Monday, November 12, 2007
Alfred Racho's account - Punta Fuego Tri
75 brave souls took the great challenge of the Terrazas De Punta Fuego Triathlon Invitational.
Look the at the finish times, guys. The difficulty of this race compares to that of O2 and half IM.
Still haven't figured out what to call this race….any ideas?
“The country's toughest triathlon race”?
“The Philippine Extreme Triathlon”?
“SavageMan - Philippine edition”?
Congratulations to all participants! Thanks to Lanco Pacific for hosting this race! Thanks to eNAV for handling all the non-technical aspect of the race!
Below is Alfred Racho 's account of the race…..an enjoyable but tiring read (make sure to warm up and ready your PowerGels before starting to read). Thanks Alfred!
WHAT A TRIATHLON!!!
Wow! Now THAT'S a Triathlon!
(I know a post like this belongs to a blog-type site, but since I
don't blog...)
The event held at Terrazas de Punta Fuego is not your run-of-the-mill
triathlon, that's for sure. From the beautiful waters to the
monstrous bike and run course, it was a challenge that really tests
you.
PRE-RACE
I had gotten up early (4 a.m) so I could munch on something and get
some calories in my body -- I knew I was gonna need it. A protein
shake here with additional carbs, a drive-thru at McDonald's for a
Sausage McMuffin with Egg (okay, not exactly athlete-food, but
Sausage and Egg are protein, and the muffin was carbs, right?), and a
Power Bar as dessert -- a nice hearty meal by 5 am, so that should
give me four hours to digest it and convert it to energy.
It was a nice drive up Tagaytay (or rather, a nice RIDE, since I
decided at the last minute to hire the services of my sister's
driver, so I could rest a bit going to TdPF, and definitely rest
after the gruelathon.) I had already re-conned the course a week
back when I was on vacation at Matuod, and I knew that even with a 34-
27 chainring-cog combo, I was gonna have a hard time. In fact, I
knew I was gonna dismount and walk parts of the bike course. Maybe,
if they do this again next year, when I'm fitter and about 20 lbs
less, I might have a chance of actually staying in the saddle the
whole time.
Once I got to TdPF (a little past 7 am), I told my driver that we
should drive around the course, just to refresh myself. So, instead
of entering TdPF, we went all the way to the turn around point of the
bike course. On my way back, it was SOOO HILARIOUS seeing other cars
re-conn the course as well -- you knew they were doing just that,
because even through tinted glass, you could see bikes inside the
vans/cars/pick ups.
But what was even more amusing was the wide-eyed faces you could see.
There was the "Oh-My-God-What- Did-We-Just- Sign-Up-For" look plastered
on everyone's faces (on mine, too, even considering that this is the
SECOND time I'm checking out the course!) There was a look of
disbelief, nay... a look of FEAR on their faces. Everyone (well, the
Elite guys and gals excepted, I guess) was fearing a DNF, or fearing
the lack of capability to finish this Monster Course.
MORE PRE-RACE
I finally decided to head back to TdPF to do the "drop off" thing,
because after 8 am, cars will not be allowed to go down anymore the
1+ kilometer from the Guardhouse to the Clubhouse -- not exactly what
you want to do when you're carrying your bags, bike, and, in my case,
mini-cooler. As soon as I got down and parked my car, this nice young
lady asks me if I just want to do an Aquathlon instead (because if
she is able to convince 10 people, then TRAP could organize an
impromptu Aquathlon).
Down near the clubhouse, you could get a whiff of the smell of over-
used brakes and clutch linings -- if the vehicles were having a hard
time stopping, I wonder how we would cope? And you could also feel
the tension in the air. The "Oh-My-God" look was not diminished when
people were alighting from their vehicles. I saw a friend of mine,
Paul, drive down, looking for parking. He also still had the OMG look
and shaking his head after apparently just finishing checking out the
course. And he was doing the OLYMPIC distance, too!!! [I had
originally signed up for the Olympic Distance, but after checking out
the course a week prior, promptly emailed Kath Rabe frantically
asking her to downgrade me to the Sprint Distance.]
THE RACE
(Sorry, Olympic Distance Guys and Gals, this is just the Sprint).
THE SWIM
This is the first time I have swum in open water, so I didn't really
know what to expect. I had improved my swim time for the 950m AAV Tri
last June from a little under 23 minutes, to a little under 19
minutes this October, so I knew I had a good chance of hitting 14+
min for 750 meters here. But I didn't take into account buoy sighting
(and heck, SHORE sighting) as a necessary skill -- I kept on going
off-course! I knew I was gonna zigzag my way up the bike course, but
the zigzag in the swim was purely unintentional! I was running second
in the swim to Jerry Santos (what a fast swimmer!), but in the end,
with my tiring arms and lousy navigation, ended up with a swim time
of 15 min and change (I probably lost half a minute to the navigation
issues, and happily lost 3 seconds or so saying HI and waving to a
person in one of those lifeboats and taking pictures -- who could
resist a pose, yeah?)
I felt bad for Jerry who got a DNF because his bike flatted. I think
he prepared and planned well for this triathlon, making sure he
packed his MTB instead of his road bike (roadies were really looking
for "grannier" gears). However, he was first in the "sumptuous
Spanish lunch."
(Thanks, also, Jerry, for giving me a lift up to the guardhouse area
before the race started).
Towards the end, the water got shallower (duh!): too shallow to
properly swim, and still deep enough to discourage running. I thought
I had this great idea of jumping up and down like a porpoise -- until
someone told me that was not an original idea at all, and it's called
dolphining. Ah, well, I thought it looked cool. 5th out of the water
for me (but that's because the elite guys and gals were all in the
Olympic), so I was pretty happy with that, but disappointed about my
lack of navigation skills (where are those lane markers and lane
dividers when you need 'em, eh?).
I had practiced Transitions for my second Tri (the one in AAV last
October), because in my first ever Tri last June (also in AAV), I
thought I lost a lot of time in the transition area. However, today
was not a day I was gonna do fast transitions -- this time, gloves go
on (just in case I fall, and need my hands to stop my fall in one of
those fast and slippery descents), and I was taking deep breaths for
the ordeal to follow, which was...
THE BIKE
Just before parking my bike on the Transition Area (pre-race), I had
warmed up a little by biking up the steep incline wearing my crocs
(actually, I have "crooks" since I didn't want to pay the premium of
purchasing the real thing). I also wanted to see how my shiny new 12-27 cogset was gonna work (I just got that this week, to replace the
11-23 my Merida 904 came with). And this mated with a 50-34 Compact
Crank, to boot. During the warm-up, I thought, "Hey, it looks like I
could do this!" as I made it up to the rotunda. However, I hadn't
swum yet, so maybe that was optimistic -- but I sure could use the
optimism.
Anyhooo, as I got to the dismount area, I noticed that my heart-rate
monitor was still putting me in Zone 4/5 (and this already with the
brief rest after the swim via a slow-ish transition). Ah, well, as
everyone was saying before the race, "Bahala na si Batman!" Still, I
mounted, and thought that I could do this, at least the first climb.
However, 30 meters from the mount area, I was zigzagging my way (to
lessen the incline) and I hit a slippery, moss covered area, and
promptly fell over!!! Ack! I quickly got up; pride hurting more than
the slight bump on the knee or whatever bodily part I decided to land
on (also, "Yay!" for wearing gloves!). BUT, now I couldn't mount! The
incline was simply too steep to preclude any sort of inertia or
momentum to mount and pedal away. So I had to walk up -- too bad,
since I still had energy at that time to have actually pedaled up.
So, dang, lost half a minute in the swim, and probably 2 minutes
right here. I don't mind losing time because I ran out of gas, but
these things do bother me a bit. Ah, well.
I don't recall if I dismounted on the other steep part going to the
guard house (hey, I dismounted so many times during the course, it's
hard to keep track). I probably did.
So, everyone knew the course was difficult, but I did manage to stay
on the bike until the turn around point. In fact, I overtook someone
on the descent on the way to the turn around point, which was
surprising since I'm not really a cyclist (i.e., still developing
handling skills), but since I re-conned the course, I was mapping in
my head where to brake, slow down, take the apex, etc… I guess since
I'm also a wanna-be car and kart racer).
At the turn-around point, when they offered me water, I pointed to
the back of my bike and showed them my NeverReach teardrop water
bottle (plug: www.neverreach. com). Naks! And so, I started biking
back. I even dared to go to the big chainring at the start of one of
the descents.
But, towards one area, I was speeding down a not-so-dangerous curve,
when I hit marbles on the road (sand, pebbles, etc). Ahhhh! I tried
controlling the bike, but it was skidding under me. What was funny
was that I was on the INSIDE of the curve, so lots of room to escape,
really, but the marbles just made me lose control, and then I hit a
rock, I think, and BAM! Wipeout!!!
Some people were walking up with their bikes on the other side of the
road, and one lady started saying "Ay! Mukhang ayoko na lang!".
Someone slowed down a bit (the guy I overtook on the descent on the
way to the turn around point, I think) and asked if I was alright. I
could just nod, but I really wasn't sure yet.
Anyway, blood was all over my left elbow, a little on my knee, and my
bum felt bum. I got up, a bit dazed, and proceeded to check myself. I
was already thinking of waiting for backup and just getting a DNF, as
I did get a real scare.
However, after reading all the Ironman stories (yeah, I know, I'm
just doing a Sprint, but still…), I've heard competitors say "There's
only two ways outta here: the finish line, or the ambulance!" And
that thought was in my head.
Broken bones? Nope. Bike intact? Check. Wheels still true? Check.
Right… one nasty gash isn't gonna stop me now, right? After a quick
inspection and finding out that I was still in one piece, my thoughts
were really on the bike, the helmet, the clothing: is this gonna cost
me money?
As I looked at my bike, I realized that my neverreach bottle lost its
cap (but I found it right away), but all my liquid was gone! Hu hu
hu!!! I had put 1000ml of Gatorade mixed with more sugar (glucose,
actually) to keep me hydrated and energized for the whole gruelathon!
Was I gonna bonk? I think, in the end, the Sausage McMuffin with Egg,
which were contemplating going down to the intestines, were called
on, too: much like Army Reserves, I guess. :)
Well, I mounted, checked to see if there was anything majorly wrong,
and finding none (none major, anyway), proceeded to pedal away.
The rest of the bike was fairly uneventful. I was on my feet pushing
the bike most of the time after that, and the descents were taken
much more slowly. At one point, in this draft-illegal race, I was
drafting on this pretty young lady, Marichu Rojas, for about a few
minutes, staying inches behind her wheel. Hey, we were walking,
heheh. She did point out that I had to let medical check out my wound
(she was one of those who saw me slide and fall on the bike).
Going down TdPF from the guardhouse to the transition area, I knew it
was slippery, steep, and the curves were sharp. I was looking for the
patches of road where there was no moss towards the end, and really
being careful not to slip. Well, I made it to the dismount area, and
was happy to make it back in one piece.
As an aside, my driver, who was enjoying the race, told me that one
guy who was biking down was going too fast and was shouting "Saklolo!
Walang Preno!" and four guys, my driver included, caught him and
averted a disaster.
After the dismount, people were telling me to be careful going to the
Transition area, and even told me to hold the brake levers and brake
a bit while WALKING down. True enough, the wet asphalt was very
slippery, and I had to take ginger steps.
THE RUN
After placing the bike on the rack, I got a few swigs of Gatorade
(which I reserved for the run), put on my shoes, and started running.
Uhhhm… sorry, walking. Well, I did run the first 20 meters after the
rotunda, as there was still a crowd… but as soon as I disappeared
behind the trees, where no one can see me, I started walking.
But actually, while I was leaving the transition area and about to
start the run, Ms. Kaye Lopez was just about to finish! WHAT A GIRL!
She was the first to finish, and the next one to do so (a guy), was
half-an-hour behind her. Looking at her split times after the race,
no one, but no one, was even close to her bike split AND her run
split. To top it off, there she was, crossing the finish line, big
smile on her face, and looking FRESH AS A DAISY! Now, that's not
really fair, when everyone else was suffering like a dog, now is it?
And here I was, haggard, bruised, wounded, and still about to start
the run!
The run was actually more uneventful than after my fall on the bike…
it was a walk-run affair. I was targeting running it in Zone 4 of my
heart rate, and I had no trouble doing that – because even while
walking, I was still in upper Zone 3 and 4!!! Walking! I was slowly
catching up to my friend, Lenard, and in the Tri last Oct at AAV, I
overtook him in the last kilometer, and I was gonna go for it again.
In the other side of TdPF, what was killing me, aside from the hills,
of course, was the heat! I could only imagine what the Olympic
distance guys were gonna go through (and they were still on the bike,
too). Lenard said he had problems with his knees, so I thought I
would get him on the downhill portions.
In fact, going to the clubhouse, I was about 20 seconds away from
him, and I was thinking, that's it, I'm gonna catch my friend! To my
dismay, he started running faster. I was already running out of gas,
and just got fully disheartened at his increase in pace, that I
slowed down to a walk, knowing that I wasn't gonna catch him anymore.
(After the race, he said he didn't actually run faster, but fell down
and had to turn his legs over faster so as not to flop on his face).
His 20 second lead became a full minute at the finish line.
When I finished, I had this pained but satisfied look on my face. I
was just sooo happy to make it to the finish line.
POST RACE
Nothing to tell, really… I swam in the sea for a bit (the old wives'
tale of saltwater being good for wounds and all), and actually felt a
bit fresher and cooler after that. Exchanged stories, swapped lies,
and had a few laughs with friends. Took a shower, changed into street
clothing, and had my road rash treated and dressed. Went for the
Spanish lunch, and sat down one minute with Leo and Hiro, hoping some
of their speed and endurance would rub off to me. Took the shuttle
back up, and decided to call it a day. On my way out, I could still
see Oly-distance athletes running in the intense heat, and all I
could do was cheer for them.
It was a fantastic triathlon, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. If
there's a next time, I'm gonna attempt the Oly-distance, and bring
the family to stay over. Would I change anything that happened?
Naaah. The mis-navigation in the swim is a learning experience, and
the wipeout during the bike gives me this nice souvenir (tocino elbow
and forearm) to show to the family: war wounds you wear with pride.
Sure, I would have shaved a minute here, or there, but maybe the fall
allowed me to get some rest, and who knows, maybe I gained time there
on other parts of the course.
Thanks, TdPF, TRAP, and Mon Marchan (and Kate, too!) for a wonderful
experience. Thanks also to the medical crew who attended to my
wounds, to the marshals for being there, and the guys at the water
station for giving us the much needed H20.
And thanks to everyone I met: my friends who were there, and new
people I met: Jerry, Dodjie, Marichu (are you really inviting me to
the Fitness First team? Heheh), Leo, Mark, Marco… I'm sure I met more
people, but I channeled some brain cells for energy as I was pretty
tired at the end.
Until next time!
.