Tri-ing to avoid puns

so i was in the first wave (no, this wasnt a pun), which consists of about 50 guys of my age, most buff and muscley, some wearing wet-suits to protect them from the cold, some in tiny lycra numbers...including me, so all these macho guys lower themselves into the water and squirm and shriek like little girls, you had to laugh. now by this point im very nervous, the water is totally totally freezing, the sun has just come up, my goggles were leaking, and i had been warned about flayling limbs at the start, which was true, you cannot swim propoerly for a while. the swim start was on the photo, it was from the bank and around the ship and back to shoire the other side. i actually did ok, took a while to get a bit of space and rhythm, and i swallowed sea water, nearly vomitted because of it, got a bad cramp half way through and was kicked a few times, but generally it was ok. i got out and was totally exhausted, i hadnt realised how tired i was til i tried to run up the ramp the other side.

a slow transition, and clean socks and i was on my bike. the air had warmed up a bit, and it was only a relatively short 12 mile ride. i actually loved the ride, it went along the coast road. i was dry, warm and sitting down. pushing hard, but the course was pretty flat and covered it in 43 mins, averaging 17.5 mph, which is ok for me.

i got off the bike for the 3.4 mile run (this was a 'sprint' triathlon, and the shortest one of them), so i got my running shoes on and started to run...well, my arms ran...my legs went totally to jelly, it was the weirdest sensation, there was nothing there at all, really, my arms were going at normal pace but my legs were going through treacle. it took a whole mile to be able to run with any kind of normality, i swear i have never run so slowly in my life.

anyway, i had my usual sprint finish at the end and was shattered, but really really enjoyed it. ive been running for years, and get a bit bored of running, but all 3 events together is really interesting, i need to work on a few things, but am certainly doing more, next time the olypmic distance, but anyway, great 'fun', thoroughly recommended at least once in your life