Hi Teammates,

I’d like to report the triathlon race i participated into on december 02nd. It was th Laguna Phuket triathlon, Thailand.

I guess that the most of you have already heard about it as the race is one of the most popular tri destinations. And with about 1200 athletes coming from so many different countries, this race is definitely a great success.

Consisting of 1.8km swim, 55km bike, 12km run, this was the perfect distance to close a very hectic season for me. Now for the participants living in this part of the world, this distance is also great for the preparation of their season next to come (especially for kiwis and aussies).

Swim.

A mass start on the beach in front of the Sheraton hotel. Because of the water temperature, swimsuits are not allowed. Now the sart was a total fight and it was hard to get into  pace before the first 700m.

the 1st 12oom are in the indian ocean. Finishing this rectangular shape swim, the athletes run about 100m on the beach before diving into a lagoon to swim the last straight-line 600m. This makes the overall swim vey unusual as i found it hard to get back to my swim pace after getting out of the ocean and then diving in the non salty water of the Lagoon.

Bike

Into T1, things went smoothly.  Of course, with no wetsuit i t was much quicker and simplier to get ready for the bike leg. From kilometer 1 to 15, the road was a real challenge. after 5 km, this hill in front of us was about 9% and made of 3 segments, for a lenght of, say 2km. Now with a triple crankset on my road bike, it was not too bad. Yet i was using my 32-25 to climb the hill. No need to mention that many triathletes using tri specific bike just walked up the hill!! following the hill was a huge but fantastic technical downhill. With the speed i had, the speedcounter was displaying 75km!! Now because we were passing through “residential areas” the organizers have decided to slow down all participants, fo safety reasons…i think it made sense considering the narrow and dangerous turns on the road…the problem was the next and last coming hill….a great 13% hill discouraged the most of us, (including the pros i heard afterwards)…the hill reminded me some great climbs in the alps back home..Anyway..After this terrible section of the bike leg the road became similar to what we use to see in canada, meaning rolling hills. Was good for keeping a regular and steady pace until the end. It was truly scenic  as we passed through many beautiful small villages. With all these children encouraging us along the road, i really had a great time during the bike leg.

Run

the run consisted of 2 loops of 6km mainly on the greens of the golf course, and a small portion of  trail. Completely flat

Getting into T2, i felt great. Started the first loop pretty confident. At about 2 km, i started to feelmentally and physically tired becau of the sun and the hot temperature i guess. I did slow down a lot and i was barely moving. I struggled until the end of the 1st loop. After 7km, i was somehow able to regroup and i fininshed the run in a much more better shape than when i started.

Upon completion of the race, a full lunch menu was available with plenty of fruits, rice, thai noodles, etc.. for recovering.

 Overall, this race is really great.  I highly recommend it to all of you. What makes it so nice is the quality of the organization, the scenic bike leg, the friendly local population and the location itself…Well, of course, phuket is known to be a big tourit destination (a bit too much, i would say..) but If you happen to go there, make sure you stay at least 2 weeks so you have time to enjoy more than just the race!