Results are up

And I was fairly spot on

My splits were

Swim 40:18

Ride 1:45:56

Run 1:02:59

Total 3:29:13

My swim was around 5 minutes faster than I thought it would be, ride about 15 minutes slower and run around 10 minutes slower. Overall there were 5 pages of results and I finished towards the bottom of page 4……..

As for what is next I have my biggest challenge coming up – the birth of my first child!

The next month is about getting the house ready, doing last minute reading and supporting my wife (hopefully as much as she has supported me with the whole tri thing!) Fingers crossed I can get some training in as once the bub is here I will be on a training break for a while!

Cheers

Greg

PS Thanks to all for your messages of support pre and post race!
PPS Yes the results are nagging at me a bit...I want to do it again and better....

To be continued (my first real race report)

So that’s that then. My first Olympic distance tri in the bag.

It all started on Saturday with an early morning drive down to Canberra with my wife and mother in law.

Canberra is a nice place but I found it hard to shake the small town feeling. For instance at dinner I went to the bathroom and walked past the coat rack. On the rack was a pair of pants.

That’s right a pair of pants

So someone (fingers crossed it was a cook) was walking around the restaurant with their plums out…….

Surprisingly I slept okay and was up about an hour before my alarm. I chewed down some cereal and grabbed all my gear

As you can see there is a fair bit of stuff there! No bike though……

I got there signed in and started to sort out my gear in the transition. As I looked around the other people I noticed I was

· The only guy who did not have shaved legs.
· The only guy who was not wearing a one piece tri suit
· The only guy who had a bike without tri bars
· The only guy who had no idea what the course was like (none at all – it would make the ride especially interesting. I spent most of the time figuring out where I was going)
· The only guy who had 6 people supporting him!

For an amateur hack like me to have my Mother in law, Father in law, Brother in law, a couple of friends (the other Jax and Greg) and the most supportive pregnant wife a man could want supporting me was a very humbling experience.

While I was warming up, I decided to ditch the wet suit. Despite wearing my wet suit around the house I was still not 100% comfortable (poor J having to put up with me prancing around the house in more latex than any man should)

My plan was to hang at the back of the pack and just cruise through the swim see if you can spot me

All was going to plan until the 700 mark when my goggles started to fog up. After struggling for a little bit I decided to ditch the goggles. Thankfully it was a fresh water swim so it was not too hard on the eyes. I was pretty happy that the swim was over.....

I was one of the last out of the water but feeling very good (around 40 min or so – I am sure I went faster than I was timed!)

The bike was tough with the first 20 k’s into a head wind. My favourite part of the ride was when I started to slow down going down hill due to the wind! Turns out my ride was mega slow (around 1 hour 45! How bad is that?) As I had thought pre race my big issue was with pacing. I felt great after the ride with plenty in the tank, I am pretty sure I could have gone much harder

The run was scenic (along bush tracks for a few k’s) and not overly hard. My only challenge was my right foot which went to sleep after 4k’s or so – it meant I had to stop every 1500 metres to get feeling back!

Before I knew it the race was over.

I ended up finishing in just under 3:30 with plenty of room for improvement.

I am happy I that I finished (a fair achievement considering where I have come from) and am sure that experience will serve me well for the next one……

Back into training tomorrow!

Cheers

Greg

You’ve come a long way baby

Of course I was going to be sick this week.

Anyone who has read this blog will know that if something can go wrong for me it generally will. All that said I have been pretty lucky overall (nothing too serious touch wood!)

So with less than 3 days to go I am feeling good.

Sure it is going to be hard but when you think 6 months or so ago I did not own a bike, could not swim more than a couple of laps and struggled to run because of my knees I am pretty happy with where I have come from…..

Cheers

Greg

Everything you wanted to know about my stomach but were afraid to ask

I have had my stomach bug for around 36 hours now; thankfully I am on the upswing and starting to feel better.

This morning was pretty dicey as I spent most of it around the bathroom thinking I was going to throw up. Safe to say this put an end to any ideas I had of going for a swim today. In fact I have not done much this week bar a light jog on Monday.

Fingers crossed I can get out tomorrow morning for a light paddle

Cheers

Greg

PS picked up the bike from it’s service, it looks real preeeetty....also when I went for a ride the other day I saw someone flossing their teeth at a set of lights. I like clean teeth as much as the next guy but there is a time and a place for it....

Oh No

What a time to get a stomach bug.

The only last minute training I am getting in is running to the toilet ever 30 minutes (sorry for being so graphic). Fingers crossed I can shake this today and get in a couple of swims this week

At least I will be well rested for Sunday

Cheers

Greg

PS Apart from the tummy I am feeling pretty good about Sunday. It will be hard but I am confident I can do it and do it well

Crisis averted

So with just over a week to go I thought it would be a good time to do a full dress rehearsal.

I put on my trusty tri shorts (I am not a fan of the one piece. I have tried on a one piece once but they are not flattering for anyone especially me) and wetsuit and went down to the ocean for a swim.

After my swim I stood under the shower at the beach, struggling to get my wet suit off I noticed that my tri shorts had become see through after the swim.

Put it this way, I could see more of me than I would have liked when showering in a public place.

Thank the lord I figured this out before the race!

Cheers

Greg

10 More Sleeps

When it comes to triathlon know how I am almost completely self-taught (when you stop to think about it that has to be the cause of all my problems – I am not an especially good student or teacher). What I have learnt is from books, articles websites etc.

As it is only 10 days till tri time I have been reading up on how to taper. One thing I am sure I have not read is to start renovating your place during taper time.

It seemed like a good idea to paint all the doors and skirting boards.

Seemed like a good idea.

After spending a weekend sanding, whilst wearing a mask and goggles, I have spent the next three days coughing up paint.

Mix this in with the hay fever and it is not great for the lungs!

Cheers

Greg

Hair Shorts?

It just over 3 weeks until my first Tri.

There is no easy way to say this...so here goes....

Should I shave my legs?

If so where do I stop? The knee's?

I am a hairy guy so I think I need to go all the way up...or have my self a nice pair of hair shorts.....

Cheers

Greg

PS I was going to post a picture of my legs but thought people are still recovering from "that" picture of my ass in lycra