On 9th June 2024, I joined a duathlon event, organised by Powerman Malaysia. Powerman is an international brand for duathlon events focused on running and biking.
Powerman duathlon has become an annual event in Malaysia, with 2024 being the 12th edition. It is also the biggest duathlon event in Asia! So, you can definitely sense the quality and how well-organised the event is.
This will be a two-part article. In this entry, I will detail my experience during the race itself, and in the second part, I will write about my preparation and behind-the-scenes stuff.
Why did I join the Powerman Duathlon?
Sometime last year, I was climbing a flight of stairs from the basement parking lot to my office. I was puffing and wheezing and by the time I reached the ground floor, I was gasping for air.
I thought to myself – this couldn’t be good.
After that incident, I started to jog again, doing 1.5 to 2 km per jog, and always took the same stairs to my office. After a few months, I felt better, started to watch my food intake, and tried to keep my daily step count in the 6000s.
But without clear goals, keeping up a healthy lifestyle seems daunting.
A healthy lifestyle is subjective. What do I mean by a healthy lifestyle? Is it able to climb three flights of stairs without losing breath? Is it about keeping your daily step count more than 10K?
That’s when I decided to join a sports event. At least, it will keep me motivated and point me in the right direction towards my healthy lifestyle goals. But which sports event?
Initially, I thought of joining Ironman – a triathlon event consisting of swimming, biking, and running. However, I cannot swim even if my life depends on it. And Ironman is notorious for being physically demanding and my 1.5 to 2 km jog sessions are just not going to cut it.
Powerman
That’s when I discovered Powerman, a duathlon event consisting of cycling and biking. Great! I don’t have to swim. There are two categories of Powerman:
Powerman Short: 5 km run – 30 km bike – 5 km run
Powerman Classic: 10 km run – 60 km bike – 10 km run
Up until that point, the longest running event by distance that I have participated in was 10 km.
So, as a beginner, I chose to join Powerman Short since it was slightly outside my comfort zone but not too ridiculous that it may seem outright impossible.
That’s how I settled to join Powerman Short. I registered for the event in December 2023 and paid RM 250 early bird fee to torture myself for fun. I dragged my friend, Din to join along so I had a friend to train with.
The Race
1st Run
Around 2000 people participated in the Short category and due to this sheer number, the start was separated into two groups. I was the first. But it was well-managed and not feeling too cramped.
The gun went off approximately at 6.45 am, right at the scheduled time.
I started the run great plus the early morning weather was cool and breezy. I held a steady run with a 7.2-ish pace until the first water station around the 2.5 km mark. I snatched myself a cup of 100 Plus and mineral water and continued my run.
Just before the last corner to the Transition area, there was another water station and again, I snatched another shot of 100 Plus and mineral water.
I entered the Transition area after running for 36:23, with an average pace of 7.43/km. Not bad. Strava registered my distance as only 4.71 km, 0.3 km short of the stipulated 5 km. Not that I’m complaining.
1st Transition
The Transition area was quite long, I had to navigate my way around 300+ bikes to reach my bike at rack number 1643.
From what I heard, they have improved the Transition area compared to last year, which is longer as they combined both Short and Classic categories together.
Wow, I can’t imagine how long the Transition area was and how your momentum will be affected. Anyway, I found the Transition area was good and organised. Kudos to Powerman Malaysia!
I tried to slow jog while navigating through the Transition to keep my tempo up. I also tried to mentally prepare what to do for the bike transition. I saw that Din’s bike in 1840 was already gone by the time I passed by.
Reached my bike, took one pack of Twiggies from the saddle bag, and stashed them in my back pocket. Took a sip of mineral water and pushed my bike out of the transition zone.
During the exit, I saw one participant get warned because he was wearing earpods. He will probably be penalised for that.
It took around 5 minutes in the Transition zone and around 7:26 am, I’m off for the 30 km biking.
Bike
30 km on a mountain bike surrounded by TTs and road bikes was not fun. I think my time during the first run was pretty OK but the bike leg is where my timing fell off.
I couldn’t overtake anyone and my pace was very off. I only averaged 20.4 km/h while people were speeding around me at 30 to 40 km/h. It seems I’m on a sightseeing ride lost in the middle of racing packs. Haha.
The route itself was enjoyable and luckily, me and Din trained there 4 times before the race. So, I had a clear idea of what to expect and where the rolling zones were.
But still, the 4 rolling zones sapped and crushed my energy.
I continuously took 3 to 4 tablets of Himalayan salt during the bike leg to replenish my salt. I was very cautious not to overexert my muscles to prevent cramping. For me, if I start to cramp, it’ll be game over.
I overtook Din at around the 20 km mark, where we had a short conversation. He broke his rear gears and he made quick repairs by the roadside but he’s stuck in lower gears and had to pedal extra fast to speed up.
After the 20-km mark, the route is mostly flat with lots of cornering. My time for the bike leg was 1:26:38. Not a good time. Strava registered my distance at 29.45 km.
2nd Transition
The second transition is almost the same as the first one. I tried to keep my momentum up and jogged to my number.
I saw the majority of the bikes had already been parked, which shows that I was in the slower pack. I just knew this based on the biking and being overtaken.
Ate a pack of Twiggies, took a sip of mineral water, and slowly jogged my way out of the Transition area. My total time spent in the second transition was 5:54.
2nd Run
From my reading, people tend to run at a faster pace after the bicycle leg, probably because of the fresher legs and the momentum carried from biking.
For the first 100 m, I probably ran at a higher pace due to the momentum. But I knew it was difficult for me to maintain the pace so I slowed down to around 8 min/km to 9 min/km.
After the first km, the tiredness sank in. My legs felt weak, but luckily no cramping whatsoever. A few people already started cramping left and right so I naturally took a few more Himalayan salt tablets.
By this time, it’s already around 9 am and it’s getting hotter. I pushed myself to run for 100 seconds and alternately walked for 100 seconds. I kept repeating until I arrived at the first water station after 2.5 km.
Luckily, the organiser prepared a few tanks of cold water so participants could cool themselves. I splashed my face with the cold water to freshen myself. Others took a shower. Haha.
As usual, I snatched a cup of 100 Plus and mineral water before continuing my run towards the finish line.
It was just 300 metres from the finish line when my leg gave up and I decided to just walk. But a bro slowly jogs past me and says, “Sikit lagi bro, come on”.
So yeah, I followed his jog pace until the finish line. I finished my first Powerman at 3:02:45.
The Good
- I experienced no cramps whatsoever. Seems like my nutrition strategy is probably working with only Himalayan Salt and 2 packs of Twiggies!
The event was well-organised. The participants paid quite a premium price for this event, but I think they are well worth it. Event T-shirt, Finisher T-shirt, Medal, Kahf face wash, finisher medal, and O’Brien’s packed sandwich for lunch.
To Improve
- To get proper clothing and gear. Since I don’t have any prior cycling experience, I don’t have a lot of suitable clothes and gears such as cycling bib shorts with chamois, bike shoes, and a bike computer. Granted, they are not compulsory, but having these items will greatly improve the overall experience.
To replenish the nutrition lost during a race, a racer usually consumes power gels and salt sticks. However, I didn’t have the time to test the power gels that are suitable for my body so I don’t want to risk it during the race. Next time, I’ll make sure to test suitable gels and salt sticks to be brought during a race.
You can never have enough training. But for this event, I can feel that I was slightly under-prepared, especially on the bike training. However, I think I did my best with what I had at the time. So, no regrets.
My next target is to get a proper road bike. It is perfectly doable to finish the race with a borrowed Mountain bike. However, if you are willing to commit for the long term, I would suggest investing in an entry-level road bike. They’re better in this kind of event.
Next time, I will set sufficient training sessions and probably do one or two times of simulation runs. This is to detect any issues and what to improve. You also get your base timing and plan improvements from there.
Conclusion
Overall, I think my first Powerman event went smoothly. Without a bicycle, my bike training began only 1 month before the events. However, I managed to squeeze in 5 training sessions on the race route which makes it doable.
I managed to beat my projected timing of less than 3:30. But I think I still can shave at least another 25 minutes with more training sessions and a proper road bike. My official final time:
1st Run: 37:36
1st Transition: 5:08
Bike: 1:26:38
2nd Transition: 5:54
2nd Run: 48:21
Full Time: 3:02:45
Since signing up for the Powerman Short last December, I had this 4-years master plan, to gradually challenge myself each year until completing Full Ironman.
2024: Powerman Short
2025: Powerman Classic
2026: Ironman Half
2027: Ironman Full
Right now, I’m still contemplating whether to redo and beat my record for Powerman Short for next year or join the Classic. Hmm.
