Hillarys Triathlon Race 1 - TriathlonSprint

Ran in and started swimming. I was MOP for the first 100m or so and managed to draft a bit. The current was very strong and my navigation was really off due to this! This contributed to me falling behind. There was a bit of chop on the way back. Overall I was happy with my performance. Sure I am not really a fast swimmer but I managed to maintain a good steady pace and pushed just the right amount for me without exhausting myself early on. I was pleased about this.

I am happy with my fitness this early in the season. I can tell that my regular attendance at swim squad has made a difference. I'll keep going and hopefully keep improving. I wish I owned a wetsuit - I am tossing up whether its worth buying one though, it depends whether I end up doing some longer tris this season. Maybe a Christmas present? :)

I had a red towel to mark my position. Got swim stuff off and bike stuff on without a drama. Drank a few swigs of water. Washed my feet off with some water. Putting socks on always takes ages, but I need to wear socks 'cos of my orthotics.

Nothing.

The official time includes T1 & T2. My bike computer says I averaged about 26.5k on the actual course. Also the official distance is 20k, but its not, my computer says almost 22k! :) I was most worried about the cycle portion of the race because of the wind. It turned out to be much less of an issue than I imagined. It was more of a cross wind so I still managed to go quite fast (for me LOL). Theres a big hill at the end of the cycle loop and the road surface in that area is very rough. I was impressed that I managed about 20 khr up the hill every time I went over it, which is good for me. The rest of the people on the cycle portion were pretty good, no incidents that I could see. I stayed in aero most of the time. Last season on the run portion of the race I got stomach cramps and had to make 2 toilet stops, and in retrospect that was because I had a gel just before the run. This time I decided to get my nutrition in during the bike so I could digest it before the run. This worked well. I sipped on a bottle of gatorade and also a bottle of plain water. I nibbled on some jelly lollies. In retrospect I think I ate too many jelly lollies because I could feel them in my stomach on the run, but they didn't make me feel sick. I think 4 before the swim and 4 during the cycle will be enough in future. Eating and drinking slowed me down a little though, because I had to concentrate on getting the stuff into my mouth without crashing LOL!

I really need to do more T.I.T.S. especially up hills. I was happy with my cycle because I think I did the best I could at the time, but I definitely have more in me, I just need to train more. In all honesty I haven't done enough cycle training yet this season, especially in the past few weeks. So, something to work on. I was happy with the nutrition, I think it worked well, maybe I'll get a bento box to make it easier to access lollies? I had them in a little zip pocket on my fuel belt (which was doubling as a race belt) and they were a bit tricky to get to. Actually I was pleased with the lolly approach - this seemed to work just as well as a Gu would have, and its a lot cheaper. After all, glucose is glucose isn't it???

Nice, quick transition. Did not eat or drink anything more because I did not want to upset my tummy for the run.

Nothing.

Stomach behaved itself so the nutrition plan worked well. I was pretty knackered but I was determined to run the whole way, which I did. My lower back was very achey from aero position, I was worried it would get worse the further I ran but luckily it didn't. Rob was finishing his run just as I was starting mine, he encouraged me. I saw Sef about 500m before the turn around point, tried to hi-5 him but he was too knackered. I was very pleased to see the turn around point myself, and on the way back I kept focused on the mobile phone tower that is at the race finish, at times it seemed sooo far away. To be honest, the run for me was all about "suck it up buttercup and get 'er done" but that night when I saw the race results I was pleasantly surprised with my pace, I thought I was going slower than that. So all in all, it was a good run.

Bricks, bricks, bricks. I never do them. Prolly because I haven't spent enough T.I.T.S! So the plan is to do more of both. Plus keep up the running training. I am still a grandma-pace runner, but I am way better than I used to be :) There is a definite steady improvement, albeit very slowly LOL!

Drank water and ate some apples pieces that were provided. Stretched. Met up with Sef, Rob (Rob is a machine - he came 53rd overall!), Julia & Zack and all went back to our house for pancakes and fruit salad. Yum!!!! I would have liked to stay back for presentations because I wanted to win a wetsuit, but baby Zack was getting grumbly so we decided to leave. I rode home and it was a very slow, sore ride, especially up the big hill on Hepburn Ave!!! :)


I am actually really happy with my first race of the season and it has given me some good pointers on where to focus my training this season.


This is only the second time Hillarys has hosted a triathlon. Its a good course and quite challenging due to the wind and hills. I'll be back - the women's tri is there this season, and then there will be another general tri there in about 5-6 months.