Chloe Jane Ong started her running and triathlon career back in 2013, the first time she rode a bike was back in July 2013, and joined her first race on October 2013 in Tri United 3.
Fast forward 1 Year and 4 months after her first race, Chloe bagged 1st AG30-34 at Challenge Philippines Subic, 1st AG30-34 at Tri United 1 and 2nd AG30-34 at Ironman 70.3 Subic. Impressive performance for someone who’s fairly new to the sport at that time, so that got us curious! So we asked Chloe on how she did it, and share some of the lessons she learned along the way.
1. HAVE A PURPOSE – Take time to sit down and establish your goals whether they are physical, mental or psychological. Even in a short race you will hit a point where you are tired and you will ask yourself why you ever came up with this ‘crazy’ idea in the first place! Setting goals will help you stay focused on what is motivating you to go out there and race.
2. KEEP PUSHING YOURSELF – Never just settle for anything and always strive for personal development. My coach has given me “impossible” workouts but you just have to put your mind into it, and do it, and before you know it, It’s DONE! So you bank on that, because when it hurts during a race you draw on that memory and you remember how you managed to pull through your hard sessions.
3. GET A COACH – I am fortunate enough to be under the guidance of Coaches Jojo Macalintal and Rayzon Galdonez. Coach Jomac understands my lifestyle and goals so he knows when I should go hard, when to go easy and when to take time off. Trusting both their knowledge and experience in the industry removes all guesswork and allows me to focus purely on completing the training itself. I feel sense of security having the support and guidance of both coaches.
4. STAY BALANCED – At times I am guilty of being too consumed with my workouts that I end up neglecting other parts of my life. Most triathletes are goal oriented and don’t like to be distracted so I put in extra effort in making sure that I don’t let that focus get so intense that I fail to see life beyond triathlon. I focus on keeping my priorities clear, staying flexible and doing the best that I can do with what I have each day.
5. REPLENISH – I hear and read about the importance of getting to my racing weight so I went on packed meal diets. It was successful in making me lose “some” excess weight but unsustainable given the load of our workouts. I now better understand the importance of “fueling”. Fueling well makes you more efficient, allow you to train harder and help you recover quicker.
6. JOIN A TEAM – No one likes to suffer alone. I am thankful for Trimac because we train together as a team. Having a team to train with everything becomes a little easier because the time will pass faster and we continue to motivate and encourage one another. At times I end up pushing myself more than I would if I was doing my training alone. In addition to group training opportunities, the fun and camaraderie outside our trisuit and training gear is priceless! You create memories and form friendships by sharing your passions with other like-minded people.
7. VISUALIZE – Before races I practice my race strategy. I imagine myself doing the race and dealing with problems. What happens if my goggles get knocked off? What happens if I get a flat? What happens if I cramp during the run? So when it happens during race day you are calm because you’ve already developed that mental strategy to get you through the race.
8. BE CONSISTENT – Arguably one of the most important aspects of athletic success and forward progress. As a newbie I am guilty of being impatient and many times I failed to give my program enough time to reap the benefits it is designed for. But looking at people I idolize in the sport, my coaches, The Legend Frank Lacson, Kapitan Abe Tayag, Coach Ani de Leon Brown, Ms. Chang Hitalia and other athletes are still performing well into their 40s, 50s and beyond all have one thing in common: they have trained consistently over the years and rarely gave up ground. So they became my role models. So I suck it up and stay committed because nothing will be achieved unless I work at it day in day out for months and months just like they did.
9. GET COMFORTABLE WITH YOUR SWIM – Being more confident in water than when I first started I’ll feel more fresh coming out of the water and that sets me up for a good bike ride, and when I have a good bike ride that sets me up for a good run (hopefully). Everything starts from the beginning and builds on itself.
10. GET A BIKE FIT! – NUFF SAID.
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