A great first-time Olympic distance triathlon finish for Sandro at the London Triathlon.  His race report is a good read for any beginners who want to get a feel for what a first triathlon will be like.

Sandro: Thanks for the race report...full of great information and inspiration!

From Sandro's race report:

On Sunday 2nd August I competed in my first Olympic Distance Triathlon (1.5k swim,  38.7k bike,  9.4k run)...[even after struggling through an illness during the last two weeks of training]. I was part of the last race on Sunday at 3.40pm while most competitors were already at home celebrating ....

Mazda London Triathlon, 16,000 participants over 2 days, start waves of 500 competitors each .... the race was as tough as I had expected (and at times even a bit tougher) ....

Swim

I knew that mass starts are not for the fainthearted, however, I was still surprised that the kicking and punching during the swim was not only happening during the start but lasted for most of the swim leg. Swimming 1.5k in a warm pool doing 60 lengths is not quite the same as facing a 1.5k loop in a lake/dock/river where you can't see the bottom with a nice black line guiding you .... disorientation, the need for sighting, cold water temperature, close body combat and the lack of a pool wall to push off from are all freebies you get when doing triathlons!  Maybe I have to get faster to lead the pack and avoid being beaten up ....?! Getting out of the water and into transition was quite a challenge, as I was really dizzy from the swim and it took some time to get the blood flowing into the legs again, standing upright and get that wetsuit off. Still PB during the swim 31:19.

T1

My transitions were a disaster, not that anything went wrong, but I was slooooow. After the swim exit we had to run up a staircase to get to the main hall in Excel Centre, which was huge (well big enough for 10,000 bikes plus exhibition, visitor centre, etc). The distances to your transition spot were really far and it was not easy to find your spot in the first place, no markings or balloons allowed! T1 6:33.

Bike

Once I started the cycle I realized that I could not see anything with my left eye but 'frosted glass'. During the transition I thought it was  still the water from the swim that caused my blurry vision, but it turned out that it was either the anti fog solution I had used on my goggles or the Thames water - anyway, it was to be a one eye race from here on!  I loved the bike and my old commuter bike did well. While quite a few of the "bling bikes" passed me on the straights, I overtook a few on the 'hills', e.g. flyovers and tunnel exit. It was great to race through the limelink tunnel and I got to a speed of 58kph both ways, which added to a good average speed of nearly 33 kph for the bike leg. I kept my cadence around 90-100 rpm on the straights and all of the hill training in Richmond Park proved well worth it. As it was a two lap course, I knew what to expect on the second lap, so it was faster than the first ... mental note: should I buy myself a new bike, it's my birthday tomorrow?! PB on the bike Bike 1:10:59.

T2

Second transition was really slow again, it seemed to take ages to get to my transition spot and the legs felt very tired and stiff as expected. I thought I covered the distance in a jog, but in reality I must have crawled?! Again nothing went wrong, just slow. T2 5:03.

Run

I had practised the bike/run brick and was used to the pain on the initial 2k. The run was ok, but I got a cramp at about k3 and it lasted until k6 - I had a quick stretch and took an energy gel which sorted the problem out. The run was a two lap course with a steep incline ramp of about 100m to get back to the transition area and around the excel dock.It was somewhat cruel to have to run past the finish line, then take a turn with another lap to go .... The cheering of the crowd surely helped, as did the thought of an ice cold beer!  Run 49:38.

When I crossed the finish line I was exhausted, delighted and emotional. This event was the icing on the cake on a long journey from being a overweight chain smoker in 2001 to become a fitter family man in 2009. I had prepared for this event for only 7 months (I have never done more cardio training in my life, probably more in 7 months than in the 37 years before!), but looking back over the past 8 years, I have truly changed my life style for the better.

My goal when I started 7 months ago was to finish the race and it seemed scary at the time. Last month I changed that goal into a sub 3 hour race. I am thrilled with my result of 2h43 and looking at my transition and run times, there is plenty of room for improvement.  IM 70.3 next ....?