Overdue Philippines 70.3 Update

I planned on traveling through hong kong and singapore in November, but was moved up to August because of Cobra Ironman 70.3.

Before boarding the plane in Manila, volunteers tagged our bikes and helped us with the check in procedure. after the short 1 hour flight to Naga, we were greeted by a BAND and DANCERS! This first impression was only a sign of things to come. Once entering the airport, I was greeted with a Pili Nut Necklace which was probably hand made by a volunteer. I handed my baggage tag to a volunteer who helped to locate my bike, and load it onto the hotel shuttle bus for me.

The volunteers gave SO MUCH of their time to make this event a success. Most Triathlons in north america have volunteer positions for a few hours at most and struggle to fill all the positions. There were Philipino volunteers working from 7am to 10pm for 5 days straight! I was unable to stay at the Camsur Watersport Complex where the majority of the athletes stayed. In a way it was a blessing since I got a chance to walk around Naga and experience the Philippino culture first hand. I found a local bakery which i visited every day. There were no descriptions as to what was inside the buns...so each day I tried something new. The girls behind the counter were amazed at the Philippino looking, english speaking Chinese guy.

There were 400 racers, which was the largest race every held in the Philippines! (update the 2010 race doubled in entries which is a true testament to how great this race is!) There was so much excitement leading up to this race and the organizers did an amazing job of promoting this event. With registration, we got a carbo load dinner and awards dinner.....which put this race heads and shoulders above IM Calgary. The swag also included 4 t-shirts, several re-usable bags and towel. Being a smaller race, we were able to interact with the pros. They were all such normal, nice people!

The night before the race I had a horrible fever. I didn't sleep well and was worried that I'd have to drop out of the race. I think the fever was from jumping into the AC after sweating hard in the 34 degree weather (with high humidity). I popped some tylenol race morning and seemed to be okay.

Swim felt great, I was worried since it was a non-wetsuit swim (warm 30 degree water), and was fresh water. Luckily I survived the swim and was able to draft off others. Usually I just go my own pace, and work on my own, so my tactics are getting better.
Time was 47:35 which is slower than Calgary, but considering the non-wetsuit swim, I was quite proud of it.

Bike was super super Flat which should have been an advantage for me since the Philipinnos thought it was 'hilly'. However, being off the bike for 2 weeks left my legs lazy. the first half felt okay, but I had no energy for the way back. The streets were LINED with kids, teenagers, and adults from local villages. They liked to chant "ironman ironman go go go!". It was quite adorable and helped to keep me going, but still was the most difficult ride to date. I kept telling myself that I would ROCK the run and that by going slower on the bike I'd have more energy. Time was 3:12:00 which I'm not happy with.

Transition to the Run was okay, I started slow and controlled but the 37 degree heat eventually got to me. The aid stations, and villagers dumping water on me helped, but I still walked every km (every aid staiton). I did not ROCK the run like I planned. Final time was 2:26:00...but this time includes T2...and maybe T1. I wasn't happy with this either....since I never run at a 6:56 min/km pace. It's almost embarassing to say that I"m a runner.

All in all, it was an amazing experience. My only regret is that I didn't get to SEE more of the Philippines. In a country made of 7000 islands, I didn't see the Ocean up close, in the form of scuba diving, or being on a beach. There are many natural beauties, such as volcanoes, chocolate hills (that's right!) and coral reefs.