Kurnell triathlon - Sunday November 26

Forgot to post about the fantastic Kurnell sprint triathlon series which is series of four triathlons run in Kurnell every year in the Australian summer (Dec, Jan, Feb and March), which is at the bottom of Botany bay Sydney where Cook first came ashore - There's actually a memorial there but I was too busy running around the run leg of the course to take it in. A lot of people apparently think that Cook first landed in Sydney harbour (or Port Jackson as it's officially known) where there's the bridge, opera house etc. but of course this is incorrect.... :)

Back to the triathlon - People of all shapes and sizes do it and don't be fooled by age either. Here in Australia people take their exercise seriously and you'd be hard pressed to beat the top winner in the 50+ age group category and even 60+ I kid you not!!!! It's a good way to assess your fitness and try and improve throughout the summer. Well that's the theory....

The triathlon didn't go to plan from the start. It is a 750m swim, 20k cycle and 5k run. I actually did a time trial the day before and did some reasonable times for me in Centennial park and in the Bronte pool- Should have rested really especially since on the following race day, there was a heavy wind which was blowing the two swim race buoy's out to sea so the race became progressively longer as each age group wave set off. It was then I was wishing I was 20 again! Before we set off our coach was shouting that this was better for the old fat blokes who like to swim since the swim course was now full triathlon size of around 1.5km! I felt I was swimming to the other side of the bay. The wind was creating a chop which was killing me too since I am a one side swim breather. To cut a long story short, the swim took 10mins longer than I was planning and the extra effort expended had a knock on effect on my bike/run times. The good news is that the next one should see a big improvement for me!

Here's some photos of me taking by someone in the triathlon club before we set off....