After a few stops and starts, today I toed the line wiht Kevin and Billy and completed my first triathlon in Kurnell. 750m swim, 20km bike and 5km run. Had a fantastic day, stopping the clock in 1:12:59 (provisional) which was a hell of a lot better than the 1:20 I was aiming for.

I don’t own a wettie, and since the swim was so short I wasn’t that fussed anyway about not having one, especially since it took me about 5mins to get Chris’s one off after the team swim in Canberra last week. There was a bit of a breeze blowing this morning, so I was freezing my ass off while waiting 24 minutes for Wave 6 to get started and a wettie sure looked tempting. Having Froggo & Gizmo standing next to me telling me how lovely and warm they were didn’t help either! Once in the water it all changed and I was warm again. I took the swim really easy, figuring that there’s no point busting my arse on my good leg of the race only to suffer later, so when I was out in 10:25 (AvHR 146) I was sure the course was short.

T1 was slow, messing around putting on socks and bike shoes, and pinning my race number to me, all things which can be hugely streamlined in future races. Once past Mooze monitoring the mount line it was onto the bike and away. I put the vast amount of time spent on Transitions to good use by running a bit past the line before stopping to get on the bike so as not to hold anyone up The first half of the bike was in to the wind, but it wasn’t that strong, so I kept telling myself not to try and fight the wind, that it would be behind me on the way back and I could make good use of it then. Sure enough, after the turnaround I was flying, holding 40kmh+ for most of the way back. Still felt comfortable though, and knocked back a gel with 5km to go in preparation for the run. Off the bike at the dismount line, run in my bike shoes in to T2, and out on to the run. T1+Bike+T2 was 40:08 (AvHR 159).

The run had been announced a little short at 4.85km, which was a bonus, and the three lap format made it a bit easier to pace myself. I forced myself to settle down at the start as this was my weakest leg and the greatest unknown. Felt good initially, and decided to hold my HR around 170. Between Smitty at the swim exit, Mooze guarding the entrance to the finish chute, and a spectator who kept saying “Go Trannie” I had support spaced around the lap which was great. Thanks guys! Spent the first two laps running comfortably and then turned it up a bit for the last lap per Smitty’s instructions. Crossed the line with a HR of 186 and a time of 22:26 (AvHR 173) which I was amazed by. I’d been expecting 26-28mins, so 22 something was brilliant, and I still felt pretty good.

So, it’s all over. Had a great time, met a couple of new Trannies in Vernon & Blew, managed to beat Kev and Billy as well and convincingly beat my expected time, so it’s happy days at the moment. Thanks to all the crew from Transitions, Mooze, Smitty, Vernon, Blew, Froggo, Gizmo and Highwayman for words of encouragement and bring on the Olympic Distance in Canberra at the end of January!

Woo hoo!

Kev managed a 1:25 which he was pretty happy about. He had been aiming for 1:30 or so and has decided that training might help in future. Billy had a shocker. The swim was his weakest leg, and since it was pretty choppy he had a bit of trouble navigating around the course. Then, at the end of the bike leg, himself and another athlete took a wrong turn and were given wrong directions by two guys on bikes which resulted in them riding an extra 5km. He finished in 1:50, which he was a bit disappointed with given the circumstances, but he’s keen to have a go at another one.

S: 3750m – B: 50.2km – R: 10km