2023 IM703Vietnam by Adeline
Adeline is a young architect, running a firm with a lot of commitment, and she has been practicing Taekwondo for so many year, she gone through lot of up and down during last 4 months of training journey, even the trip to Vietnam was full of challenge, but she made it! See what she said!
Post-race Reflection - Adeline Chan
I can't count how many times I've wanted to drop out of this Ironman 70.3 race since I signed up for it. Two weeks of travel were already booked way beforehand, and self-doubt started creeping in - will I even be able to finish the race, especially after two whole weeks of traveling? There were concerns about jetlag and lack of training. I've barely been able to do 80% of what was put out for me on TP by Charles, and I've been struggling with time management and performing in training.
Not that I'm good at any of Swimming, Cycling, and Running, but if I had to pick one that I'm ever so slightly confident in, I would say Running. And not that I'm good at Swimming, but I would say, thinking that it is the shortest leg of the three, I sometimes think it's not too bad. Cycling was the one that had haunted me for months. I didn't tell my teammates, but during the few weeks when we had to practice drafting at Sunnybay, whenever I fell behind and lost them completely, I always burst out into tears in frustration. The thing about drafting is that if you fall behind, it's almost impossible to chase up to the front. And that feeling of seeing your friends drift further and further away from you and you trying to pedal as hard as you can (probably, I've been told, I should work on ankle movement, and I did focus on that in the race) you still can't catch up... so frustrating.
Anyway, it came as a surprise to me that cycling was the most satisfying leg for me in this race. Let me start from the beginning.
We woke up at 3.45 am, and the feeling of the race day arriving felt a bit like an exam day for me. It was time to do the test, and I knew what was asked of me – so I thought. We had already spent hours packing our bags the day before, and the bikes were already at the transition area. So, we took little time to do our makeup (just joking), and we went downstairs. Luckily, our BnB was so close to the race start, and even luckier for me, I was with two teammates who knew what they were doing, and I really appreciated that. We arrived at the transition area, pumped our bikes, laid out everything meticulously like a chef with their ingredients, and stood around to look around us. It was still dark, but a line of sunrise was visible, the music was pumping, but I had my earphones in – I wanted to stay calm. People energetically talked to each other, some were laughing, some were putting their race numbers on (I felt much better when I saw that – at least I was more prepared than that!), and some other people were grim-faced for their Judgement Day. I was feeling more relaxed than I thought I would be. Three people came up to me asking to borrow my pump, and one even asked if I could pump his wheels for him, which I found curious, wondering how he managed to train so far. I helped him nonetheless, and when all this was done, we took photos of our tense smiles and walked to line up to drop our bags.
One hilarious thing was that at 5 am this time, one of my teammates was getting hit on, and it was hilarious, and it further lightened my mood. Maybe it's not going to be that bad anymore. I was also worried about the heat, but at that moment, there seemed to be a slight breeze. All good.
Waiting to get in the water was a very new experience for me, especially after COVID. Touching shoulders with strangers in a mass crowd was slightly uncomfortable. Looking at those in front of me, I could see that it would be a dogfight in the water, and I began to question why I had put myself in the >40 minutes grey cap category. When I got into the water, it was proven that I had made a mistake; trying to swim in between two middle-aged men doing breaststroke meant risking being kicked by both of them in the gut, and that continued for almost the whole swim. One guy even tried to move me by shoving me by the waist, and I had to stop swimming and just glare at him. I did think of punching him, but I focused on the race.
When I got out of the water, I was focused on getting to my bike. "Helmet first, helmet first," I told myself. "Don’t make that rookie mistake." I popped two salt tablets and took a quick glance at my gels – those babies were all there. They were what was going to help me survive. Weakest leg, here we go!
But I think I did better than usual pacing in the cycling. Firstly, I recently got aerobars which really helped with the speed (yes, that’s how much of a beginner I am) and the ankle motion reminder helped propel me forward. I struggled to grab the bottles from the volunteers at aid stations, and at one point, I actually had to stop my bike dead and speak to them. "Please can I have a black cap and a red cap?" I swapped out both of my bottles.
At 60km, the sun was really out, and I could feel my mouth dry. I was drinking every 10 minutes or so to keep myself hydrated, and I was taking my gel every 15km. I was feeling pretty good and passing by Gigi and hearing her yell my name really gave me a boost to keep going. I tried to keep my pace at 30km, but sometimes I went faster or slower than that. Looking at my Garmin now, the rate was around 28.5km across the 90km. I was happy with that, knowing what I usually do at Sunnybay back in Hong Kong.
When I landed and started running, I panicked a bit as both my calves were cramping. Trying to stay calm, I put on my running shoes and simultaneously stretched, allowing myself more time to loosen up and hoping the cramps would subside. However, when I started to jog, I realized my legs felt like lead. It surprised me because I could usually still run after a long ride. I wondered if I had pushed myself too hard in cycling or if it was because I didn't train enough.
At the 1km aid station, not only were my calves cramping, but my quads were shaking uncontrollably and felt as tense as rocks. I had never experienced this before. "I'm going to walk the 21.5km," I told myself. "I don't care; I will finish it." However, I began to worry if I would make it before the cut-off time. As I was clutching a water bucket and going through these thoughts, a Vietnamese medic came over and gestured for me to sit down at the curb. Wincing, I did as he told and he grabbed ice to apply to my quads while massaging them intensely for about two minutes. My muscles started to relax, and I helped myself by taking some deep breaths. Afterward, the medic lifted me up and patted me on the shoulder. I had a lump in my throat and wanted to cry or hug this man, but I contained myself and thanked him. Then, I focused on the remaining 20.5km.
The run was brutal due to the sun and the fact that I had exerted so much energy in cycling, leaving me with an empty tank towards the end of the run. I stopped at each aid station to replenish with electrolyte, water, and watermelon, and I always took a water bottle with me to splash water on my face. Seeing my teammates on their way back helped, especially seeing Charles; seeing your coach during a race really boosts your morale.
The last 2km were so hot and felt like they dragged on forever. I thought to myself that maybe hell is when someone is never able to reach the end of this 2km, and it certainly felt like that. Going into the last 100m, I couldn't help myself from sprinting, imagining my whole team at the finishing line waiting for me. I used up whatever was left in me and ran past a few people in front of me, finishing at 6 hours 35 minutes. I was panting and trying to look for my friends but was unable to. Then, I realized that this overseas race must be different from the ones in HK because there were so many people, making it difficult to find your group at the finishing line.
Around an hour after the race, the feeling of satisfaction finally kicked in, and I was so glad the race was over. It was done, I finished it without walking or stopping, and that was the goal, which I met. Done.
After finding my team, I took half an hour to lie down, and the rest of the day to rest. However, when I got back to Hong Kong, my body decided to quit, and I fell sick. Note to self: bring vitamins next time. Thinking back, I can't remember the pain, but I do remember all the fun things that happened during the race, including the preparation, self-talk, encouragement, and trust. And now, Kenting! Let's train.
