SUMMER SERIES TRIATHLON IN PE SUNDAY 20 DECEMBER 2009.

SUMMER SERIES TRIATHLON IN PE. SUNDAY 20 DECEMBER 2009

MICHAEL ZIVOR (thirty something)
ALLY GIDDY (12)
PETER GIDDY (58)

Before I start this blog; may I say that my favourite swim style is "doggie paddle"? And the three of us came last in this event.

Sunday morning 20.12.2009.
Michael Z, Ally and I entered for the local summer series triathlon. We left home late with children and organising to do. A sport like triathlon is quite fussy and requires more organising than running does. It is not too bad when you are on your own but with a family there is a lot to set up.

We loaded the three bikes into the back of Barbara's opel bakkie and she left first; finding parking and reserving a place for us. Jacqui had to organise the children and we arrived a little later. We were just in time for registration and too late for race briefing. We racked up the bikes and rushed down to the beach. Both Ally and Michael had recently bought wet suites.

I could have borrowed a wet suite from Michael Dean but was not sure if I would be up to a Triathlon this morning after Saturday's disatrous run. I again borrowed goggles from Rob Ermes. Whe I felt the water temperature it was not too cold and I felt that I would be able to do this swim. The Buoys looked to be far out. I cannot think that I have ever swum so far out before.

Gary started the race and we started the swim. I had told Ally to go ahead as I would try to catch her on the Bike Ride. She headed off with all these huge triathletes. I kind of muddled my way out. Past the end of the pier and I was not even half way to the first Buoy. I thought that I was last when a person passed me. As it turned out I later realised that there was one young lady behind me. We must have finished almost together as I saw her setting up her bike later.

Back to the swim. This was a long way out. Finally I rounded the first buoy. The second buoy was not far off. What I do is to swim a little and then look where I am going. Most times I find that I have wandered off course. Then I try a little breast stroke to catch my breath. And start the process again. I so enjoy swimming in the ocean but am more of a Bobber than a Swimmer.

I rounded the second buoy and headed back to the beach. It seemed a very long way. And with my criss cross way of swiming it probably took longer than it should. One of the life guards on a board kept on telling me that I was off course. The water was quite choppy and I seemed to be swallowing a lot of sea water.

I looked up to see how far the beach was away from where I was. And saw the last of the stragglers of the swimmers runing up the stairs to the transition area. And I still had not reached the end of the pier. This was a very long swim. (maybe I mentioned that before?). Finally I was able to stand. I made my way up to the transition. Passing Bian Saunders. And our family of supporters.

Sharon Oakley told me that I had come in on the wrong side but allowed this minor infraction of the rules to be overlooked. Putting on the Cycling shoes seemed to take forever. I wanted to see if I could start before the yound lady who was the only other person in transition. I managed to get going after nearly falling off the bike at the start.

Now I had to try to catch Michael and Ally. Barbara had told me that they were between 8 to 10 minutes ahead of me. As I cycled out I greeted Craig Wilson who was on a training run. Rounding University Corner into the wind I changed down to the easiest gear. I heard this young lady (Megan) come up behind me and she asked if I would work with her. It was a "Draft Legal" event. So the two of us took turns in the wind until I saw Michael ahead and let Megan go.

People were coming in the opposite direction at a fast pace and I was looking forward to cycling back with the wind. Finally Michael and I reached the turn. Peter Marriot was the marshall. Mike and I headed back with the help of the wind at out backs. We had seen Ally heading home and when I saw her ahead with a police escort I decided to try to catch her.

While I had my Road Bike, Michael had the disadvantage of riding my mountain bike and battled to keep the pace. But we regrouped close to the golf club and cycled back together. Once we were in the transition, Ally seemed to become all energetic and started the run just ahead of us. Just as we were leaving the transition we saw Jacqui Zeelie jogging on the promenade.

From here we kind of jogged and walked to the turn where Shane Norris and Peter Marriot were marshalling. On the way back we were now exteremely relaxed and when we reached the finish I was surprised to see that the organisers had waited for us. Barbara, Jacqui and the two children had been in the sun for the past two hours and when the prize giving seemed to be taking a long time we headed off home. We were all pretty frazzled after Saturday afternoon in the sun and then again this morning.

This was Ally's second attempt at a Triathlon. In November she had entered the Energade Triathlon and had a fall on the bike and was not able to finish. Today she went the whole way. And this was a tougher event. And it was Michael's first ever triathlon as well. I have not been doing triathlon for some time now and was glad to be back into it even if it meant a slow day. For us doing this as a family was a really special day for me. As Michael said: Dont mess with the Giddy/Zivor family!" when we passed a man who was rude to us.