Six days to go until SuBIT/ASTC Asian Triathlon Championships! This will be my second Olympic distance triathlon ever, and will be my first triathlon of the year.
Before I go into how I’ve prepared for this, here are some race reminders and announcements:
- The Age Group Sprint has been moved to April 28 (Sunday) 6am to reduce the number of wave starts on Saturday.
- Race briefing for Age Group Sprint and Standard Distance will be at Harbor Point Mall at 5pm, April 27. Dinner will be served after the briefing.
- Bare torso swimming will NOT be allowed.
- The approach to Dungaree from the Airport will be closed. Pass through the NCT Road, All Hands Beach side.
- Please check out the course maps for your information.
- Verify your information on the start list.
Aside from putting in all the swim, bike, and run training, it’s always a good idea to recon the course. Since I’m the only one in Team Endure doing the race, I joined Raymond Racaza of Run.PH and “Kuya” Kim Atienza on their recon yesterday.
Our transition area at Dungaree Beach
It’s Raymond’s first standard-distance triathlon (his first tri was the XTERRA Lite offroad triathlon), and this is Kim’s second time around on the SuBIT course. Whether it’s the first or nth time, however, the twisty tricky hills of Corregidor Road always need a first look before the actual race especially if you don’t ride them often.
But before we went on our ride, Kim and Raymond did a 1-kilometer swim from Dungaree Beach. I was nursing a sore throat and runny nose from a late night at a wedding, so I opted to stay out of the water to forestall any illness so close to race date.
“We can swim to that island and back.” Just kidding.
Chilling out while the boys swim.
Both of them are efficient and fearless long-distance swimmers, thanks in large part to our swim coach Nonoy Basa. (I am hoping some of that rubs off on me! Will write more about that soon.) They were back in about thirty minutes, and we were off.
The SuBIT/ASTC bike route can be divided into two parts. The first part is one loop through the hills leading to Ocean Adventure. This is technical, requiring appropriate gearing for the uphills and control and presence of mind for the downhills.
The second part is two loops through the flats coasting down into Subic’s commercial district. This requires a lot less shifting of gears, but needs presence of mind when negotiating the sharp U-turns and counting your loops.
I’m proud to say they only needed to wait a few minutes for me after each part of the recon. But they were probably taking it easy. Haha π I also used the bike recon to figure out my nutrition and hydration strategy for the race. Although Kim said one bottle would be enough, Raymond and I realized over lunch how thirsty we were from that hot ride. I’ll probably load up two bottles with Lightwater to be sure I don’t come into T2 dehydrated. That happened to me last year and my run suffered from cramps!
Drink up, Noelle.
I guess that’s it. Now I just have to keep myself healthy until race day. Next weekend, all roads lead to Subic!
SCTEX, the road to Subic. Literally.
@kikayrunner woohoo!!! See you there Noelle π
@markhernz see you! This is gonna be fun!
@kikayrunner kinda scared at the same time excited lol :))
@ken_rhoel if I can do it, you can do it!
@kikayrunner yes! quick query, is it alright to use a hybrid bike (road frame but with flat handlebars) in a triathlon race? π
RT @kikayrunner: 6 days until SuBIT/ASTC Asian Triathlon Champs! – http://t.co/2EWF4ezP6I
@ken_rhoel yes you can use one for this race. Not all triathlons have the same guidelines though. What distance are you doing?
@kikayrunner AG Standard, you? π
Go, go, go, girl!