TRILADIES - I did it!..... Well, most of it anyway...

I was a little apprehensive about my 2nd sprint tri. I have to admit that without Paul doing it as well (obviously), I didn't really have a whole lot of motivation (no training partner etc). I had the feeling of going for an exam without having studied. When I told Paul that, he wasn't very understanding. His response was, "This is more like going for an exam that you have already taken before! " (i.e. the OSIM sprint which I did together with Paul in July)

Paul told me that my goal was to equal or better my previous time at OSIM. Fine... sounds easy but is it?...

The morning started out lovely. It was a cloudy cool day. Emma was very excited to be cheering her mummy on at the tri. There was no problem getting her out of bed at 6:30am. Nothing like the usual school day. My own little Cheerleader....

When we arrived at East Coast, everything was PINK! I think altogether there were about 360 partcipants so it was really cosy. The transition area was also really good cos the grass was covered with floor mats. (Definitely much better than OSIM's muddy setup!) I proceeded to setup my area...

Ruth and I having a pre-race chit chat at the transition area....

Mel and I (pre-race). Her super-duper triathlete boyfriend, Shem, was stressing her out by barking at her from outside the transition area telling her that her stuff was not organised to its most optimal.... Just kidding... he was just givin' good advice... ;)

But... yikes! Stressful! Prompted me to go back to check on my transition area layout anyway!

Ok, I think it looks ok....

Mel, Siangling and I just before the start of our wave... What a bunch of condom heads.... Certainly not my best look.

Emma was such a sweetheart, she was standing right at the front where the swim start was, watching intently. Waving at me everytime she caught my eye.

It was so nice to have her there cheering me on...

**RACE STARTS!**

I found the swim pretty difficult. Kept getting waves of salty (and dirty no doubt) water into my mouth. I was also stuck between someone and the rope while swimming out which was really tiring to get out of. Towards the end (phew...) I noticed someone in green stripey shorts swimming next to me! Hey, it's Mel! Sorry Mel if I was swimming into you but for some reason my navigation today was especially rubbish! I was either swimming into ppl or swimming into the rope! Zig-zagging all over the shop!

Mel and I coming out of the sea together! Yay! Salty dirty part over and done with!...

Our swim was ~ 17min, which is an improvement from my 19min time in OSIM. 1st goal accomplished!....

Bike Transition... - I think it was pretty smooth. Feet were a bit wet and difficult to get socks and shoes on, but ok. I think the transition took me just under 3 min.

Halfway through the bike ride, it started raining quite heavily and alas, the race was stopped just when I finished my bike leg. :( It was such a bummer since by the time they stopped the race, the rain had actually stopped too!

Man,... I have a horrendous cycling posture. Should sort it out!

I took about 43 min on the bike. However, I checked my odometer and it was only just under 19km. Anyway it was still an improvement. 2nd goal accomplished!

Pat, Elvia , Mel, Ching & I after the race.

Ems aspiring to do her first tri. First, try on mummies race bib! MMmmmm... PINK.....nice..... :D

With a little guidance from Aunty Janice (Ironman 70.3 Finsher), I think there shouldn't be a problem!!!

Go Ems!

I think short of the race being called off 2/3s of the way through, I would say that it was very enjoyable. The fact that it was a small scale race made it very nice (approx 360 participants for all categories). I also now understand why the organisers may have had to charge a little more than say OSIM as they would not have had the mass to cover the costs.

Thanks again to:

• My husband Paul for his support and also taking all the pictures. As usual since he was the photographer there are no pics of him. Will see if I can get some off some of the other guys.
• AAA for all their cheers and encouragement + some of the training sessions leading up to the tri that they allowed me to join in.
• Junior AAA (actually it is just Ems ;)) for waking up extra early and still being cheerful all day.
• AAA Doggies - Grumpy and Rosco for also coming to cheer us on!

You all made a real difference...

Will I do the Triladies next year?.... Possibly.