My Ironman Journey (3) – Pre-Race Preparations

January 4th, 2010 § Leave a Comment

Much to my dismay, I came down with a bad case of flu one week before the Ironman race. I was upset with myself for succumbing to the flu bug. Head throbbing, sneezing, wheezing and nose dripping, I arrived on 30 November 2009 in Western Australia. My cough and flu did not subside. Oh well, I still have time to recover.

Practice Swims

The plan was to take a swim on 2 December after The Doctor and The Nurse arrive in Busselton. The water was cold! We couldn’t complete swimming one loop round the practice buoys. Feeling seasick, I stopped at a buoy and chatted briefly with a lifeguard who followed me around the square. “We have motion sickness because of the cold,” The Dcotor explained. Although feeling less apprehensive, I was still coughing and sniffling… badly…

I'm marvelling at how clear the water at Busselton is! Its so unlike Singapore's water where you feel as if you're swimming in milk tea.

"His & Hers" wetsuit - doesn't my wetsuit look like a child-sized wetsuit next to Wung Yew's? His idea of tying the necessary swimming equipment to the wetsuit was a great one.

Practice Rides

Whoever said that riding in Busselton was easy! The Nurse and I were nearly blown off our bikes several times. Oh boy, am I in trouble. I could barely hit 30km/h, and could barely stay upright on my bike.

We had interesting recce rides though. While riding we:

were attacked by a bird in the forest
saw many dead animal carcasses (we joked that the carcasses could have been last year’s participants who didn’t make it on the bike route)
experienced extremely windy conditions
saw great scenery
swallowed a few flies

… and I was still coughing…darn.

Preparing the bike transition area in Busselton

Practice Run

What run? We didn’t do any. I felt too sick… and I can’t be bothered. Too lazy. Plus, I lost my voice from the constant hacking, coughing and sniffling. Darn.

That's me, attempting to run.

R&R

The Doctor, The Nurse, The Shooter and myself squeezed in some time for R&R before the race. We went to Vasse Felix (a vineyard) for lunch. The food and the company were great! And yes… still coughing…