Light up the Lakes Triathlon.

I woke up this morning to the best weather ever for the "Light up the lakes" Triathlon. Weather forecast was 27 degrees celsius with slight winds and some cloud cover. I could not have asked for anything better. I was excited and nervous but most of all just itching to head down to the lakes to get it started. But first thing was first! Anyone who knows me knows that my hair is probably as uncontrollable as a 2 yr old child who has just been denied a lolly pop at the candy store. It will not behave for anyone. So I headed to the hairdresser to get my hair braided into 2 cute little pigtails. I thought I looked neat, my kids thought I looked like a kid. I think it was because it was so tight I had an instant face lift - I wasn't complaining.

Once at the lakes I racked my bike in a fairly decent spot I thought, right on the end not too far from the bike exit and only a stones throw away from the run exit. I knew I could get to my bike without too much hassle. After that it was time to get suited up and head down to the water to get a bit of a warm up swim. I had to borrow a wetsuit as my new suit had still not arrived, but this suit was sleeveless and because the water was so cold - 19 degrees celsius I first had to dunk my arms into the water and get my face wet to acclimatise to the briskness of the water.
No sooner did I get my face wet I just dove straight in and tried to not let it affect my breathing. It was just so cold so I kept swimming to warm up. Before I knew it it was time for race briefing and then time to get back in the water and get ready to start. I was pumped, ready to just get this happening - my nerves were making me feel sick.
The starter set us on our way and I took off. Not quite sure what my speed was like but I did feel so much more tired. Not sure if the cold water and it's vasoconstrictive effects on the human body affected me but I got to the 200m mark and was pooped. I had no problem sighting but the tiredness I was feeling was little unnerving. Maybe the tightness of the wetsuit was another possible cause. I just couldn't get my breath properly either. Before I knew it I was turning at the buoy and heading for the ramp. Exiting the ramp was slightly difficult. Moss had covered a section of it so I couldn't actually stand. I had to grip and crawl up it.
However once on my feet I headed for T1 in a bit of a frazzle because I couldn't find my cord to unzip.


Once I found it I broke into a good stride and headed straight to where my bike was racked. Off came the wetsuit, on went the shoes and helmet and off I headed. Not a bad first attempt at trying to remove the wetsuit I thought.

The bike leg was great. I averaged about 30km/hr through the 10km ride. On one side it was slightly easier as I had a tailwind, however coming back saw a considerable decline in the speed, so I clicked into an easier gear and just tried to spin the legs. By the end they were hurting quite a bit.
T2 was alot easier and I think I dismounted my bike fairly well, atleast there was no wall for me to stack it into this time around. So off I headed for my hardest leg. The run! I was actually quite surprised how once I started running, my legs didn't feel too trashed at all. I was tired but not completely knackered.



So I headed off for my run and was just hoping to complete it without having to stop to walk for any length of it. What I didn't expect was to have PR'd in both my bike and run legs.

• Swim 250m - 4:06
• T1 - 30:12 secs
• Bike 10km - 19:33
• T2 - 18:81 secs
• Run 2.5km - 13:32

I have not gotten my official finishing time yet but I think just by looking quickly I have beaten my last time by about 3 minutes. When I get the official times I will post a comparison of the two. Should be interesting.

So now I can safely and proudly safe I am no longer a one time line crosser. I have just completed my second short Triathlon and loved every aspect of it. Can't wait for the next one.