First Tri in a Long Time

Somehow it has been over a year since I've done a triathlon. I went out in a blaze of glory though finishing Ironman Western Australia! For my return, I decided to start slow and get a good humbling experience under my belt while trying something new - offroad triathlon. the TriX-Series sponsored a race near the Dandenongs at Lysterfield Park and after some convincing from a work colleague I decided to enter. My expectations were quite low (as in my only goal was to finish) and I intended to just work out some kinks and be ready for when friend TriShannon comes to visit in a few weeks and I have to crank it up to keep up with her at the Gatorade Sprints. :-)

After hiring a mountain bike and digging out my cycling gear (took a while to find my helmet and shoes!) on Saturday we left the Flexi-car packed up and Sunday morning headed off to Lysterfield. The drive was quite nice and we pulled into the parking lot with plenty of time to spare. Kristi headed off for a morning run in the park while I got myself situated in transition and completed all the necessary registration information. The only minor hiccup was somehow I ended up with Kristi's wetsuit bottoms but I thought skinny and made it work. The swim was 500m, followed by a 21km mountain bike and then a 6km run on fire-trail track around the lake. The swim was very pleasant with not too many elbows and kicks - though my breathing really struggled and by the end my arms were really tired. (This does not bode well for the coming sprint). Transition was another interesting reminder of how far I've slipped - I think I spent a good 3-4min just staring at my feet wondering how to get my wetsuit off! Eventually I got it sorted out and was off on the bike. I knew the bike was going to be tough, but pedaling through sand directly out of transition was a very rude awakening. It took me over 5km to actually breath normally and I don't think my heart-rate came out of the red the entire ride. I learned on the morning of the race that part of the course would include the 2006 Commonwealth Games Mountain Bike course (check out the pics from that race here) - combined with log jumps and weaving through stands of gum trees the ride was beautiful, challenging, rewarding and scary. I only actually 'fell' off the bike once - though I did get off the bike quite a few times to avoid trees, ditches and more trees.

Once through the sand again and back to transition the easy part began - just a 6km run left to go! I met up with another guy coming out of transition and we had a great conversation through the first 4km - who knew that the economy, travel and run technique would prove to be so good for race conversation?! I really enjoyed the run, felt like I finished strong and had a great day out on the course. After a quick rinse off in the lake as a reward for finishing we were back in the car and off to find some breakfast. We were met with great success for food, finding a fantastic cafe in South Melbourne that we promise to show anyone that comes to visit! Next up we have some travels down to Coonawarra and shortly after that Shannon arrives - we're really looking forward to her visit and have lots of fun things planned!