It was a whirlwind of a trip and the last week is somewhat
of a blur but I am glad I made the efforts to venture out to Kenting in the
south of Taiwan. When I signed up for the race I didn’t notice that it was a
Saturday event, not a Sunday race and totally forgot about the crossing of the
date line. So what I thought would be a 7 day turn around ended up being 5 days
between Miami 70.3 and yesterdays 70.3 race here in Taiwan.
It was probably one of the earliest race starts I have ever
experiences, 6am. It worked fine for me as due to the time difference I was up
waiting for my alarm to go off at 2:45am. The swim was a 2 lap formation with a
run up on the beach which I liked. Daniil Supunov and I managed to gap the
field and I lead out of the water.
.jpg)
I was unsure how Daniil would race in this distance as it
was his first Half Ironman stepping up from the ITU draft legal races. I noticed
he has represented the Ukraine at 3 Olympics so I did not want to take any
chances. I put the pressure on in the early stages of the bike and formed a
breakaway, which I managed to grow on during the race. It was a rolling hill
2.5 lap course and after lap one we had to start weaving through the amateurs.
This tested your bike handling skills and was very character building when you
had to ride through the aid stations to grab drink bottles.
.jpg)
I had formed about a 3.5minute lead on Daniil coming off the
bike with the next guys a few more minutes back. My legs had started to
struggle a little at the end of the bike and I wasn’t sure what I would have
left for the 13.1mile run. I managed to
get in the zone which I needed as the run was 14km (9miles) in one direction
then 4miles back to the finish. A mentally challenging format.
I kept pushing the pace and grew my lead to almost 8minutes
by the finish. The wind and humidity made it a tough day for all, but aside
from a few minor crashes in the event it seemed everyone had a great time.
I am about to start my trip back home to New Zealand, it has
been just over 2months on the road. I have visited 6 countries, 3 of which I
have never been before, won 3 races, got a second and a third but have some
unfinished business, which I hope to see to next year in Las Vegas at the 70.3
World Champs.
