Well the day finally arrived and I was more than ready to get going. The alarm went off at 5, big bowl of porridge, quick dog walk and I was off. I put the bike on car, I was so glad had put rack on car the day before because that was an ordeal in itself.
We arrived ( Barry and I) about 6.45 just enough time to register, rack up the bikes and get the kit ready. I am glad that I went with Barry on my first one as he helped to arrange it all for a quick transition. Helmet and glasses on handle bars, number on race belt in the hat, shoes and socks laid out. I really noticed a big difference to running races as you seem to wait around for sometime but in a tri your checking everything is ready to go.
My swimming wave started at 7.35 so I had to be at the pool for 7.20. I put on my lovely yellow cap they gave me and tried to do a banana impression on the side of the pool. Everyone is so friendly and I didn't feel nervous at all, I just really wanted to get going. I was in the pool ready to go and I had to go on the second whistle. I was lucky as there was only 2 of us in my lane so didn't have to worry bout getting in anyones way. I started off really fast and after 2 lengths started to struggle with my breathing, so I did one length of breast stroke which gave me back some control. The rest of the lengths I did front crawl. I was the second to last to get out of the pool and it was quick difficult to get out my arms didn't want to work. I ran down to my bike and went to put shoes on. Oh boy did I lose it here, I felt totally dis-orientated and rather wobbly which is due to the influx of oxygen going back into your body so I was told. I think I did really well here and seemed to go quite smoothly I ran to the mounting area and jumped on the bike.
I overtook one women right at the start and then took off. The bike leg was quite hilly and I caught up and overtook 2 more people who were both on mountain bikes so I didn't feel pleased about overtaking them. I never saw anyone else on the bikes which was bit disappointing as I wanted to actually race someone. It was quite scary in places as the signs you follow said turn right and I was looking for a turning but they were warning you off a bad corner. I was back at the transition area in what seemed a really quick time.
I racked the bike up swapped shoes, lost my vision momentarily as I tried to tie up laces. As I ran off my legs didn't feel as bad as they have done in training when you make the switch and I was very glad that I had done the brick sessions. The first half mile was uphill and my breathing was very laboured but then it went down hill and I started to really enjoy the run. I ended up running through an industrial estate and actually thought I had taken a wrong turn. I saw no-one on the run either but was quite happy about that. The run seemed really really short but I guess 1.5 miles is. I was back in the field and heading towards the finish line where Barry was shouting " sprint finish Blackmore". How could I disappoint? sprint finish it was then. The high hit me then very different high to when you finish a running race......oh boy was I BUZZING. I had done it, I was officially a triathlete.
I cant wait until my next one which is a month and that will be double the distance so it will be a lot more tiring. I was blown away at the diversity of the people taking part, everyone was having soo much fun including the serious athletes. I loved it and I cant wait until my next one.
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