Now that the heat has somewhat subsided (it is already 8pm in the evening) and I’ve had (a) enough sleep, (b) enough food and (c) enough time to recover from the trauma of it all, I figured it’s time I sat down and wrote my race report, if not for inner reflection then at least for posterity’s sake.

Anyone on the little red dot would attest to the fact that yesterday was possibly one of the HOTTEST days in our calendar. It also happened to be the day of the Oakley City Duathlon, as well as the longest race distance/time I’ve ever attempted. So while everyone else was battling the heat in air-conditioned rooms, a few of my colleagues and I and 1500 other people were battling it in the furnace of Marina Bay. Even when we arrived at the race venue at about 7.30am, the morning sun was already heating up the ground.

By the time we were flagged off at close to 8.30am, the sun decided it’d wake up to an early start. The sun’s rays were beating hard on our backs, I could practically feel it wrap its tentacles menacingly around me and robbing me of any breath of fresh air I was gasping for. In the meantime, I prayed for cooler weather and then the occasional breeze would sweep past me. There would be spots of shelter and a few trees to provide brief respite but the sun would rear its ugly head again. And yet despite the heat, I was off to a good start. I started off slow and finished off at 1:04, my best 10km race time to date.

The next leg. 40km on the bike at 9.30am was nothing short of pure torture. I might’ve possibly taken the first 10km run a little too fast, but I didn’t expect that I’d bonk out this early either. The first 10km on the bike was still manageable but I started to feel myself lose steam gradually. I shoved a pack of energy gel down my throat at the 6th km and took the opportunity to hydrate myself as much as I could before it came too close to the last 5km run. I thought it’d power me up for the rest of the journey but as I did my first U-turn (out of the 4 loops), my left calf seized up in a monstrous cramp. I dismounted, stretched for a good 3 minutes before I was able to hop back on the bike. Even then, the muscles just refused to cooperate. Every now and then I’d have to stop spinning, stretch out the calves while on the bike and continue. It happened at least 6 other times throughout the bike leg which slowed me down tremendously.

By the time I hit the 30km mark, I was just cruising on survival mode. I could no longer muster up enough strength to actually race (against myself), and I settled for finishing it up alive instead. Still battling bad cramps, overheating and dehydration (even after all that hydration), I made it through the final lap of the bike leg with a deep, searing pain in both legs. At transition, I took the opportunity to recuperate. I sat on the grass to catch my breath (minutes steadily slipping away through my fingers), hydrate and fuel up. I tried to chuck in another energy gel but it was so hot, and with my body screaming bloody murder, I’d have gagged. So I took it along with me to have on the run and stumbled out of the transition area and started out on the most painful run I’d ever done in my two+ years of racing.

It must’ve been almost 11.30am by then. The sun wasn’t just blazing; it was scorching. If last week’s weather felt like a sauna, then yesterday’s heat was volcanic. I couldn’t breathe, my heartbeat was irregular and at some point in time I thought I was going to collapse. “Listen to your body”, I told myself over and over again. I was glad that I took my FB hydration bottle with me. I stopped, poured water over my head and my body, and when I felt sufficiently recharged, I continued. Then my legs cramped up – both thighs and calves. Both thighs would seize in cramps, I’d stop, and because both were cramped there was no way I could balance on one foot while stretching the other. So I sat myself in a semi-squat position while the muscles stretched, and then continued. Calf cramps were much easier to deal with. The 5km run was a run-walk-stop-stretch routine throughout.

Finally, I turned the bend and found myself on Shenton Way. It was the last 300m, and it was my only chance to beat my mental. It’s now or never. So I sucked it all in, raced myself down the path, turned the last bend, and dashed through the finishing line.

I’d done it. I’d finished. I gave thanks to God for sustaining me. I felt darn proud of myself for finishing it, and after that flitting moment of euphoric triumph, all I could remember was pain, exhaustion and more pain…but that doesn’t matter anymore.

R1: 01:04:17
T1+B1+T2: 01:53:50
R2: 00:40:58
Total: 3:39:04
Position: 39 of 57

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” ~ 2 Timothy 4:7