2023 IM703Vietnam by Leo
Leo is one of the most dedicated triathlete in the club, he got the speed on the bike and run, and he keep working hard to change his swim stroke and rhythm relentlessly. 95% completed of his 5 months training plan enable him for this wonderful experience in first IRONMAN 70.3, it also once again proves his competence of owning the trophy of 2022 Sonic Improvement Award!
Waking up at 3:30am, with terrible sleep quality, I started gobbling the bread I brought from Hong Kong which is the same meal I had before every Saturday ride in the past few months so my stomach is well adapted to the meal, with a few extra bananas.
Swim:
Swim has never been my strong suit, that’s why I have no pressure at all. I tried to stay relaxed during the whole swim leg, imagining I’m swimming during a vacation in Maldives, but of course in Maldives I won’t be kicked and pushed by angry swimmers so hard that my goggles got knocked off twice. During the whole swim I keep reciting what coach Andy has told me – “個人拉長啲”, “比心機呀LEO”. The water was choppier than Shek O.Getting out of water was hellish as the current is so strong it pushed everyone to the lane and I got stuck at the same place for a whole minute, struggling to get out of water. All the struggling near the shore made my thighs cramped a little but it went away quickly. After the swim I was thinking “Now the hard part is over, here come the easy part!”.
Room for improvement: As coach Andy puts it “swim more!”
T1
T1 was smooth due to the fact that we’ve practiced transitions numerous times. Seeing many bikes sill on the rack thinking “My swim is not too slow after all!”. The mounting is not as smooth as I’ve expected probably because I am still tired from the swim.
Bike
I’ve been pointed out by coach Charles several times that I pushed too hard in both bike leg and run leg, so I kept reminding myself “don’t push”, “stay relaxed” and “you’re nobody” which worked quite well. My wattage was kept between 100-140W on flat and 200ish when climbing the bridge. Average cadence was around 87rpm. Climbing the bridge was easy and I passed quite a fewguys effortlessly. Guess climbing is my strong suit. Even though I was not that thirsty, I still took a bottle of drink or electrolyte in every aid station in preparation for the run under record high temperatures. Met some Sonic teammates including Jerry, Karim and Maggie and chatted with them a little bit. Headwind in Danang is a piece of cake compared to what we’ve encountered in Sunny Bay. In the last 5KM my hamstring was on the verge of cramping, so I slowed down a bit to let my body rest before the run. I was quite surprised because I’ve never cramped during my Saturday long ride. Guess it had something to do with the hot weather. Other than that, the bike leg was a bliss.
P.S. Made a serious rookie mistake during the bike leg. I didn’t read the racecourse thoroughly before the race and at some point I stopped and asked a crew for direction which took me 1-2 minutes. For a while I was super panicked that I’ve ridden too much or not enough until I saw the 70KM sign which was in line with my watch’s figure. I will not make such rookie mistakes ever again…
Nutrition: 4 x gels
Room for improvement: Memorize the racecourse
T2
Spent double the time in my T2 than my T1 to let my body rest a bit and to make sure I am fully ready for the run leg. Re-applied sunscreen, drank 500ml water, worerace number and race belt. Saw Charles and gave him a high five to boost our morale. And then proceed to the real challenge – run leg.
Run
The first 18K of the run was quite a bliss. Saw Gigi cheering for me in the first K and reminded me to speed up gradually which warmed my heart. I replied “大把貨!” to cheer for myself. Thanks to the reminder, I was able to keep a relatively stable pace of between 5:40 to 6:00 in the first 18K. Most importantly, I was able to keep a happy face during most of the run leg and made some weird pose in front of the camera. Met some Sonicsand cheered for them as loud as I can to boost morale and wake myself up. Every aid station was like an oasis and I tried to put everything they gave me to my mouth. I lost count of how many gels, salt tablets, watermelons, and bananas I have devoured.
The last 3K was like running in a desert with an empty tank and no Oasis in sight. I can almost see my childhood flash back in front of me. As Charles said it was a mental game. I thought of my girlfriend who was waiting for me at the finish line, my family and my dear Sonic teammates. Kept telling myself I was almost there although the almost felt like eternity. When the ironman flags and carpets became visible, I felt pumped so I started to do my signature sprint-like-there-is-no-tomorrow finish. I was probably sprinting too fast the cameraman only captured me before the finish line but not at the finish line. And because of the sprinting my glute cramped a bit but guess it was worth it.
Nutrition: 2 x my own gels, 1 x energy bars, countlesswatermelon, bananas and gels from aid stations
Room for improvement: Slow down at the finish line and think of a better finishing pose
In Short
The race was super enjoyable and was challenging enough that I felt immense sense of achievement. I was officially hooked to the Ironman race, and I can proudly say I am not afraid of heat anymore! It’s not only the race that attracts me, but also the food, drinks, parties and friendship built all along. Glad to have raced with fellow Sonics!
Special thanks to Charles who designed an amazing training programme that fits perfectly to my work schedule and doesn’t stress me out. Thanks to Gigi who cheered for us throughout the whole race under scorching heat. Thanks all lovely Sonic teammates for cheering during the race. Finally, thanks to my girlfriend Rainbow who almost got heatstroke cheering for me. I could not have made it without the support from you all.
