From Zero To Hero

“Are you crazy?” my friend Raeanna said last December when I asked her to join me in a triathlon in Bali.

A triathlon is an endurance sports event consisting of swimming, cycling and running. It’s so tough some of the early triathlons were known as Ironmen events. It is normally not enough to be proficient in just one event. Triathletes must race each stage in a way that preserves their energy and endurance for subsequent stages held back-to-back. Additionally, a competitor’s official time includes the time required to “transition” between the individual legs of the race, including any time necessary for changing clothes and shoes.

Though I had been into all sorts of endurance sports all my life, competing in a triathlon can’t be a spur of the moment decision… especially when you’re past 40. But competing in one had always intrigued me and, you might say, at the top of my bucket list of things to do.

So, when my good friend Euan Marshall announced that he was getting married to Margaret Hernandez in Bali in July 2008, I thought, this is it... the time to scratch one more item from my bucket list. Euan, a Scottish expat based in Manila, met Margaret, a Filipina raised in Perth, Australia on the island paradise three years ago. He had been competing in triathlons in the Philippines and perhaps set his wedding date to July to coincide with the second Annual MRA International Triathlon event in Jimbaran Bay, an “Olympic” distance event or a 1.5-km swim, 40-km bike and 10-km run. I figured that the wedding was a perfect opportunity to try the sport and six months would be enough lead time to prepare for the race. A believer in that old chestnut, “Misery loves company,” I recruited fellow wedding attendee, 32-year-old Raeanna Cranbourne, to join me in this crazy challenge and as an incentive, offered that she may lose weight in the process. 

ABS-CBN Publishing’s chief, Ernie Lopez, an extreme-sports aficionado, recommended as coach Ige Lopez, entrepreneur-owner of the locally made jersey brand Transition One and one of the country’s top rated triathletes. Ige is known as a sort of miracle worker, a zero-to-hero trainer who transforms novices into athletes. Some of his students include business executive Fernando Zobel and Nina Huang, wife of Rustan’s heir Anton Huang; he trained both for the 2006 and 2007 New York Marathons.  

The training started December (with a 3-week break for the holidays) and consisted of running twice a week, a long distance run during weekends (usually 10-km races), swimming twice a week with another coach, Ria Langit, and once a week spinning classes. I’m not fond of biking and actually started biking on the road in March. Ige warned us that training is no joke and emphasized the importance of commitment and consistency.

He was right; commitment was a really big issue. It was difficult to combine 8-10 hours per week training with work and after-work commitments. I was physically exhausted and tired with the training. I would go to bed as early as 10 pm and when I’m out (now occasionally), I’d reduce my wine intake. I actually gained weight in the beginning because I thought carbo-loading would be the best diet to fight fatigue. Ige corrected me and said that carbo-loading is essential before a race – not during training – to maximize the storage of glycogen in the muscles. 

Patience was another issue. The mileage buildup was slow and specific. I had to learn the skills and likewise build endurance to avoid injury, particularly knee injury and rotator cuff tendinitis. For someone as impatient as myself, this was a humbling process plus the fact that I had to follow whatever the coach says.

Our general fitness level improved and we actually could run or bike more than an hour, rain or shine. In fact, out of town weekends would be focused on doing a multi-sport. For instance, this year’s Easter holiday was a four-day boot camp in Subic with a climb up Mt. Pinatubo, biking around Subic and Pundaquit, swimming in Anwaya Cove and afternoon runs in Binictican. Diving in Anilao would also include mountain biking during surface interval times.  

The next step in training was to integrate all three sports together and learn how to transition from one sport to another. A sprint triathlon which is half the distance of Bali’s olympic – a 750-m swim, 20-km bike and 5-km run – was set as a mini-goal. There was such a sprint event in Subic in May, so we tried to simulate the race by doing a time trial on May 1, Labor Day. It was a pathetic attempt on my part that resulted in several abrasions and a bruised ego. I flew off my bike from failing to see the speed bump and my legs cramped during the run. It was obvious that we were not ready and doubt started setting in. 

Ige encouraged us to continue training. He said, “Please don’t let this simulation scare you. Without failure there will be no success, without hardships there won’t be any victories. Please, guys. be patient, hardworking and keep your heads up high always. You have gone a long way from where you were before, right? C’mon, kaya yan! If you compare yourselves from last year, for sure all of you guys improved tremendously. And I’m proud of you guys, really!” 

Another setback was the fact that Ige left for Canada on April 27 to pace his student in the Annual Vancouver International Marathon (last May 4); he would be back after one month. That meant no coach for running, which is the most essential sport since it’s the last leg of the triathlon where strength and energy have been diminished by more than 90 minutes of swimming and cycling and the midday heat can cause dehydration. 

Luckily, Triathlon Association of the Philippines (TRAP) official Marjo Canjas and concurrent National Philippine Team coach, who used to run for the City of Zambaoanga from 1986 to 1999 and is the national record holder of the 3000-meter steeplechase, was available to coach. From May to June, I switched coaches and changed schedule to three mornings a week at the ULTRA oval at 6 a.m. and long runs during the weekend.

Before I left for New York on June 18 to attend the International Association of Business Communications Conference, I joined a 10-km race in Pasig and my time improved to one hour eight minutes (versus 1 hour 16 minutes from my first 10-km run last Jan. 13). 

 Finally, Bali.

And so it was that on June 28, straight from New York, jet lag and all, I found myself driving around Nusa Dua and Uluwatu in Bali with Euan and American expat Glen Carberry at 3 p.m. to survey the bike route. We picked up our race packet at the Four Seasons’ Coconut Grove and joined the mandatory race briefing. Raeanna was already there, listening while her bike was assembled in the mechanic’s tent.

I was getting nervous during the briefing especially since Euan kept repeating incessantly, like a mantra, that he didn’t train enough and will do the relay instead. I started wishing that I should’ve trained a bit while in New York – that was one week off! Worse, the bike mechanic service was available only until 6 p.m. and my bike was arriving at 8 p.m. 

Before I left Manila, Rene Tablante of Bike King in Bonifacio High Street helped disassemble and pack my bike. He said that sometimes there are no mechanics available onsite and it’s best to learn how to assemble the bike myself. But I blacked out and couldn’t remember at all what he taught me. In a desperate attempt, I convinced one of the Indonesian mechanics in the service area that I’d pay double if he’d come to the hotel at 8:30 p.m. to assemble my bike. 

The next day, we were at the Four Seasons by 6 a.m. The transition area was divided into two rows, left for men and right for women, and further divided into age groups, with the 16- to 20-year-olds up front. There were 185 participants and everybody seemed to be stretching – they looked excited and ready. By 6:45 a.m. and after downing two energy GU-gels (concentrated sugar packaged in gel forms), we were herded to the beach. More than half of the athletes were already in the water, warming-up, braving the 2- to 3-foot waves. 

The swim was supposed to be 500 meters from the shore to the left buoy, then 500 meters to the right buoy and another 500 meters back to shore. It looked like they were having difficulty setting up the right buoy because of the waves. 

The race started at past 7 a.m. When the horn sounded, I let the gung-ho pros swim first lest I get run over. I found out later on that the swim was longer – it was 2.2 kilometers because of the change in tide. The water was ice-cold, murky and had stinging jellyfish. It took me one hour and 16 minutes to finish the swim leg.

My friend Bettina, who was taking photos, got scared because Reanna wasn’t coming out of the water. She came in 15 minutes after. The Australian pro Luke McKenzie who placed first overall after finishing the race in 2 hours nine minutes, came in after 27 minutes swimming.

The bike ride was tougher than the hills of Subic Bay. It was a scenic 40-kilometer ride which started through the busy two-lane traffic in Jimbaran and then steep uphill climbs and descents in Nusa Dusa until the University area, which was an easy downhill ride back to Four Seasons. Biking is my waterloo and I didn’t train enough for this sport. I had to stop and walk two uphill assaults. It took me 2 hours and 28 minutes to complete the bike course (note McKenzie’s time of 1 hour 3 minutes).

After biking at the transition area, I met Robyn Stanley, a 56-year-old, silver-haired athlete from Darwin, Australia. She was not that happy with her finish time of three hours.  

I must have looked exhausted and ready to collapse because in her sweet voice she said, “Honey, you don’t have to finish the race. It was a difficult swim and bike. You’ve done enough.” I found out later that she had qualified for the Ironman event in Kona, Hawaii, and Bali was a warm-up for an Ironman event the following Sunday. 

I don’t know what got into me, but after all the hard work training, I succumbed to exhaustion and ended up taking Robyn’s advice not to continue the race.  

Blame it on the heat or jetlag, I told myself that I didn’t have to prove anything. I started horsing around the transition area, taking photos, chatting with fellow participants and downing isotonic drinks.

As I was about to cross the street to check out the pros at the banquet area, I saw Raeanna coming in from the bike. She yelled to start running and finish the race. She reminded me that we trained hard for six months; when the guilt trip didn’t work, she said, “We didn’t come all the way to Bali so you could quit.”  Raeanna has always been competitive. I answered back and said that she was “my hero, keep going, I am rooting for you!” 

However, I suddenly was brought back to my initial meeting with Ige when he asked me what my goal was.  

I had told him that the goal is to finish the race, to complete the swim-bike-run. I started feeling like a loser for giving up so quickly. If Raeanna is finishing the race, I might as well not give up also and, most of all, not let her beat me. With this in mind, I ran and overtook her. It took me 1 hour and 14 minutes to run the streets of Jimbaran; it took McKenzie only 37 minutes.  

I was one of the last few to cross the finish line. I was happy to see the Manila crew there waiting patiently for me. Raeanna, the one who forced me to finish, was with them. She had turned too soon and, unfortunately, was unable to complete the 10-km run. Her consolation though is she lost 20 pounds after six months of training. 

Believe it or not, not only did I finish the race, but I placed first in my age group (45-49 years old)! I won a trophy and dinner for two in Samaya Resort in Seminyak. Not bad for a first-timer, 40-something athlete who trained for six months.  

After Bali, it seems like I can do anything as long as I set my mind to it with commitment, consistency and patience.  

I wonder if I can finish the New York marathon this November. That’s 42 kms in cold weather…