There's probably something wrong with me for thinking that taking part in a triathlon constitutes a lovely day out of the city, but the Lake Victoria Triathlon always has a brilliant atmosphere. School was well represented, with six teachers participating as well as a few sporty parents and a brilliant eleven year old swimmer.
At 2am on Sunday morning I was woken up by the most enormous clap of thunder. Not the best omen. I lay awake for an hour or so wondering whether my bike would hold out for the race or whether I would crash into something on the notorious dark tunnel under the airport runway on the bike ride. It was still pouring down when we left at 5.30am, making the drive to Entebbe horrendous. I used up all my adrenalin dealing with the glaring full beam headlights and trying to avoid knocking down any Ugandans taking an early morning bike ride without any lights on at all.
The event started over an hour late as the storm had destroyed the transition area. I then had over an hour to wait as we watched all the swimmers for the Olympic distance go first. We finally started our swim at 9.30am, so I knew it was going to be scorching by the time we got to the run.
I'm feeling a little pooped tonight, so in short: the swim in the pool was a little choppy and squashed but preferable to the bilharzia and crocodile ridden lake; biking past the lake is always beautiful and I enjoyed racing along with the other competitors; the run was exceedingly hot, my ipod decided not to work in my moment of need and I struggled up the hills, but did manage a sprint finish.
My training buddies and I all did a great job. One passed me out in the run and encouragingly told me to 'stretch out my legs' ... if only I could have! She got third place - fab job! I beat my target time of under 2 hours by nearly 20 minutes - and if I hadn't spent 5 minutes untying the stubborn double knot in my trainers it would have been even better! My friend also finished her first triathlon in under 2 hours and vows to better her time next year.
Today I am enjoying a little quality time with my sofa and the fact that I found a Galaxy bar in Kampala!
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| Final steps! |
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| Phew - thank goodness all that's over! |
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| Mind the step Laura!! |
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| Tired but proud and happy training buddies! |
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| Training buddies! |
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| Practising the technique! Think my goggles were too tight! |
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| I went the wrong way out!!! |
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| Transitions are not easy! |
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