MANILA, Philippines - About a year ago I decided to join my dad Gianluca and good friend Noy Jopson in a small triathlon in Naga, Cebu, just for fun. It was well documented that I panicked in the swim, held on to a support boat and after getting my bearings had a decent bike and run to finish second in the sprint race. That initial baptism of fire left me determined to conquer my fear of the swim. However, with a hectic sked and a daily noon time show, my succeeding triathlon attempts at the Xterra, Bantayan and Subit races showed that although I was improving, I still had a long way to go. All that changed when last month, the three weeks that spanned between June 2 and 17 comprised the craziest, most fun adventure of my life and jump-started my journey to becoming a dedicated full-fledged triathlete.
When Happy Yipee Yehey (HYY) ended, I decided to make the most of it and dove headlong into serious triathlon training. Together with Cobra Ironman Champion Noy Jopson as my coach, we got a dedicated training partner, James, to go with me daily and also got help from SEA Games veteran Noel Salvador and super runner/coach Philip Duenas.
My intentions were two-fold, I wanted to improve at triathlon and at the same time I wanted to prepare myself physically for the demands of my upcoming soap, Isla. At first, there was resistance from my manager kuya Jojie Dingcong (who also manages Derek Ramsay) as he knows Ironman to be a grueling and demanding sport. However, my persistence in convincing him won over his approval and support. He agreed that, yes, I did need to choose and pick a new sport, a new passion….and for me Ironman is it!
On May 29, my taping schedule freed up and the opportunity came to join my dad, Noy and a bunch of other Pinoy triathletes in the toughest Ironman 70.3 course in the world, Kona. Overnight, I was on a plane with Noy to Kona. Upon arriving on Wednesday, it seemed like the whole island was abuzz with energy and excitement. In just three days, 1,800 of the world’s fittest triathletes were going to do battle in the legendary lava fields and I was going to be one of them. Highlight of our first day was being picked up at the airport and driven by none other than Fernando — that’s Fernando Zobel de Ayala! My friend, Jong Cases’s sister Jane, who’s one of the top doctors in the US, was supposed to pick us up but our driver’s friend and Polo Tri teammate Geraldine Santiago got food poisoning and Dr. Jane took care of her and gave her IV fluids back at the hotel, so Fernando offered to pick us up instead.
We spent the next three days training on the course, especially on the bike where the winds scared the hell out of me and threatened to blow us all away to the Pacific Ocean. We also swam in the Kailua Pier, site of the Ironman World Championships and were greeted by many colorful fish and even a Manta Ray. Time blew so fast as we soaked up all the good vibes while training in the island paradise.
I was a bundle of nerves on race day, I had a terrible swim since it was very choppy and I must have swam 2.2k instead of 1.9k just to avoid the hundreds of flying elbows and feet. I had a good bike ride on my Scott Plasma Ltd. And was careful not to over exert myself especially on the climb to the Hawi turnaround. On the way down, the practice as I was able to safely control the bike on the violent crosswind sections. The run was the hardest thing I had ever done. It was up and down all the way and on various surfaces, from asphalt road to cement footpath, thick fairway and compact golf course green grass. At times the head wind was so hard that going down hill was harder than going uphill with the tailwind. Finally, after 6 hours, 16 minutes and 11 seconds, I was over the line. I was an Ironman 70.3 finisher.
Spent the rest of the day soaking up the afternoon sun, with post race refreshements and finisher’s medal in hand, watching the finishers and hanging out with my parents and the 13 other Pinoy triathletes. My dad, coach Noy Jopson, Fernando Zobel, Fred Uytengsu, Geraldine Santiago of Polo Tri, Joey and Jami Ramirez of Fitness First, Efraim Manzano and Doc Rolly Bicalado of the Fil AM Tri Team, among others, all of us bonded together by the toughest Honu 70.3 on record.
The very next week I was back in Alabang for the Animo Sprint Triathlon, it was a 1k swim, 30k bike, 7k run all inside Ayala Alabang, my stomping grounds. I had still not recovered from Honu but was thankful that Noy and my dad spent a couple of days of light training with me before going back to Cebu. The goal was to go hard from the start and finish strong. I felt like I was back in karting as the racing was really head to head, fast and furious! The short distances allow us to push right from the gun, unlike Ironman 70.3 it’s all very intense but short. My goal was to break two hours and I just managed to squeeze in at 1:55 taking third place.
I immediately got a tweet from Coach Noy that said he expects me to improve on my third step on the podium soon, but I didnt expect it will be the very next week when Mayor Rex Gerona invited me to join the innaugural Tabuelan 111 Triathlon. I was a bit worried about doing doing a Half Ironman, a Sprint Tri and an Olympic Distance race on three consecutive weeks but considering that my new Promil I-shine show will be launching soon and was going to be quite busy taping for Isla as well, decided to make the most out of my short “Professional” status. On a side note, I find it amazing how quickly an out of work actor like myself can get in decent triathlon shape when I’ve got nothing else to do and feeling no leftover soreness at all from Honu and Animo I looked forward to racing back in Cebu.
The Tabuelan swim was like a washing machine, with rough waves that never ended. At one point so many people were hanging from the support banka that it capsized! Luckily, I had great practice with the choppy swim at Kona and the cramped sardine-like swimming pool swim in Alabang, so I absolutely nailed the swim. I found myself on the lead out of the water, built up a good advantage on the hilly 45k bike, and was able to cruise home with a 57-min. 12k run, winning comfortably even after I was led off the course by the lead marshal. I got my first overall triathlon win, in front of my hometown of Cebu and most importantly, conquered my fear of the open water swim in the process! Next up, is the Cobra Ironman 70.3 in Cebu on Aug. 5 and I can’t wait.