These are all the questions that I asked myself when I turned up to the Gold Coast Triathlon (very) early on Sunday morning. My friend was really interested in doing a triathlon and somehow convinced me it was an awesome idea and for some unknown reason I had agreed to do the swim leg as part of a team competition. I got really excited and started going to the pool every now and then, training up as you do (although my training didn't start until about a week before the actual event). Then it came to Sunday morning and gettting up at 5.30am. I looked outside and it was still dark and sitting on the bed in the hotel room all I could think of was, "How did I get into this situation?" I got up, put on my togs and packed my towel and goggles. I was set, although I had forgotten to bring sporty clothing. All I had was denim shorts, and my campers for shoes. I didn't even remember to bring my runners.
So walking down to the event was pretty hilarious. All I could think of was that I completely did not fit in and that I stuck out like a sore thumb "People must be looking at me and they can tell that I don't fit in here. They can tell that beneath this hoodie I am not as fit as they as. Its like how animals can smell fear. These people can smell that I don't do triathalons. They can tell that I don't take it seriously, them in their professional looking gear, with their million dollar bikes and shoes and all their muscles."
Really I was just being a drama queen. No one cared. They weren't interested in me, why would they be?
There were quite a few people that hadn't done them before and a few people that were in it just to complete it. So with my cap and my goggles, I got into that water and swam my heart out. Only to find out that I had swam in the wrong race and my race wasn't for another hour. Also this race was only 300m no the 700m I actually had to do. No wonder it had seemed so easy and so fast. No wonder I was leaving people behind. It was only the enticers race which was half of what my friend and I were doing. We looked at each other and we knew we were thinking the exact same thing. Why hadn't we entered into the enticers race? Well I had had a nice little warm up regardless.
So an hour later, with a different coloured cap, I entered the water again, this time for real. My arms hurt, my lungs were buring a little from sucking in the air, my legs had a mind of their own, whether they were kicking or not I can't even remember, but swim I did. And not only did I make it but I didn't come last. I had actually taken over a few people after I had found my rhythm and settled into a good steady (for me) pace. Not only that, I had taken over a few people from the races before mine (the races left every few minutes so it maybe wasn't that much a big deal but still). So I was out of the water and running toward where my friend was standing with the bike. I got there and had to take the time band thing off (its a thing they give you to record the time you complete the triathlon in) to give it to my friend. My hands were shaking but I managed to put it around her ankle and velcro it on properly. Then off she went. She did both the bike leg (20km) and the running leg (5km). I don't knokw how she did it after only doing training for it twice but we completed it. It was actually quite a good feeling completing it. (I think next time -if there is ever a next time- I would like to try to do all three but definitely at an enticer level.)
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