First Off Road Triathlon!

First off, I have to thank Cari for once again getting up at a stupid early time and being my right hand girl. I love having her at events to cheer me on, its awesome. Thanks bub.
"In 2 Adventure" hold an off road triathlon series here in Queensland. It's a series of 4 events, each race gets longer. FYI, "A triathlon is an endurance sports event consisting of swimming, cycling and running over various distances"
The race I did today was the first of the series, with a 350 meter swim, 10km mountain bike ride and a 4km trail run. The last race of the series will be a 1km swim, 25km mountain bike ride and a 10km run, that race wont be until March 2009 (thank god)
I've always wanted to do triathlons, and I wasn't disappointed with my first one. I completed the race in 1hr 13 minutes, with a 7 minute 32 second 350 meter swim, 37 minute 10km mountain bike ride, and a 22 minute 4 km run, and maybe 3 minutes for each of the 2 transition's.

A view of the pond that the swim was held in.

Off to set up my bike in the transition area.

Getting my bike and helmet checked at the transition area.

Setting up the bike gear and running kit. I have to say, I wasn't thinking with a full deck this morning. I walked away from my bike forgetting to attach my race number to it and my running shirt, only remembering when I was walking back to the race briefing. So I get that taken care of in a mad rush and head off to the race brief with Cari. After the brief Cari stayed at the finish area and I headed off to the pond for the start of the race (5-10 minute walk, was in bare feet on a gravel road) with about 8 minutes left until the start, I realize I don't have the magnetic timing strap that is need to track my swim and run times, Cari has it in the race bag I got when I registered. So I have to run and find her, get it, and then run back with only a couple minutes to catch my breath and get in position....not a good way to start!

And were off.

There I am, near the back of the pack. I've been swimming 3 days a week for the last month and a half, when I first started I could barely do 100 meters straight, now I can do 500 meters without stopping. (a slow 500 meters!) Being at the back was better for me, swimming is my weakest event, and I knew I would hit a wall really fast if I tried to keep up with the leaders. I was able to keep a good steady pace with out getting kick and smacked in the face from the other swimmers. I did a personal best 350 meter swim (I never got below 8 minutes in the pool)

After the swim you have to rush to your bike, put on your cycling gear and hit the trail. I think my first transition time was about 3 minutes. I was feeling good after the swim, the day was getting hot so it was nice to be in wet cloths for the ride. The bike leg of the race was by far my strongest, I passed a lot of people, especial on the climbs, which there were a lot of. It was my kind of trail, fast single track and decent climbs. Tons of fun. The course was 5km long and you did it twice.

Finishing the second loop and heading to the transition area to get my gear on for the 4km run.

Crossing the finish line after the run. The run was good, averaged about 5 minutes 30 seconds a km. Usually during a normal running race I keep a pace of about 4 minutes 40 seconds a km, but I was still really happy with my run time.

The bike and run transition area. Lots of nice bikes!

There's my ride, she did me proud again, I must say I am a Avanti fan, I've never owned one before, but I plan on owning more.

Steve (my legs hurt) Dickinson