Beijing International Triathlon was wild to me. I knew I came here to win, I've planned it, but I never thought it would come true; 1st place age group 25-29. Then I’ve got the slot for next year Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon in San Francisco, how crazy is that?!
But to be honest, it wasn’t easy. Seeing the course was savage. The journey to here was so rough, I hardly had a day off, but it was worth the effort I’ve put it into.
I tried to make some race report, if one day youre interested in doing this triathlon. But I've warned you that this probably not good for a first timer triathlete.
SWIM
This time as we swim at the lake, I aimed for 20 minutes swim to break the course record. Although the water felt pretty cold to me about 18C, I wear no wetsuit, I just focus on my technique, stroke rate, and pace 1’20”/100m. Out of the water, there would be 700m run to T1, used this to warm up my legs before bike. Although we ran on a carpet, no shoes allowed on this part, my legs hurt.
Swim: 20:26 (new swim course record)
T1: 6.20
BIKE
A day before the race, we went on the bike course tour by bus. To be honest, seeing the course, my heart drop a little bit. All my high expectations were.. poof.. gone. The course was too hard for me, as I have zero bike skills. I even decided to use a regular pedal and ditch my cleat shoes. As a victim of downhill bike crash this year, safety always became my biggest concern.
As Daud said,”yang penting kamu finish dengan selamat aja hun.” So I did. To me, the biggest challenge was the wind on flat city boulevard, blew my bike to the side. I wasn’t prepared for this, I trained indoors all the time. Then turn left to technical sections; very narrow country road (watch out for the dogs and people crossing the street), so many steep climb, fast downhill, narrow street again, very sharp turn downhill, you name it, all your biggest fear was here. There also a 3km climb to Qianling Mountain, no joke, such a endless climb.
Bike: 1.27.58
T2: 1.30
RUN
On the tired leg, this part was everyone’s nightmare. Off the bike, i tried pick up my pace and breath, legs tryna get used to the ground. Small stride at the beginning. Then there was 280 stairs to climb on 5, 7, 9km! So i was just walk upstairs, then began to run again. When you think you wanted to sprint yourself out to the finish line, hmm nope, it’s not finished yet, there would be a another stairs few hundred meters to finish line. So be prepared.
Run: 54.04
Total: 2.49.46
I’ve got a few tips if you want to race in #BeijingTri:
The race registration usually opens on February and sell out pretty quickly, only last a week. I was just lucky that I joined the wait list then got the slot, registered it on June 2018.
You will swim in 17C-20C water, to me, i can handle the cold water as I used to swim in it. But many age grouper also using wetsuit.
T1 there’s a 700 warm up run on the carpet, no shoes allowed.
The bike course was the worse. Trained on some bike skills like sharp turn downhill and fast downhill. The climbing was pretty steep too. It gets windy too sometimes. Big gears, small gears, high and low cadence, you must put in your training.
Prepared your muscle on some stairs training. You’ll thank me later
There’s 50 slot available for best age grouper male and female to compete in Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon in San Francisco next year.
The most important thing is you have to prepare mental toughness and also physically fit. The course was hard, I wouldn’t recommend this race for a first timer. Don’t forget to set your goals and chase your dreams, work hard and you commit to it, it will come true. Trust me, it works.
