Bribie Tri - I made it!

Well, I survived! *grins* where to start?

Last night was my trainer's xmas party, so I went along to that, drank water all night and left early. I am obviously the spirit of xmas *L* Actually, I was glad to get home early so I could get everything together and try to get myself in the zone. John rang me to check I'd remembered everything and to gee me up which was nice. I managed to fit the bike in the car (toyota starlet) which is a feat in and of itself and packed everything else up.

As usual, I spent last night tossing and turning and dreaming that I was doing the tri and had gotten lost, was late starting or generally making a huge mess of the whole thing, so when 4am came, I was happy to get up and get moving. Put the purple suit of doom on, groaned at myself in the mirror and was out the door by 4.30am.

Got to Bribie just as the sun finished coming up and was very happy to see the water looked like glass. There was a much more relaxed atmosphere than Noosa which was nice - I was nervous as anything, anyway - if it'd been like Noosa, I would probably have been hysterical by then! Bumped into another John from running group who was also doing the short course and was lovely enough to answer all my last minute questions and show me where the swim started/finished and where the run and bike entrance/exits were. I was happy to see a few other people doing the tri on mountain bikes and racked it, then went and got numbered up.

Before long, we were all down at the edge of the water, where I bumped into MJ who was also doing her first tri after being corrupted by me (actually, I think she was really already set to do it - didn't take much!) - my heart was in my mouth and my stomach was doing cartwheels. After a couple of waves, we were off! The water was surprisingly warm (much warmer than the pool!) and surprisingly easy to swim in - must be the salt. We had a straight course, parallell to the beach which helped. Couldn't see a thing through my goggles - only saw peoples feet when they were two inches from my face. Didn't like being sorrounded by people very much - arms and hands and everything crashing into everything else. It actually slowed me right down and I had to keep sticking my head up to see where I was going. Seems like my breaststroke would've been fine anyway! Swam in feeling like I'd taken it wayyyy too easy. There I was thinking it was going to be the hardest leg for me, and it was actually the easiest by far!

As I got up to transition I spotted the very lovely Cirque and Cirquelets who had come to watch and they were all cheering me on, bless them! I nearly cried *grins* It was so nice of them to do that and such a surprise! Definitely spurred me on!

Bolted up to transition, tried to get some of the sand off my feet, shoved my shoes on (thankyou elastic laces!) and my helmet, grabbed my bike and took off. Some of the others from my wave were actually changing into running clothes! Started peddling and got overtaken by about a million people going at a billion miles an hour. Soooo fast! Stuck my head down, tried to keep out of the way and peddled but it was definitely my hardest leg - need much, much more practice, that's for sure! Ended up counting squashed cane toads (noice!) to distract myself *L* Some of the elite lot seem to be complete gits - one or two were just bellowing at me and the people in front to "GET LEFT!" even though we were all on the hard shoulder and they had stacks of room. It's all in the tone they use I suppose, but I don't think it's necessary component of success to behave like a bastard! Anyway...

Before long, I was coming back into transition, racked the bike and almost took off with my helmet still on *L* the marshalls stopped me in time (how embarrassing would that've been? LOL) My legs were like jelly from the bike, and it took me about 1.5km (with, I hate to say it, a very slight walk break or two) to get comfortable before I could pick it up on the return. Must take some time for your muscles to settle again or something. No chance of doing anywhere near my 3km TT effort, so I just did my best and started picking off people - one girl had been just infront of me the whole way (she was wearing a cotton singlet, bra and baggy shorts for the whole thing!) so I focussed on her and decided I'd get over the line before she did. I think running helped a lot - a lot of the faster people on the swim/bike seemed to die in the run leg. Caught her and sped up. I did my usual favourite little glory dash trick and started to sprint as hard as I could for the line. Caught one or two more on the way into the chute and could see another woman about 20m from the line so I went absolutely flat out (so did she!) and we just threw ourselves at the finish - Cirque and sons and various other lovely people I knew started bellowing for me, so did the commentator and I made it over the line first. I have to admit its quite annoying when other people do that to you in a race, but dammit, it felt soooo good!

Overall, I'm actually pretty surprised at myself. I found the progression from one activity to another suited me because it meant I could use more of my physical strength and different muscle groups, rather than relying solely on my cardio fitness. I was probably most anxious about the swim but I feel like I could go heaps faster on that, use my upper body as much as possible, do the bike (because I think I'll always be crap on a bike!) and then go faster again on the run. My goal with this one was just to finish so I'm happy - as I say, I know I need to work on the bike leg for sure - the one I rode was quite heavy and I also think it would help to get someone to set it up for me properly.

Stayed and watched the winners get their cups which was really interesting in itself - to hear the different times and things - gives me an idea of what constitutes an elite time, a reasonable time and the rest. Interesting to look at the different body shapes too - a lot of triathletes actually seem to have a different shape to runners - they're more muscular with wider shoulders or something. It gives me heart actually, because I think that's more the bodyshape I'd have if I dropped another 10kgs - and, some of the category winners were quite solidly built like me, too!

Oh, and I won a random draw prize! What does the girl without a bike win? a new bike tire, a bike service and a bike pump of course! *L* I did also score a water bottle and a half hour massage (that'll do nicely after kurruwa, thankyou very much!) so I can't complain! I ended up giving the tire to John for showing me all the starts and finishes and everything - it was really nice of him and it made a heap of difference to my whole experience.

So, yeah - a good day. Will I do another one? Absolutely - If I can wrangle the bike loan til february, I'll definitely do the next Bribie one in Feb, though I think I'll stick with the shorter distance still, til I get my confidence up. Next year, I'll do a full length Tri for sure :) Hooked :)

Oo, and thanks for all the text messages and blog support guys - you rock!