Putrajaya 70.3 was always planned as part of my 2015 schedule. It was at a good time of year and not hard to get to from Perth, so it fitted my criteria for a race. However, after getting my Professional License approved it suddenly took on new significance because it would be my first race as a Pro.
Given the significance, I am happy with how my day panned out. Not a perfect day out, but not a bad one either. Given the tough conditions of the race, finishing feels like a massive achievement in itself. Claiming my second top 10 finish with 7th in the MPRO category is icing on the cake. A solid way to kick off this Pro Triathlete adventure.
So Putrajaya, where and what? Heading into this race I really had no idea of the answers to either of those questions. Having spent a few days there I now have a slightly better idea. Basically Putrajaya is the administrative centre for Malaysia, think Canberra if you are from Australia. In fact apparently Canberra was looked at when the designed the city. It certainly has that 'planned' feel that Canberra has and even has a massive man made lake of its own (where the swim leg is). Given its role, the city is full of grand architecture and impressive Government structures. It also has great roads, lots of open space and is spotlessly clean. Pretty nice place actually. Very easy to get around (other than the heat) once you get your bearings.
So yeah the heat. This place is hot. I think the maximums are really only 33 or 34 degrees, but as is often the case with tropical heat, it feels much, much hotter. This would easily be the hottest feeling race I have done, and that includes some 40 degree days in southern Australia. This is the sort of heat that you can't ignore, you have to take it into account in your race plan and in your pacing. If you don't, it will crush you. I don't think we had an unusually hot day either. The impression I get is that it is always like this. You want a tough Half Ironman, then this should probably be on your list.
So those are the conditions. What is the course like?
Well, it actually quite a simple one.
The swim looks like this.
A very simple rectangular course, out and back. The water in the lake is dead flat and there is a lane rope around the entire course as well as regular large buoys, so navigation is a breeze. On the surface the swim looks like it should be a delightfully easy one. However, looks can be deceiving. The lake is freshwater, and so instantly your buoyancy takes a hit and with it your speed. When I first jumped into the lake for a training swim I felt like I would just keep sinking. The water was hot too. For us the water temperature was around 30 degrees. Definitely no wetsuits here. If you aren't sure what 30 degrees feels like head down to your local pool and jump in the therapy pool that all the little old ladies are doing aqua aerobics in. That is about 30 degrees. It is the sort of temperature that is pleasant when you jump in, but rapidly becomes uncomfortable once you are swimming. Unfortunately there also isn't a lot you can do about it, you can't take on more water at the aid stations or anything. Basically if it causes you trouble you will have to slow down, simple as that.
The swim is a deep water start, with entry being off a pontoon. This year the organisers went with a rolling start for the age groupers. The start process was that you worked your way down to a pontoon, over a timing chip reader, jumped off the pontoon and you were away. Because of this start process age group athletes weren't able to have a warm up pre-race. Not necessarily the end of the world, but something to be aware of.
At this point I should mention that whilst some of the lakes around Putrajaya don't look all that appealing for swimming, the water quality in this one was fine. I wouldn't fill my drink bottles from it and visibility wasn't great, but the water wasn't dirty.
Moving onto the ride. Two 45km laps over this course.
Looking at the map the first thing you might notice is that it really is a lap. No out and backs here. This has the fun consequence of not really allowing you to see your competitors much, so you spend much of the race not knowing if they are 10 minutes behind you or 10 seconds. A big upside though is that if there is any wind you won't find yourself working into it for too long.
The ride is nearly all on motorway style roads. Big three lane things, where the race has one lane closed off from traffic. The surface of these roads is generally good with a couple of potholes of note. They were rare enough though that I can remember each one. Overall nice surface.
Because the ride is on motorway though, it is mostly very exposed. Because on the bike you are moving quickly you don't notice the heat as much, but it is definitely there and increasing the longer you go. Hydration on the bike is key because it is your main chance to get a lot of fluid into your system. You may not feel like drinking all that much, but it is crucial that you do. Hitting the run leg already in hydration debt is not a good idea.
Elevation wise, this ride is not flat, about 540m of elevation gain over the two laps according to my Garmin. Whilst not flat, it is hardly the Alps either. Basically it is continual rolling hills, very little flat ground on this course. The hills are mild to the point that you don't need to come off your aerobars for most of them.
Three aid stations per lap on the bike making for a grand total of six. That is a lot for a bike leg, but you will be glad they are there. Good aid stations with the usual choices of water and electrolyte. Proper bidons used for this race, so no concerns about water bottles not fitting into cages etc here.
Next comes the run bit, which is shaped like this.
As you can see, the run leg is another lap type affair, this time around the central Island of Putrajaya. Two laps of the Island to make up the 21km. Don't let the elevation profile on the map fool you, unlike the ride this run is flat, flat, flat. This leg is where the heat is at its worst and it really is brutal. I think how you handle it will be very personal, how fit you are, how acclimatized you are, how the rest of the race has been for you, the list goes on. For me I handled the heat okay, but not brilliantly, resulting in a very slow run. I am still not entirely sure what I could have done differently though. They are those those kinds of conditions.
Outside of the heat, the run is actually quite pretty. You are always running beside water and you head past some big landmarks, through some pleasant parks and past some lovely houses. If it wasn't for the conditions and the fact that you are racing it would quite pleasant.
Six aid stations per lap, for a total of twelve. For us this year they were brilliant. They had buckets of water to tip over you, water, coke, isotonic, gels, ice sponges, more water to tip over you. Exactly what you need for in these sort of conditions Quite brilliant. The only criticism I would have is that at some of the aid stations the volunteers were understandably a little shy and were hesitant to tip water over the panting, sweating, slightly crazed looking triathletes. This meant that at a couple of the aid stations it was easier to slow down and help yourself. Just a little thing.
The other part of the course is the transition area. For this race the transition is very simple. You come in from the swim at one end and out the other for the bike. You come back in that end from the bike and out the other end for the run. There is only one transition area, no gear bags, everything is by your bike. All lovely and straight forward. Nice.
So that is what the race looks like. How was my day in the blazing sun?
Hmmm, satisfactory without quite being satisfying.
I started the day remarkably calm, given what was coming. We got down to the transition good and early for a sweaty set up. The transition set up process went smoothly and before long it was time to pack everything away, shimmy into the swimskin and head down to the start line.
With around 10 minutes or so left to start I dived in and had a bit of a warm up then clambered back out of the water to sit and wait until it was time to go.
I just had enough time to smile at how surreal life can be as I sat there with the likes of Craig Alexander, Josh Amberger, Domenico Passuello and Fredrik Croneborg then it was time to jump back in the water and line up.
It is funny, I was wondering what the start line of my first Pro race would feel like, whether I would totally freak out. But in the end I didn't. Just like any other start line, I got a position, the gun went and we were off.
The start was clean without to much argy bargy. We stayed as one big pack for perhaps 100m and then started to string out. I was holding some toes (I figured out afterwards they must have been Fredi Croneborg's) for a few hundred metres but then he pulled away. From that point on it was me and and a group of about three others. Things didn't really change from that set up for the rest of the swim course. I was leading the group and although I considered trying to get off the front a couple of times, in the end I opted to stay where I was.
The swim wasn't really much to write home about. The heat and the fresh water meant that I never really felt that great. It was one of the few swims I have had where I just wanted to get to the other end of it. Funnily enough I did just that. Coming out of the water in 6th or 7th in a time of 27.21 (possibly my slowest ever swim leg in a half).
From the swim it was through the run up into transition, grab the bike and away. Or nearly away.
I had come into T1 with a group of about four and in the excitement to get away quick and clean I had forgotten to pull off my swimskin. I realised my mistake just as I was about to leave the transition area. I very briefly considered leaving it on (very, very briefly) but instead stopped to quickly rip it off and drop it by the exit. Thankfully by the time I got back into T2 some nice soul had picked it up and put it by my rack. Phew.
Out on the bike and I worked to settle into my pace and bring my heart rate under control, since I knew that conservation was going to be key to the day. The group of four I had come out with quickly spread out. I lost touch with Domenico Passuello and David Please but managed to put some time into Frederic Limousin. Once all that had happened I found myself quite alone and so focused on doing my work.
In this way the first lap passed fairly uneventfully.
At the end of the first lap I passed Viktor Zyemtsev and then shortly after Eric Watson. Around the 50km mark my conservative start was paying off and I was feeling really pretty good. The second lap passed much the same as the first. My back started to stiffen up and give me some grief, requiring a bit of out of the saddle work to stretch it out, but it wasn't unmanageable. Also on the second lap the course was full of age-group athletes and so there was the added degree of difficulty of riding fast while dodging around some unpredictable cycling. I was having nightmares about being taken out by a swerving age-grouper at the 80km mark, but thankfully I avoided trouble and got back to T2 cleanly.
I rolled into T2 with a bike time of 2:17:17, sitting in 6th. Best of all my bike split was an almost exact even split. Which to me confirms that I got the pacing about right for me.
I got into T2 and sat down to put my shoes on. Getting up again took a big mental effort, but I got myself going and away. No mistakes this time.
I had caught up with fellow Daryl Stanley athlete Tim Green just before end of the bike and so we ran out of transition together.
We were running along quite nicely together, when at around the 1km mark we passed Josh Amberger walking back the other way. After that we were into 5th and 6th.
Things continued in this way for the next 3km or so. I was concentrating solely on keeping my heart rate under control in the early stages, and ticking along quite comfortably doing so. After about 4km Tim started to cramp badly and had to slow, leaving me on my lonesome.
I continued to run along quite comfortably until around the 8km mark. Slowing my pace when necessary to keen heart rate and everything under control. By the fifth aid station I was starting to feel the heat with the last 3km of the first lap feeling like they were going on forever.
At the end of the first lap my heart rate was 170bpm and my internal thermometer was shifting into the red zone. Around then I took the decision to start walking aid stations to make sure I could get the cooling that I needed. I was determined to make it to the finish line and I was pretty sure that walking the aid stations was what it was going to take. Just as I reached the first aid station I got passed back by Eric Watson and a few kilometers after that by Frederic Limousin. Back to 7th. Still I was managing to run reasonably okay between the aid stations and in that way make my way around the course. By that stage that was all I was after.
After the fifth aid station, I had around 3km to go and I was still feeling human so I slowly started building for the line. I finally got there, not feeling great, but still moving forward with a run time of 1.40:15 (my second slowest run on record in a half). That gave me a total time of 4:27:51, which was enough to hold onto my 7th place in the MPRO category and get me 10th male overall.
At the start of the race summary I said that my race had been satisfactory but not satisfying. I say that because, whilst I am very happy with another top 10 position, I can't help but feel that I was on the cusp of doing just a little bit better. I am having trouble figuring out what I could have improved on, I feel like I executed the pacing and nutrition part of the race well. Despite that, I can't shake the feeling that I didn't quite nail it, I certainly fell apart on the run. As I said, satisfactory but not satisfying.
But I will take it. If I a honest, my goal for my first pro race was to simply make sure I finished. Anything beyond that was going to be a bonus, so a top 10 spot, within 5 minutes of a top 5 spot, I can live with that.
And now, even if I never race again, I can say I raced as a Pro and that is just a little bit special (not racing again isn't the plan by the way).
So now that it is done. What are my impressions, would I do it again?
My impression is a good one. Other that a couple of little niggles, the race is run really well and the venue works very nicely. Almost like they built a city with the idea of running a Half Ironman in mind. But, and it is a big BUT, the conditions are extreme and I daresay they always will be. Have a look at the results and you will see they are slow. This course is not physically that demanding, those slow times are almost completely due to the weather conditions. It has to be a factor when considering the race.
Would I do it again. Perhaps. I enjoyed the experience, despite the conditions. They certainly are manageable, but you are up for a painful day no matter how you cut it. I think I would sign myself up for it again, but I would have a good hard think about it first.
Now, for some thank yous. Firstly big thanks to Mizuno Australia, Hammer Nutrition and Swim Smooth for supporting me with the products and skills to get through a very tough day in the office. Thanks also for the guys at Break Your Limits for giving me support, being pretty good folks and continuing to like my Facebook posts.
As always massive thanks for coach Daryl Stanley, for preparing me for what was a big moment in my life and giving me the fitness and mental resolve to get through a very hard day. And finally the biggest thanks for my Wife and my kids. Triathlon is a selfish sport that takes up a lot of time. It wouldn't be possible without the completely unjustified support of my family. Sometimes all you can say is thank you (and maybe buy flowers).
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