I can't believe it's been a whole year since I did my first tri. And yet here I was again, waiting to register at the Ongar leisure centre. I hadn't planned on entering the Try-a-Tri again, it's a novice event and I'd hoped to do a couple of tri's earlier in the year. These hadn't happened and so I decided to enter as a warm-up for the Grays tri the week after.

It was good to enter again though. I know a couple of members of Tri-Sport-Epping so it feels very comfortable to be there. I lined up to register and listening to the other entrants remembered just how nervous I was this time last year. I felt very experienced as this was my third! And that's when I realised just why they stop anyone entering who's done more than two previous tri's. The excellent atmosphere is down to the fact that everyone there is in the same boat - nervous! If there were too many experienced entrants it would really take that great atmosphere away.

I got my tri 'tattoo' (the number on my arm and leg - I always like having them, it makes me feel like a proper athlete!) and my swim time and then went to rack my bike and sort my transition stuff out. I felt quite calm about the bike and run but was worrying somewhat about the swim. I haven't managed to do any swimming since the Blackwater Tri in Sept last year. I had put a very realistic time down on my entry though so wasn't too worried about being swamped with people overtaking me but it's not ideal to enter a tri and have done nothing in the pool previously!

One of the slight downsides with a tri is having to get up extremely early to get to registration and then having to hang around for your start time. Although it does have the bonus for your cheer-squad (Jon and the dog - Charlie) that you can spend a little time with them chatting and they're not just standing around. The time passed watching others competitors set up and soon enough I was lining up poolside.

The water was cold as I jumped in the deep end and I was feeling quite nervous, I had no idea how my swim would go, or if my arms could cope. I was counted down from 30 seconds and then I was off. Surprisingly enough the swim started out well, I soon felt into a smooth stroke and although I was overtaken by a couple of people I enjoyed it. I messed up a couple of the lane changes by miss-timing the duck under the rope but apart from that it went really well. I reached the end of the last length and the two nice marshalls helped me out of the pool.

I ran into the transition area and got my top, bike shoes, race belt and most important of all, my bike helmet on. The bike off the rack and I was off, no nerves for this leg, it's my favourite and I know the course well. I was hoping to complete the course in under 50 minutes as my cycling has improved a lot during the last year. I found the first section ok but there was a very strong headwind though the middle section which sapped the speed somewhat. Having ridden this course many times I knew what I was doing, I knew where the inclines were and which parts were fast. I was on target on the first lap so pushed it a bit more for the second and was really pleased to come in at 48 minutes.

 I like this bit!

Transition two was a bit chaotic as the strong wind had blown my box with my stuff in onto it's side and my socks and trainers were all over the place. It didn't seem to take me long to sort it out and change (but the results say otherwise).

Anyway, I set off on the run feeling ok. I didn't seem to get the jelly-legs feeling as I had previously but my calves felt really tight. Normally the stiffness eases after one or two km but instead my calves seemed to get worse, by the second lap they were feeling awful, as if they were going to cramp at any second, and I was struggling to keep going. The long-ish grass and headwind along the bottom of the field really did not help and I was cursing as I started the third lap, I just couldn't wait to finish and for it all be over.

Plod, plod, plod!

I braved the headwind for the last time, headed up back towards the leisure centre and finally it was all over, I crossed the line and I'd done it. As soon as I got my breath back the pain of the run was forgotten and the thrill of finishing another tri kicked in. Big smiles all round!

Mad hair!!! 

I was really pleased when I saw the results, the swim was far better than expected and I was especially pleased with the bike leg. The run was slow (as usual) and I was a bit disappointed not to improve on last year. But overall, I was very pleased, I had taken 5 ½ minutes off last year (even with a disastrous T2), a great result and a really enjoyable event!