I really enjoyed my day out at the Mid Argyll Tri yesterday
I was in Heat 4 of the swimming and had the advantage of watching the first 3 heats before it was my turn. I was the lead swimmer in my lane, but pretty soon I found it wasn't as easy as I had been expecting as the water was so choppy that it affected my breathing and I began to slow down. At this point the swimmer behind me tapped me on the ankle meaning that I had to pull over at the end of the lane and let him past. I didn't panic and soon got into my proper swimming technique again and after a couple of lengths I had caught up with him and tapped his ankle and he had to pull over and I was back in the lead again
I didn't count the lengths as I went along but was glad when the signal for two lengths to go appeared. Provisional time was surprisingly 10.40 mins for 500m, much faster than I had done in training
Off I went to transition but it didn't go to plan ...... for some reason I couldn't get my cycle helmet on at first and wasted about a minute trying to get it on
Transition time of 2.30 mins has definitely got room for improvement.
Set off at great speed on the bike ....... this was the part of the race I wasn't looking forward to as, until recently, I felt pretty nervous on the bike. As I set off on the Oban road I immediately overtook two other cyclists, then just before the turn off to Cairnbaan I passed another cyclist, and finally one more as I headed towards Kilmichael Glassary. After that I didn't see any other cyclists in front of me and no one overtook me and it didn't feel like a race, more like a training run, and I began to relax and enjoy the cycle. This leg was definitely my favourite part of the race and was thrilled with my provisional time of 40.24 mins for my 20km cycle.
Back to transition again and a quicker time of 1.21 mins, could have been quicker but thought I better fuel up with a gel before I set off on the run. I had decided to run without a Garmin or watch so had no idea of the pace that i was going at. I didn't really push it on the run but just kept to a steady pace. Like most of the cycle, there wasn't any runners in front of me and no one overtook me, so I just had to keep going on my own. I developed a stitch by the time I got to the roundabout heading towards Ardrishaig, but thankfully it went away. The route was along the main road and then up a short steep hill and then along a path beside the canal. I enjoyed the run without worrying about pace or pbs and was pleased to get under my target of 36 mins to record a provisional time of 35.11 for the 6.5 km run.
Total race time 1:30:06. It was great fun, and being my first triathlon I was under no pressure to pb and just enjoyed the experience
Afterwards I got a great goody bag which included a technical t-shirt, buff (running headwear) and water bottle. I really enjoyed the coffee and home baking as well. Overall, I would highly recommend the race which was well organised, marshalled and welcoming to beginners