I started behind the front line of the pack but in future will try and get to the front row as I would prefer people to pass me rather then trying to pass others. I thought my swim was fairly good but my time suggests otherwise as it was slower then the last time i swam this course. I got out of the water feeling fresh and relaxed (this feeling didn't last long).

Get to the front of the swim pack for the start.

T1, what a complete disaster!! I got out of the water and ran to T1 but could not for the life of me find my bike. I got confused and didn't know if I had racked my bike in front or behind this sign that I had picked out as a marker. I must of wasted almost a minute as I ran up and down this row of bikes until I stopped, settled down and took a second to think about how I was going to find my bike. The first thing that popped into my head was "my seat is blue" and bingo!! I found it. I put on my singlet, glasses and helmet and ran out of the bike exit, cursing under my breath for making such a fundamental stupid mistake. I tried to concentrate in the cycling leg and forget about my mistake but it keep on playing over and over in my head. It would of looked so funny from the side lines to see me running around like a headless chook, "hey look at the guy who can't find his bike, what a loser!!".

mmmmm.....remember where I put my bike.

After I finally found my bike I was able to jump on and get into my shoes without any trouble. The bike leg was ok and I tried to push as hard as I could to make up for the lost minute in T1. The wind seemed to pick up with each lap of the course and by the last lap it was quite difficult to ride into the wind on one section of the track.

I just need to ride faster when I train so I'll ride faster in a race.

T2 went well and I was able to slip on my running shoes and head out to the run fairly quickly.

Nothing much it all went well.

I really wanted to run as hard and fast as i had been doing in training the past couple of weeks so I started out on the course determined to run a good time. I checked my watch as I started and it said 42 minutes so I had 18 minutes to finish to go under the hour mark for the race. I felt really strong all the way through the run and didn't feel the need to have a lot of water like a have done in past races of this distance so I only had one drink at about the 2.5km mark. I finished in 18:13 so I missed the hour mark for the race but was very impressed in my 4km run time.

I need to keep training with my running buddies as I have made a big improvements in my run times.

As we were one of the first waves to start today we finished early which meant there was plenty of watermelon left. I downed a few slices and a banana with some water and did some light stretches.


The finding my bike fiasco.


I'm a bit sad that this is my last tri for this season because I have really enjoyed the races, made big improvements to my fitness and the achievements I have reached this year (I'm getting closer to one of my long term goals of finishing in the top half of my age group). I'm ecstatic with the improvements that I have made to my overall times in races and the big improvements to my run times, especially this last race because its one thing to run fast in training but to replicate that in a race after swimming and cycling before hand is most excellent.

So, I look to the off season (maybe some adventure racing) with the goal of maintaining my fitness and finding other ways to race with my mates and stay healthy.