My first triathlon

After about two month of preparation, I have finally completed my first triathlon. I have achieved my goal of finishing an Olympic distance triathlon and here's what happened.

I woke up at 5 on the big day. I didnt quite have a good night sleep because the rain and all. After all, we were camping. At around 6:20, we reached the starting ground. It's kinda early but there are few fellow triathletes on site including Azwar.

I decided to proceed to the transition area and rack my bike. After numbering my body (felt like a cow to be slaughtered!), I hung at the transition area. My mind was just thinking about the swim. I didnt even care much to look at those super-expensive bike others had. Even Azwar noticed the nervous look on my face.

Finally, the call for start. My age-group get to start first. There were several waves of start 5 minutes apart according to category. Honkk!! The air horn blown, marking the start of the race. And the start of my agony. For the first 100m, I couldnt find my groove to do freestyle. Everytime I did it, I seem to swallow half of the sea. So I turned to breast stroke. It didnt work out as well. After about 500m, the second wave started to catch me. Then the third wave. And the fourth. Even the last person to start caught up on me. Soon, I was the last.

It's my nerves. It has gone haywire. I didnt have any confidence in the swim like I would have in my run. My mind was processing negative thoughts.
"It's too far, you are tired"
I dont care. I dont care if I was the last person to emerge from the swim. I will finish it. So I resort to doing backstroke, plus a mix of breaststroke. I finished the swim about an hour or so, being last.

During the ride, I was escorted by a policeman on a 'white horse' (the police bike). No problem finding my cadance during the bike. But I felt like I was on a training ride. I am out there alone. The ride consists of numerous rolling hills. Lucky I trained on hills. I kept my cadance high to save my legs. Just 5k before the U-turn, a female rider passed me on the other side.
"That's the second last position. You've got to pass her," the policeman said.
I just kept my head cool, not wanting to dig deep into my reserves during the ride. Suddenly there's a figure walking with his bike on his shoulder. He had blown his rubbers. Both of 'em. A few moments later, I caught on the female rider. Now I'm not the last person anymore. Suddenly my left calf started to feel something. Please let it not be a cramp. It is starting to feel like it. Nothing I can do except stretch it while on the saddle. I suspect its lack of electrolites. Now, the water bottle is my best friend. About 15km to go, the heavens opened up and poured. Great.

After about 1:40 minutes of cycling, I arrived back at the transition area. Since I had my running shoes on already (I dont clipless pedals on my 'kicap' bike), so I'm out in a jiffy. No problems finding my running legs. Thank God for this. As I head out, many were heading in. I just look 'em in the eye and gave a thumb up. Something to keep me feeling positive. I managed to overtook two participants around 2km into the run. Then I encountered a slight hilly area. Not a problem as I power through it. Close to the U-turn of the run, I saw an old man staggering on his way. I thought that I have to make it a point to overtake him. And I did. About 1km after that, I saw a familliar figure on a bike heading towards me. Its Azwar. He kept me company until we reached Regency, where he was staying. Thanks Azwar! I also heard someone shout my name at the Regency. I cant recognise who it was. Was it Sofian the triathlete? I dunno. But thanks for the much needed encouragement. Less than 1km to go, and I could see the right turn towards the finish line. Suddenly, my right thigh was acting up. This time, I felt like stopping. No, I cant. All the participants who were DRIVING back honked for me. They were still giving a hopeless chap like me encouragement eventhough they had packed their bags and split. I kept on going. I have never failed to reach a finish line before and I am not about to do a first. I went on and there it was, the finish line. It was very calm at the finish line, almost silent-like. Of course, everybody must have gone back.

I crossed the finish line, followed by a medal hanging on my neck. Fadzli was there to capture it all. 3:50 something, that was my time. I started out as the last person, but I didnt finished last. The race aint over, till it's over. It was a truly a race, against myself.

special thanks to Fadhil who gave me his meal coupon! Thanks!

Me after the whole ordeal.