The weather was great for the first local race of the season. A forecast top of 27 degrees.
Trident's HQ was setup and looking great by the time I got to Yarralumla Bay.
Registration and transition were both in the shade under the trees which was excellent.
After setting up my gear I went back to Tridents HQ to wait for the race briefing. Much debate was on regarding whether or not to wear a wetsuit, and, if so, when to put it on. At about 1:45pm most people put theirs on, again the Tridents HQ was invaluable in terms of shade!
The race start, for me, was fairly uneventful. I chose a spot on the far left of the group and stuck on Dave Mc's heels for as long as I could. Another swimmer tried to push me further left than I wanted to go but a brief increase in my kick rate sorted him out. It made all that time I spent playing water polo seem invaluable!
Out of the water, feeling good and into transition. Mistake #1, didn't have my race top on under the wetsuit. Wasted time trying to get the top on over my wet torso. Argh! After that it was onto the bike.
Bike leg, fairly cruisy this time. As a result of coming back from knee injury my plan was to maintain about 30km/h max spinning unless going downhill. This wasn't a problem and my knees felt good. A number of Tridents passed me...I'm looking forward to being able to ride hard again!! Two laps of the course, no worries. Mistake #2, took my feet out of my shoes a couple of minutes too early, oh well - live and learn - it was my first go at doing this in a race and I didn't stuff it up and fall off so that was good.
Transition to the run was good and it was off for two loops of the 2km out and back course. Lap 1, feeling OK, took it easy again careful of the knees. Great to get support from the Tridents not racing. Choked on the drinking water at the turn around, must've been amusing for anyone who caught it!! Second lap was OK with one knee just tightening in the last 500m.
Overall a good fun race and a lot of relief that my knees are well and truly on the mend. I learned some good lessons in this race, especially to do with transition.
There were some great results from other Tridents but I'll let them tell their own tales.
Rob