Race 1 - Race Report

Its a day late I know but for all of you who were wondering what actually happened at the race here goes -

(Race minus 2 hours) - "HOly crap I'm nervous, my stomach's doing somersaults like an olympic gymnast and I can't settle down. Breathe ... concentrate ... and visualise ... you can do this, you will do this ... and sod it if you come last, you'll still have done it ... now go check your equipment again, make sure you've got everything ... shit, hydration, better go get those bottles ready, you're gonna need something to drink before and during the damn thing"

(Race minus 1.5 hours) - "Why is there shitloads of traffic?! I just wanna get there, settle down, take in the course and get ready ... what?!?!? can you see all those cars lined up on the bike course in traffic? how the hell am i supposed to get through that at speed?!"

(Race minus 1 hour) - "Great I'm the only one here ... so much for making it to the race with two hours to spare ... at least I'm registered ... the weather isn't too nice is it? i hope it doesn't rain, my riding's crap enough as it is without the rain ... water looks cold ... will need to acclimatise well before we go off ... ahhh, ppl getting here ... jeez, look at the size of him, did he pump himself with a track pump before he came here? ... crikey that's an expensive bike ... he's gonna go faster than me without even pedalling ... ok, breathe ... oh my God there's a 65 year old man ... I hope he doesn't beat me!! ... let's set up transition ... quick drink ... will get into the wetsuit with 20 minutes to go"

(Race minus 20 minutes) - "I've spoken to noone and I probably look like a lost little rabbit ... confirmed by Clare ... ph well ... here we go, friendly face, making conversation about wetsuits, here we go, Marshall's prep ... breathe, breathe, quick drink ... time to get into the water .... you can do it mate, you can see yourself doing it so now just put that into practice".

(On your marks ...) - "Deep breath, here we go, you're at the back of the field, take it easy, don't blast out, its all about rhythm ... regular breathing ... every 3 strokes, then every 4, occasionally every two ... see?! you're already practically at the first buoy ... and you're overtaking ppl ... come on son! keep it steady ... straight ahead ... where's the flipping second buoy?! just follow the splashes ... damn I wish this guy would just get out of the way ... will have to swim round him ... ... close to the end now, use the legs a little bit, occasional kick to get the blood flowing ... and ... stand up, get ready to come out ... they've pulled your wetsuit zip down and opened the wetsuit, get your arm out quick ... Shit, its not budging, its closed again, just get to transition and deal with it then ... come on!!! come off you bugger of a wetsuit ... ppl are blasting past me, damn thing, stretch it, stretch it ... finally! velcro off ... christ that took nearly a minute!!! BUT!!! i'm only 13 minutes into the race ... 550 in under 12..5 minutes ... that's good, now keep it up ... there's still a few behind you ... helmet, gloves, sunglasses, drink, grab the bike and off we go ... skip on and we're off, 16km of this and then the run, take it easy, save the energy, we're ahead of schedule ..."

(During the bike ride ...) - "damn my legs feel like I can't push a high enough gear, tone it down, don't knacker yourself ... ppl are lapping me but I don't care ... I knew he'd be fast on that bike, bloody hell ... ... can't find a comfortable position for my feet on the pedals ... really need to invest in cleats ... stop thinking about post race, concentrate, breathe, up a gear, push push ... keep pedalling, its downhill, let's make some time ... damn she's passed me ... ok, still 3 ppl behind me .... fuck ... he's passed me too ... where do I go now? I think its a left at the lights ... why's she going straight? ... dammit, I'm going left anyways, I'm sure the lake's that way ... oh well, at least I passed her now ... here we go, i can see the lake ... a marshall ... I made it into T2, good stuff, still going and the legs don't feel too rough ... there's 2 ppl behind me, let's keep it that way, helmet off, gloves off, bike racked, quick drink and off we go ... 5 km away ... you can do it mate .. come on ... here comes the winner already finishing his run, geez he's fast"

(The run) - "regular breathing, keep the legs pumping, short strides ... crikey they feel like jelly, come on, keep going, crap a stitch, keep braething deeply come on, it'll go ... blue vest ahead, the guy who passed me on the bike ride, come on can catch him, keep it regular, he's going slower than you are ... breathe, breathe ... encourage ppl coming the other way, thumbs up to nice guy who was chatting to me before the race ... here we go, 10m, 5m, past him ... now keep him there, keep steady"

(Lap 2) - "damn the stitch hurts, but a bit less than before, keep those legs moving and the breath regular, look back, that guy's nowhere to be seen, well done ,,, turn round the cone and back again ... you can do this, 2.5km to go ... breathe ... I can see someone ahead ... can I catch her? ... don't do anything stupid now, keep it steady, you're 2k away from the finish line, don't blow yourself out, keep steady and kick in the last bit ... ok, it hurts but there's only 200 to go, when I get round that bend I'll be visible from the finish line so I'd better kick a bit ... go on, kick ... pathetic effort at a sprint but sod it, 15, 10, 5 ... finish line ... OH MY GOD I've done it!!! Fukc I'm tired ... but it feels good, my first tri! ... there's definitely 2 ppl behind me ... where did that woman go? I didn't come in last!!!! ... need a drink, need a rest ... sit down, most of the others have all left but who cares ... I've finished :) ... need to check the time, by my calculations I did it in less than 1:30 ... 1:25 maybe ... sod that, I'm just happy I finished."

And so it went ... final finishing time well within the 1:30 at 1:21:05.

Splits were as follows :

Swim + T1 - 13:53
Bike - 38:24
T2 + run - 28:48