It’s 2:56 am, and I wake up like it’s the most natural thing to do. Baby Dash is stirring beside me and it’s time to feed again.  When we get up for the 3am feeding, one of two things will happen: we go back to sleep again, or we don’t, and stay up til it’s time for mommy and daddy to officially start the day between 5 to 6am.  So much for Sunday sleep-ins…

Slowly though, I have gotten used to our routine and can now schedule a training session of at least an hour into the day. It has been more than two months and not too long now til I race my first triathlon after giving birth (small panic attack)! Am excited about the fact that my baby is going really well and I am encouraged by my husband to fit triathlon training into my life again. Not that I went too far away, I just focused on training other people for a year!

As of today, my longest sessions have been: Swimming for 4ominutes, Biking for 3hours (with a feeding break somewhere in the middle), and a run of 1hour 10.  A year ago,this may have all fit into one training day for me, but right now I am happy to even have come up with that within a stretch of a week! Some days I only have 20minutes, but I’ll take it as every second counts for a working/ training/ breastfeeding mommy.

Sometimes I have my apprehensions about diving back into racing again with a small child, but I am encouraged by great women athletes like Paula Radcliffe (won New York Marathon less than 10mos after giving birth) and Dara Torres (qualified for her 5th Olympic Games 15mos after giving birth). Not that I am eyeing feats such as theirs, but they are tremendous examples to look up to!

I will also not be pushed into feeling guilty about taking up my sport so soon after. I am sure that Dash will not like it if I use him as an excuse to slack off, and will in fact be proud to know that he is the reason why I feel like I can do so much better in all aspects of my life now. His presence has given me an extra bit of strength.

I love triathlon and will continue to do it everyday for the rest of my life God willing, but my favorite time of day does not occur while I am training or racing. My Magic Hour is that time, in the wee hours of the morning, when everything else is quiet and I hold my son close to me, his heart and mine beating to the sound of the purest love in the universe. He looks up at me with eyes which tell me how much he needs me to survive, and when I look back into his eyes, I feel like singing that song from Dreamgirls…”you’re the perfect man for me, I love you I do…”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HO4naAiz0Wo

In 2002, the first Iron Distance Triathlon (3.8km swim/180km bike/42.2km run) in the Philippines was held in Matabungkay Batangas, called the Phil Irondistance 2002. It was organized by First Wave Tri (Raul Cuevas, Ricky Ledesma, Lito Fugoso). The second one was put up a year after, called the Enduraman, organized by Karlo Magpayo and co, held in Subic Bay Philippines.

After a long wait, on Dec 3 this year, the third race of this distance finally came into fruition, and was organized yet again by Raul Cuevas and Bike King. Known as TIMEX 226 because of the total combined distances of the swim bike and run legs, it is the first title sponsorship and banner event of Timex Philippines for a triathlon race (although Timex has been active in sponsoring runs and triathlons both here in the Phils. and abroad).

Anda Beach in Bohol proved to be a beautiful venue, and Governor Art Yap was an equally welcoming host to the 66 participants. There were 63 males and 3 females, mostly Filipino racers with two Singaporeans in the mix.  A total of 6 local teams supported the event, namely Timex TMM (14), Bike King (4), Polo Tri (3), Quest 825 (7), Tri North (3), and Sport Spray (3).

Here are some more quick facts about the race:

• Some of the highly respected names in the triathlon community who joined are Arland Macasieb of Filamtri/ Athlete Octane, Alvin Alindogan of Timex TMM, August Benedicto of PMI, and Neil Catiil of Timex TMM, .
• Aside from Alvin, Rommel Fernandez of 7-eleven Multi Sport Team and Omar Paredes of Herbalife are Timex226  participants who were also present in the 2002 Phil Iron distance race.
• The after-party hosted by Congressman Art Yap was a blast. Bottomless beer, crabs, lechon, barbecue, chicken, and more were served. Among the prizes for the party games were Timex watches, free hotel accommodations in Anda, and free entry to next year’s Bohol Triathlon.
• Second to the last finisher was Jun Cunanan of Timex TMM. He arrived 30 min ahead of Luis Arcanghel, the last finisher, but decided to wait for Luis at the finish line. The two of them then crossed the finish line together.
• Alvin Alindogan, who took 1^st place in his age category, slowed down only 19 minutes in his finish time in a span of 9 years since the Matabungkay triathlon.
• Participant Edgar Villar AKA ‘Boy Power’, 61 years of age, biked from Davaoto CDO, CDO to Boholport in Tagbilaran to get to the race venue. He also biked his way to Anda the day before the race! He finished 3^rd in his age group.
• Neil Catiil had to drop out of the race because he collapsed in the 1^st loop of the run course. His body was rejecting his nutrition, and he was 2^nd to Arland in leading the race when he dropped out.

A respectful salute and hearty congratulations to our newly-forged Timex 226 Iron Men and Women! And a big pat on the back to the organizers, Bike King, Timex Philippines and the Sponsors. See you all next year!

Official Race Results: