Gatorade Queensland Tri Series 2011-2012 Race 1 Raby Bay - TriathlonSprint

Deep water start was a bit daunting in the weeks prior to the race start but race was wet-suit legal on the day as the water temp. was 23'C - just 1'C under the limit.

Wave start was 8:40am, 1hrs 10 mins after the first GTS swimmers went off!

Started in my normal outer rear corner position well spaced from the other equally nervous swimmers. Two age groups were merged so the wave start consisted of 70 people.

Took it very easy at the start - too easily as it turned out!

L) foot arch cramped a bit over the last 100m.

Shrink the 'mental comfort zone' so that the physical performance improves! I definitely left "effort in the tank" but with this the first competitive swim in 5 years I'm not too disappointed.

Assume that this time was about 2:30. Long run to timing mat and then mount line from where my bike was racked.

Happy with performance. Must learn to have shoes clipped into bike and start like that. I have to stop and put shoes on first then run to mount line.

Felt better on bike than expected. Got into the aero-position on the flat sections and pushed harder than I expected while being mindful of not smashing the legs for the upcoming run.

Spend more time on bike, but I have already planned on giving bike a significant upgrade post this race to make it more comfortable (and enticing) to ride.

Assume 3:00 mins for T2

I need socks to prevent chafing from orthotics in running shoes but maybe I can tape the feet heavily instead for such a short run? Putting the socks on chews up a bit of time.

Air temp was up by this stage and I could feel the lack of airflow across the body compared to the bike.

As usual I felt crap for first 1km but then got into a steady rythym. The two laps were within 5 secs of each other so effort was even. I was surprised that both calves were feeling it more than anything plus the L) arch feeling like cramping at start. Never had that before on a run!

Get closer to the edge of the pain envelope.

A walk to the car. A beer and a shower!


I only started training for this event 4 weeks ago after a string of health issues including a broken L) elbow so happy with outcome. Performed better in each event than I had planned which is always good. Lots of room for improvement over the upcoming summer series - on two fronts....

1) Mental: Push more in the swim
2) Physical: More training (ie > 4wks!)

But overall for first tri in 5 years I am very happy!! :-)