15 replies to this topic

[mgi11a]

Triathlon Completed. Tick.

Today I did my first ever triathlon at Raby Bay, all be it the enticer 200/5/2, for someone who 3 weeks ago had never swam more then 50m in there life i'm wrapped.

After spraining my ankle at the end of Aug and not able to run I decided to climb on the bike, after a few weeks it was suggested I have a go at a Tri. So off to the pool I went and with a few tips found I could cover the required distance not very fast but pretty comfortably.

I woke at 3.13 this morning not thinking about the swim, but getting on and off the bike, I layed for little longer then got up an hour before the alarm, so it was no surprise that I arrived at the venue just after 5am. Got myself numbered, racked my bike then caught up with Balri and picked his brain for a while for some last minute tips.

Before I knew it I was in the water and swimming out to the start bouy, I positioned near the back of the wave so as not to get run over in the rush, which proved to be a good move. Nobody told me there was no black line on the bottom of the marina and I found myself going to the left all the time and ending up on top of the persons next to me. As i went up the ramp out of the water I heard Balri yell out 5.43 Mick, I was pretty happy with that as I wanted to get under 6min. I came out of the water 10 out of 15 in my Cat, M45+.

It was now I was happy to be a runner as I passed quiet a few between the water exit and the bike rack, quickly putting my Garmin, number and helmet on I ran my bike past the mount sign and just as i was about to put my foot in my shoe the pedal swung around the shoe hit the ground and unclipped. So it was a backwards trip to pick up my shoe and put it on. I finally got going with 1 foot in a shoe and the other one on top, it took me a few goes to get that one in and the straps done up but once I did it was all good. I had a pretty good battle with Steve the Footman on the bike and managed to just pull ahead as we came back into T2. I took my feet out on the fly and made a perfect running dismount, one of the highlights for me.

I got rid of the bike and put on shoes and my new CR cap and headed out for the run, only problem was i'd gone the wrong way, so after being turned around i'd added an extra 100m to my run. Meanwhile the Footman had put 100m on me, I had him in sight before the turn round and went past him with about 500m to go. Managed to cross the line in 27:17, a while later I got a call from a mate who asked if i'd seen the results, turns out I was racing Steve for the Gold in the old farts Catagory as my kids put it.

So it's 1 triathlon and 1 Cat win, so do I hang up the Budgy Smugglers now and retire a winner or have another crack in 4 weeks time? Never been real good at giving up after one go so it's off to Robina in Nov.

Sorry for the ramble, but i'm sure there's someone out there I havnt told yet.

Cheers

mgilla

[TynoMite]

As I said on FB - it's not the way to get a discount at InTraining.....

[undercover brother]

hey thats fantastic mgi11a.
1st tri and you're kicking age-group butt! (no offence steve)

[blair]

Well done mgilla. It was great to see you do so well

[twosheds]

Great to see you there Mgilla. well done on a category win too- Ill have to give Steve a hard time at work today
I was surprised by how hard the tri was- i wne into it thinking- how hard can it be- its only an hour. God was I wrong! Its a very very intense hour!
See you at the next one- dont hang up your budgie smugglers- weve only jus begun
twosheds

[number163]

Well done mate - Jumping off that pontoon at Raby Bay is a huge stressor ! :-) I remember it well from last year.

Anyone doing Robina this weekend ? -Ive been cramming in the pool this week with my terrible breast stroke after 5 weeks travelling on business with no pools :-( , I am for sure going to be DFL out of the water 13mins for 400m in the pool ... i must crack freestyle ,being pommy they didnt bother to teach us to swim in UK, no need for it... Im up to 100mtrs freestyle now but its a huge challenge to breathe/swing arms/kick legs at same time - it just all feels so wrong.

Looking forward to robina, and looking silly in my 2xu tri suit that shows just how little effect this training is having on my 39yr old stomach

[twosheds]

number163, on Nov 12 2009, 11:56 PM, said:

Well done mate - Jumping off that pontoon at Raby Bay is a huge stressor ! :-) I remember it well from last year.

Anyone doing Robina this weekend ? -Ive been cramming in the pool this week with my terrible breast stroke after 5 weeks travelling on business with no pools :-( , I am for sure going to be DFL out of the water 13mins for 400m in the pool ... i must crack freestyle ,being pommy they didnt bother to teach us to swim in UK, no need for it... Im up to 100mtrs freestyle now but its a huge challenge to breathe/swing arms/kick legs at same time - it just all feels so wrong.

Looking forward to robina, and looking silly in my 2xu tri suit that shows just how little effect this training is having on my 39yr old stomach

Yes- Ill be there. Ill have to take it easy as it is the 500km road relay the following weekend so cant be injured or tired. It must be hard if you didnt learn to swim as a kid. the good news is that even a bad swim doesnt seem to impact on the total time as much as the other two.
Good luck
twosheds

[mgi11a]

I'll be there as well lining up for #2, I've dome more time in the pool doing laps in the last 4 weeks then the last 40 something years. Will be taking it easy in the run, if I pull up lame and can't do the relay next week ill have twosheds bashing me with a stick.

[twosheds]

mgi11a, on Nov 14 2009, 02:41 PM, said:

I'll be there as well lining up for #2, I've dome more time in the pool doing laps in the last 4 weeks then the last 40 something years. Will be taking it easy in the run, if I pull up lame and can't do the relay next week ill have twosheds bashing me with a stick.

Ha ha ha...I will be bashing you with a stick if you tell me Im up sh$# creek! LOL

[number163]

I drove up to pick up my race number today - water was nice and warm.

Start times for the waves are up as well (on website too I think)- got a 2hr wait from transition close until my wave start :-( after getting up at 4am to get there i may go sleep in the car!.

[mgi11a]

Tri #2 has been completed, pretty happy with a 4th place in Cat. Had a 30+sec improve in swim from last time and exactly the same time on the bike, was a min slower in the run due to nursing tender achilles.

Just a question for seasoned tri people, are tri coarses accurately measured? both my cycle computer and garmin had the bike leg 500m long, i'm not complaining because it takes my avg speed up from my first effort.

Twosheds you'll be happy to know my achilles is ok, been icing it as a precaution

Cheers

mgilla

[blair]

mgi11a, on Nov 15 2009, 03:27 PM, said:

Just a question for seasoned tri people, are tri coarses accurately measured?

Generally not

[twosheds]

mgi11a, on Nov 15 2009, 03:27 PM, said:

Tri #2 has been completed, pretty happy with a 4th place in Cat. Had a 30+sec improve in swim from last time and exactly the same time on the bike, was a min slower in the run due to nursing tender achilles.

Just a question for seasoned tri people, are tri coarses accurately measured? both my cycle computer and garmin had the bike leg 500m long, i'm not complaining because it takes my avg speed up from my first effort.

Twosheds you'll be happy to know my achilles is ok, been icing it as a precaution

Cheers

mgilla

hey Mgilla
The cycle leg in the sprunt disance was long about 700m I think) Run was spot on.

I had an interesting mroning- good swim, equal first ( in category)in the run yay!. made a bit of an embarrassing error on bike. For some reason thought I was in big cog in the from-( harder gear) but ended up that i wasnt. Despite lots of evidence for this on the bike- I still didnt tweak- what a gumby. Still think I imporved maginally on cycle effort from Raby Bay . finished 5th overall in age group- gotta get that bike moving ( being in the correct gear will help- )
I enjoyed it so much more this morning- felt good on the run and didnt kill myself on the swim.
I was happy to get through uninjured too Mgilla- achilles is feeling good.! Actually feeling like my fitness is coming together for the relay this year. Should be lots of fun
twosheds

[number163]

Worst day ever :-)

Awful swim (as predicted) followed by a Flat straight out of T1 - sat by side of road and changed the tyre, then... about 5k later it was flat again , I must've pinched the tube. So I had to stop twice to re-inflate it but had to take corners at dead slow - and then on final lap it just wouldnt hold air so ended up running the last 2k of bike leg in my bare feet

Run was ok all things considered after that.

I now have the honor, of having been the last person on the course, which I guess in some way is cool :-)

So after all this shennanigans not only did I have my own lifeguard during the swim but I had my own out rider on the bike (for last lap) and a nice canadian marshall with me on the run , like a private triathlon haha.

Mgilla, I cant believe you got to 4th on your 2nd tri after winning the first - amazing work shows how much run fitness you are carrying and how it translates into the other two sports. You should go the whole series and go for the points win.

Edited by number163, 15 November 2009 - 06:02 PM.

[twosheds]

number163, on Nov 15 2009, 06:00 PM, said:

Worst day ever :-)

Awful swim (as predicted) followed by a Flat straight out of T1 - sat by side of road and changed the tyre, then... about 5k later it was flat again , I must've pinched the tube. So I had to stop twice to re-inflate it but had to take corners at dead slow - and then on final lap it just wouldnt hold air so ended up running the last 2k of bike leg in my bare feet

Run was ok all things considered after that.

I now have the honor, of having been the last person on the course, which I guess in some way is cool :-)

So after all this shennanigans not only did I have my own lifeguard during the swim but I had my own out rider on the bike (for last lap) and a nice canadian marshall with me on the run , like a private triathlon haha.

Mgilla, I cant believe you got to 4th on your 2nd tri after winning the first - amazing work shows how much run fitness you are carrying and how it translates into the other two sports. You should go the whole series and go for the points win.

You are a legend for just finishing. if I get a flat- that will be the end of it. I dont even bother with the pretence of bringing a spare tube- I have no idea what top do with it. So well done for changing your tyre twice!
twosheds

Edited by twosheds, 15 November 2009 - 06:06 PM.

[Peterhorse]

might see if I can do the next one to get things started in prep for M'ba. Better get started on the bike again - covered in spider webs and dust right now!

won't be pretty with a couple of weeks training but should be fun. i like Raby Bay better than Robina too.