I will never forget this day.

I DID IT. This has to be placed up there in atleast my Top 5 list of best things ever to happen to me. I knew deep down that I was going to accomplish this goal. I don't tend to back down from any challenge I set myself. What I didn't realise was how well I would go and how I would astound myself. I am so proud of me. Even when things got hard I dug deep and just kept going. And I do believe I did it all with a smile on my face even when my face was under the water. I just couldn't believe that I was doing it and that the day had finally arrived, and everything that I had trained for was finally coming into play.

The swim leg was great. The water was nice and cool but not too cold. I did the 250m in 3min 11secs and didn't feel that pace at all. I felt like I could have just kept going and going. I exited the water and was totally pumped, taking off my cap and goggles as I got to the transition for the bike leg. Once there I was glad I had set everything up in order, sunnies on first, then helmut, socks, runners and off with my bike. It went really smoothly I must admit.

The bike leg felt really good. I know I was pushing hard in the first 5K because my quads started to burn like they were on fire, but I maintained my cadence throughout the next 5K and then as I started to approach the transition for the run I dropped it down a gear and started spinning to loosen up my legs and get them ready for what lay ahead.

That jelly feeling in my legs was quite noticeable to me and my only hope was that it wasn't noticeable to everyone else. I felt like I had not much control over my lower half for atleast the first 250m of the run but after that I just got in a zone. Not a fast one, but one that I wanted to maintain and knew that I could sustain through the remainder of the run. God only knows my running is not great but I was happy. I was happy with my efforts. And why shouldn't I be.

I know there are many things to still work on. Like getting stronger in my run and bike leg, but these things come with time. But I am happy - actually ecstatic with coming 6th in my age group and 11th overall.

Sure I exited the water first and it would have been good to have maintained that the whole way but those other legs are a work in progress. I cannot scoff at coming 6th and I won't. I am SUPER DUPER PROUD OF ME.

The greatest day cont.

My setup.
My friends: L-R Me, Kelly, Tracy and my bestest buddy Susan,
Oh yeah, I'm pumped.
Off I go for the run.

The greatest day.

Transition to run leg.
Entering transition for the run.
Starting bike leg.
Gosh I loved the swim.

This is it.

Alarm went off at 0430hrs. Normally I would proscrastinate about having to get up at such an ungodly hour. It's still dark and there is not a sound anywhere to be heard apart from me typing. Normally I can hear the steady hum in the background of traffic travelling up on the main road and the all too familiar metallic ding of a motorcycle as he races up our road on his way too work. But not this morning, the world is asleep and I am awake getting ready for my first Triathlon.

I slept well last night thank goodness. The usual scenario for me is to go bed around the time my children do and drift off to sleep quite quickly. Only to find myself waking up atleast 6 times a night. Why I here you ask? There are a couple of reasons. 1) it's been that way since I had the kids 14 years ago and 2) my back has always woken me through the night. At the moment my back is good but I think it has now become habit. Last night though I feel asleep really easily and only woke up once and that was at 0315hrs. I love waking up and realising you still have an hour before the alarm goes off. So I rolled over and fell asleep again and woke up to that horrible RING RING RING.

So here I find myself in front of the computer and typing my last words before the race eating 2 WeetBix with hot water as I hate milk, a large glass of water and god forbid a nice cup of coffee. I know it's a dehydrator but I need to wake up. I am nervous but not as nervous as yesterday which is a relief. Yesterday I felt like vomiting but this morning all I have are feelings of anticipation of the weather. It is still dark and I don't know if it's cloudy and cold or clear and warm. I will find out soon enough.

I still have things to do, like pack the lunch bags for the kids and get my drink bottle out of the fridge - I am saying that last bit outloud so I don't forget it. Hang on. There, it's out of the fridge and in the bottle cage on the bike. I still have to put my hair in a pony tail - not too high so my helmut won't sit on properly and not too low so I can't get it through the opening of the cap for my run. And last of all, take my vitamins, and I have 35 minutes to do it in before I have to go. So I shall sign off now and go wrestle my first Triathlon to the ground.

WISH ME LUCK.

The swim god's have spoken.

Breaking news - the swim leg is ON. Oh yeah. After scrolling through the email ever so slowly and reading every word to make sure I understood it correctly, the email read "the lakes have been cleared and the swim leg is going ahead".

I am yet to stop doing a highland jig. Can it be that up above heard my prayers and my pleas? Of course it can. I AM DOING MY SWIM. Now the nerves have stepped it up a notch and not only am I super dooper excited but I am also nauseous. But it is nauseousness caused by happy nerves. I will be fine, this always happens. All will be good. I GET TO SWIM.

Training 24/7 The Life of a Triathlete

I love this video. I have watched it over and over.

Veg day

What to do, what to do, what to do!!! These two days before the race are my rest days and I am feeling very fidgety and its not even 0800hrs. I am used to having some activity planned for the day, whether that be swimming, cycling, running or walking. And now there is nothing, nada, zippo. I used to enjoy doing nothing and sitting down watching a good movie. But so far since starting this posting I think I have gotten up atleast three times out of my chair - it is now 0845hrs. It's amazing how things change and how good it feels to actually do some physical activity. But rest is as important as exercise. It is giving my muscles the chance to repair and heal. It is giving my mind a chance to be able to visualise the race and run through what I shall do on the day.

As I sit here writing this post I am also hoping that the swim leg will go ahead. We shall recieve confirmation of the race today and I hope it reads "Algae bloom has settled, swim leg shall forge ahead". The thought of running two legs is not my idea of fun no matter how small but I will give it a go if that is what is required. The bike leg will still stay as a 10km but the run may be divided into a 1.5km and 1km to accomodate for the loss of the swim. Not sure, will find out soon enough.

I know it doesn't sound like much but after all I was only competing in the Enticer which is a 250m swim, 10km cycle and 2.5km run. Should the swim be postponed then I will definately be looking for another Enticer before the season is up. I want so badly to do it all - every last leg. I will keep you updated as soon as I get the email from TriNSW. Fingers crossed.