Timberman - Half Iron - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Ok - I am NOT the worlds best in the water (as my time can attest to)! I actually just learnt to swim in February because I had always wanted to do a triathlon and was always daunted by the swim section. I actually completed the Mooseman Triathlon with Team in Training and liked the event so much I signed up straight away for Timberman (Keith Jordan organizes the best races! He has amazing attention to detail and organizes the course completely around the athletes, the way it totally should be! The amazing and enthusiastic volunteers really kept me going, too!)

So, back to the swim – I was in one of the later waves, and as I am not a strong swimmer I started near the outside and at the back. It was great swimming to the first turn Buoy – I was keeping a great rhythm and was making good time (for me). I got there in 13 mins. But then I turned and got caught in some rough water for the entire leg that runs parallel to the shore. I kept getting hit by waves every time I went to breathe, and switched to breast stroke for a while – but the breast stroke was too slow with the current the wind was setting up and I was actually moving AWAY from the Buoys. So I just had to put my head down and keep swimming. I eventually made it to the turn for the leg back to shore by 52 mins. The leg into shore was fine – I can breathe bi-laterally so I just breathed to my right side to avoid the waves. I was on someones feet pretty much all the way back to shore too so I didn’t have to sight very much. My time from Mooseman was 1:03, and I was so confident I would beat it this time – but because of the waves I came in at over 1:07. So all in all I’m pretty disappointed with this! At least I made it through in one piece though and beat the cut off time (barely).


Learn to swim in choppy water - I was not relaxed in this situation and couldn't breathe well in the waves.

I took so long in T1 because I really needed to Pee, so hit the porta. I just can't bring myself to do it in my wetsuit!

Nothing - I was pretty beat after the swim and just wanted to regroup and relieve myself.

This actually went very well for me. I wanted to take it easy out and moderate back, because the out is more hilly than the back, and I didn’t want to tire myself out on the way out and have nothing left for getting back (especially with the run to follow). So I started off very S-L-O-W. In fact I was pretty concerned because I simply was not getting up to speed on the hills and my heart rate and breathing were way outside the ‘easy’ range I wanted for the way out. But as soon as I hit 106 I got into a groove and managed to settle in to a steady, easy pace. I knew about the headwinds on the way back so I was careful to pace myself. I got to the turn around before I knew it and started on my way back . To be honest, I only picked up my effort a little more on the way back, opting instead to stay comfortable for the run. I think this worked out well for me as I found the run very tough even after taking the bike easy. All in all, considering I wasn’t pushing the bike, I was very happy with my time and I know I can improve on it considerably if I wished to push a little harder. Definitely the best leg of the race for me. My nutrition was just right – I was careful to listen to my body and drank 2.5 liters or water, 1 liter of Gatorade and had 2 Gu’s. I came back into the park feeling pretty good.

Nothing at all - this really went well for me. The only bad thing were the initial hills, but I think this was a result of my just being tired from my swim, rather than my preparation.

Where oh where did the time go here??? I thought I did this transition really quickly, until I saw the results. Let me just pick my jaw up and I'll move onto the run...

Hmmm - hustle a bit? I don't know - this time came as a surprise to me.

I was actually looking forward to the run as I held back in the bike and had been doig a lot of run training. So imagine my surprise to find myself unable to sustain anything more than a struggling shuffle over the last loop. I tried to start out fairly easy (which I did) but simply ran out of steam by the time I was half way back on my first loop. Thank goodness for all the great support (to my TNT team mates and to Jessica and her friends Jean and Andy). Also there were so many wonderful people cheering us all on along the course. And I must thank Kim from TNT, who literally helped me to keep running that last 3.2 miles when I really just wanted to stop with every fiber of my being. Was I glad to see the finish line - oh yes!!

Hmm - I think maybe the swim got me here. I also think I need to do more speedwork in my runs. It was definitley a humbling experience.

Gave Jessica a hug and kiss, grabbed pizza and ice cream, then left to go home.


I think my inability to swim in the choppy water made me use too much energy at that point, and I don't think I fully recovered. I also need more speedwork for running.


Keith Jordan you're my hero! Seriously, though, he really does run the best races, and thinks about EVERYTHING pre race, so that anything that can be under his control (hear that mother nature????) is under his control.