Wow, it has been ages since I last wrote anything. Our 2 months of Base Preparation Phase is officially finished and we are into the Base Transition Phase now for 2 months. This kicked off with out very first triathlon when we took part in the Clanwilliam Freshpak Fitness Festival.

Clanwilliam is about 2 and a half to 3 hours drive from Cape Town so we went up on the Friday and booked to stay at a guesthouse called Blommenberg. The drive was easy especially after we put a in a cd of BBC 4 comedy shows that my husband had found online. It past the time with a great deal of chuckles and even some guffawing. Good stuff.

After managing to sort out the registration at Clanwilliam dam, filling in the forms to join the local triathlon authority and entering the short swim event as well (only 1.5km!!) we went to check in at the guesthouse.

My husband is a bit of a travelling snob. He can rough it if the situation calls for it such as climbing Kilimanjaro, but otherwise he wants luxury all the way. Aren’t I a lucky lady?:) Unfortunately Clanwilliam is not the most tourist centred town, the guesthouse parking was on the road and despite looking all right it it was no 12 Apostles or Bushmanskloof. I’m not that fussy and can generally deal with an situation, but my husband was not such a happy man. We checked in and were shown to our room which was fairly large and looked quite comfortable…one thing…the toilet (i’m not fussed about the other stuff, but the toilet!) had a 3/4 wall and no door. I love my husband but that’s one place where we all need a little privacy. Off we went for dinner and I knew that my husband wasn’t comfortable, but I was happy and we’d paid the deposit so I sat back and let him come to terms with it. He did and we settled in.

Anyway, we had an ok prerace night of sleep and breakfast and went off to the event. The first event of the short swim was my first real experience of open water swimming as well as swimming in my wetsuit. It only took me about 10 minutes to get into my wetsuit with a great deal of tugging. I’m really glad that we did this event as it gave me much more confidence for the triathlon swim later. The swim was far, I battled and I now understand how you could perhaps suffer from motion sickness while swimming. But I did it and I wasn’t last. Someone has to be last so I will accept that, but knowing that in a few short months I have to complete the half ironman, I need to be able to do these things in a decent time.

We then spent the next few hours watching the other events of the day including an under 8 year old 1km run, so little to be running so far! And then started to prepare for the triathlon. The nice thing about this event is that it is fairly short (800m swim, 20k cycle and 5k run) so lots of people do it and it’s not too intimidating for the first one.

Step number 1 was setting up my stuff in the transition area. The officials checked my bike and helmet and I needed to tape off one end of my handle bars because it was too open for them. Apparently this is a hazard in accidents. As a last minute thought I had chucked some insulation tape into my handbag at home, thank you Lord! Then I found a rack to rack my bike (not in numerical order), stuck my number sticker on the side of the box provided and started to work out how I was going to do this. I’m no professional and I would rather take the time to wash and dry my feet and put socks on, but there are some other areas that I clearly need to work on.

Let the games begin!

Into my special Embark kit for the first time and back into the wetsuit and here we go. After the morning’s swim the 800m felt way easier although the wind had picked up and the water was choppy. Out the water, run into transition while getting the wetsuit half off. Get to my spot: wetsuit, goggles and swimming cap off, cycling shirt on (probably not needed, but didn’t want to be cold), wash feet, dry feet, put on socks and shoes (remember to have opened shoes when setting up), sunglasses on, helmet on and off we go.

Transition to the cycle

The cycling part is my biggest concern at the moment. I need to work on my leg strength majorly. Not too bad though and only 20ks. Praise God I didn’t have to deal with a puncture! Back again and a difficult dismount at the bottom of steep hill, run into transtion again and get ready for the run. Firstly, find my spot! The people next to me had racked their bikes in such a way that the number on my box and most of my box was obscured so I had to walk up and down a bit until I spotted my stuff. Then rack the bike, off with the helmet, cycling shirt off, shoes off, running shoes on, cap on, swig some water and off we go.

The short burst of running...

The run was mostly on sand and gravel and the first 2kms is up. Running after cycling is pretty tough at the best of times, but uphill on sand was just not happening. I walked most of the first half and then ran down the hill. Finally finished and wandering what the hell I’ve gotten myself into and why I am doing this! Some major introspection going on and this is only the short one!

Finished!!

I did it in 1 hour and 49 minutes, I have successfully completed my first triathlon and the car was swiftly packed and I was in bed by 7:30 that evening. Unfortunately I then woke up at 3:30 ready for a party. My husband is an amazing man. He sat their all day with me, shouting for me during my events, taking pictures and generally just being an amazing support. I am incredibly blessed to have him.

Next triathlon is in 3 weeks time and is a fair bit further…watch this space

Ending the weekend off with a swim under a waterfall