This weekend I popped my cherry…

…well, in a triathlon sense at least…why, what were you thinking???

I raced at the Leftbank Triathlon. My first triathlon and the first step on the way to the ultimate goal of Ironman completion.

Yeah actually, I have to go easy on the coffee today as I am still riding the endorphin wave from the weekend and if I get much more hyper my work colleagues with either slap me or move me to a padded room. Got to love a natural high!

I had the usual training week in the lead up to the race and probably went a bit harder than I should have on the BRICK session on the Saturday. We had hill repeats and I (perversely) enjoy riding up hills so went at it with gusto.

Pretty generous hill climb - 3 laps remember

Then when it came to the run after the hill riding I found a pace early on and kind of just stuck to it. I promise that I tried to slow down but in truth I was being dragged along by 3 of the others from the group and they helped keep the pace steady (and fast!) (4:55 per km).

Sunday – RACE DAY! Woo hoo.

As a first race I think this one was perfect. The distances were comfortable (400m / 19.5km / 4km). The swim would be in the river and with the current. The ride was a 4 loop course and the run was a 2 loop out and back. There were a couple of hills to contend with but nothing that was not manageable and too taxing…short sharp climbs.

Pre-race – the beauty of a local race meant a 4:45 alarm. Changed and breakfast shoved down (bowl of oats) and out the door. Just a side note here…I swear that the microwave beep is 1,000x louder pre 7 am. I was “trying” to be as quiet as possible to not wake the rest of the household and launched at the microwave as quickly as possible to prevent the shriek of the sleeping children/wife appliance. I parked at my parents’ house and rode to the start line. It was a good way to spin my legs early in the day (all of about 2kms to the start).

Met up with a couple of the other guys from the club as well as one of our coaches who was setting up the club supporters’ tent which became our base for the day. The transition zone was first come best dressed so we managed to score the rack closest to the run and ride exit points. Once that was done, bodies marked, chips fastened and pre-race meeting over with it was onto the beach for the swim.

Club tent - with photobomb

The Swim – this was 400 metres in the river and was with the current. We made our way out to the start marker and treaded water for about 20 seconds before we were off. I will confess that for about 80 or so metres I kept having a little panic every time I submerged my face. Eventually I just had to suck it up and move on and after that I was fine…it just took a little while to get used to it. Sighting was great and I had clear water ahead of me so was pleased about that! I did have to physically push a bloke away from me as he kept swimming diagonally into me. On the third push he looked up and adjusted his line and off we went happily. I know I went too wide around the last buoy but was happy with a time of 7:17.

T1 – so despite knowing I was on the last rack and was smugly happy with my rack position I still managed to stop short of where my bike actually was. Moment of panic as there on the floor was the same runners that I wear but no bike!!!!! “Where the f**k’s my bike!” may have passed my lips (possibly louder than it should have too)…thankfully I had come out of the water with one of my buddies and he HAD gotten to our bikes and he called me over…DOH! One rack too soon…

The bike – this was uneventful….apart from the final corner of lap one. As I rounded the corner to start my second lap there was a shout and clatter as a fellow competitor came off his bike. I can only assume he came up on the corner faster than he anticipated and locked out his brakes. I slowed to see that a marshal was there with him (being on the corner there were a couple in attendance) and I then carried on. Sadly, his name and number are not on the finishers list (I noticed his number was one ahead of mine). I had a gel at the start of the 4^th lap in readiness for the run.

T2 – I tried to be clever and try something I have never done in training…always the best time to test something new under race conditions! I popped the straps on my cleats and tried to pull my feet out and leave the shoes attached so I could simply run through transition shoeless. Well, one foot popped out no worries, the second decided to bring the shoe with it! Doh! So there I was hopping along at the dismount line pushing the bike and pulling my other shoe off….graceful as!

The run – also uneventful (apart from seeing my awesome wife and sons on course cheering for me!!). Started out pretty fast – 4:52; 4:53 and then slowed 5:24 & 5:21 (reverse negative splits!). I probably had a little more in me for the run but I was getting tired and on the second lap I started to enjoy the sights and sounds a bit more. That said, I crossed the line and I was spent! Happy but spent!  

On the run - photo courtesy of my wife

Overall 1:09:14. Really happy!!

Still coming to terms with the lycra image!

Some weekend takeaways:

1)      Standing at the finish line sharing stories with the other competitors, talking to other non-racing training partners that had come to support and cheering other people over the line, with wild enthusiasm when they were part of our club, definitely confirms for me that I have done the right thing joining a club and has cemented the fact that Stadium is the right club for me!
2)       I need to practice more open water swimming!!
3)      I need to work on my bike cornering to limit loss of speed and build my confidence back up to maximise speed on the downhill portions.
4)      I REALLY need to work out how to START the multisport function on my watch! I recorded the whole thing as a run…and whilst I could love to claim a PB speed of 52.1km/hr I am pretty sure that my shoes would have melted!

Post race breakfast was a struggle but you’ll be glad to know I fought the good fight and overcame!

Breakfast of champions!

Back to training tonight so no rest for the wicked.

Thanks for reading and here’s to the next race – Interclubs 30/11/14.