Asia Pacific Ironman 70.3 Championship in Phuket, Thailand.

After being for almost 2 Weeks in Thailand and having raced last Sunday, I couldn't be happier, Thailand is such a magical place, I couldn't write this race report without writing about Thailand and also posting a couple of Pictures.... After Laguna Phuket Triathlon Sunday last week, there was no rest time, I know that's not ideal but hey, how could you miss one of the most Mythical After-parties in the Triathlon World? so right after the race there we were Jumping and Dancing like maniacs at the Rhythm of AC-DC or Black Eyed Peas! This time the party started to slow down right at midnight because most of us were racing in just 7 days.....

Next Day Monday at 7am we were on a Speedboat trip to Phi Phi Islands, we visited the Island where the Movie "The Beach" by Leonaldo li Caplio (As Thai People call him  ha ha) We also visited an Island that you can walk around the whole island in less than 10 minutes, and if you stand up in a Big rock in one of the tips of the island you can see the whole Island.... Note: It's not a sandbar! But it has a few very cool Bars ha ha!

Next dat Tuesday after a couple of hrs on the bike and an easy swim we headed to Patong for one of the weirdest nights I've ever experienced.... Let's just say that is a rated XXX Night out, Night Ladies, Ladies who do weird shows with ping pong balls amongst ohter things, and another genre called Ladyboys!


Wednesday we went to another Speedboat trip to more islands, this time we saw the place where the Movie "The Man with the Golden Gun" a 1974 James Bond 007 was filmed...
It was only until Thursday that I started to Focus a little more for the upcoming Ironman 70.3 race...........
It was my first time racing 2 weekends straight so the plan was just what I did, take it really easy a few days and then light training for the rest with just a few bursts of intensity Thursday & Friday....
One of the reasons I choose this 2 races is because of my new training weapon, The  Normatec Boots are simply "AMAZING" I know I couldn't have made it without them.

Ok Lets go back to Race day....
The Whole Week it was Sunny and Hot, just as Thailand should be, or at least as I thought it should be, Saturday the skies closed in and the rain started, when I planned to take my bike to Check in into Transition it was raining cats and dogs! So I waited until the  last minute, when I finally went there was a Foot of water flooding the Transition, and the Weather Forecast for Sunday was even worse.....
Race day appeared to be much better, we lined on the Beach start and got ready to go, the gun went off and I tried to do the same as last week, find a fast feet and get on with it..... This time it didn't worked, I lost the faster guys in the craze of the swim start, I could see 3 or 4 green caps up front, but I was never able to catch their feet.....I hate that slow guys start from the line! Why do they do that? Do they like to be passed all over, hit and elbowed?

Pros started 6 minutes ahead of us, and the first wave of Yellow swim caps started 5 minutes ahed, I started passing slow Yellows "Before" the first Ocean turnaround buoy, and that meant that it was going to be a slow swim due to the Yellow caps TRAFFIC, passing and passing people was the rest of the swim, and with every pass it came danger, cause even if they know they are slower and are about to be passed, they try everything.... So it was pretty rough, I finished the Ocean swim run over the beach part and jumped into the Lagoon, that after swimming in the Ocean it feels terrible, cause it's Hot and Frech water! So you feel more tired and you feel like you're sinking, but I tried to focus on how cool is that swim and got into my rhythm again....

I exited the water in 30 minutes and got on my Bike, the first 15kms were flat but not fast, to many corners, then there's the BRIDGE where you have to dismount a go over it running for about 300mts, it's all well carpeted so no issues there, around km 45 we hit the first set of hills, these are NASTY hills, this is the reason I had a 27 cogset in my rear cassette, by this time it was just starting to rain and some of this hills are 22% steep, so it was tricky to maintain the balance between cadence and strength, too much and your rear wheel slipped! Yeah it Slipped Uphill, every thing that goes up, must come down, so there were also NASTY downhills with sharp corners, the torrential rain was imminent, and I just wanted to get out of those hills before the skies opened and let it pour down! I was really concentrated in one of those downhills, maybe too mucho, cause when the road turned up, I had the wrong gear, and for the first time ever I completely lost my chain and got stuck in the rear wheel/frame! I think I lost a few of valuable minutes trying to fix it on the fly, until I realized I had to stop and do it by hand, then. starting in that kind of steep uphill is no easy task, the truth is that I felt like an idiot! I would regret those minutes in the end, I knew it!

As soon as I left the hilly section the Heavens came down, and they came down HARD! It was raining cats and dogs, I've never ridden in this kind of rain! 40-45km/hr and you could see nothing! NOTHING! it was pretty scary, cause there were flooded sections, it was like crossing rivers! I'm glad that the bike wheels are so thin and when you hit the water it only slows you down, so now I know my bike is Hydrodynamic too!

I crossed the bridge again, by then the rain was now normal, passed the plantation area, the airport and hit the second section of hills, by this time the road was very very slippery and I remember seeing more than a few guys go down, it's not encouraging to see a guy that you are closing in fast to go down...... makes you slow down... When I got to Transition I had no idea how I was in my Age Group, so I started in the dark, hoping Paola was there to tell me, but with that such first wave that started 5 minutes ahead it was almost impossible, the first few kms I tried not to look at my watch and just run at a comfortable pace, I had 21kms ahead of me, and those hills even that I was prepared they were going to ask for payment at some point of the run.... I looked at my watch at km 3 and I was in a 4min/km  pace, too fast.. so I tried to slow down a bit, more like a 4:20/km but then around km 7 when I heard my name I had to bang a sub 4min km, It's a boost hearing Chris Lieto Cheering on you! He had to drop out of the race after crashing a few kms into the Bike.

When I started my second lap, Paola gave me the "Look" and that meant I was not doing great, so I tried to pay attention to the numbers from my Age Group I saw at the turnarounds, It was difficult to know where I was, but I was aware of 2 guys closing in fast on me, one of them really fast, I was also closing in a few guys and I ended up passing them, But that guy number 495 was getting closer and closer, I didn't knew if we were fighting a podium finish or a top ten, but I knew he was going to catch me real close to the end, and that't exactly what happened, this guy who then I learned lives in Singapore, James Middleditch passed me around km 20.8, my plan from the last 15kms since I saw him was very simple, run as fast as possible leaving something for the end, and thats what I did, even that the last 3 kms were close to 4min pace (6:24/mile) when he passed me, I let him go a few meters hoping he let his guard down, and then I just sprinted in the corner to the finish line, I didn't knew I had that kick at the end, so at least I was very happy for the next few hrs, I saw the numbers and I thought I was 3rd place.. how wrong I was!

When I saw the list I couldn't believe that I was 9th! 6 minutes from that 3rd place, and a whole 11 minutes from 1st and 2nd! I want my revenge! I know my swim could have been better, but my Bike Split Time is that one that bothers me..... It difficult to say "I should have done this or that" cause probably I could have not run a 1:30 for the Half Marathon that at the end it was Faster than all the guys but one, that finished ahead of me!

This Race is now my Favorite and I want to come back next year, it's not a fast race, and it's by no means an easy one, it might be one of the toughest races around but is so much fun!
Thank You Thailand for one of the Best Trips EVER!

Kob Kun Kaa Thailand.... Kob Kun Kaa.