Monday, March 20, 2017

First Duathlon... in Singapore

My trip to Singapore seemed yearly now.  The main purpose for such annual occurrence is fitness.


Last year, I joined the Standard Chartered Marathon, running the 10K category. This year, I went back to experience a duathlon --- the combination of running and biking. My hometown friend and travel-buddy, Anneth Canoy, a hospital chief nurse in Singapore, took care of my registrations.


When the schedule of flight came close, my best couple friends, Ruth and Jun Go, decided to accompany me. So I joined them in their hotel accommodation at Mandarin Oriental, which view from the window was expensive and stunning. The panoramic view includes the Marina Bay and the Sands Hotel, Clark Quay, Merlion Park and Singapore Flyer.



Since fitness was the purpose of the trip so I need to train,  stretch,  and build up before the duathlon the next day. And because I came with friends, so my training should also entertain. I heard about an islet in Singapore which tour normally involves cycling. Curious as me, Jun and Ruth decided to go with me to Pulau Ubin. This time we were joined by Jun's niece who lived in Singapore in search of work, Jhogilyn.



It was cool that all of us could pedal. We roamed around in wheels and sweat, until Jhogilyn fell down and got bruised on her knee and shoulder. It happened instantaneously when she was taking videos of us without minding the abrupt curve ahead. She lost control of the bicycle when she hit the curve right after the hump.



We rushed her to the nearest first aid station. And we continued tour back to the mainland with her in bandaged knee and shoulder. We checked the Sands Mall, climbed the Sand's Skypark, and marvelled at exhibits inside the Gardens by the Bay. Our long day culminated at the Avatar-inspired towers with dancing lights show.





The next morning was the main event.

Anneth and I met the night before. I left Jun and Ruth and joined Anneth in her room at Marina Mandarin Hotel. And we headed to the duathlon area at 5am. There we picked up the bike we rented and waited for the gunstart.




It was absolute fun! We ran the first 1.5 kilometers track religiously, grabbed the bike from the stand and pedaled the 15-kilometer trail, and then leisurely walked the remaining 1.5-kilometer track. Although there were lots of stopovers for photo ops, we still completed the whole duathlon in an hour.



We're not professionals in this field but we were proud to claim and receive the finisher's medal.



The visit to Singapore would never be complete without meeting friends and former classmates. Part of the itinerary was spending one meal per group. That night when I transferred a hotel, lounging at Marina Mandarin were with colleagues of Anneth who also became my friends, Joyryl and Rizza.


The dinner after the duathlon was shared with our hometown friends, mostly are my classmates in grade school and high school. It felt good to see familiar faces in foreign lands! I was particularly ecstatic to see Michelle, Lynette and Rosemarie.



Duathlon--- another tick off my bucket list.



No comments:

Post a Comment