Kerr Lake Triathlon - Triathlon

started out left of group got into a rhythm immediately and felt awesone. stayed away from pack. even though I was breathing away from waves a wave crashed over my head and surpised me a little ... then it all fell apart. I had to stop and refocus, then it took every ounce of focus to swim a few ayrds then stop before trying again. Lake Royal came flooding back and I thought that 1500m was too much. I tried breast stroke a little then tried freestyle again, gradually I built up the yards before I had to stop and made the first bouy.
So I broke it down into little legs - goal was to reach each bouy in turn the stop and chill, this is how I made it to the end with a big smile on my face.Good job I did this as someone in the wave behind turned around the wrong bouy - fortunately my scream made him stop and change direction.
In hindsight the anxiety I think this was due to the waves once clear of the headland, which became noticably bigger and jostled me around.
I was hoping for under 30 mins so 31 with a 100 yd walk to TA wasnt too bad with all the stops!

practice practice practice in OW and not just on calm days.

I purposefully took this slow after a bad swim. I didnt want to make silly mistakes - I decided to wear socks. As it was 1:36 wasnt too bad. Normally I clip in first time but I fumbled about for a few seconds.

nothing.

ok, put bike recoevery plan into action and forget the swim - success - high cadence for first few miles, only drinking water. Once course elveled out into big gear and push - change gear once hit 90+ RPM. 15 mins in gel and water then start on Heed. Without realising I was seeing speeds of 20+ and grinning ear to ear. The thought crossed my mind that I was going to hard but I trusted my training and continued to grin. Downhill consciously stopped pedalling and tucked in tight until speed dropped below 25 - more grinning.
Knowing where the big hills were I dropped into small ring and spun up them, into headwind was tough but wasnt for long.
one hour in took another gel and more water. last few miles increased cadence to wake up legs and started to think of TA preparation. Took feet out and pedalled in to TA.
Remembered to encourage anyone I passed or who passed me.

nothing - I remembered everything I planned to do and executed it all perfectly!

One area to work on is climbing hills.

again focused on being deliberate with every action. Stopped to double check everything ready to go.

nothing.

felt great coming off the bike so this was going to be easy just like training - but it was now very hot. first few minutes focused on watch to ensure my pace was around 10:00m/m until legs woke up then tried to stay at 9:00m/m. at each aid station I decided to walk, take two water, one to sip then throw on head, the other to poor down front/back of shirt. Any shade was a welcome site even for a few strides.
Realized very soon this was going to be tough so focused on stride, form, and reaching each aid station one by one. By the last mile only really ache was my hip flexors, and felt comfortable in picking up the pace - not by much but I felt strong and confident doing so. Last few hundred yards I picked up pace but couldnt sprint, so ran across line with strong form and a big grin, feeling confident in well executed race and amazed at getting a PR sub 3hours. Also realized got a PR in a 10K.

more consistent run training with speed work. Add in some strength work and always stretch!

right after the finish chute was a shower tent - second to what I just achieved this was the best feeling ever. I realized I was HOT, maybe too hot as my wife pointed out I hadnt appeared to be sweating during the run - by now I couldn't remember as I was soaking wet and each aid station I took a two cup shower. I felt great with no signs of heat stroke, so proceeded to eat and drink everything put in front of me - I was famished! for the remainder of the day I ate anything available. When I got home took a cold bath, noting how good my muscles felt.


experience of OWS; consistent running quality/miles.


not my first experience of setup events but first oly and this was an awesome race. ALL the volunteers were awesome, especialy the run - you couldnt help but smile at each water station regardless of pain. I would definitley come back to Kerr Lake.