Race Report: Tribob Sprint Duathlon Singapore

Tribob Sprint Duathlon is an annual race in Singapore designed for people who want to experience multi-sports racing. The distances are short (3k run-18k bike-3krun ) and the race is claimed to be fun and friendly. I was registered to race this event courtesy of my brother, Russel, who has been in Singapore for quite some time already.

http://singaporesprintseries.com/

Russel, Edu ( a Spanish friend who was also racing ) and myself took off from Russel's flat in Serangoon to Sengkang West using our bikes at 6:30 a.m. The streets of Singaapore, though busy with vehicles, were a lot safer than the roads in Manila. There were no undisciplined drivers similar to jeepney and bus drivers here. They respect the right of way of bikers and avoided them as much as possible. I guess that's how it really is when traffic laws are properly implemented.

We got to the race venue by around 7:15 and proceeded to the bag check-in area to deposit our things, then went to transition to rack our bikes.

Checking in my backpack. Russel, Edu and myself rode our bikes from Russel's Serangoon flat to the race venue

Edu's age-group wave started at 8:00 a.m., mine would start at 8:30 so I took the 30-minute difference to warm up. When I started a slow jog, I realized all the strolling and shopping we did 2 1/2 days leading to the race took a toll on my legs. It felt heavy. I shrugged it off and told myself it was going to roll smoothly at race time.

At 8:20 a.m., the 40+ participants were called in at the starting line. I positioned myself at the front of the pack to avoid getting caught in the middle and have trouble running my way to the front. The front pack was mostly caucasians, and I was bent on giving them a run for their money.

At exactly 8:30 a.m., we started.

Start of our age group. I stayed at the front to avoid weaving through the slower runners at the back.

Trying to keep a good pace at the start of the first run.

This was a short race and I knew well before the race that it was going to be an all out sprint from start to finish. I kept a 4:30ish pace on the first 2K but suddenly felt heavy legs on the 3rd K of the run leading to the T1. I was huffing and puffing and was having sidestitch. What in the world was happening to me?

Huffing and puffing towards the end of the 1st run. I wasn't at my best.

Upon reaching T1, I couldn't change to bike shoes as fast as I could. I finished the first run in 14+ minutes which was within my target but was having a hard time transitioning.

As I rolled off the bike, I told myself I'll hack it out and try to catch up with the leaders.

I was still thinking of landing in the top 40 of my age group at the start of the bike leg.

I initially was averaging 33-34 kph on the bike. I wanted to go faster and be at an average of around 36kph for the whole bike leg. However, at the time I was on the saddle, there were still some riders belonging to the earlier waves who were still on the course, making it tight for fast riding. The turns were tight and I had to pussyfoot to avoid crashing with other riders. What's worse was that the women's wave got on the bike on my last lap. Some of them were weaving through the course dangerously, so I had to take extra caution. It was a "no drafting" race, but on my second lap, there was a group of around 5-6 people bunched up in a peloton. When I excused myself to pass them, the nutheads drafted behind me. Cheaters!

Turning cautiously at the tight turn around

I finished the bike leg in 33+ minutes, at an average of 32.2kph. Not an ideal time.

Already disappointed at my performance, my legs already felt heavy going into the 2nd run.

At this point, I have given up hope to make it to the top 40 of my age group. I had heavy legs upon leaving T2 and my stamina was suspect. The days leading to the race was spent in late nights and all day strolling around Singapore. It wasn't a good way to prepare even for a short race and it all fell apart on the 2nd run for me.

There was only one water station along the whole course, located at the 1K point of the run course. With the 9 a.m. Singaporean heat already taking its toll on me, I did something I haven't done in my past 2 duathlons, walk!

I tried hard to keep a good pace on the 2nd run, but my legs weren't there anymore. I was hoping for a second wind, but it did not come the way it came on my previous duathlons which were a lot longer than this one.

I reached the finish line at 1:07 of the race, only to find myself exiting in the wrong direction. I proceeded to the transition area once more instead of going into the finish line chute. My brother Noel and wife, Carol, called my attention on the mistake I did. I was already walking towards my bike then and had to run back to where the finish line chute was, taking away precious minutes from me.

Took a wrong turn at the finish line and smiling about it. What a way to cap a disappointing race.

I officially finished the race in 1:09, with a second run of more than 19 mins, a personal worst.

Just posing happily while receiving the finisher's medal.

I was looking at finishing this race in sub-1 hour, but needed 9 minutes extra. Not nice. I placed 66th in my age category out of 175, 217th among 440 males and 239th among all racers with an official finish time of 1:09:37.

The only consolation I got in finishing, a kiss from my darling Carol

It was a good experience though. I underestimated the distance and paid dearly for it. I guess I just have to learn from it.

Our support group ( from left ): Noel, Mike, Carol, myself, Edu, Nimf, Leila. Russel took the photo.

Moving on, Tribob is a good race, but not the best. I still find the Powerade MOA duathlons better in a lot of ways. First, there are more water stations in the duathlons held here. The turns, too, are wider and safer. And the athletes here are more mindful in the bike leg and they don't weave in and out of a lane without caution. Different race, different atmosphere. Oh well.

See you guys at the Powerade National Duathlon Open on April 18.

Deo P.