So last night it was time to put up or shut up, enough of the talk, put action into words and all that other guff.

After a crap nights sleep it was a case of loading the car up with all the stuff I felt I would need for my first triathlon, making sure I didn't forget the bike! I then had a normal day in the office with a lot of time spent worrying about what the evening would bring and was my preparation adequate...

Due to the problems the traffic escaping London can cause I left early and would be meeting my support team at Dorney Lake... as I got there I realised I stood a chance of a podium finish, but as more people turned up, all of them looking fitter than me, my dreams of early triathlon glory were cruelly dashed.

Signed in, had Barnaby's bike checked to ensure that the brakes worked and racked it, then started the serious business of laying out my transition so that everything would be in the wrong place when I needed it, finally it was time to slap on the body glide and tug / fight / pull / heave my portly frame into my wetsuit, not a pretty sight for anyone that was there (sorry) with 5 minutes to the race briefing it was time to "neck the red bull" (on the advice of my boss) and make final preparations (ie. think "what the fuck am I doing here").

Race briefing - here you swim, 5 laps up and down there for the cycle and 2 laps running / jogging / crawling over there.... so we'll start shortly see you at the swim start.

Come on in the water's chilly / murky / wet... we amble over to the water start splash into the lake and make our way to the start line, I stay at the back and pretend the water is lovely, warm and clear (all the things it isn't) a shout of "are you ready" from the rescue boat, a blast of an air horn, and everyone is off with a select group of us floundering at the back, the swim went "ok" didn't lose my goggles and I'm still a long way away from doing the whole distance in crawl, but I'm certainly improving....

T1 - easy to find the bike, there are only three (including mine) left in transition, a quick fight out of the second skin / rubber cat suit, on with the crash helmet (don't want to be disqualified) shoes, shove a couple of gel packs into the tri suit and and jog / run to the exit, no idea what gear I'm in and head off on the first of five laps down to the end of the rowing course and back... the journey out is great, nice tail wind, the return part of each lap isn't so much fun, this is only the second time I've ridden this bike, and by the time I've finished the bike section it will also be the furthest I've cycled in two years.

On the final lap the one person I've over taken goes back past me, (I pass him in transition though) however as I head into T2 one person is just starting what I can only assume is his final lap...

T2 - off with the cycle gloves (won't bother with them next time) off with the cycle shoes, and crash helmet, and on with the trainers, head out of transition and now it's just 5Km to go (transition time 47 seconds as by now I'd got the hang of my watch!)

Run Dave, Run... the same tail head we had on the cycle is helping with the out leg of the run, thankfully, I scoff my second gel pack and shove the wrapper back into my tri-suit while thinking it's a shame that others can't do the same when they've managed to carry the gel pack around the course with them... over the course of the two laps I don't quite manage to catch the guy in front of me, but finish 28 minutes after starting the run, feeling, not exactly fresh, but not as dead as I thought I would be.

Did I enjoy it? yes, a lot more than I thought, and rather just being happy to finish and enjoying the buzz I actually enjoyed the race itself, next one is in two weeks, not a lot I can do to improve my time, but hopefully I'll sleep better the night before and feel fresher at the start.

Results / Time
Swim was 16:00 Minutes
Cycle was 52:03 (*blush*)
Run was 28:08

Total time was 1:36:11

There were no transition times and I placed 42 out of 45