Ashley Liew's personal diary on the race
My half-Ironman race (1.9k swim, 90.1k bike, 21.1k run) started at 8: 20am on 20th March. I was feeling good and well-rested before the race, and was hopeful of lowering my PB of 4h 48m 40s set in 2010. I knew I was lacking in swim and bike training due to focusing on February’s Hong Kong marathon, but I was confident my improved overall fitness would see me through. When the swim started, I kept calm and did not let the aggression of other triathletes affect me. I focused on technique throughout the first swim lap. However I was shocked when I took my first lap split: around 21min, way too slow! I pushed harder on the second swim lap but was again shocked when transiting to the bike: around 45min! Some said after the race that the course was longer than usual, while others said it was the strong current. Most of the competitors had relatively slower swims too: I realized this in transition when I realized a lot of them had not yet begun their bike.
My half-Ironman race (1.9k swim, 90.1k bike, 21.1k run) started at 8: 20am on 20th March. I was feeling good and well-rested before the race, and was hopeful of lowering my PB of 4h 48m 40s set in 2010. I knew I was lacking in swim and bike training due to focusing on February’s Hong Kong marathon, but I was confident my improved overall fitness would see me through. When the swim started, I kept calm and did not let the aggression of other triathletes affect me. I focused on technique throughout the first swim lap. However I was shocked when I took my first lap split: around 21min, way too slow! I pushed harder on the second swim lap but was again shocked when transiting to the bike: around 45min! Some said after the race that the course was longer than usual, while others said it was the strong current. Most of the competitors had relatively slower swims too: I realized this in transition when I realized a lot of them had not yet begun their bike.
My transition was smooth and I began the bike strong. It was a 3 laps bike and I managed to average 37km/h. My final bike split was 2h26m16s, almost 6 minutes faster than my bike split last year. I attribute this improvement to my newly sponsored bike from Elite Bicycles, a flatter bike course, as well as my improved fitness. Along the way I was careful to avoid crashes, which I saw along the way to others including my SMU teammate Xuan Sheng. At every bike turnaround, my girlfriend Zeling, and other friends, were feverishly rooting for me, at this gave me motivation. Overall I was happy with my bike split, but I was playing a desperate game of catch-up due to my slow swim.
I then transited smoothly to the run leg. Again, most competitors were still out on the bike, so I aimed for a chance at top Singaporean and possibly top three in age-group. My first km split was sub-4m which was good. I kept looking out for my biggest threat Willie Loo (top Singaporean in 2010) but could not locate him. Perhaps he was still out on the bike? But that could not be possible as his swim was very strong. Pushing the thoughts aside I focused on the run and the “counting numbers technique” like in a marathon. My first half of the 21.1k felt great: I was overtaking everyone in front of me and not slowing down. My dad and other SMU supporters were cheering for me around Lagoon Food Court, spurring me on. But halfway during my first run lap I spotted Willie: I knew the gap would be too far to catch-up but I still remained focus. When the second lap started the sun came out in full force, and somehow my legs began to fail despite hydrating with electrolytes at every drink station. Only about 2 athletes were able to overtake me but my run pace was now 4m23s/km. The last 5 km was agony. With 1 km to go I kicked hard but I could not shake off another age-grouper who ended a few seconds in front at the finish. My race ended at 4h49m40s, a minute slower than 2010.
I was far from happy as I was confident of attaining a PB at the least. However the swim made the difference: despite improved on my bike and run leg splits, they were not enough to make up for the swim. My girlfriend pointed out she was still very proud of me considering I was only able to begin slow swimming in January 2011. This was true: in fact I considered pulling out of the second swim lap because my previously dislocated shoulder was in pain. After the race, I could barely lift that strained shoulder. At the end of the day I reasoned that 4h49m40s (45m37s swim, 2h26m16s bike, 1h33m55s run) was not the end of the world as I could now re-focus on the run. I was also happy that many friends did PBs, and that I came away injury-free.
Singaporean results: 1st Willie Loo (4h24m8s; a huge improvement from 2010’s 4h35m), 2nd Derek Li (4h39m57s), 3rd Ashley Liew (4h49m40s)
Male 25-29 results: 1st Willie Loo (4h24m8s), 2nd Preddy Grant (4h34m14s), 3rd Brad Williams (4h34m49s), 7th Ashley Liew (4h49m40s)
Male 18-24 results: 1st Matthew Burton (4h19m41s), 2nd Andrew Tyack (4h29m53s), 3rd Mark Luckin (4h34m40s), 8th Benjamin Lau (5h11m47s), 11th Xander Huang (5h22m53s), 13th Brendan Lee (5h26m15s; 1st attempt)
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