GMC Tri Series Doha Race 2 (Sprint)

Ok I admit I got a little bit too carried away after my debut in the Triathlon three weeks ago (see report HERE). The race no 2 in the series was double the distance of the first. It was a Sprint triathlon with 500m swim, 20km bike and 10km run. In terms of training, though I did not do much cycle and swim as I would have wanted to, I only cycled 5 times and attended swim session twice since the last race. My worry was on the swim leg, but I swam that distance last year in Aspire Aquathon races, so 500m is still manageable. We also had bigger Malaysian participation too. Other than Yusry, Najib and Zairin, my running group, PSY Qatar sent a team in the relay too with Aizal run, Bulat cycle and Yasir swim. The others came to cheer too.

The weather on the race morning was perfect, with a temperature around 18 degree Celsius. This helped me a lot especially on the run. The participation though was a little bit less than the first race maybe because there was another race, a dualthon being held the same time in Duheil and the Aspire Aquathon Race 2 the next day.

I was relaxed and focussing on the correct swimming technique and was breathing on both sides after every third stroke for hurmm one third of the distance. Then I went back to my old habit of just not drowning style. I finished the 500m in 13:11 and tired. Though I was happy to just finish the swim, I was not very pleased with the timing. It was way slower than my PB for 500m swim which is 11:49 (Aspire Aquathon 1.2.2013).

500m swim (Photo courtesy of Lolyta Poniman of #PelariStyloYo)


T1(Photo courtesy of Lolyta Poniman of #PelariStyloYo)
We had to cycle 4 laps on a very technical 5 km course. Though I have just started cycling for a few weeks, I can say I have made a lot of improvement and fell in love with it. True what people say. It is easy to do what you love doing. I wish I could say the same for swimming and hurmm ... golf. I rode my bike in lower gear than most of the seasoned cyclists. It was amazing to see how relaxed these guys overtaking me with their slow leg turn around while I was cycling at a higher cadence. I was being overtaken one by one, and I said to my self "oh tak apa, sekarang kau potong lah aku, siap la nanti masa lari, sorang-sorang aku cantas".  My cycling time was 44:29. It was my PB for 20km so far.
20km ride (Photo courtesy of Doha Runners)
T2 Photo courtesy of Lolita Poniman #Pelaristyloyo
My race only started on the run leg. I dashed out of the transition area and ran with everything I had left. It was hard but I found my self running faster when I see others dying one by one. My little villain voice inside me was saying "ha baru kau tahu. Ambik kau, tadi sombong sangat potong aku' as I overtaking the other participant one by one. I completed the 5k run in 21:42 which was my second fastest 5 km run ever. It was awesome especially after the swim and the bike.

Run (Picture courtesy of Lolyta #Pelaristyloyo)

I completed my second tri in a total time of 1:20:35 placing 27th out of 61 individual finishers. It was a huge improvement from 36th in the first race. I must get my swim sorted if I want to take this new sport seriously and register for the race no 3 next month.


Result in detail:

Swim:   13:11  Rank 54/61
Bike:    44:29  Rank 40/61
Run:     21:42  Rank 6/61Total:    1:20:35  Rank 27/61       

Comments

Anonymous said…
Bro, no more updates ka? Btw, just a sincere question. Moving to triathlon, wouldn't it somewhat jeopardize your target for a Boston qualifier since your training time have to be divided into the other two sports?
27 January 2014 at 14:40
Mohd Syafei Ahmad said…
Busy sikit lately dgn marathon training. No im only do sprint triathlons. Swim and bike as cross training for my marathon training. Its a way to save my legs from over use and muscle imbalance.
1 February 2014 at 08:08
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