At last, another blog update. This entry is all about the triathlon I organized last week. It was a copy of a triathlon training I did last year. It took place in domain Puyenbroeck in Wachtebeke (Belgium) and consisted of :
- 500 metres swimming in a 50m outdoor swimming pool
- 24 km of (flat) mountainbiking
- 4,3 km of running
Eight people showed up (friends and collegues). The girls made up one group of three, each doing one event. We agreed that we would only start the biking once everyone was out of the pool and dressed. I reality there was about 20 minutes between the swimming and the biking event.
In the weeks leading up to the race I mainly focused on the bike. This is now my best event. However I also practised swimming a couple of times and did about 4 runs of 5 km to get those running legs up to speed. That’s not much, I know, but I figured that I would never be able to run at full speed anyway so I was content that I could still do 5 km in about 22 minutes without much problems. During swimming practise I experimented with different techniques until I found a stroke I could do comfortably for 500 meters while still going faster than I did before.
On race day I was completely ready. I had a good night sleep and felt no stress in the hours leading up to the event. The swimming went well. I focused on my technique and finished third in 11 minutes 16 seconds, more than one minute faster than what I performed in a triathlon last year but still way off from the sub 10 minutes mark I want to reach. So I started third on the bike with about one minute on the leader and half a minute on the runner up. In less than 1 km I overtook the first person (it did help that he missed a turn) and 10 minutes after I started I was also able to pass the leader at that moment. Although he’s a good friend of mine I decided to play it cool and just pass him without saying a word or making eyecontact 
He was able to keep me in his sight for a few kilometers but after that I was gone. I kept a good pace of about 30 km/h on average and ended the 24 km in just over 49 minutes. I quickly changed shoes (I bought some new Mizuno running shoes with special elastic laces) and started the run. As expected my legs were not 100 % cooperative but I still managed to keep a solid pace. As it turned out I had a considerable lead on everyone else and I didn’t see any competitors during running. I ended first 4 minutes ahead of the runner up who had a one minute lead after the swimming event.
All in all I’m pretty satified with this ‘victory’ although it’s by no means a ‘real’ triahtlon. My next competition event will probably take place in december, again in Wachtebeke. Last year I did terribly there and this year I’m planning on making a huge jump in the stats, focusing a lot on swimming and changing from riding to running. I’ll keep you posted !
