This is my 2nd 70.3 with the ironman group. Somehow the idea of Ironman is not as fancy as last time, in fact I think many Gen Z are more into Hyrox than Ironman. So does it mean one day I should do a Hyrox too? Anyway, we shall see , maybe if there is a free slot for the Hyrox I will go.
Back to this 70.3. I signed up since last year December, having done the FIM in Sep last year, I felt that I was still not so ready for another FIM. Its like a struggle to complete. Usually that means something, one part of the discipline might be too weak ( in my case I am very sure was the bike), lack distance coverage and lack good timing in shorter distances ( same as running). So I thought I should brush up on the Half IM first before going to do more FIMs , provided finances allow.
Danang has always been raved about as a good race destination because of the easy logistics, easier course and also proximity to Singapore. Although I am not big fan of Vietnam, I decided to go this one instead of Philippines ones. After booking the race ticket, I immediately head over to Singapore Airlines to check on the tickets available as there were direct flights and being a national carrier, I think I can trust SIA to give the best flight comfort and baggage handling. The tickets were rather reasonable going at $268 SGD with 25 kg check in lugguage.
Training
My training plan is simple, about 2 months before the race I started to cycle more ( I think for some it might be too late) as I had been doing a lot more on trails and Kerinci really killed me. This year I have been grappling with that Gluteal and hamstring problem which has started since Dec last year. I guess it is going to take sometime to heal.
Same like the Full ironman, this time as time was really short, I just made sure that the 3 weeks before the race I clock at least 150km of everything add up. But I focused more on the bike over to run transition as the gluteal pain was something I need to get over. I try to run around 11 am to 2pm , just to simulate the heat, I kind of expect that Danang will not be any cooler than Singapore or Desaru.
Cycling being my worst discipline and looking at my bike ( errr) I managed to clock on 80km ( maybe to most is still not enough) with a ladies gang which I enjoyed pretty much. Roads in Singapore is really not conducive for cycling and I am quite happy to have met this group and rode with them, boosting my confidence. After this round, I will have to seriously think of changing my bike and also ramp up my technical knowledge on cycling. In any case, get over and done for this one.
As usual for the tuning of the bike, I got the usual mechanics, Bike Hero to settle for me. I only changed the front tyre and the back kept on. This time round the mechanic put a lot of black oil and it was quite messy especially when I had to pack the bike into the nooyah bag. But the good news is I managed to assemble and disassemble my bike into the nooyah bag just that the handle was a bit crooked after it got transported to Danang.
Danang
I will touch briefly about this city as my 5 day 4 nights trip with the 70.3 did not allow me to have too much tourist time. But I did managed to rent an Ao Dai, go for photo shoot at the Marble hills and visited Bana hills which had that famous Golden Bridge ( the one which had stone hands grabbing the bridge). I only paid for one trip to Bana hills the day after the race, to be honest, if there is no entrance fee or the price of the cable car is cheaper, it would have been a more worthwhile trip. The whole Bana Hills is like a “Theme park” with limited rides and the theme is towards European design. The whole place is man made, there is a road up but most tourist will take the cable car up. After signing up with Get your guide, I then realise its much cheaper to not join any tour for the day trip there, you can simply get a free shuttle from the city centre and buy the tickets online which costs almost half than joining the Get your guide tour. The buffet is not bad and covers a lot of food selection with Vietnamese specialty.
I did not have the time to go to Hoi An, but I read in reviews that most people find it more worth while to visit Hoi An than the Bana hills. Danang city itself has a long stretch of sandy beach, the dragon bridge and some night markets that you can visit. The good thing about Danang is that the airport is very near to the city centre and there are many good affordable accommodations around. Cost of living is generally not that high so you can travel around and have a meal at very good price.
The Race
Race pack collection was at the East Sea Park. After knowing the location of the race, I decided to book a nice quaint hotel called Minh Boutique Hotel which is about 500m to the race start and end. The price was about 50 Sing dollar a night, it comes with a decent good breakfast also. The staff allowed me to put the bike at the first floor so I need not have to move it up or down.
Basically this Ironman had everything put together at one place inclusive of the transition area. So both Cycle and Run are at the same area. Change up is also at the same place making it very convenient, there were some changing rooms in case you want to get out of the swim suit or something. We were given bike change , run change and street gear bag. The first check in was the bike and the bike run change bag, all these need to go in by 1800hr day before race. It got quite crowded just one hour plus before the transition closes. There were no bike check but the organiser took a picture of the bike with the owner when you bring the bike in. This year was also the first time full ironman was being conducted in Danang, making the participation even higher and more bustling.
Courses
Overall the three courses were enjoyable except maybe the run is too hot, but there is no way to avoid the sun as it is everywhere by the time we get down the bike. The good thing about this race is the route is logical, not much turns. 70.3 is only 1 loop of the triangular swim, 1 big loops for the bicycle route and for the run is just two rounds of about 10 km along the beach, you just keep thinking of 5km out 5km in and repeat and finish. Sea was not choppy, no current ( at least I felt so) and the sea was surprisingly not to hot, it was cool and refreshing. The only problem was despite the rolling start, I still got whacked by some swimmers. Maybe 1.9km is considered short and fast, maybe because I also chose the faster swim start resulting in my usual group catching up on me. There were a few swimmers who were doing breast stroke and oblivious of the surroundings. They just keeping whacking people around them, one lady swimmers got their goggles kicked out of the face.
Bike course was a bit narrow, there were not many climbs , I could count maybe 2 bridges with side wind but somehow maybe I am too slow so it did not affect me. There were a couple of crashes also because the pedestrians were still allowed to cross and some of them never follow the marshallers’ instructions. Traffic was a little chaotic at the major points, other than that if you ride cautiously, it should be pretty safe.
Finally the run course was the killer, the good thing was it was very well stocked with food ( biscuits, gel, fruits like banana and watermelon) and loads of isotonic, water and coke. There were many cold water splash points and ice for you to bring along and cool yourself down while running. They also provided some ice cold hand towels for you to cool down too. Sun screen and muscle spray also helped to make the run a bit more easier. There were also first aid stations together with the water stations. In all, beside the crazy heat , the run was pretty manageable and having no elevations make it much easier after the 90km ride.
Transitions
I must say the trainsitions are really good since everything is together , you need not worry that you miss anything, also the bike in out and run out in were all not too far so you will not be spending too much time at the transition points. I had my fastest transition here!
Finishing it up
Actually by the last 5km lap I was already very dying, but there was this hispanic looking guy who was like keeping up with me and we kind of overtake each other from time to time at the aid points. Our last stretch to run in the arch we really sprinted. I did not splash much water as I did not want to have a soggy shoes which can cause abrasions. My only regret was that this time I do not have many final Ironman arch photos. Overall, I was pretty happy that I managed a more decent timing, but yet I felt my bike leg need to be faster and the transition to the run has to be smoother, it took me about 5km in to pick up the speed.
There were ice bath at the end and the finisher village was really nice with a food box given to the participants. However, I felt that the food was not very good as compared to the Desaru and Korea one which was real buffet. You can take your finisher timing picture at the end and since all the transition bags and bike were kept at the same place it was easier to pick them up and go back to the hotel.
I came back again to support Oswald as he did the full ironman and it was until night time that he came back. The weather was really unforgiving and I really kudos to him for doing a full ironman under the hot sun. I guess I will come back again one of the days maybe to do the full, despite the heat, but I realise I am more heat than cold person. We shall see my body after another 2-3 years!