Powerman Malaysia 2008

(Pictures are courtesy of Master Photographer Tey)

Powerman Malaysia 2008 = 11 km run – 64 km bike – 10 km run

For the fourth straight year, Powerman Malaysia was the apotheosis of my season. This grueling long distance Duathlon attracts some of the best athletes in the world and enough age-groupers to make most European race organizers drool. Even though I have a somewhat love/hate relationship with the event, politics and my ego were quickly shoved aside to make place for the sporting challenge.

Thanks to Emma, I was able to get a ride to Lumut. It must be said, if it wasn’t for my excellent navigational and co-piloting skills, we might have ended up in Penang. A couple of Emma’s legendary flapjacks kept my concentration level at full alert and we managed to narrowly escape some wandering encounters with the Kampong cows.

Race tactics were pretty simple. Maximize my run and control the damage on the bike. I tend to take some time to really warm up properly. I guess I should become a spokesman for Diesel engines. The main protagonists quickly took the lead of the race. Jason Spong and Anthony Le Duey took off and their pace was too high for me to follow. I decided to stick to my race plan and follow my instincts. Four kilometers into the race, I could feel the extra pistons going off and my running rhythm simultaneously took off. I entered transition feeling extremely comfortable just behind former winner Chrispine Osmondi and just ahead of Danish top duathlete Aksel Nielsen in fifth position (Time: 36:16).

I didn’t try to fool myself on the bike. My confidence has/had been rock bottom for months. Yes, I have improved my efficiency on the bike, but on the other hand my speed has not shown any significant improvement over the past two years. I managed to stay in a good position until the second part of the first lap. I am not able to push the necessary gears at this level. I’ve stopped beating my head in over this fact. Training conditions aren’t ideal where I live, I have no cyclists to train with, and I could use a technical overhaul of my current bike. Although, I must admit the technical aspect is a lousy excuse, it’s the still the engine that matters.

During the first lap, I lost one of my water bottles at a bumpy stretch. I decided to go back and retrieve it. The race was still long and I wasn’t willing to take any additional risks, especially when it comes to hydration and nutrition. Aksel Nielsen told me after the race he had also lost his bottles, but he left them. He totally bonked on the second run. I kept my rhythm and I was very much looking forward to the end of the bike section and start the second run (Time: 1:47:09).

The psychology of running off the bike is if you really think about pretty simple. No matter how bad you might feel, at the end of the day everybody suffers immensely. That thought has always comforted me and I can’t resist a game of Pac-man whenever I can. I have a naturally high running pace, even if I am ready to drop dead. I never felt I was running fast, but Jason Spong told me he had the exact same feeling, still I managed to catch quite a few of the other elites. The moment you pass another athlete on the run, you can see the mirror breaking into many pieces. Mentally it’s a home run in your advantage and I have met very few athletes who have the strength to keep all the pieces glued together. Overall, I managed the fourth fastest time off the bike (Time: 40:41). If you only take the run into account, my cumulative time was fourth fastest of the field. That in itself is a huge achievement considering unlike all the other elites, I am not a full-time professional athlete.

Before Powerman, I had set two goals: Finish in the top ten and be the first “real amateur” to complete the race. I achieved both! My final time was 3:05:45. That was exactly ten minutes behind Andy Sutz, the winner of Powerman Zoffingen 2008. I was able to talk to him after the race, and he quickly noted Powerman Malaysia was tougher than Zoffingen. The heat and humidity can be excruciating in Lumut.

Jason Spong reclaimed his title from 2005. In an awesome 2:43:13, he blew away the competition. A deserved winner who is a class act as a person.

Overall, I’m very pleased with my season. I set certain realistic but challenging goals and I reached all of them. That in itself shows I gave it my best and in the end there’s not much more you can do. Now, I’m looking forward to a break from training. Play some football on the beach with friends, go kayaking and anything that doesn’t resemble Duathlon or triathlon. Oddly though, in two weeks’ time, I will probably miss my training schedules already.

And last but not least, congratulations to everyone who competed as age-groupers and finished in the top three. Well done Emma and Simon!

2008 Philippine Duathlon Open

Reality checks can be bitter sweet at times. After this weekend’s race in the Philippines, I have a double feeling about my performance. On the one hand, I’m extremely pleased with my run performance. On the other hand, I’m a bit disappointed with my sixth place position, but in all honesty I’m being too hard for myself. I was beaten by five national athletes. What do you expect?

I knew that if I wanted to have a shot at winning the race, I would have to run a very good first 10 km. And that’s what I did, but to my surprise, athletes who I had beaten before, were able to follow the tempo. We had to run four two-and-half km laps. The first two laps were led by another competitor and the eventual winner Catiil, but gradually I started catching them and for the last lap-and-a-half I more or less dictated the tempo. At all times, I felt very comfortable, although I did pick up a slight strain in my left hamstring. I decided to continue as I felt it wasn’t serious enough to quit. I finished the first 10 km run in 33:29, a few seconds behind the other three of the leading group. I did not sprint into transition as the others did, as that usually just blows up in your face later on in the race.

I did not have a bad bike, but still I struggled. I don’t have the explosiveness to keep up with any decent cyclist. I don’t have any training partners and I knew before the race this was going to be my biggest weakness. It was also an undulating course, which is the kind of course I am totally not suited for. It’s either flats or monstrous mountains, but anything in between I struggle on. Three more guys passed me on the bike, but my aim was to catch them on the second run. I saw them running when I entered transition after 1:09:34 on the bike.

What can I say about my second run? With a strained right hamstring I pulled a fantastic 17:03 off the bike for the last 5 km run. And still, I only managed to catch one guy, so I finished 6th overall. I just wasn’t able to beat the two hour mark, as I finished in 2:00:06.

The ambiguous feelings I have stem from the fact that if I were to be stronger on the bike, I could actually compete for a podium place in a race like Powerman. Nevertheless, the reality is that I can’t enjoy the luxuries of proper training partners, full-time commitment to the sport, on site professional coaches, etc.

This does not take away the amazing performance of the Filipino national team. They did a wonderful job and some of their athletes have improved tremendously. If the SEA Games were to be held today, the podium would be all Filipino. They don’t just have one Ryan Mendoza, they have four or five of them running around, and all of them are in their early twenties. A 16-year-old, who competed and won in the sprint category, managed a 16:32 for the first 5 km run.

I was hugely impressed by the commitment and professionalism of the Filipino Triathlon association. They have a proper system in place, backed up by an excellent coaching team. In the years to come, this South East Asian country could become one of the leaders in Asia’s multi-sport scene.

I would like to thank the Triathlon Association of the Philippines for inviting me to the race and taking care of my accommodation in Clark and Manila. A special mention goes to Mr. Carrasco and Rick Reyes, who invited me to stay at his home for my last night in Manila. Thank you for your generosity and hospitality.

Powerman Malaysia Request

Are there any people interested in sharing a hotel room in Lumut for Powerman Malaysia? It's a great way to cut the costs. If so, leave a comment and I will contact you ASAP. Thanks.

Duathlon’s bad propaganda

Duathlon, triathlon and XTerra are in my opinion some of the greatest sports ever invented. What happened last Saturday at the world championships though was an uppercut straight in the face of Duathlon. Trying to get out of its bigger brother’s shadow (triathlon), the race created a huge publicity nightmare which it could have gone without like a toothache.

I’ve been trying to understand what went through the protagonists heads, or if you want to reverse the roles, the antagonists. Having read some of the blogs of mainly the Flemish athletes present at the race, the whole ordeal is starting to make sense to me. It’s another classic example of the ruthlessness of the professional world of sports.

Rob Woestenborghs was under an enormous amount of pressure from the Flemish sports council (BLOSO). He needed to make the podium or he would lose his status as a professional athlete. BLOSO evaluates its athletes on a yearly basis and if an athlete has not met the required goals, they get the proverbial pink slip. More or less, you could say Rob’s professional career might be over, unless he finds private sponsors. That’s a tough pill to swallow, and might explain his possible recklessness on the bike during the race. Pressure can make you do silly things.

Jurgen Dereere is a duathlon legend at the Olympic distance who is a multiple European champion. The only major championship that has eluded him is the world championships, ending up as vice-world champion on quite a few occasions. For him, this was the race of the year and thus pressure sensitive. According to information on the Internet, Rob made a reckless maneuver on the bike that caused Jurgen to crash. Fair enough, I’d be pretty upset too after the race.

The protest lodged by Dereere was apparently backed up by 12 athletes. That is no small amount. I feel though he could have handled the situation differently. As Rob is Belgian, he should’ve let other foreign duathletes take the lead or discussed the matter with the Belgian delegates. The result is that he has received quite a few threatening or ill-worded messages on his website’s message board. Apparently, the Portuguese also handed in a complaint about Rob’s cycling, but only after Jurgen. The press has not made any references of this fact.

Whatever took place, the whole ordeal was not only a blow to the Belgian national team, but one Duathlon didn’t deserve. Hypothetically though, and I want to emphasize this, both athletes could have handled the situation during and after the race in a more mature manner. Because isn’t that what makes the great champions, being able to cope with pressure.

Embarrassment doesn’t even sum it up

DQ in Rimini gives Amey Du title (September 28, 2008)

Paul Amey won his third ITU Duathlon World Championship on a day marred by controversy in Rimini, Italy today. Belgian Rob Woestenborghs was first across the line but after his own teammate lodged a protest, Woestenborghs was later disqualified by race officials thereby giving the world championship title to Amey.

The controversial men's race opened with a pair of Portuguese men, Sergio Silva and Lino Barruncho, taking the early lead. But the main players, Amey, Woestenborghs and Belgians Bart Aernouts and Jurgen Dereere trailed by just seven seconds. The drama began early in the 40-kilometer bike segment as all six men were in the lead pack. According to Dereere, his Belgian teammate Woestenborghs was cycling dangerously. Eventually Amey, Aernouts and Woestenborghs broke away and went on to post the three fastest bike splits of the day by almost two full minutes. That lead was enough for all three to secure the podium with Woestenborghs crossing the line first, Amey second and Aernouts in third.

However, after the race, Dereere filed a protest with race officials against Woestenborghs for his aggressive riding. Officials said it was a tough call but ultimately disqualified both men for what was deemed "unsportsmanlike and dangerous behaviour on the first lap of the bike segment which risked the safety of the competitors around them".

With the disqualification, Amey was crowned world champion for the third time in his career, successfully defending last year's title. But the bitter sweetness of the occasion was not lost on him.

"It's pretty disappointing to win the world championships in this way. (Rob) definitely deserved to win today," said Amey.

Aernouts was awarded the silver while Silva was bumped up to the bronze medal position. After being dropped from the lead pack in the bike, Dereere fell further behind and finished well back and outside the top-20. The disqualification is final and Woestenborghs cannot appeal the decision. He was not available for comment after the disqualification.

Over the next few days, I hope to get more details about what really happened at the Duathlon world championships in Rimini, but at the moment I just feel embarrassed. If the Portuguese or British had lodged a complaint, I could have somewhat lived with that fact, but a fellow countryman? A teammate? Jurgen Dereere might have had a point when he filed his protest, but why couldn’t he have solved the issue within the Belgian team or through the Belgian federation? No other athlete filed a complaint except him. The official Belgian motto “Unity creates strength” was literally flushed down the toilet here. I’m baffled.

The road to Powerman Malaysia

The final preparation for Powerman Malaysia (November 9) has begun. The next 2 months will be both physically and mentally grueling, but you can’t expect anything else if you want results. As a final tune-up, I will be competing in the Open National Duathlon Championships in Clark, the Philippines on October 19.