Race Report: 2011 Ironman 70.3 Singapore

2011 IM 70.3 Singapore finisher's medal

Wow, just wow. This race was a stark contrast from my last race two weeks ago. It was so well-organized! Plus, Singapore is fantastic. I would love to spend more time there. Alas, this trip is over. Let's hear more about the race and the trip.

These were a welcome sight near the race start/finish

Good: Port-a-johns and other on-course restrooms; good shade on most of the course (important due to the climate - very hot and humid), flat bike and run courses; very little wind; rain came right when I needed it (on the run); fantastic accommodations for families at the race venue (see more on this below); race materials very informative (competitor's guide, etc.); airlines shipped my bike for free both ways! (I was expecting to pay at least $75 each time, per the airlines' published guidelines. Thanks Dragonair/Cathay Pacific!)

Old enough now to get some work out of him :)

Other: The race needs to coordinate a better system for getting to and from the race site (shuttle buses would be optimal). Getting to the race in the morning wasn't a problem, as that we were able to reserve a taxi the night before via the hotel concierge. After the race, however, we searched in vain for a taxi cab for at least an hour after the event was over, and we got a cab relatively fast (others were waiting much longer than we did).

At the pre-race briefing, Singapore International Convention and Expo Center

This triathlon was my fifth at the half-Ironman distance. I have also completed five marathons and a number of half-marathons, as well as numerous Olympic- and sprint-distance triathlons, 5K, 10K, and 15K runs, and a few century and metric-century bike rides (organized events, not just training rides). All that is missing is a full Ironman. (Coming in May!)

The transition area, T-20 hours or so

As far as my goals for the race, I think I mentioned here not too long ago that I was treating this race as a sort of "preview" for racing internationally at IM China in May. I wanted to see what lessons I could take from this and apply to the next race, the big race. There are a couple. First, I forgot my bike bottles. It wasn't a problem as that I was able to easily purchase some replacements at a mall across the street from our hotel. However, I am not sure that the city that hosts IM China will have the same sort of facilities readily available, so I need to remember to take them next time. The second issue was much larger, and will possibly be much more difficult to deal with in China. It is regarding bike mechanic availability to build my bike up after traveling with it. It was somewhat of a hassle to locate and get my bike to a bike shop in Singapore to have it put together after being transported in a travel case (and it wasn't cheap either). It was even more tricky to get them to put the bike back in the box after the race, due to problems with their hours of operation and our timeline for departing Singapore. In short, if it was that difficult to take care of this issue in easy-to-navigate Singapore, it will probably be ten times harder in China. I have to have a better plan going in to take care of these issues ahead of time.

The home stretch!

Surprisingly, my finish time was within 5 minutes of my time at IM 70.3 Taiwan last fall. My training getting ready for this race had been pretty cruddy, so I figured that coupled with a challenging climate (heat and humidity) would leave me significantly slower. Not the case.

Let's now talk about the various parts of the race.

Heading out into the South China Sea

Swim: The waters of the South China Sea were like distilled in comparison to the murky depths of the Love River two weeks ago. No sewer smell here, folks, and the water was a very comfortable temperature. There was a bit of a current that made a couple segments of the two-lap course a little iffy, though. I don't know that I am ever going to enjoy swimming with so many people at one time - it's just not very much fun. I did really like how the race start was broken up into multiple waves, about five in all. I started a half an hour after the first wave. That makes it so you only have to swim with a few hundred people starting off. In contrast, the IM 70.3 Taiwan was a mass start - all 1200 or so athletes going out all at once. IM China in May will be a mass start...not looking forward to that. I'm also not looking forward to how cold the reservoir water near Beijing will be in May - I definitely need to get a wetsuit, pronto!

Swim - check!

Near the cycling start point (note the good shade trees - most of the course was like this)

Bike: It was a three lap course along quite a scenic route out past the airport and up along the east coast of Singapore. If a person was in good cycling shape (I wasn't, hence the very conservative speeds I was clocking), this would have been a very fast course. Interesting note: as I was starting my second of three laps on the bike, the elite men were starting on the run and the run route paralleled the bike route for a short distance. I was cycling along at a moderate pace and was barely passing these "machines" absolutely flying on the run course! It was pretty amazing to see - these folks are able to go all-out for the whole course. I'd "blow up" a mile into the run if I tried to push that hard!

Coming through the spectator area near the run start/finish

Run: It was a flat course along the ocean - two laps. Saw a Singapore Airlines A380 airplane coming in for a landing as I ran on my first lap. (That's the new, giant passenger aircraft manufactured by Airbus that looks like it is top heavy because it has two levels throughout the cabin.) The rain started when I was about halfway through my second lap, and it was just what that doctor ordered. The sun had begun to come out from behind the clouds towards the end of my bike segment and I was really starting to feel the heat on the parts of the run course that weren't shaded. Once the rain started, it really cooled me off and it made no difference to me that I was getting rained on - after all, I had been pouring water on myself to cool off at every aid station, anyhow. The only drawback was that my shoes also got wet, which created conditions that could have created some nasty blisters if I had to keep on running much farther (such as in a full marathon in a full Ironman race).

Catching some air!

Regarding the family accommodations I mentioned above, this is the first race I have seen where there were booths and other diversions set up for the families of competitors. I'm talking about a "bouncy house"-type thing (see the photo - John bounced around in it so much be split open his shorts in two places!), cotton candy and popcorn stands, arts and crafts, face painting (again, see the photo nearby) and various other carnival-type games. And get this - it was all FREE! Attention all other races and events: learn from these folks in Singapore! They did this up right.

We found a ZOMBIE in Singapore!

Can you tell that he likes dinosaurs?

Singapore itself made a great impression on us. I had been there once before (1998), but didn't remember it being as nice then as it was this time around. Everything is so green, there is foliage everywhere, and all of it seems to be manicured and pretty. The air pollution there is not bad, at least it wasn't during our visit (perhaps like other cities in the region, it is better and worse at specific times of the year) and the city is very clean. There are no scooters zipping around the roads and sidewalks making nuisances of themselves (note to Taiwan), nor are there packs of stray dogs wandering about and defecating all over the place (another note to Taiwan). Most surprisingly, they openly advocate that people drink the tap water! Singapore is a city-state of something like 4.5 million people, and is located in Southeast Asia, and you want me to drink the tap water? So we did, and it was good. No crazy diseases (at least not yet). Can't drink the tap water here in Kaohsiung. I'd be open to going back to Singapore anytime, maybe even working there, if I play my cards right.

Typical scene at East Coast Park

Looks quite idyllic, doesn't it?

Singapore is also an interesting place because of the cultural diversity. There are three main ethnic groups there (Chinese, Indian, and Malay) and because of the British influence, virtually everyone speaks English in addition to one of the other ethnic languages (Mandarin Chinese, Tamil, or Malay). All signs appear in all four languages (and they even add Japanese at the airport). And you know what? They have bookstores stocked with books IN ENGLISH! After the repeated disappointment of browsing bookstores in Taiwan with only a handful of books in English, it was great to walk into a Borders with easy-to-read books in English everywhere you looked. Can't wait to actually walk into a Barnes and Noble once back in the U.S. (my preferred chain bookseller).

Bottom line - great event, great trip! Go see Singapore, people. And do the race.

GJS

"Confucius' Revenge"

With some new friends just before the race start

The triathlon last week wasn't done with me when I thought I was done with it. No, come Monday afternoon, I was spending an inordinate amount of time in the bathroom with a case of diarrhea the likes of which I had not experienced in many years. Thank God for Immodium! I also was feverish and lethargic. We figure it must have had something to do with the Love River water. Remember how I mentioned it smelled like a sewer? You can't really go swimming in any body of water and not end up ingesting at least a little bit of it - it's just not possible, no matter how hard you try. I also discovered a cut on my foot after exiting the water on race day, probably from another competitor's fingernail amidst all the flailing that takes place at the beginning of the swim leg, when people are clawing to get past one another until the pack eventually thins out some as the race progresses. Anyhow, we figure I got sick via one of these two methods - either inadvertent ingestion or infection via my open wound. Took me about a week to kick it. I'm feeling much better now, but being laid low by "Confucius' Revenge" pretty much removed any chance I was going to have for additional training after the Kaohsiung triathlon and before heading to Singapore for the Half Ironman. We travel in just a few days. What this all boils down to is that the Singapore race, due to issues with my training and the anticipated hot and humid weather (which the very mild winter and spring - much cooler than last year - in Southern Taiwan has not helped me prepare for), is going to simply a completion exercise for me. Its greatest utility may in fact be the "rehearsal" aspect that it is for my Ironman aspirations in May - after all, there are a lot of moving parts when traveling internationally to a race, and it's best to do it a time or two before really wanting to do it right, which is basically what I am doing with this trip to Singapore. I will make note of all the things that I forget (gear, equipment, etc.) or can do better in May and hopefully make that experience better than it would have been not having had the chance to conduct a rehearsal race. Plus, it will be neat to visit Singapore - after all, it's been nearly 12 years since the last time I was there! And my family members have never been there. New stamps in the passports - yay! Looking forward to the trip, though I feel that race day will be a long one.

Oh yes, and the results from the Kaohsiung triathlon were posted online, here. For your convenience, I am pasting my results below. (FYI - the first column after the name column is swim time, then bike time, then run time, then place within the division [I'm in the 35-39 bracket]. The final column in team affiliation - I was one of the few without such a designation.) As you can see, my overall time estimates were about right. It is obvious, though, that the transition times are added to the respective event times (for example, my own calculations on my bike time were about 1 hour 12 minutes, while these results add about 10 minutes to that, which approximates the transition time). Anyhow, have a look at the rest, if you like.

 GJS

2010 Taipei International Half Marathon: The Report **UPDATED**

**UPDATE** December 26, 2010: Official finish time was 2:01:48 - a bit off my race goal.  Better luck next time!  See http://www.sportsnet.org.tw/score_101219_21.php and search for finisher #2712 (they list 1000 finishers per page, if you select the "all finishers" under the half marathon results choice).  There you will see me.  Or you can try to search for my bib number (18253) or my name (c'mon, you already know that one).  Merry Christmas!


**********


Editor’s note: the below race report was drafted on the day of the race, as the competitor rode the High Speed Rail train back to Kaohsiung.  At the time he wrote this, the running human did not have a chance to access media or news reports about the race, nor to examine his own results.  An addendum will appear at the end of the post that adds some clarifying information in these regards.  Read on…

The "writing salon" aboard the HSR train where this post was drafted

Without yet having had a chance to see any news reports about the 2010 Taipei International Marathon, I would have to say that I think there very well may have been 100,000 or more participants.  There were so many people, it took me over 10 minutes to move from where I was at in a mass of people (thousands and thousands) at the race start over the timing mats to actually start the race (it was about 7:15 AM local time when I started the race, which actually began at 7AM as advertised).  I actually saw one fellow crowd-surfing towards the start line, as if it was a giant rock concert.

My aims for the race were quite modest.  I no longer establish “finishing” a race like this on as a goal – I’m sorry, but barring some type of catastrophic injury or natural disaster, I am going to complete a half marathon, it’s no longer such a long distance to run for me.  I wanted to finish in less than 2 hours, a decent but not too difficult pace that under normal circumstances should be attainable quite easily for me.  I wanted to run easy for the first hour (~the first half of the race), and then step it up in the last hour for a nice “negative split.”  I reality, because of the crowds of runners, my pace during the first hour was far slowed than I figured it would be, so I changed strategy, trying to “keep the horses in the barn” until about the 9 mile mark.  Then I ran harder during the last 3-4 miles to produce the negative split I was looking for. (I have yet to have had a chance to review my race data, but I’m quite sure that it was a pretty decent negative split run).

2010 TAIPEI Marathon

EveryTrail - Find hiking trails in California and beyond

(Note: this map is not my personal results/pace, etc., but of another competitor that I found online)

The race was on a very flat course that made a loop of Taipei City.  The only elevation changes of note during the entire ½ marathon course were a few on- and off-ramps traversed when moving from regular streets to elevated highways or underground tunnels.  Coupled with the fantastic weather for the race today (about 60 degrees F and clear at race start), conditions were ripe for a fast race – that is, if you started with the elites at 6:57 AM.

 

Why?  Well, go back to the first sentence in this post.  I have never, in all the races I have done in the past 10 years, seen anything close to the number of people turn out for a race that I saw today.  In my mind, I consider marathons like those held in Chicago or New York City to be very large (I have not yet run either one, but have heard that they boast something like 40,000 participants).  I do not know as of yet how many people were out there with me today, except to say that it was A LOT.  So many that at no point on the 13.1 mile half marathon route did the congestion ever go away.  There were tons of people from the start to the finish.  Usually in these races once you make it several miles in, the crowds of runners start to thin.  Not so today.  I was trying to duck and weave in and out to find running room from beginning to end.  It’s not a set of conditions that are conducive to fast finish times (again, unless you are out in front of the pack, like the elites runners).

Gear staged the night prior to the race

Because there were so many runners, it seemed to me that the aid stations were lacking in adequate personnel to keep up with demand.  I actually missed the first two aid stations because the throngs of people blocked my view of them and I was pretty much past them by the time I realized they were there.  But when I finally saw one in time to stop, I was hardly able to get any refreshment.  Unlike at any race I have done previously, it was essentially self-serve – that is, there were bottles and containers of water or sports drink on the tables at the side of the run path, and there were cups, and it was sort of a free-for-all to pour your own drink.  This created “madhouse” conditions – every runner for himself.  I had to elbow my way to the table to try and pour a beverage.  Generally, in other races I have done there are either volunteers holding the drinks out to the runners – pre-poured – and you can grab one as you pass, no need to stop and try to pour the drink yourself; or there are pre-poured drinks set on the tables that you can grab and go – again, no need to self-serve the drink.  I believe these methods to be superior in terms of quality and speed of refreshment.  But it seemed to me that the rest stops did not have enough personnel to support these methods.  I only saw one or two volunteers at each table, far too few to keep up with the thousands of runners coming past.  This is certainly an area for improvement.

Another needed improvement is related to the lack of on-course restrooms.  Just as I remarked on in my write-up of the 2010 Ironman 70.3 Taiwan triathlon a couple months back, the race today had far too few restroom facilities on the course.  In fact, I didn’t see a single race-provided venue for this type of need until after 6 miles into the race.  I saw some people, prior to that point, running off the course to businesses and fire stations along the course to use their facilities, but if the race was doing what it should in terms of providing adequate ON COURSE facilities, this behavior shouldn’t be necessary.  Finally, about 5.5 miles into the race, near the river, was a toilet provided for use by people who use the riverside recreation path.  Because the race did not have any on-course toilets to that point, there were some people waiting to use the facilities (women, and presumably men who needed to “sit”), but far more men who chose to use the nearby bushes and treeline for their “facilities.”  This would not have been the case if portajohns had been placed on the course in sufficient numbers and often enough to relieve the (literally!) pent-up demand.  On later portions of the course, near the aid stations, there were generally a couple portajohns, but even so these were insufficient in number to prevent long lines (and the concomitant choice of convenience for many men, trees or bushes nearby).  The race would be better for everyone if this issue was successfully redressed in future iterations.

I was able to see some of the elite runners at the end of the race – the marathoners, that is.  The top men were finishing the full marathon as I was coming in to my finish.  It’s a bit depressing to be “lapped,” so to speak, by these runners, but quite amazing at the same time to see up close how fast they are moving in comparison to a “regular” runner like me.  I heard (but have yet to confirm) that a new course record was set today.

Post-race "snacky-treats"

In all, it was a nice experience.  I am glad I did not try to run the full marathon because it would have been pretty tiring to keep on going.  I was glad to be done after 13.1 miles.

GJS

Editor here again: check out this page on Flickr (note: it is not the running human’s Flickr page – he did not take a camera with him during the race; http://www.flickr.com/photos/future77/sets/72157625503659903/) for some photos from the marathon.  See also this report (http://focustaiwan.tw/ShowNews/WebNews_Detail.aspx?Type=aSPT&ID=201012190019) from Taiwan’s official news agency that puts the competitor estimate at 110,000 (with 31,000 in the marathon itself).  A course record was NOT set yesterday; the top male finisher crossed the line at 2:14:04 (course best is 2:11:05) and the top woman finished in 2:30:37 (course record was set last year by the same woman, at 2:30:05).  Finally, while final results for all runners were not available at press time (they will eventually be posted here: http://www.sportsnet.org.tw/en/,  some unofficial times for the running human are 1:51:14 (from the Taipei Marathon Information and Results Finder here: http://marathon.taipei.gov.tw/change.action?request_locale=en_US; screenshot below) and 1:55:45 (from his wrist-mounted GPS unit).  As posited above, the runner did indeed increase his pace throughout the race, averaging 9:40/mile over the first ~5.5 miles, then 9:23/mile for the next ~4 miles, and a swift 7:23/mile over the balance of the race (about 4 miles).  Both of these times seem to be a bit low, as in, faster than the actual finish time.  This post will be updated when the official finish time is available.

Long time no post

What gives?

Well, I've been doing a lot of triathlon training, first of all.  Then, we were out of town the weekend before last to Sun Moon Lake in central Taiwan.  Right after we got back from that trip, I found out my grandma died and I went back to the U.S. for the funeral.  Now I'm back in Taiwan and headed back to class tomorrow.  More busy-ness!

Back on this side of the Pacific, I'm going to be busy writing term papers, preparing presentations, getting ready for the Taipei Half Marathon later this month, and all the biking and swimming I can manage to fit in!

I did post a bunch of photos from the trip back to the U.S., the trip to Sun Moon Lake, and other assorted goodness over at Flickr (some are also on Facebook, if you are on there).  I'll put up a few here just for fun:

At the Formosan Aboriginal Cultural Village (FACV) near Sun Moon Lake

John at Sun Moon Lake

Barb and Lance on the Sun Moon Lake "ropeway" (cable cars)

This guy likes to ride on trains (at FACV)

On the way to the funeral

An all-grandson casket detail

Mild weather in Omaha means backyard football!

There was a massacre (of Lego men) - at the Fun Fair at John's school

Our new pets (two are still alive)

Folks, that's Carl "Stump" Merrill on the right, former NY Yankees manager (early 1990s).  He was the "guest of honor" at the school Fun Fair.

It was a rainy day at the Fun Fair.  Here's John trying to outleg his best buddy.

John's new tattoo (don't worry folks, it's only temporary!)

Sailboats on the Love River, Kaohsiung

GJS

2010 Ironman 70.3 Taiwan recap

Done!

Want to get this written before too much time passes since the race and I start to forget stuff.  Where to start?  Some people have expressed interest in how the mini-van driving went.  I enjoyed the utility of the Chrysler Town and Country we rented.  It had seats that folded into the floor, making it easy to take advantage of the cargo room necessary for hauling my bike and our luggage.  The auto-open side doors were nice, and it was easy to get the boys in and out (unlike when you are stooping and bending in a car to do the same).  "If the sweatpants fit..."

Before the swim start

I'm out there somewhere

 As for the race, the swim course was unlike any I had seen before.  It was a two-lap out-and-back course in which you actually had to come back up on the shore and cross the timing mat between the first and second laps.  Originally it was supposed to be a triangle-shaped course (pretty standard for these types of races), but perhaps due to the currents they changed it to the out-and-back format.  Whatever the case, the first half (the "out" portion) of the first lap of the swim course was as bad as any I have experienced.  It was a mass start of close to 900 athletes, and it seems like the preferred swim stroke here is the breaststroke, with its attendant side-flaring arm pull and frog kick.  This stroke takes up a lot of room, and made for a much-kicked and struck opening leg of the swim.  Along with the "fisticuffs" taking place between competitors, the current also seemed quite strong, pushing back as I tried to swim out to sea.  It was only on the first "back" portion that I started to get into a rhythm, finally beginning to use bilateral breathing and getting some space around me to swim more comfortably.  The water was surprisingly warm (wetsuits were optional and lots of folks were wearing them, though I definitely think they were unnecessary in terms of water temperature) and pretty clear - I could see all the way to the bottom of the ocean for most of the course.  I came up on my first lap in the water at about 27 minutes and figured I would be able to beat that pretty easily on the second lap since the crowd had thinned out a lot and I was swimming much more comfortably, but perhaps due to fatigue or increased current, the second lap was actually slower, about 30 minutes.  My total swim time was 56 minutes 34 seconds. (By the way, full results [PDF] are at http://www.ironmantaiwan.com/editor_images/im-70-3-tw-final-res.pdf; do a search for my bib number, 391.)

"Quick draw" caught me going from the swim to the transition area

I was unconcerned about how long my transitions took and tried to stay relaxed.  The path from the beach to the transition area (TA) was long!  We had to go up a couple flights of stairs and then I had to transit the entire length of the TA to get to my bike.  I should mention the weather in Kenting, Taiwan, on race day - absolutely gorgeous!  Blue skies, lots of sunshine, and seasonally cool - about 80 degrees for the high temp.  I think that the cooler temperature in comparison to the site of my last 2 Half Ironman races (Hawaii, in June) really helped me (though I still got sunburned - one of these times I will learn).  There were some pretty gusty winds, which made the bike course interesting, but I will talk about that a bit later.


I felt really good on the bike course. (see above)  It was also a two-loop course, this time essentially circumnavigating the Hengchun peninsula in southern Taiwan.  The course was mostly flat, except for two uphills just after leaving the TA, and then one climb portion covered once per lap thereafter.  There were many parts of the bike course heading north along the coast where you basically had the ocean on your left side and mountains on your right side.  It was quite scenic.

Enjoying the scenery

The gusty winds were coming from the north - northwest, which gave a nice push coming back in on the second half of each lap.  I tried to keep from over-extending myself on the bike, which tends to lead me to excessive cramping on the run portion (I know from past experience), but still putting in a decent effort.  I think I struck the balance well, as evidenced by my run performance.  My overall bike split time was 3 hours 8 minutes 25 seconds (about 17.4 mph average).


Unlike in past Half Ironman races, I only had to stop due to cramping (hamstrings both times, first the right and later the left) twice, at 5 miles and again at 10 miles.  I was able to easily address the cramping with only 10-15 seconds of static stretching followed by 10-15 seconds of walking.  Then I was back on my way.  I ran all the rest of the course, with the exception of aid stations.  I stopped and walked every one of these, making sure to get the food and drinks I needed, as well as sponges to keep cool.  Once I was done, I ran again to the next aid station.  I believe this tactic, which gave me 11 short walk breaks on the course (there were aid stations almost every mile), along with my conscious effort to find and run with other competitors who selected a pace a little bit slower than what I would self-select to run, allowed me to be relatively cramp-free on this half-marathon. (You can see some photos of me using this tactic, as well as all the other race-sponsored photos [13 in all] at http://www.finisherpix.com/; go to "Select Event" - Ironman 70.3 Taiwan 2010; enter my bib number [391], press "Go".)  My run split was 2 hours 20 minutes 54 seconds (a pace of about 10 minutes 25 seconds per mile).  I actually did not look at my run time at all on the course - my pace wasn't important to me, finishing with as little cramping as possible was.  Mission accomplished!

In this race, I believe I learned that doing this type of race and not being completely destroyed at the end is possible for me, IF I race smartly and don't overly concern myself with the amount of time I am running it in.  This is the first time I crossed the finish line on a long-course triathlon and felt like it would be possible for me to extend my effort out over a longer course...

I didn't really have a good idea of what my finish time was as I crossed the line (like I said, I hadn't really been keeping track very closely, unlike in some past races when realizing I wasn't going to be able to make whatever time goal I had set before the race my morale began to flag).  In all, it was 6 hours 35 minutes 50 seconds.  I had forgotten all but my most recent Half Ironman finish time (Hawaii, 2008), and I knew that I beat it by a fair margin (about 20 minutes, as it turns out), so I was quite happy with the improvement.  Later, I looked up all my Half Ironman times.  I have developed quite an interesting patter of doing these races, at least in the past 3 iterations.  My first race was actually my fastest by far, the 2002 Pigman long-course race in Iowa (5 hours 37 min 34 sec).  Then I raced Half Ironman-length events again in 2006 (Hawaii, 5:50:19), 2008 (Hawaii, 6:54:53), and now 2010.  I fear I will not keep the pattern going forward, though - I have my eyes on another Half Ironman race in the spring (March 2011) in Singapore, which will set me up for the ultimate goal - the full Ironman China race near Tianjin, People's Republic of China, in May 2011.  There's no time like the present to do it, and I believe it's time.  Who's with me?

I have a couple criticisms of the race.  First of all, there were no port-a-johns on the race course or even in the TA.  The only restroom facilities I am aware of near the TA were at the beach, near the swim start, very inconvenient if you need to use the facilities while transitioning.  I did notice two "rest area"-type areas along the bike course that evidently could be used by competitors as needed, but this seemed quite inadequate to me.  I pulled off in the bushes along the side of the road during the run about 4 hours into the race for a quick pit stop, since no facilities seemed forthcoming, but what about the women doing the race?  This needs to be addressed in future iterations of the race.

Second, the race course and even the host hotel changed several times before race day.  I understand that this was the first year of the event, but it's pretty inconvenient to have to keep adjusting your plans for the race as the organizers sort things out.  I figure this will be less of a problem during future iterations of the race.  I actually am glad the bike course was changed.  Originally, it was going to be an out-and-back course that went from Kenting down around the southern tip of Taiwan and back up the east coast a ways.  I drove this area the day after the race and the terrain was much more challenging there than it was on the actual (Hengchun peninsula) race course.  That and out on the east coast, the winds were absolutely WAILING.  I felt like I was about to be blown over as I stood and looked out over the Pacific Ocean.  I am glad I didn't have to bike out there for the race.

The wild, windy east coast of Taiwan

I'm glad to be writing this some 9 months after I basically wrote off being able to run triathlons and other races again due to lack of training and deconditioning.

GJS

P.S. I found this additional account of the race, from the fellow who finished 2nd overall: http://www.triathlontribe.com/blog/post/show/id/77-Jamie-Whyte-Blog-My-best-Ironman-70-3-result.  Looks like I am not the only one who thought the winds and current were challenging.

Number Four

Soon we'll be taking a trip to Kenting for my fourth Half-Ironman triathlon.  Normally, I'd provide information about how you could follow along with my progress in the race online, but as far as I can tell, that is not available in this event.  If, for some reason, you discover that it is available and you want to follow along, my bib number will be 391.  The race website is http://www.ironmantaiwan.com/.

Wish me luck!

GJS

"The streak" broken

No ride today folks, sorry.  It wasn't the weather that gave out, it was me.  Legs were toast this morning when I got out of bed, plus there are a bevy of pre-China trip administrata that can wait no longer to be tended to.  On top of that, this afternoon we have plans that don't include me laying on the couch while my legs throb (which has been pretty much how the past few afternoons have gone), so it just isn't going to work.  If today is productive on the administrative side of the house, then perhaps I can get one more ride in tomorrow AM before we head out, we'll see.

Hopefully before we go I can do a photo upload for you, which would include Lance's 3-month photos (funny, since now he is nearly 4 months old!) and various other fun.  I like to "get the books clear" in terms of sharing photos before embarking on any major trip, for we all know that once the trip begins I will be snapping even more photos like a madman!

GJS

"A Perfect Ending to a F**ked-up Day" ***[UPDATED with photos]***

Bonus points if you can tell me what movie the quote that is the title comes from.

I thought the quote does a nice job of summing up some of what happened today, our first in Tokyo, in particular the second half of the day - the part where we were in Japan.

All was well until riding the shuttle bus from the airport to our hotel.  Narita Airport is about 2 hours away from the center of Tokyo, where our accomodations are at.  John was tired and taking a nap on my lap.  He was squirming around a bit, trying to get comfortable.  Before long, he woke up and was coughing with a raspy, seal-like barking sound.

He'd had a bit of a cough the previous two days, but nothing that should cause us to cancel our travel plans, right?

Well, as of this writing, John has been admitted to a hospital here in Tokyo for observation.  His coughing became so severe on the bus that we were a hair's breadth away from stopping it in the middle of traffic and getting an ambulance.  It was as if he was choking, but not due to any sort of object obstructing his throat.  The obstruction was his throat itself, irritated from the raspy coughing.

He was able to calm down enough and smooth out his very labored breathing enough to allow us to get to our intended destination.  Once we were at the hotel, we began burning up the phone lines to get treatment arranged by the company that administers our medical insurance.  Once this was done (it took the better part of an hour to coordinate things and locate a suitably close treatment facility), we took him straight to the emergency room.  That was at about 5:30 PM local time.

The doctors drew blood, gave John nebulization treatments to help him breathe, and eventually prescribed an oral steroid to try to deal with the inflammation of his throat.  By the time all the medical procedures and waiting for a relatively solid diagnosis was done, it was nearly midnight.

Most likely what he's got is a case of viral croup that will resolve in a day or two (hopefully).  We'll have more information in the morning after the hospital has a chance to run more tests.  The disturbing part to us was the sudden onset of severe symptoms, i.e. being barely able to breathe.  One person I spoke to tonight said that it could have been triggered by the colder-than-we-are-used-to, dry Tokyo air.

This is a good example of something that would be relatively easy to deal with when on familiar turf, but that becomes exponentially harder when in a completely new environment in which you understand very little of the local language.  Indeed, one of the things I almost immediately remarked upon to Barb after we got to Narita was how I felt extremely limited by how little Japanese I recall (my most recent lessons in Japanese ended in late 2004).  The comparison is with Chinese, of course - I know a fair amount of Chinese and feel pretty comfortable moving about society in Taiwan and doing the things I need to do on a daily basis, using Chinese, but I can barely manage "hello" and "thank you" in Japanese.  Barb thought this was pretty funny, noting that now I know what it feels like to be her  in Taiwan.  Touche!

More updates will follow as the situation develops.  Pray for John!

GJS

Riding the tram at Narita

Here's my first attempt at using YouTube to post a video here at Garblog. If it works, expect to see more in the future!

This is a short video taken just after we arrived at Narita Airport not far from Tokyo.

GJS

In-flight entertainment

Aside from looking after The Small Mailman on the flight (it's a
nickname I sometimes use for John, borrowed from the new Pixar film
"Up"), I also started reading my new book, "The Good Soldiers" by
David Finkel and watched the Michael Jackson film "This Is It." I had
been wanting to watch this movie but was waiting for an opportunity to
do so without having to pay. It was a strange thing to watch,
knowing that Jackson would live only a few more months after the time
it was filmed. It was also pretty amazing to see Jackson run circles
around the young dancers in his show - he was such a natural talent.
Arrived in Tokyo at about 1:30 PM local.
GJS
Sent from my iPod

On the way to Tokyo

Well, let's "tuck into" the first update from the road - or maybe more
appropriately, the "wing", since we are flying right now. The JAL
flight does not have wireless, so this post will sit in the queue
until we get on the deck in Tokyo. I am ok with that.
The trip to the airport this morning was uneventful, which is good.
The Kaohsiung MRT has a station right at the international airport, so
it was very convenient. The airport itself is of a decent size and
seemed to me to have been built fairly recently (the terminal
buildings, etc.). There was one thing there I would have liked to have
taken a picture of - an green area near the departure gate with a
variety of plants. It was almost like a garden and people were
gathered all around it, chatting and waiting for their flights. In
addition to making the area look nicer, it also made the air in the
terminal smell much fresher than in your typical departure hall. A
nice touch!
Will have more to add soon!
GJS
Sent from my iPod

Globetrotting

Well, for all intents and purposes, the first semester at NSYSU is over and we are on the cusp of our first trip since moving to Taiwan.  Tomorrow (Tuesday) we are heading to Tokyo for about a week and then on to Kyoto, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki before heading across to South Korea.  Will spend a week or so there, primarily in and around Seoul.  Really looking forward to this trip in every way except for - the weather.  Gonna be cold in Japan and Korea!  Been spoiled by the super-comfortable temperatures here in Southern Taiwan.  For instance, today it's 77 degrees F and sunny in Kaohsiung, and it looks like the temps in the places we will soon be visiting range from the mid 30's to the low 50's. (Daytime temps - will be quiet a bit colder once the sun goes down, I am sure.)

I hope to do quite a lot of photo-taking in the next 3 weeks, and I really hope that I am able to share some of these with you here as we go - it will be much better that way than if I end up waiting until we are back here in February to upload some pics.  I plan to make heavy use of Flikr and may even try to use YouTube to get some videos on here.  Stay tuned for more!

If you are in Japan or South Korea, we hope to see you soon!

GJS

Taipei trip

I'm going to try something new this post. I'm going to try to make extensive use of my Flikr page for the photos I want to include because it is easier to upload pictures to it than it is to this blog. There will still be images here, don't worry! But just not 20 of them, hopefully. Here goes.

Tuesday I made a solo trip to Taipei to meet with two other Olmsted Scholars, one a veteran of the program from about 10 years back, and one who is a currently in the program, a year ahead of me. It was an informal meeting over lunch, just informational, but very useful to me. Anyhow, since I was making the trip all the way up the island, I decided to make a day of it and take in some of the sights along with visiting with my colleagues.

I arrived in Taipei about 9 AM. Here is a video clip I made just after my arrival laying out my goals.

When I finally decided where I was going to go before lunch and went there, I made this video.

I was blown away by the scale of this monument. Simply huge!

Many more photos and video from the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial are available here.

After that, I met with my colleagues for lunch at Din Tai Fung, a restaurant on Yongkang Jie. It was delicious. We had a variety of Shanghai-style dumplings, vegetables, and soup. While we ate, we discussed various issues surrounding the Olmsted Scholar Program and the more seasoned Scholars offered me advice, were that they in my shoes (just arrived in-country).

After lunch, it was off to Taipei 101, one of the tallest buildings in the world. For whatever reason, I like to visit very tall buildings. They fascinate me. I had been wanting to visit this building since I learned that it was in Taiwan and that I would be coming here to study. Here is the video segment I recorded upon arrival at the building.

There is a 5-level shopping mall in the building, jam-packed with high-end designer boutique shops and expensive restaurants. There seemed to be quite a few Japanese restaurants, in particular. None of these were my objectives, though - bookstore, anyone? The mall has a large bookstore called Page One. It did not disappoint. It featured a section of books that you wouldn't find in a bookstore in China:

After browsing the shelves for a while and not finding anything I couldn't live without (plus, I am trying to make the transition from traditional books to Kindle-based books and periodicals, so I didn't want to purchase more old-style books to derail that effort), it was time to head to the top of the building.

The tickets to go to the top are a tad expensive (NT$400, or about US$12), so I was glad that I was by myself. After a short wait, I was on the way to the top inside the fastest elevator in the world.

Once at the observatory on the 89th floor, I shot quite a lot of photos of the view (quite spectacular), most of which look about like this one:

Many more photos and my narrative video from inside the observatory can be found here.

There were a bunch of art displays inside the observatory. Here is one piece that jumped out at me. What do you think of it?

Then I found out I could go up 2 floors higher, to 91, and go outside. Money! More video followed. This video is entails me walking the entire circumference of the observation deck (I think it was truncated somewhat, as that its length exceeded the maximum upload parameter of 1 min 30 sec). WARNING: if your speakers are turned up, I recommend you turn them down before opening this video. The wind noise and the harmonic wind-driven vibration of the personnel safety bars (to keep nutcases from jumping off) is quite loud and is at an annoying pitch.

After my time on the 89th and 91st floors, it was time to try to get back to ground level. Not so fast! First I had to see the 730 ton (!) tuned mass damper. My photos and video don't really do it credit, so if you are interested, read more about it and see more photos here. Basically, this thing keeps the building stable in high winds and during seismic activity.

Well, back on terra firma, my objective was to find another bookstore nearby, Eslite Books (sorry, they don't have an English language website). I had heard this bookstore was very big, but I was not prepared for what I found: a 6-floor behemoth that is not a pure bookstore along the lines of Borders or my favorite, Barnes and Noble, but a hybrid between a conventional bookstore and Ikea. Seriously, they have tons of other goods for sale besides books, things that will complement your reading lifestyle, apparently. I hate to admit it, but I met my match at this store - I did not have the stamina to browse the entire store. I completely lost track of time in the building, but my aching feet and growling stomach told me it was time to move on.

A (not so) quick ride on the Taipei Metro had me back where I had started at in the city, and I recorded this video as a summary of my day.

After 2 more hours of riding the high speed rail back to Kaohsiung, my day was not over. I decided to check out the Liuhe Night Market not far from where we live. Even though it is nearby, we had not yet had a chance to check it out. I had heard it was quite the spectacle, with many choice of foods and myriad goods for purchase. I wasn't hungry nor did I want to buy anything, just take a few photos. Here is the best of them:

More can be found here.

As always, all photos mentioned here and even those that aren't can be found on my Flikr page.

The Taipei trip was a long day, but a good one. I hope to go back to take in more of the city soon.

GJS

(Ha! Only 7 pictures here!)