PD International Triathlon 2018
14-15 July 2018
The homecoming race
Port Dickson International Triathlon is THE race to go to in Malaysia's triathlon calendar. It is the biggest and one of the oldest triathlons in the country. There is something for everyone. The sprint and kids races were held on Saturday, while the main event, the Olympic Distance was held on Sunday in this multi-sport festival. It was a perfect family beach race-cation for us where my kids and I got the cheer Hani who did the sprint and the role for babysitting reverse when I raced the Olympic distance the following day. We were not all that keen to race since both of us did almost 0 training since we moved back to Malaysia in June. Since this was our first race in Malaysia since we came back, we took the opportunity to meet our local triathlon friends. We were also joined by our close friends, Najib and Shambeng with their families from Doha.
The Swim
The water was choppy but it didn't look all that bad from the beach, but once I was in, it felt a lot worse. It was like swimming in a washing machine. The wave was unpredictable and came from all directions. To make it worse, there was a strong underwater current pushing everyone towards the marina. Most people missed the second buoy. I could barely make any progress swimming free style. It was like I was treading water all the time. I gave up free style and resorted to breast stroke after the second buoy. If I was struggling in this condition, I can't imagine how scary and difficult it must be for the less experienced. I was especially worried for my friends Nani and Najib. This was nothing like the calm waters of Doha.
The Bike
Port Dickson is probably one of the few draft legal races for the age groupers. It suits an average cyclist like me. I was lucky to have started the bike with a group of stronger cyclists but which I managed to hang on to from start to finish. I think that was my fastest 40km. The only complaint was, the organiser allowed TT bikes in this race. Cycling fast in aero TT position in a tight peloton, on an open to traffic two way undulating rural road with lots of corners, I think is accident waiting to happen. We had a near missed when a car from the opposite direction strayed over the double line on one of the corners. Well I was never comfortable being inside a peloton to start with. I was glad I got to stay with the group until about km 35 when I got dropped.
The Run
The run course in PD was interesting. We probably had 30% of the run course off road, on the beach. I didn't even bother to set any target pace with my almost 0 running mileage coming into this race. I was just plodding with whatever residual fitness I have since IM70.3 Colombo in February and true enough I couldn't count on my run to crawl my way up into the top 10 in my category.
The Results
Swim 37:43
Bike 1:08:46
Run 52:15
Total 2:38:44
Rank (AG) 15/238
* I wish to convey my condolences to the families and friends of the two participants who lost their lives during the swim. It was so unfortunate and I hope the organiser will step up their effort to ensure the safety of the participants in the future.
The homecoming race
Port Dickson International Triathlon is THE race to go to in Malaysia's triathlon calendar. It is the biggest and one of the oldest triathlons in the country. There is something for everyone. The sprint and kids races were held on Saturday, while the main event, the Olympic Distance was held on Sunday in this multi-sport festival. It was a perfect family beach race-cation for us where my kids and I got the cheer Hani who did the sprint and the role for babysitting reverse when I raced the Olympic distance the following day. We were not all that keen to race since both of us did almost 0 training since we moved back to Malaysia in June. Since this was our first race in Malaysia since we came back, we took the opportunity to meet our local triathlon friends. We were also joined by our close friends, Najib and Shambeng with their families from Doha.
The Swim
The water was choppy but it didn't look all that bad from the beach, but once I was in, it felt a lot worse. It was like swimming in a washing machine. The wave was unpredictable and came from all directions. To make it worse, there was a strong underwater current pushing everyone towards the marina. Most people missed the second buoy. I could barely make any progress swimming free style. It was like I was treading water all the time. I gave up free style and resorted to breast stroke after the second buoy. If I was struggling in this condition, I can't imagine how scary and difficult it must be for the less experienced. I was especially worried for my friends Nani and Najib. This was nothing like the calm waters of Doha.
The Bike
Port Dickson is probably one of the few draft legal races for the age groupers. It suits an average cyclist like me. I was lucky to have started the bike with a group of stronger cyclists but which I managed to hang on to from start to finish. I think that was my fastest 40km. The only complaint was, the organiser allowed TT bikes in this race. Cycling fast in aero TT position in a tight peloton, on an open to traffic two way undulating rural road with lots of corners, I think is accident waiting to happen. We had a near missed when a car from the opposite direction strayed over the double line on one of the corners. Well I was never comfortable being inside a peloton to start with. I was glad I got to stay with the group until about km 35 when I got dropped.
The Run
The run course in PD was interesting. We probably had 30% of the run course off road, on the beach. I didn't even bother to set any target pace with my almost 0 running mileage coming into this race. I was just plodding with whatever residual fitness I have since IM70.3 Colombo in February and true enough I couldn't count on my run to crawl my way up into the top 10 in my category.
The Results
Swim 37:43
Bike 1:08:46
Run 52:15
Total 2:38:44
Rank (AG) 15/238
* I wish to convey my condolences to the families and friends of the two participants who lost their lives during the swim. It was so unfortunate and I hope the organiser will step up their effort to ensure the safety of the participants in the future.
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