International Tri 2011...

Waiting for my turn...
Why am I smiling? 41.5km awaits...

Friday night (6th May) was a very restless night, not only Milly having a cry every couple of hours but the looming thought of what was to come on Saturday.  When I was out having dinner a month ago and asked if I wanted to be the cyclist in a team for the Rarotongan International Triathlon, I never actually processed what this would mean!  During the week I had seen an influx of people out on their bikes. Bikes that looked oddly out of place on the island, and worth three times what our car is worth!  So I had a restless night thinking about how out of my depth I was...


On the positive side my lovely team members; Jo and Jenny were in it to say they had entered and completed an International tri and were happy to finish!  I remember as yet another cyclist passed me, on their very lovely bikes, this was only my third triathlon and my very first full one! So I was very grateful my team was happy with me finishing in the best time I could...


My nerves were no better in the morning and then they went into over drive when we turned up to the tri transition area.  The bikes were just something else and the amount of people walking around in their special 'suits' was very over whelming.  I think 'a nervous pee' turned into half a dozen!  


The conditions were very rough, the wind was up and the lagoon looked a bit like a washing machine...  I was very glad I was not the swimmer for this race.

Start of the Race... I missed this bit I was peeing, again!

This picture is not the best at showing the waves, but at some points in the swim watching it looked as if some people where going nowhere!

The family caught up with me... Here I am almost finished, and I am still smiling...

The first leg of my race was good and I managed to get up the hill in one go after riding the first 17ks under my belt.  Then the rain came, making pedaling that much harder.  I then had someone scoot past me and say "good on you for using a mountain bike"... Oh dear that put a dampener on the spirits!  But I can say I completed 41.5kms in 1 hr 50mins which is faster then my first trip around the island and only riding 32kms in 2 hrs 10 mins!  I am wondering if I had a 'better' road bike what could I achieve?


The wind was very strong but as I rounded to the last 10kms it felt as if I was peddling and going no where.  I was not only having to dodge the pot holes but there was a certain amount of debris to dodge too! Coconuts are not kind when you hit them on a bike!

And at this point you don't want to know what I am thinking!

In this photo above is the point where Mum, dad, Brendon and the kids caught up with me and stopped to take photos.  I took the time to send a message to my husband, it was a single word beginning the sixth letter of the alphabet... Only I got the phone number wrong, for the next few kilometres I missed a few phone calls and received a number of text messages.  I had to take some extra time to apologise to the poor recipient, that will learn me!


I can proudly say I did complete and have the sore butt to prove it ~ It is a very rewarding feeling, and I do wonder what it would be like to have the ability; time wise and financially to compete more seriously... But family first, maybe when the kids are older I could join the 'vetrans' section?!

Please Resuscitate, the 2011 team!  eeech I look a little large!

Much love xox