It was really hot, there were a few times that I thought I wouldn’t make it to the end, but’s that triathlon, you have to go with the ups and downs, and you just gotta go through this survival race, and manage.”
So said Henri Schoeman, overall champion of the recent Ironman 70.3 Lapu-Lapu, held April 21 in Mactan, Cebu.
Schoeman is competing for the Paris Olympics in July.
Ironman 70.3 is a brand name triathlon event which consists of a 1.9-kilometer swim leg, a 90-kilometer bike ride, and a 21-kilometer run — in that order.
All three sports must be completed in a single day. It is indeed a challenging sport that anyone who attempts to complete it must train vigorously for about eight months.
One should have at least some fitness capabilities, and abilities to swim, bike, and run.
At gunstart, athletes line up in groups to begin their swim in the sea from buoy to buoy, placed parallel to to the beach, with turning points accurately measured.
As soon as they reach shore, the athletes run to a transition area where the bikes are racked. They put on their helmet, cycling shoes, and carry all the nutrition food needed for the 90-kilometer journey. (That’s like biking from Dumaguete all the way close to Bayawan.)
After completing the bike course, the bikes are returned to the rack, then the athletes have to quickly change into running shoes for the last part of the race, a half marathon, usually for the next two or three hours.
My Ironman 70.3 journey started in September 2023. After not having done a triathlon since 2018, particularly this distance event, I carefully planned a training regimen that will prepare me to build up my endurance and strength for all three sports.
I gave ample time to rebuild doing some strength training in the gym as part of my weekly training.
Proper nutrition was most essential to supply the demand for energy consumed, and replenish it back in the body during training.
After 33 weeks of training, it was time to put the body to the test of actually doing the entire race. My plan was to stay safe during the swim, and not to waste a lot of energy. On the bike, I planned to stay focused on hydrating myself constantly, and consuming my energy gels at the appropriate time to top off my energy for the entire span, and leave some energy for the run.
My main concern was not to over-exert, and to conserve some energy at the hardest part of the bike course — which we had been informed was going up the Cordova Bridge, with an average of six percent gradient, and that we had to climb it six times.
The final run part is where all the demand for energy is expected to have been greatly consumed; by then, it would be around noon time when it is hottest.
Truth to tell, I haven’t done a race under that kind of heat here in the Philippines, as all my other triathlon races were completed in North America.
But I was prepared to face the unknown, the summer heat in the Philippines. I was prepared to top off my hydration and glycogen levels that will supply my energy until the end of the race.
I was also ready for survival mode — to just keep moving forward.
I’m always nervous when I get up on race day. But on this particular race day, I felt more nervous. Who would not be if you had been informed about the strong current in the swim leg? Besides, I’m always nervous especially about the initial leg, as swimming is not my forte. I always just want to get the swim done, and face the heat of the sun burning on us for the rest of the race.
For this Ironman, my plan was to swim comfortably with steady effort, ride within comfortably-hard but not overwhelming, and to run wisely and safely to get myself to the finish line.
Temperature was expected to go up as high as 37 degrees Celsius during the race especially around noon — when majority of the athletes are expected to cross the finish line.
Swim: I started slow, and found myself in a safer area away from other swimmers bunching for position. I stayed away from the crowd, and swam on the far left side of the swim course. After a couple of meters, I got my rhythm in relaxed steady pace. By the time we got to the turning point parallel to the beach, the current started to pick up against us. At about three-fourths of the way, I noticed more body contact, and more of a struggle as swimmers were veering off left and right. The strong current just felt like I wasn’t moving forward at all. I kept sighting the buoys, but did not seem fast enough to get close to the next one.
At the last turning point towards the shore, a big wave just pushed me under the big buoy, and I went under. My left foot got entangled with a buoy rope, I was struggling to get back up. Strangely, I didn’t panic one bit. Then I got my rhythm back as fast as I could to get to the shore.
Swim time: 1:01:07, a lot slower than usual, but hey, I made it safely.
Bike: It was a nice, relatively-flat course in the beginning before the three loops on Cordova Bridge that measures about eight kilometers in length.
The first climb felt long but steady and manageable; the downhill was fast and furious, clocking at 64 kph on aerodynamic position on the bike handlebar. The course flattened out as we were passing by SM Seaside, and onto the turning point back to the bridge.
The second climb to complete the loop was steeper but shorter. At the last of three loops on the bridge, the mix of heat and steep climbs took a toll on me. Frequent hydration and consumption of electrolytes kept me going; I was still sticking to my plan, conserving some energy for the run.
Bike time: 3:28:13, not bad, I thought.
Run: It was a three-loop course around Mactan Island. Trying to stick to my plan, considering the time of day as the heat was starting to feel like your head was stuck in the oven.
I took anything they were offering at each hydration stop: bananas, cola, Gatorade, water, and ice. At each station, I took a cup of ice cold water to drink, and another cup or two to pour over my head. The ice water was so refreshing.
As suggested by my friend Rodolf Rudy Palencia, I carried a microfiber towel with me, which I used to wrap some ice cubes to place at the back of my nape. Great idea!
The spectators along the run route in Mactan were awesome. School children lined up cheering us on, and giving us high fives. Surely, I got some energy from them.
Random adults came out pouring ice water over our heads, or spraying us with a water hose to keep us cool — to avoid overheating, as the sun was beating on us, with only some shade along the entire run course.
Each run loop seemed to get harder and harder; I started talking walk breaks whenever I would feel a cramp starting to act up. My walk breaks got longer by the third loop. With four kilometers to go, I tried not to walk anymore but just did a slow jog — just to keep me moving forward.
With about three kilometers to the finish line, I decided not to stop running anymore and just continue with my slow job. I just needed to get to the finish line as fast as I can — even on a turtle pace.
So you can imagine the exhilaration I felt when I finally got to see the Finish Line. Even for an endurance athlete like me, crossing the Ironman finish line still made me so emotional, knowing that indeed, anything is possible when one puts his heart to it.
Ironman 70.3 finish time: seven hours: 43 minutes: 49 seconds.
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Author’s email: [email protected]
