutraJaya or Desaru Long Distance, or both.
And where is the next nearest Ironman?