5150 Subic Bay, Philippines 2013
Wow, what a wonderful race. The events that Princess and the Sunrise Events team put on are second to none. Every race has its problems but it’s the hospitality and friendliness of the staff that cater for your every need which sets them above the rest.
Coming into this race two weeks after IM Cairns and not much training, I was a little worried the body wouldn't hold up, and for that matter the mind as well. Asking the body to do extraordinary things is a tough ask even when trained well, but to do it twice in two weeks with no training pays a toll.
I got off the plane early Friday morning and head into TheBrick Multisports store for a quick tune-up of the bike and have lunch with the owners. It's a great friendly team at TheBrick, so if you're visiting Manila or Cebu, drop into their store for anything swim, bike, run.
Being back in The Philippines with the Timex team and sponsors, welcoming me like family just starts the whole trip off well. We drove up to Subic on the Saturday with a few hiccups getting my bike up there, old story of too many bikes and people and not enough car. I was lucky to have another friend that was able to cart the Shiv to the race, thanks Laani :)
We made it there for last minute bike check-in in the pouring rain. Luckily it's just a dump and run job, but still got completely drenched. Oh well, not like I haven't been wet before.
For me this was one of the most unorganised races, I hadn't studied the race route, I turned up the day before the race with no plan, I had no idea on where I was and left a lot up to chance, so... It's not me at all.
As we missed the race briefing we decide to drive the race route, one benefit of having great friends who drop everything to help, thanks guys. All I can say is "wow", those are some pretty good hills there.
We go back to the accommodation and settle in for the night. It’s a beautiful spot up at Subic Homes with the team. Plenty of pre-race nerves and thoughts of disaster going through my head as I lay down and dream the same thoughts. Not much sleep happened that night but I am kind of used to racing with sleep deprivation.
Wake up early and just lay around waiting for time to pass. Feeling pretty relaxed even with the thoughts from last night. Not many words said through the house that morning but we all got ready in fine tune. Make it to the race start and have a few photos before jumping into the water and ready to start. I was planning to have a pretty good swim as that was what I had done most.
The gun goes off and I put a good effort in to get some clear water, but that left me tired and pretty much worthless. I was having a hard time sighting for some reason and the water didn’t seem as flat as it looked, swallowing masses of water every couple of strokes. I just wasn’t comfortable.
For a change, I was so glad to be out of the water and getting onto the bike. As soon as I mounted I was on a mission to push hard and try and catch those who got the lead on the swim. It was a really good start to the ride getting onto some open roads around the bay and then onto the Subic Bay runway.
After a good effort on the flats, it’s time for the hills. This is what I was looking forward to, getting out of the saddle and pushing up these good things.
In the long run, even with being unorganised and undertrained, I couldn't have asked for a better result.
KIT
Coming into this race two weeks after IM Cairns and not much training, I was a little worried the body wouldn't hold up, and for that matter the mind as well. Asking the body to do extraordinary things is a tough ask even when trained well, but to do it twice in two weeks with no training pays a toll.
I got off the plane early Friday morning and head into TheBrick Multisports store for a quick tune-up of the bike and have lunch with the owners. It's a great friendly team at TheBrick, so if you're visiting Manila or Cebu, drop into their store for anything swim, bike, run.
Being back in The Philippines with the Timex team and sponsors, welcoming me like family just starts the whole trip off well. We drove up to Subic on the Saturday with a few hiccups getting my bike up there, old story of too many bikes and people and not enough car. I was lucky to have another friend that was able to cart the Shiv to the race, thanks Laani :)
We made it there for last minute bike check-in in the pouring rain. Luckily it's just a dump and run job, but still got completely drenched. Oh well, not like I haven't been wet before.
For me this was one of the most unorganised races, I hadn't studied the race route, I turned up the day before the race with no plan, I had no idea on where I was and left a lot up to chance, so... It's not me at all.
As we missed the race briefing we decide to drive the race route, one benefit of having great friends who drop everything to help, thanks guys. All I can say is "wow", those are some pretty good hills there.
We go back to the accommodation and settle in for the night. It’s a beautiful spot up at Subic Homes with the team. Plenty of pre-race nerves and thoughts of disaster going through my head as I lay down and dream the same thoughts. Not much sleep happened that night but I am kind of used to racing with sleep deprivation.
Wake up early and just lay around waiting for time to pass. Feeling pretty relaxed even with the thoughts from last night. Not many words said through the house that morning but we all got ready in fine tune. Make it to the race start and have a few photos before jumping into the water and ready to start. I was planning to have a pretty good swim as that was what I had done most.
The gun goes off and I put a good effort in to get some clear water, but that left me tired and pretty much worthless. I was having a hard time sighting for some reason and the water didn’t seem as flat as it looked, swallowing masses of water every couple of strokes. I just wasn’t comfortable.
For a change, I was so glad to be out of the water and getting onto the bike. As soon as I mounted I was on a mission to push hard and try and catch those who got the lead on the swim. It was a really good start to the ride getting onto some open roads around the bay and then onto the Subic Bay runway.
After a good effort on the flats, it’s time for the hills. This is what I was looking forward to, getting out of the saddle and pushing up these good things.
In the long run, even with being unorganised and undertrained, I couldn't have asked for a better result.
KIT
