Conditions on the day were perfect sunny warm and no real breeze. Jumping in the water was only as bad, temperature wise, as our local heated pool on a cold day. After swimming off and while bumping into the rest of the field as they headed north, I thought “Why am I Doing This”. But then I just got on with it and soon the buoy marker for the end of that leg appeared and I was running up the beach heading for transition.
I was quick in the transition zone for once, even remembering where my bike was and not fumbling with stuff. Out on the road I kept the pace between 30 and 36kph but in spots there was a breeze and my speed hovered in the mid-20s.
After three 6.5km laps around the lake area it was time to go back through transition, deposit the bike back on the rack and slide into the running shoes. Again I found my place without any trouble and stumbled off.
My legs were still in riding mode and they really were not interested in changing from a revolving motion to a striding action. After about two kilometres of forcing my legs to do what I wanted they gave up a bit and I found the run a bit easier. After completing the 3km loop it was time to run the 1km lap and while puffing profusely I crossed the finishing line.
In the pool the week previously my calf muscle had cramped up on two different occasions. My legs only got a day of rest before the event and I was concerned that I’d get cramp during the race. While I was on the bike and again while I was running I felt cramp ‘tingles’ but luckily it didn’t strike.
The results were published late on Monday night. Ailsa, who I used to swim with at the Aquatic Centre and at Norwood, also competed in the triathlon on Sunday. Last year we both did a couple of races over the same distance and she always beat me by a few minutes – but by the end of the season I was catching up with her. On Sunday I caught up completely. In the swim I was 44 seconds faster than her and then I gained another 9 seconds in the ride. But on the run she clawed back my lead by 32 seconds. I finished 105th out of the field of 146 in a time of 1:09:02 while Ailsa finished 110th in a time of 1:09:25. We both compete in the 40-44 age group. I did the 600m swim in 12:40, the 19.5km ride in 36:14 and the run in 20:08.
The next triathlon is on December 17.
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