Laura’s 1st open water finish line

Les Boucles de Seine was my first triathlon, and I’m guessing it won’t be my last. We set off early on Sunday morning to Moisson; driving to the race, I felt excited and a little nervous.

My strategy was to power through the swim, survive the bike and glide through the run.

When we arrived we set up our stuff in the transition area. I didn’t really know what I was doing so I just copied everyone else; I laid out my bike, running shoes, socks and helmet.

The swim was in a lake with an Australian style exit between the 2 laps. I felt good in the water. I tried to keep my head down and to use my arms as much as possible to save my legs for the rest of the race. I lacked sighting skills – so a couple of times went slightly off course.

I headed to the first transition area. The bike portion is what I trained for the least. It was a gentle ride with an up and down. On the bike I had no idea about how far I’d gone or what time it was. It was just me and my bike. I loved the whole ride even though I felt that EVERYONE was overtaking me.

The run was good – my legs felt heavy but I was motivated to catch up all the people who overtook me on the bike!

I am very happy to have completed my first race and more importantly I really enjoyed it. Well done to all the other Expatriates who competed in the race; at the end we celebrated the only way we know– by eating and drinking. Our international picnic was a feast! Thank you for everyone’s support; it was definitely a special day.