Our wave was called into the water and I made my way out to the middle of the canal and tread water waiting for the wave start. I had purchased a new pair of goggles the day before and was keen to try them out. They were great. I now realise how crappy my old goggles where.
The gun went and I immediately settled into a rhythm and my breathing was regular and controlled. I felt relly comfortable the whole distance. I managed to catch a couple of stragglers from the wave in front, but was rounded up by the wave behind as well.
My goal was to finish the swim in good condition so that I could focus on the next legs. I got to about the 1400 metre mark before I was starting to wish it was over. I wasn't tired or stressed, just wanted to exit the water. I finished the swim and felt strong. So far so good.

Short of some swim lessons to improve my time I felt as though achieved expectations.

My goal in T1 was to make sure that I didn't forget anything and to maintain composure. I was not here to 'win' so I wanted to ensure that everything was right.
Unfortunately the timing in this race places both T1 and T2 times against the Bike leg so the T1 time is an estimate based on my Lap data from my HR monitor.

Felt good and in control, so I wouldn't change a lot.

I rode the course the day before and took a wrong turn and ended up doing another 20km of hills before I realised what had happened. Not the ideal preparation and this affected me on race day. I had taken too much out of my legs. Live and learn, I guess.
I rode a comfortable pace and was conscious of the climb that I needed to tackle. It came and went without drama and I was feeling okay save for the slight soreness in the quads from the day before. The out and back was largely uneventful. Then came the decent on 'The Hill'.
Just before the crest I had an age grouper, who looked like a serious contender, come up to me and say 'Alright Big Fella, let's see what you can do down this thing'. I said, 'You just try and hang on!'.
I crested the hill out of the saddle and in the biggest gear I hit it hard. I pedalled until there was no resistance then got in the tuck. I managed to hit 91.6km/h (approx 57mph) going down that hill! It was amazing. I had an absolute blast. (It's the only time being 100 pounds overweight is an advantage!)
I passed several other riders like they were sitting still!
About half a mile further on after the road tended upward again, the same age-grouper caught me and slapped me on the back 'That was freakin' Awesome!' He yelled. 'I've never seen anyone go down that so fast!' After that I felt pumped and finished the ride quite well.
Up till then I had ridden within myself to try and save my legs for the run.

I probably could have gone a little harder but the brick run was really an unknown quantity for me. I need to do more brick sessions and not do a big recon, ride the day before....

I transitioned pretty well all things considered. I did take a minute to stretch my hamstrings and quads before heading out of T2. I was a little nervous about the run as I had only run the distance once before this event.

Nil.

As I hit the run it started to rain. It had rained earlier in the day but stopped when I enetered T1. So for it to start for the run was quite a blessing really. It kept me cool and was most welcome.
I managed to run the first two kilometres before the first aid station. My quads were getting sore and I decided that I needed to walk the aid stations. I picked up some fluid and walk a little further. Essentially I ran and walked the aid stations for the duration. At about the midway point I needed a potty break and I stopped and also took the opportunity to do some more stretching. This helped me no end and I actually felt better as the race went on.
As it was only my second ever 10km run I was pretty happy with the result. I know that it is far from quick but it is an area where I can make the most gains.

Train more for the run, especially off the bike.

My warm down consisted of hanging around waiting for transition to open, collecting the bike and walking the 3km back to the apartment.


As one sign, at the 7km mark of the run, said ... "Bet you wish you had trained more for the run leading up to this thing, huh!?!"
That about sums it up for me...


This is a really well run event and incorporates almost a week of events. It is a trus multi-sport festival and is well worth attending.
My only suggestion for the Tri would be to have timing mats on both entry and exits of Transition to register T1 & T2 times separately and not just lump them with the Bike leg.
This is a great event and I plan on making it an annual event. I highly recommend it.