Wrap-up from Michael's second triathlon

The race didn't start well when I made a silly mistake walking down to the beach wearing my running shoe which meant I was a bit rushed at the start. It took me a while work out where the start was and also find someone to look after my crutches while I was swimming. In the end there was a barrier on the beach funelling the racers into a narrow line for the stairs so I just left them leaning on that.

The swim was in the beautiful waters of Jervis bay and there were 190 swimmers in my age group wave. It was mayhem but I managed to stay towards the outside with some clear water in front of me. I felt good swimming but hopping up the beach, grabbing my crutches and then running up the narrow staircase didn't feel great at all.

I was pretty flat on the bike but soon warmed up and got some rhythm going. I was happy to be overtaking other bikes on a regular basis. My ride time was just on 38 minutes for the 20km.

The run was another story entirely. I don't think I passed anyone and I had used up too much of my tank of gas in the previous legs. I felt slow and heavy and it was hard work. It felt like 5km to the turnaround point which was only 2.5km in. My kids were watching at about the 3.5km mark and screaming "faster daddy". It felt good to cross the finish line.

From a total field of just inder 1000, I came in 704th. My goal was to finish in a time around 1:35 and my time of 1:36.34 wasn't far off the mark.

I felt good about the day and my first proper tri experience. There are certainly some lessons to learn about pacing and transitions from one discipline to the next. I have another in only three weeks time so I hope to put some of that learning to good use.

The atmosphere at the event was fantastic and the location was pretty special too. Thanks Elite Energy for putting the event on.