Gala Tri.

Had to happen eventually.

I reckon I'm a pretty hardy guy, North Sea toughened whilst out in the surf and all that, but an ongoing concern with this triathlon lark has been, "What if it's a s!*t day?" (Glossy triathlon publications are spectacularly devoid of pictures taken in anything other than pleasant weather. Ha Ha!)

Well. Now I know.

The lucky run of warm days which waltzed hand-in-hand with last years tri dates in suprising synch came to a stop today for the first of my efforts this season. We got drizzle. Turning to rain. Wind (Fortunately not too bad). And cold. 8 degrees at first. Descending to about 5. Pretty foul on the whole.

At least the swim was flat. (Stock Tri joke.)

Out of the pool and onto the bike the decision had been what, or what not to wear. Putting extra layers on would slow up the transistion. Not adding a bit extra on top of the tri-suit (Which, I have to confess, has become a strangely fetishised item of sportswear for me!) might result in ending up rather chilly. I went with the speed option and didn't bother with anything extra. Perhaps not the wisest choice ultimately- but the bike section, despite the weather, wasn't as bad as I'd expected and it was only my hands that were feeling the pinch. And I didn't feel cold at all during the run. It was circulation returning to the fingers after the race that set my nerves jangling a bit. I noticed some other finishers had taken gloves on board if nothing else extra.... You live and learn.

As to the race. Well, I was out of the pool first from my heat I believe, and swam just a shade off my quickest time with, (I'd like to think) a more economical style than previously. This thanks mainly to some coaching taken up by Big N and I from a fellow competitor, Paul Jones, F4L Coaching, www.makeitcount.org.uk (Cheers Paul.) Suppose I must've gone OK on the bike because no-one caught up with me there but, the cycle speedo wasn't doing anything (thanks to me re-mounting the front wheel the wrong way round after a strip-down the day before!) so I didnt have much idea of speed and, being out on my own meant there was no-one else to go against to boost the pace. Pedalling alone...in the cold and drizzle...I was starting to think that everyone else had given up and gone home until, at about 10miles, I passed a straggler from the previous swim heat and started to come back into contact with other competitiors. The run felt good. A slightly different course from last year and a little bit more cross-country too. I still wasn't catching many from the earlier heat though, until quite well into the 2nd lap, so didn't have much race motivation- which can be the extra whip for a good time. In the end, although feeling I'd run well, I actually turned in my lowest run placing (9th) from these tri events so far. There were some pretty slick run times considering the terrain and the conditions. It certainly took longer for my hands to warm up again than it did for most to cover 5k on foot!

Next tri stop- and double the distances, Selkirk in May. Fingers x'd for a day like last year.

Results from this race: www.bslt.org.uk/triathlon-series-2010/galashiels-triathlon.php