It's been a fun first quarter of 2017 for me, going from Phuket - Bangsaen - Singapore - Putrajaya, and finally back home to Subic Bay. I love training and racing in the heat, so I always choose to travel around Southeast Asia for triathlon. Apart from the convenience of travel and the relatively cheap airfare, I enjoy the warm climates, beautiful beaches, friendly people, the different but 'same same' food - tropical fruits, sticky rice, noodles, and delicious stir-fried-everything, that can be found all across the region.

For all of you interested in training in Southeast Asia, here's a quickie guide to my home court, plus a few tips and tricks to getting the most out of racing Thailand Tri-League, Powerman Malaysia, and Ironman 70.3 Subic Bay.


SINGAPORE

My soon-to-be husband Artur (we are getting married on the 25th of March!!!) lives in Singapore, so I am often in and out of there between races. It's a small but beautiful, modern, and diverse city, and is a frequent layover spot for athletes coming in/out from Europe or Australia.

Thailand Tri-League has fast become one of my favorite triathlon series in Asia. Since first racing in Cha Am and Pattaya last year, I've noticed a huge improvement in the quality and organization of their events. Kobkiat Sangwanich has a unique vision and approach to organizing and promoting triathlon, with his background in entertainment and sport. He and his Sport Master crew definitely know how to put on a great event on and off the race course; making the decision to come back and kick off my 2016 season at the Bangsaen Triathlon last February 21 the obvious choice.

Just over an hour drive outside of Bangkok, Bangsaen is a favorite tourist spot for many locals and foreginers in Thailand. The long beach, rows of hotels, bars, shopping stalls, and smooth roads make it a perfect location for a fast and fun 1.5km swim - 42km cycle - 10km run.

With about 1,200 participants on a mostly flat 2-loop course, I was a bit worried about the congestion on the roads for our second lap on the bike. But the Sport Master crew definitely stepped up their game, and improved upon their previous races by putting in bigger gaps on the wave start times, and also thoroughly briefing the participants.

​I was very impressed by the fact that though 50% were first-time racers, riders were respectful and aware of cycling etiquette and drafting rules, and kept to the sides except to overtake. A massive improvement from my experience in Cha Am last year, where riders were in full on pelotons going every which way.

It's been seven triathlons since my last post! I've finally gained a bit of inspiration to write again as I sit at home, and think back to all the fun moments from the last three months. And don't laugh at me - this is not a tri-geeky mini novel of seven race reports interspersed with gratuitous selfies and food pics! It's just a small collection of the lessons I've learned in the past few weeks... with one drunk selfie and one pic with food in it. :)

 PATTAYA TRIATHLON, THAILAND 10/17

I was feeling a bit off early on during race week, and was anxious about traveling and getting sick right in time for the race. Being based in Subic is great, but the downside is I have to drive to Manila (anywhere from 2-4 hours) for meetings, sponsor events, and flying through Manila airport. I knew the smart thing to do would have been to postpone the dinner and early morning meeting I had scheduled before my flight, so that I could get more rest. But stubborn me kept the appointments, and by the time I landed in Bangkok I was feeling really sick. I finally listened to my body and just rested as much as I could in the hotel before the race. I didn't have a fever on race day, but it was definitely a struggle.

All in all, it was not as bad as it could have been, and I enjoyed my time in Pattaya and catching up with my triathlete friends. I was aiming to get a podium spot, but just came up short on the day and finished fourth.

Lesson (that I should have) learned (a long, long, time ago): Don't underestimate the power of Manila traffic and stress in f***ing you up. Listen to your body, get enough sleep the night before your flight, and hydrate!
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 IRONMAN 70.3 GURYE, KOREA 10/4

I had my first DNF in a triathlon because of some bike mechanical trouble. I actually cried about it for a minute, took a selfie in tears, laughed, sent the selfie to my friends, and went on texting them about my shit day. It was my first time in Korea, and I was very excited to finish in a quicker time, given the perfect weather conditions on a beautiful course. It was really disappointing and frustrating not being able to finish. Anyways, big thank you's to my friends who were so human about listening to my drama that day!

And despite being super unlucky on race day, I actually felt quite lucky having a good group of athletes to hang with on the 4-hour drive back plus the 6-hour wait at Incheon airport. Hellos to the Naude bros from South Africa, and Mitch Kibby and Katy Duffstar from Aus! I learned quite a bit from you guys in our little cultural exchange. :) Thanks for not making me want to shoot myself in that 10-hour wait.

Lessons learned: Shit happens. Life goes on. When in Korea, stop and smell the kimchi and make new friends. Air BnB is awesome. Also, Incheon airport is great for layovers. They've got good shower and massage/spa facilities, and day beds/ reclining chairs for passengers to have a rest. 

This past May was quite possibly the hottest Philippine summer I've ever had! With three triathlons and one run race, the Mayweather Pacquiao fight, my birthday, and a lot of traveling around the country under the scorching sun - summer 2015 is definitely one I'm going to remember.

Kickstarted the month with the Durianman Triathlon in Davao over the May Pac fight weekend. LC, Michael and Mitch (our friendly, neighborhood, over-staying Aussie pros), and I had a superstar welcome! It was an absolute blast getting to know the local tri community, and sampling all the local fare! Could not get enough of Davao seafood - so fresh and so cheap. Big thank you's to JJ Sarona, George Cang, and everybody at Tri Davao and The Podium Multisport for showing us a great time!

Morning after the race was the much anticipated May Pac fight! This photo doesn't even come close to showing how much I was emotionally invested in it! But I drowned my disappointment in pilsen, lechon, and kinilaw, and had quite an entertaining afternoon watching LC pack her bike after having one pilsen per round from round 6 to round 12 :p See mine and LC's instagram accounts for some awkward videos :p

Once in Manila, we hit the ground running and headed straight to my favorite little Mexican place, El Chupacabra, for tacos, and more pilsen, with more friends. And afterwards, we ended up in the weirdest bar called B-Side. Cheers to unplanned evenings with good friends, where you end up dancing 'til 4am on your birthday, in run shorts and a pair of Nike Airmax! Thank you Junie, Benj, LC, Ian, Artem, Michael, and Mitch!

The following weekend I drove down to Manila for the Nike Women's 10km Run, where 9,000++ women ran the streets of Alabang at 9pm! Here are some of my favorite scenes from that unforgettable night:

I'm pretty sure I finished the Challenge Philippines race more than 72 hours ago, so why am I still achey all over? CP definitely lived up to its "toughest half distance tri in the world" reputation. The hills of Bataan were alive with the sound of grown men and women whining, grunting, and crying (for help). 

I was pretty happy to come in 4th overall woman, among some very tough ladies out on race day. Massive fan of the women's champion, Emma Pooley, who was so far ahead on the bike last Saturday that she was practically in a different zip code! For those of you who don't know, Emma is a world cycling TT champion and Olympic silver medalist for cycling TT!!! #fangirlmodeON

As usual, I came out of the water at the tail end, in 8th place of 10 in the female pro/elite wave. But I was confident that I would make up some ground on the bike, as I had been training in Subic since December. Being familiar with the very hilly and technical bike course is definitely an advantage, especially for someone like myself, who is not the fastest at sharp corners and steep downhills. I overtook Filipina Elites Maria Hodges and LC Langit early on in the ride, with Carol Fuchs just a few meters behind me. I managed to drop Carol after the first hill section at BTPI, and picked up Katja Rabe and Louisa Rundqvist at the flat section around the 25km or so. I rode the rest of the race with Katja and Louisa, working hard to push the pace in front, as I knew Carol, a very solid runner, was just behind us by a couple of minutes.

The top three women were too far ahead to catch, and so I just concentrated on riding the last two hill sections as well as I could, and hopefully make Louisa and Katja a little tired for the run. Louisa got dropped somewhere before the last 15km, seeming to be struggling with the hills and heat. And I rode all the way to T2 with Katja, who seemed quite fresh as she even managed to talk to me as she overtook me on the last hill up to Morong gate.