Good thing I like to swim as I knew I was going into this with almost no swim training. The course was a pool set up with buoys to swim around.

Jumped in ready to start and got bubbles up my nose.. hmmm that wasnt smart. I was in a wave of 10 girls... all with consecutive race numbers so I had no idea where to position myself.. no worries.

Off we went and I found I couldnt hold on to one girl so I settled into my pace, breathing quickened pretty fast but I figured Id just see how I go.

After getting around the first turn I got caught with a swimmer on my inside who was a touch too slow but not slow enough that she was easy to over take, it took a couple more turns to get around her as she would always cut me off at the inside at each turn.

Heading into the last 100m I had already picked up some of the previous wave and still had an elevated HR. Went around a girl in a matching tri suit to mine but floating on her back then kicked up the pace to sprint into the ramp out of the pool

Got out with a big smile on my face and smiled at the volunteer waiting there.

Umm... swim more than 4 times since last summer would have been a start.

Im also a head down swimmer so I really dont site much which put me slightly off course at times when aiming for the buoys although I must admit being in a pool I swam a lot better on course than I have in the past.

Oh and how do you go around a buoy? Im not sure... but not the way I did it!

So I get out of the pool and realise its a a fair distance on uneven surface to transition, rip off my cap and goggles and make the conscious decision to walk the uphill, settle my breathing and not wanting to anger the knee/ankle and feet gods this early on in the race.

When I got up the incline I jogged into T1 with a big smile on my face - guess what? Im racing... and its good fun!!! Hooray!

In T1 someone had messed up my transition area but at least i could find everything... sunnies on, helmet on, grab a sip or two of water... and then try to get my bike shoes on.

First one slipped on no problem - the second kept feeling like it had a big uneven lump in it. Realised it was the insole slipping... after wasting a few minutes I just ripped it off and slammed my shoe on.

Then I had a LONG walk in cleats to transition... NOT fun... and VERY slow... oh well.. I got there eventually and was REALLY looking forward to the bike!

Get Tri shoes - my old bike shoes are just slowly reaching the end of their life span and the insole issues plus having to do up 3 straps is just making it complicated.

Learning how to put on my shoes ON the bike would definatley help too but I need to work on the bike handling for that.

Heading out of T1 I go to swing my leg over my bike nad slip in my cleats... whoops!!! Then get on my bike nad cant clip in... one of the volunteers asks me if Im ok as Im motoring along and I just grin and say 'all good'...

Get clipped in, take the couple of bendy bits in the loop and start to build my speed up to 27kph at which point the bicycle computer stops working... its a temperamental thing and just decided today it didnt want to work!

Oh well... big grin on my face and Im riding over pavers which are a uneven to ride over and Im motoring past people - this is AWESOME!!!! :)

Click into the Big Chain ring as planned and feel the kick in speed... first race Ive used the BCR... I LOVE that feeling and knowing its a short distance Im ready to push it!

Head to the corner, inside pedal up, lean bike, yell thank you to the volunteer... woo hoo!!! Hit the bottom of the course at the turn around... take the corner a bit wide but manage to pull it in.. get over taken by a few people who I play yo yo with for most of the course.

Have a look around... there are old beater bikes, hybrids, mountain bikes, roadies and very very few sets of aero bars! This is SUCH a cool race... you dont do it to be serious...

Head up for the end of the first loop and get overtaken by a girl in aero position, try to hold on but its not happening so I just keep on going.

Continue on shouting thank you to the volunteers - knowing how to take a corner definatley puts you at an advantage and most of this course is on a BIG wide road so lots of space to over take people.

There were friends riding together with matching helmets and all sorts of craziness.. I was really sorry when I hit the third and final lap as i could have quite happily kept riding all day!!!

At the turn around point for the final lap I change gears back into the small chain ring and spin faster to try and whip out some of the lactic acid... head to the dismount area, nice smooth stop and get off the bike ready for the LONG walk in cleats back to my transition area.

Side Note: Bike time includes T1 and T2 which makes me disappointed as I know I was a lot faster than what the overall time came out as

Check my bike pre race - turns out my rear brake is rubbing on the wheel so that would have slowed me down.

Learn to Put on and take off my shoes on the bike - or at least practice clipping in more.

Thats about it - this was SO MUCH FUN!

So once again I had a long walk in cleats to get to my transition area.

Ran into M who I had chatted to earlier in the day, while I was typing up my shoe laces she mentioned she had just finished her race and said she would go watch for awhile (her race number was about 200 before mine so her wave left about an hour before I even got in the water!)

Told her I would wave at her as I walked past...

Made a conscious decision to skip putting socks on in T2 and jogged comfortably up towards the start of the run course (back near where the bike course started... was a lot easier in sneakers than my bike shoes)

Not much this was a smooth transition for me... in hindsight if the run had been any longer I would have needed them as I still posses a really yucky blister thingy on the side of my foot from the race.

Not chat quite so much in transition perhaps... but this was about fun for me so I figure that was more important

Knowing at this point Id been out in the sun awhile and not had any water since I left transition earlier that morning so I jogged as far as the aid station and then walked while I drank some water... it was too cold for me to drink easily but memories of my past experience with heat stroke while racing meant I wanted to get some water down.

Picked up to an easy jog again but my heart rate wouldnt settle and I was sounding like an asthmatic elephant so I walked for a bit and this is where the trouble started.

By the time I hit halfway through the first lap I was getting serious pain on the outside of both my calves/shins... right up the site. Every step was agony and I couldnt really walk at a any pace.

I hit the turn around for the first lap and kept walking and started to panic, there were tears as the bad guy in my head started telling me I was a complete idiot for attempting this, I know my body cant run etc

Then someone came past me and patted me on the back and said good work or something to that effect - of course that didnt stop the tears but I started to pull myself together and about half way back to the bottom of the course someone called something from the crowd ( I couldnt remember what it was) and I tried a flat footed shuffle which picked my pace up a bit.

Kept that going to the end of the first loop, hit the aid station and walked a bit then metnally got in my head that I was going to shuffle some and walk some... it worked and I picked up the pace a bit.

This was most of the second loop and I pulled myself back together again. The flat footed shuffle seemed to be shaking out the pain in my legs a bit so moving was easier and coming in to the end of the second loop I smiled at the voluteer positioned there and said 'one more - Im going to do it!' with the biggest smile!

Ok they didnt know how important finishing this was to me after the last couple of years but right then I knew I was going to get through that final lap and i was going to finish I was SO incredibly excited!!!

Headed past the aid station - asked for two cups of water - one went over my head, the other I drank slowy and continued the shuffle walk strategy.

Passing the turnaround for the final time I yelled 'thank you ladies' to the volunteers who had been standing out in the sunshine for serveral hours by now and took my final walk break on the way too home.

Jogged down to the finish area and realised I was going to finish, serious tears as I gave a little skip and a clap, jogged to the finish line through my hands in the air and smiled...

Some run training would have helped but with the injuries its been out of the question.

I need to have a sterner talking to with my mental demons too... all hope is not lost at signs of difficulty - stop looking at it as an excuse nad use it as an opportunity!

Once they had taken the timing chip and given me my PINK medal I ran into M who had waited til I finished before leaving - as a complete stranger I appreciated the gesture and i hope to see her at the All womens race in February.

Drank lots of water, got my bag and pulled out the treat of jelly snakes I had been saving.

As they had sent off another 200+ people in waves after me I then grabbed my bike and positioned myself near the finishing area to clap people home.

The crowd had thinned out as people had gone to congratulate family and friends so I wanted to make sure I was there to clap the last people home - and I was... that made me feel really good.

Got teary again when the last people finished with their kids or friends who went back to jog with them and peel off to let them finish alone...

Then hung around for the presentations. They dont award age group trophies as such and instead give them to 4 names drawn at random - I thought that was great for this kind of race.

Plus spot prizes etc and it was all over. Walked up to where I had parked by the aquatic cenrte, paid the parking and headed home. Stopped on the way home in my trisuit, with my race number and medal around my neck too duck into the supermarket for a roast chicken and white bread...

Got home and ate to BIG chicken sandwiches with salyt and lots of butter, the last of my diet coke and finished off the sour snakes Id been nibbling on!

3-4 hours laters i fell asleep for a 4 hour nap! And i can say for the last couple of days Ive had some sore muscles, swollen ankles and a horrible blister from my choice not to wear socks... but I wouldnt change any of it! It means I RACED... :)

Spent the next day or so trying to get myself well hydrated again and



Training - I decided to sign up for the race a week in advance. i havent really been able to run train for a LONG time so I was relying on general fitness to get me through.

Lack of swimming too - but I knew Id finish the swim so I wasnt worried about that one!


This was a fantastic event to get women trying the sport, having fun and raising money for the National Breast Cancer Foundation.

Their choice not to seed anyone, and not to have any timers at all around the race venue sets the tone really strongly for this race and what it is all about... setting yourself a challenge, participating and having fun.

So many happy people who couldnt believe they finished a triathlon is a true testament to what this race is all about. And why the Sydney event was the biggest womans triathlon in Australia...