It was 4:10 am, bright and early, after a short night, with interrupted sleep due to heavy rain overnight, I woke up with a clear sky which was good enough for me to participate in my first ever Olympic Triathlon. My wave was due to start at 6:25 and this time I wanted to make sure I was on time ready. 

At 5:15 Shereen and I arrived in Windsor and parked our car, we went to the transition area and I started to prepare my spot. The places are very narrow here, not only between each other but also behind and in front of you. What do you expect 2500 people racing here? 

The transition setup got ready at 6:00 am, with 35 minutes to spare, much quicker than last time, I was able to relax and most importantly visualize the transition and my race objectives. I had set myself a target to first of all complete the Olympic distance, followed by completing without getting any injuries and then I had set a target time between 2:50 and 3:00.

We started watching the earlier Sprint races and some of the Olympic waves. We noticed Richard Stannard giving away an interview. I understood that he was involved in a bike accident and therefore could not race today. When I was pulling up my top half wetsuit I got filmed myself, I'm sure they will cut this piece out but I'm looking forward for the Channel 4 broadcast early July. Whilst we were watching I noticed that the current wasn't as strong as last year and despite of thinking to swim on the right where the current should be the least I decided to go for the left hand side of the bunch, after all I knew it all better and it is shorter. 

With only 5 minutes to spare I made my way to the river side and jumped in, this time I was one of the first ones to get in. I relaxed, done a few strokes, got my position set and waited for the horn to go. I started my stopwatch about one minute before hand, just to make sure I had not forgotten this. 

The swim - 1500m:

The start signal went off and started hard to swim, I was in the front of the pack and I didn't want anyone to swim over me. Despite me starting rather hard I knew I was about to slow down as I would never be able to keep up. At least I got myself in a good position in the river. After a few hundred meters my goggles started playing up, they started filling up with a little bit of water and then this became more and more. I took a break and adjusted them a few times. I have never been sure about those goggles, but then again I never have been sure about any pair of googles I had. There is always something with them, either they leak, they steam up, the straps come loose. Maybe I need to produce some myself. 

After the ordeal of the googles I got myself in a good pace, not fast, but a good pace, breathing every third for most of the time and breathing on both sides. But most of all I was enjoying the filthy river Thames and was enjoying the swim and had only positive thoughts. "I'm doing good" were the key words racing through my head and this really motivated me. Every time when I looked up I could see the swim finish coming noticeably closer. I almost regretted that the swim was over, was I becoming insane? Maybe the water had poisoned my brains. 

Swim time: 40:04

I'm not the fastest swimmer in the world, but at least this time I enjoyed it and I can work on getting faster. 

T1:

The distance between the swim exit and the transition area in Windsor is rather far, this obviously gives us plenty of time to undo the wetsuit during the run up to the transition area. Got my wetsuit off very quickly, helmet and glasses on and ran with my bike out of transition. For some reason I managed to jump on my bike with my feet straight into my bike shoes, I only had to pull up the strap. 

Considering the huge transition area my time was fast. I wouldn't want to change anything. 

Time: 1:42

The Bike - 42km:

I jumped on my bike and managed to get into a good rhythm. Due to the number of people on the road, it wasn't difficult to overtake people and obviously being overtaken as well. The scenery along the race track is very nice and there are a few little hills on the way, which seems to be in my advantage. My odometer seemed broken and was not giving me any sense of speed. I like to see my speed in order to motivate me and push harder, I started to use my cadence meter instead, obviously this is not the same as the cadence would change depending on the gear you are in. 

The last 5 / 6 miles is all the way down and makes this an ideal time to start preparing for the run section, with speeds up to 38 mph. I knew that we had to bike next to the transition area after we came from the road, however one of the marshall shouted loud and it was not clear to me so I unclipped very quickly my shoes, which wasn't necessary, so clipped back in and went to my original plan to leave my shoes on the bike. 

Time: 1:17:15

After the swim section onto the bike I'm unable to push hard for the first few miles. I would need to think about how I could simulate this. Apart from this I don't think I would change anything at all. 

T2:

This was a quick transition, just had to chuck my bike, throw off my helmet and glasses and pull on my running shoes. In the transition area I was running behind a biker who was trying to get out of transition. This must have slowed me down a little bit. 

Time: 1:29

The run: 10K

Started the run in a good pace, read slow and maintainable. The sun was getting hot at this moment in time and was happy to cool myself down with water. Temperatures must have been 20 degrees, this isn't really hot, but hot enough for me. I cannot imagine how I could cope (or anyone) when running in the desert or an Ironman in Australia where temperatures could sore up to 40 degrees. The run was 3 laps next to the Queen's castle and this hill, short but steep kills when one comes just off the bike. the first lap I had cramps and slowed down to ensure I could control my breathing. Cramps disappeared but stayed in the same mode, and maintained a good running pace, slow but maintainable. 

The last 400 meter are absolutely amazing, and it is those moments which elevate you and make this an addiction. The crowds are not only cheering you on which gives you the feeling of being a champion (despite taking almost one hour longer than the elites) but the sense of accomplishment is huge. What would it be if I ever accomplish an Ironman distance? 

Time: 56:21 

Summary: 

I was hoping to complete my first Olympic Triathlon in a time between 2:50 and 3:00, I completed the entire course within 2:56, so I met my goal. I'm far from the fastest on the course but I can set myself some goals to go faster. Now I know I can complete this distance, before I only dreamt of completing the distance.