I Am an IRONMAN!

The nerves started racking up two days prior to the gun start of the race. I was staring at Lago Del Rey in Camsur Watersports Complex trying to visualize my swim strategy for Cobra Philippines Ironman 70.3. "It's going to be a long swim..." I said to myself as I could only see the "iceberg" ( swim portion turnaround point ) as a small dot in the middle of the lake from where the swim portion of the race was going to start. I have done numerous 2K swims in the pool, but nothing could have prepared me for the actual 1.9K swim for this race. The view of the swim course was daunting, and after hearing from the race officials that the depth of the lake was more than a Meralco post, I got jittery.

The jitters became stronger as I tried swimming the lake. The water was a bit heavier than a normal pool but definitely much, much murkier. I couldn't see my palm even a foot away from my face, that's how murky it was. I struggled completing a 400-meter swim workout, and immediately felt uncertainty in even being able to complete the swim.

Back in the hotel, my wife noticed how worried I was, and tried lifting my confidence up. I needed to try swimming the lake again to assure myself that I wouldn't risk my life swimming in it with more than 400 other swimmers.

The following day, I had a better swim. I guess getting more familiar with how the water in the lake felt was the key to swimming it. I did 600 meters and was confident I'd finish the swim portion of the race in one piece.

The race briefing in the afternoon of August 22 was a relief. The race director announced that they will still allow those who wouldn't finish the swim within the cut-off time BUT they will be de-classified, meaning they won't have a chance at winning their age-group but would still be considered official finishers. That announcement calmed my nerves. I joined the race to finish, as I knew from the very start that I didn't have a chance to win my age group.

August 23, 3:45 a.m.: I had my shortest sleep of the week. The anxiety and nervousness about the race kept me awake all night. Surprisingly, I wasn't a bit woozy due to lack of sleep. My adrenalin was pumping early. I said my prayers early, and asked God to guide me all throughout the race. I lifted my whole race to Him.

All of a sudden, I became relaxed...and became more confident that I would finish the race.

CWC was full of competitors at 5:00 a.m. Athletes were lined up getting body marked by the time I and my friend Che Katigbak ( relay swimmer ) arrived at the race venue. It was great seeing fellow triathletes I have raced before and to exchange "nervousness" stories with them.

After some last minute T1 and T2 preparations, I met up with my teammates for a pre-race prayer and photo ops.

With Rain, Dale and Jason of Team BelieveStrong

With my good friend and neighbor Che Katigbak

After saying the team's prayers, I, Rain and Dale warmed up at Lago Del Rey, where most of the competitors were warming up already.

Psyching myself up for the swim. I can do this!!!

We were called off the water 15 minutes before the race start. The individual competitors were to start at 6:50 a.m., while the relay swimmers would follow 10 minutes after. We were given a choice whether to start with the individual comppetitors, or with the relay swimmers, to avoid the stress of the mass start. I chose to start with the individual competitors.

6 minutes to race start, the pros and elites' names were called. At that point, I was drafting my strategy in my mind. I would start at the back of the pack, swim freestyle, then breaststroke, then hold on to the buoy line to rest...repeat until I finish the swim. Not a very competitive strategy but would surely take me to the shoreline at the other side. There was no cut-off anyway so no need to mad-rush the swim.

The gun sounded off at 6:45 a.m.

The athletes rushed to the lake like wild ducks. You could hear the water splashing all over and could see the swimmers jockeying, kicking, nudging, punching and trying to survive the initial washing machine. I didn't join the melee. I am still a poor swimmer and not equipped with the skill of mixed-martial arts and swimming done simultaneously.

Mad rush to the water. I stayed behind to avoid the washing machine ( that's me wearing the yellow/black tri-suit at extreme lower right of the photo )

I dove into the water with the rest of my teammates ( Pastor Ernie, Jason Delarama and Col. Dennis ) and immediately found my rhythm. I was relaxed and never was in trouble at the start. Once I felt getting tired, I would shift to breast stroke and then freestyle again after getting enough air. I stayed right beside the buoy line just in case something bad happened.

At around 400 meters into the swim, I hang on to the buoy line, not because I need to but I want to. I needed to make sure I wasn't over exerting and was keeping my heart rate normal.

At around 500 meters, I felt someone holding my feet. I gave him a big kick to let go.

Suddenly, someone was trying to sandwich me to the buoy line from the left side. I matched him stroke for stroke as I didn't want to give up my slot. He fell back.

Nearing the turn-around, I heard the relay swimmers' gun start. I knew that most of them would catch me as most of them were true-blue swimmers ( collegiate, national and the likes ). They caught up with me at the turn around. One accidentally hit me in the head knocking my goggles off, good thing I was near the buoy line which I held on to for dear life.

500 meters to the shoreline, I held on to the buoy line again. A kayaker approached me to ask if I was ok, I gave him the thumbs up sign.

There were around 4 of us making a dash to the shores, and we were rubbing elbows with each other. I positioned myself ahead of one and slightly behind another.

I finished the first swim in 48 minutes then dashed off to the smaller lake for the culmination of my swim. I was 369th out of the water. Stopped by the water station to sip a bit.

The smaller lake was easier to swim than the bigger one, but it was where I strayed away from the swim line more often. The swim was to go around the lake, which was harder for me to navigate. There were instances I would swim along the buoy line to my left, only to find myself in the middle upon sighting my swim direction. A swimmer ahead of me was struggling to finish his swim and I overtook him.

Finished the swim portion in 1 hour, 14 minutes.

Getting out of the water of Lago Del Rey

I was a bit disoriented upon running to T1 that I almost missed the changing area. Had to run back to wear my bike shoes, helmet, gloves and sunglasses. There were not much people in T1 anymore when I got on my bike and I told myself that I'd catch them one by one. I was gritting my teeth upon leaving T1 and was bent on getting back into the race and beat my target time. I wanted to finish the swim and bike in 4 hours 30 minutes to give me some buffer for the 21K run.

At T1, there were few bikes left when I rode mine

I was a mad cyclist upon leaving T1. I was with 2 more competitors whom I left behind. I was riding at 38kph on the first kilometer, then realized I didn't need to ride that fast. I just needed to finish the bike portion in 3hours 15 minutes to be back at T2 in 4 hours 30 minutes, which meant a speed of between 26-28kph for the 90K bike ride. I slowed down and relaxed.

I caught up riders one by one, male and female. Some I caught while struggling on the uphills and some due to some mishaps ( flat tyres, non-serious crashes, etc. ). People were lined up along the bike route and cheered us on, the others heckled us. Kids were waiting for us to throw the Gatorade and water bottles beeing given out in the aid stations. There were also some who threw water at us.

It was scorching hot!

My water bottles were laced with Extra Joss and hydration salts. I took sips of it every 15 minutes after taking in my Hammergels. Everytime I did this, I felt a surge of power running through me and would go faster, catching riders almost consistently.

Nearing the turn-around point, I caught my team-mate Melody who was doing the bike leg for one of our relay teams. I just shouted "Go Mel! Believestrong!" then went ahead.

At the turn-around point ( 45kms ) I stopped to refill my water bottles and get more hammergels, get doused with water and pushed back to the race.

Going back to CWC, I caught my teammate Jason Dela Rama, who was ahead of me in the swim by more than 10 minutes. He was struggling a bit but I knew that he would finish. I couldn't afford a chit-chat so I just egged him on and went ahead.

I caught other riders on my way back but two of them caught me when I dropped my cyclocomputer while pulling out a hammergel on the 60K. With the power surge from the Hammergel, I caught them again.

15K to the bike finish, I was thinking of slowing down. Instead, I pushed further to 35kph and caught 3 more riders. I realized I still had the leg power to at least run 5K after the bike. I saw another rider about 200 meters ahead of me and caught him 2 minutes later. Around 2K to the bike finish, saw 2 more riders in front and tried catching them up. Caught and passed them both upon entering CWC.

I finished the bike leg in 3 hours 6 minutes and left T2 at 4:25 of the race. I was on track! I still had 3 hours 35 minutes to finish the 21K run, more than enough for me.

I took it easy on the first 1K of the run, then sped up on the next 3K then run-walk the next 6K to complete the first 10K in 1:10, leaving me with 2:25 to finish the race. I caught Pastor Ernie around the 12th km. He was cramping already. Tried to egg him on to run but he couldn't so I decided to just pace with him. Though he asked me to go ahead, I wouldn't just leave him like that.

With 8K to go and 2:05 still left. We knew we would finish even if we walk all the way to the finish, and that's what we did.

We just chatted along way and saw a lot of other competitors still doing their fist laps with less than 2 hours to go. Though we weren't sure they'd finish on time, we still egged them on.

Melvin Fausto, one of our relay team runners, caught up with us on the last 1.5K. All three of us, decided to stick it out and put some drama to the finish line by holding hands and raising these up as we cross the line.

People were lined up along the chute leading to the finish. It was a great moment. I controlled my emotion. All the six months of training resulted to raised hands, thank you Lord!

We crossed the finish line in 7hours, 20 minutes. I was ranked 338th out of more than 400 individual competitors. It was good enough for a 40 year old who dreamed of racing and finishing an ironman race just a year ago. The early morning trainings and the sunburns paid off. It was harvest time!

Thank you to all the people who supported and coached me on the way to an Ironman finish.

To God who was with me all the way, boosting my confidence and guiding me.

My wife Carol and family ( my daughters Dani, Collette and KD, as well as my mother and mother in law, sister Weng and brothers Russell, Noel and Manny), who were supporting me all the way. Without their overwhelming support, I wouldn't have done this physically and financially. I love you very much!

To Pascual Laboratories Inc., who sponsored my participation, thank you and I hope you are proud as I am with this endeavor.

To Team BelieveStrong: You guys rock!

To Retzel and Javy O.: Guys, your tips were instrumental to my training and race strategy. See you in the next races and congratulations for the stong finish!

To all the people I met and race with in Duathlons and Triathlons I participated in prior to Camsur: Hats off to you!

Some say that we triathletes are crazy, but I would rather be with a crazy bunch than anybody else.

Until the next race!

God bless!

Deo P.