Gold Coast Half Ironman 2009: The birth of a Triathlete

There was blood everywhere. Loads of it. On my legs, cycling shoes, all over the transition area, neighbor's towel, it was oozing out from my hands in all directions as I hurried through the first transition and prepared for the 90km cycling leg. But all this gore was no where near the worst horrors of the race.

My Gold Coast Half Ironman triathlon started at approximately 7am, with the 1.9km swimming leg in the murky waters of Calypso Bay. That is the feeding time for large horrible bull sharks that live in those waters. The swim start was a bit more rough than usual and everyone was trying to draft behind the fast swimmers. I got kicked in face many times, but got a good draft until someone kicked on my balls. I lost rhythm and fell behind the group of leading swimmers. I tried to close the gap, but due to poor visibility in murky waters, I got drifted off the course about 400m into the swim. Through murky water, I saw what looked like blooms of some brown coloured jelly fishes below. I hardly considered them a threat and continued swimming until my hands brushed on them. They were no jelly fishes! They were blade sharp oysters which had ripped open the skin on my hands before I could realise.

When I looked at my hands to assess the damage while still swimming, they looked as bad as if I have tried to stop half a dozen arrows with my bare hands. The salt water was just adding to the fun of things. But worse, it was infested by bull sharks. I had 1.5km more to swim, and after so many months of training and waiting, I was not too keen to leave the race unfinished. So, I continued to swim, trying to catch the fast group, leaving behind a strong blood trail while some of the slower swimmers drafted behind me. I don't know whether it was real or just a hallucination due to excessive blood loss that I was seeing large shark like image just under me. Whatever it was, it was a nightmare. I finished the swim in 37min, and ran to the transition area where I had a chance to slowdown and see the blood oozing out of my hands. There was blood everywhere. Loads of it! My blood pouring out right in front of me!!

I took off my wetsuit, grabbed the bike and ran in my pink budgy smugglers. The race officials said “Stop! You can't race without a shirt on.”
“What? I don't have any shirt in the transition area,” I replied. A spectator took off their singlet and said “Can he wear this?” The official said “Yeahp!” I grabbed his shirt, took off my helmet, wore it, and wore my helmet again. I think that guy was very kind. He was an angel. He helped me when I needed it. I can turn gay for him. And I think the race officials or whoever makes rules like that are gay. With adrenaline pumping, I started the cycling leg as if I am on fire. I had to consciously calm down myself as there was a long way to go. The winds were very strong and during the last lap, I was doing 25km/hr against the wind and overtaking heaps of people. I managed an average of 31km/hr over the 90km distance completing the leg in about 2hours and 55 min. I was feeling strong for the running, and in the transition area, I gulped some
energy gel and water, which turned out to be a perfect recipe for disaster. The water and gel sat on the gut, and gave painful cramps as I tried to get into the running rhythm. I just couldn't run properly for the first 10km. I had strength in my legs, but couldn't use it. Faster I would try to go, more pain I will have in the stomach, and I would have to stop running. This was very frustrating. But after 10km, the cramps abated a bit, and I could get into reasonable pace. But no way on earth I could have made up for the time I lost during the first 10 km. My running time went through the roof with 2hours and 27min for 21 km. I completed the Gold Coast Half Ironman triathlon in 6hrs and 6min. I was happy that I made it within the cut-off and hence I qualify for Ironman Australia. The first thing I asked the officials after the race was "Were there any shark attacks?" I was glad to hear a "no" for a change.

My thanks to Jules, George Lowe, and all the friends at DHBC who supported me with advise and encouragement to achieve this. 4th October 2009 is the day I will remember as the day when a triathlete was born. This is the day when I got a new life. A triathlete's life. A better life :)

Next triathlon: Port Macquarie Half Ironman, 1st Nov 2009, target time: 5:30hrs on the bloody hilly course.

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