TODAY is the day I begin a 70.3-mile journey, one that seems to have started a thousand steps ago.

The Cobra Ironman 70.3 is being held today at the Camarines Sur Watersports Complex, better known as CWC CamSur. After months of intense training and, worse, having to skip dozens of late-night parties and social events, I?m joining over 300 triathletes as we all face our biggest physical challenge for this year.

The Ironman starts with a 1.9K swim around the manmade lake of the CWC. Head organizer Fred Uytengsu tells us the swim start is like jumping into a washing machine, except without the soap. Fred is also CEO of Alaska Milk, one of the key sponsors of the Ironman.

My super-fast swim coach, Guy Concepcion, says I should try to be somewhere in the middle of the pack to get into a good swim pace early.

Meanwhile, my real concern is to make sure my brand-new Speedo Aquablade speed suit gets full visibility. Speedo GM Rajiv Srivastava and I have been working for weeks to design a suit. This one has ?Sea Princess? embroidered in Cory yellow on the suit.

After completing the swim, the journey moves to a 90K bike ride. The best triathletes will only take seconds to jump out of the water and hop onto their bikes. My transition averages 20 minutes, between putting on my Phiten bands, Goody ponytails and Kiehl?s sunscreen.

My Bikram yoga instructor and Ironman adviser, Rochelle Traupe, is giving me a maximum of five minutes to change. I will post her photo in my transition area to remind me to move more quickly.

Yoga has kept me focused and calm about the race, and it relaxes my tired muscles. Bikram Yoga Manila owner Tristan Choa is also joining the Ironman, with relay teammates Jeena Lopez and Marta Lovina. (For info on Bikram, check out www.bikramyogamanila.com. )

Loud graphics

My new Kestrel Airfoil Pro SL bike, from Goyo Larrazabal of Bike Town Cyclery, is a top-of-the-line tri bike, used by the likes of top triathlete Chris McCormack. My biggest issue with the bike is that it?s colored blue and looks so serious.

I had my favorite graphics team, Mye and Norman Cruz of Adworks, embellish the bike and my aero helmet with matching loud graphics and glitter.

Bike Town offers personalized bike fitting to make sure you and your bike are a perfect match. The fitting truly helps if you will be biking long distances (tel. no. 3872173 for fitting schedules).

Biking is my weakest leg, so I have had to get extra training from bike coach Paolo Defensor. He told me to make sure I eat during this leg and that power gels are not enough. My biking partner, Celda Santos? son Jem Malvar, will also be in CamSur today.

The bulk of my bike training has been with my brother-in-law Robin Valdes and his wife, spinning instructor Mona. Thanks to them, I know how to properly shift gears and endure long cycling hours.

With my bejeweled helmet and cool Oakley shades, the 90K ride should be a breeze. I?m also lucky that I biked the course early this year at the Tour of Hope.

Outfit change

My bike-to-run transition should be faster. For me, it is basically just an outfit change to my Nike running gear plus my Timex cap. Timex has sponsored my race and even gave me its top-of-the-line Timex watch and heart monitor. I may not be a top triathlete, but I will certainly look the part.

Audi, another of the Ironman sponsors, promises to follow me throughout the 21.2K run last leg of the race. This is where the race becomes a mental effort to finish, and I hope to do so before the cutoff time or my legs stop me. Anyway, if I drop out, I will be escorted back to the CWC in style.

Globe director Fernando Zobel de Ayala will be among the most watched of the triathletes today. I wonder if he will be wearing the Globe colors, since it?s one of the presenting sponsors. Philippine Airlines is the official carrier and I am wondering whether any of the taipan?s children will be here.

My cousins Jon-jon Rufino and Amanda Carpo are among the individual contestants, and even my hubby, Dennis, joined with two friends to form a relay team. He always says he can?t do the full triathlon as he doesn?t have a bike and is too busy with his job running PhilWeb.

It must be true, as they have just launched a new mobile game, Bid Wars. This game is called a reverse auction, where the lowest bidder wins, provided no one else matches the bid. Last Thursday, the winning bidder bid less than P20 for a new MacBook!

Next Thursday, an LCD TV and home theater are up for grabs. (Check www.
bidwars.com.ph for details or text help to 9779.)

Charitable bank

Another relay team at CamSur will come from HSBC. I have been working with this charitable bank for many years, for my events with Assumption and Makati Red Cross. At a recent party to honor visiting HSBC Group chief executive Michael Geoghegan, I chatted about swimming with HSBC Philippines CEO Mark Watkinson and his lovely wife Sarah. Mark is an excellent swimmer and would do superbly if he were to enter the Ironman.

That evening, though, the Ironman was far from the guests? minds, as we supped on Seafood Bouillabaisse and Lamb Shank Adobo, from catering whiz Margarita Fores. Two of the Philippines? most respected theater artists, Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo and Michael Williams, performed songs from several popular West End musicals.

HSBC?s Red card has been my shopping partner lately. It has special promos such as interest-free, three-month installments in shops like Zara, and a very special discount for HSBC Premier clients at Bulgari.

It?s hard to resist the lure of Bulgari, which recently held a cocktail party at Greenbelt 4 to introduce its new Parentesi jewelry collection and Assioma watches. The decor was spectacular, taking inspiration from the Bulgari 125th Anniversary Jewelry Exhibition held in Rome this past May.

I?m told that my hubby was spotted chatting with Bulgari?s main man, Mario Katigbak, at the party. I?m going to keep that image in mind as I go through the 1.9 + 90 + 21.2 km of the triathlon today, a total of 113.1 km or 70.3 miles. If I?m lucky, this journey of a thousand miles might just end with a Bulgari medal.

E-mail the author at seaprincess@inquirer.com.ph