SINGAPORE – Even though she was battling the flu days before the Ironman 70.3 Lapu-Lapu, triathlete Choo Ling Er was determined to complete the race in Cebu, the Philippines.

It was her first half Ironman after a traffic accident in December 2023 that put her out of action with a fractured spine.

Despite not being in the best condition, Choo completed the event in five hours, seven minutes and 28 seconds on April 21 to finish first in the female 35 to 39 years old category, ahead of Indonesian Bianca Marcon (5hr 11min 16sec) and Japanese Yuko Takahashi (5:57:51).

But the 36-year-old was unable to celebrate her victory as her illness flared up shortly after the race. She came down with shivers and a fever and was unable to leave her hotel bed until April 23, when she had to go to the airport for her flight back to Singapore.

While she is still recovering, Choo has no regrets about competing in the Philippines.

She said: “I really wanted to race after four months. I went to Phuket just to peak for this race so it would’ve been a wasted 2½ weeks there so I thought I’d just do it and see how it goes.”

The road back has not been easy for Choo since the traffic accident last Christmas, when she was hit by a car from behind while on the way to meet her friends for a bike ride.

Although she could walk, she was not allowed to do any form of training for five weeks.

That included lifting weights, which meant Choo could not carry her daughter Kira, who turns two in May. That was particularly tough for her, especially whenever Kira cried.

Choo, who did not undergo surgery, began to ease back into training in February.

Instead of training at her usual load of 20 to 25 hours per week, she started out doing 10 to 15 hours which focused on stretching and hot yoga to activate her muscles.

While it was tough to get back into training progressively, she understood the importance of not rushing the process.

After all, it was not the first recovery stint she had to endure – in 2009 she was ruled out of action for a year after her bike collided with a car during a training session.

The accident left Choo, who was just three weeks away from competing in her first Ironman 70.3 World Championship, with a broken left femur (thigh bone) and dislocated right ankle.

She said: “There are always races in the future so there was no rush. I want to do this long-term, I don’t want to have a permanent injury that causes me not to be able to do this any more.”

She also had to overcome some mental barriers. In her first few sessions on the road, she kept turning back to look out for oncoming traffic and rode in a group.

She said: “I was nervous whenever a car came closer so I kept turning back to see.

“It’s quite distracting because, in the Ironman, we use an aerobar on our bicycles so turning back means that you’re getting out of your aero position if you keep checking.”

She returned to competitive action at the Borneo Ultra Trail Marathon in early March, when she finished first in the 9km and 30km categories, before heading to Phuket to train for the Cebu half Ironman from March 21 to April 8.

With Cebu done and dusted, Choo is eyeing the Desaru Coast half Ironman in May, although that will depend on her recovery.

She said: “I’m definitely not back to where I was before. Two-and-a-half months to build up for half Ironman is very short so I’m slowly building up and I’m actually very happy with what I did last weekend. At the back of my mind, I was still thinking if I was 100 per cent healthy, I could’ve done more but it’s fine, I’ve got more races to get back.”