Aquathon Race 2 – Corsair Bay Dec 2010

An article by Debi Hazelden    1 Comment

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It was a lovely evening for race 2 of the Surf n Turf series last night. This Wednesday my boss Graham had signed up too. He bought his first wetsuit a few days ago, but hasn’t swam in the open water yet. We have told him it’s a bit different that swimming in the pool – but I don’t think he realises yet how different it is. Noone does until you get in and see it’s quite different when everything isn’t chrystal clear and there aren’t black lines painted for you to follow.

Here is a lovely picture of how calm it is at Corsair Bay. A nice warm evening. Gorgeous!

Graham and I – with Graham sporting his new wetsuit and looking good! Another competitor told him sharks like orange which I think got him going a wee bit since he has an orange cap.

There are quite a few different length races, but last night we all started together. It can be a bit scary with so many people all starting the swim together, but tonight seemed good.

The swim was a 2 lap triangle for the long course aquathon, and one lap for the short course. I did the long aquathlon which was 800m swim 4.5km run. In the photo you can see some people holding back and waiting for the other swimmers to go so they can have a more relaxed swim. I was out near the front though, kinda off to the side. I am not the fastest swimmer and don’t like people swimming over me so like to let them get in the middle.

Once I ran out of the water and into transition, I bent down to grab my shoe to put it on and I felt really wobbly. I had to steady myself and took longer than usual to pull my shoes on. I stood up to race away but just wobbled to the left. So I stood there for a good 10 seconds then started to run. Not sure why this happened. The water wasn’t cold and I had eaten plenty. Maybe I was breathing too hard out on the swim and got light headed, or maybe water in the ear.

Here is a photo of transition. Although this is before the race so it was a bit emptier when coming in after the swim and getting my shoes on for the run.

My running definitely wasn’t my best! It was only a short course of 4.5km, but it was uphill on the way out and downhill on the way back. It felt so tough I was struggling with the uphill and had Gail trotting past so fast! I wanted to walk at some points so bad but kept going. I kept thinking only 3 laps – only 3 laps – only 3 laps. It was good and bad that we could see all the others as we ran back and forth past us so we knew exactly where we where.

Scott had a great swim and was first out of transition onto the run. Although 2 guys passed him on the run, I think he came 3rd about 30 secs down. Here is a photo of him running – he makes it look easy!

Here is a photo of me running around the corner to the finish! That’s me on the left.

Here is Graham finishing his first aquathon! And now I hope he gets hooked on triathlon like me

I don’t think people realise the difference between swimming in the ocean and the pool. Many people get scared and hyperventilate and need to breaststroke a bit to get their breath back. It’s a normal thing and something you do get used to so don’t be put off. Graham was like this last night and I was like that for my first few triathlons. Especially when people swim over your legs and it pushes you down, or over the side of you. But Graham was not put off! He is going to practice tomorrow and has signed up for the Christchurch Triathlon Festival on Sunday at Pegasus. It’s going to be a great day!

You can see the results here.

All in all I feel a bit shit about the race today, not happy with my run. I need to get my head into this weekends race though. it’s going to be such a short one so going to have to go nuts right from the start. I’m not good at that! The distance is 500m swim / 15km bike / 5km run. It’s all going to be flat and fast. And I want to do well since John Bull Cycles is sponsoring the event and will be there with a couple of tents. Check out John Bull Cycles on Facebook and give them an I ‘like’!