First triathlon, a 'Novice' held at the Sydney Olympic regatta centre at Penrith - 300m swim, 10k bike, 3k run.

Arrived around 6am and got marked and picked up my kit bag - cap, bottle etc. My 3 yo son got a 'race number' just like dad. There were 93 entries for the event - around 70% male. I think there were only 2 people older than me.

The first thing that struck me was the vast chasm in abilities (and equipment) between entrants - there were young, ripped looking guys turning up with their $6000 tri bikes, ZIP wheels and aero helmets - and some very elite looking females. Then there were the folks turning up on their old mountain bikes, wearing shorts for the swim and sporting impressive beer guts.

At the briefing they asked for a show of hand of first timers. I reckon about 40% so I didn't feel too much out of place. What amazed me was the number of hands that went up when they asked who had done more than 50 tris! This is supposed to be a NOVICE event but there were obviously a LOT of experienced people here.

Deepwater start for the swim. Water was a relatively comfy 20 degrees but I was still happy I'd rented a wetsuit. Swim started well (seemed to clear all the people around me easily) but made a bad navigational error getting to the marker buoy and ended up swimming around 75 metres more than I needed. I'd been swimming parallel to shore but the buoy was about 70 metres from the bank so I had to swim out and then back again. Pretty unhappy with the swim time but I know I could have done way better in a straight line.

Wasn't prepared for everyone to be running at the transition (don't know what I was thinking). I was kinda strolling along and got passed by about 20 people just going into T1 - note to self; at least jog into the transitions. I'd spent a bit of time lying stuff out in the order I'd need, so T1 went pretty well. The guy next to me got stuck getting his jersey on and asked if I could help him out - seemed like the right thing to do but probably wasted about 30 seconds.

Once on the bike felt great. Had planned to ride the first 5k at around 30kph and then try and do the other 5k at 32kph. Sat really nicely on about 32 kph for the whole trip and am sure I could have gone harder. The voice in the back of my head saying 'you can't run for crap' kept telling me to keep my head on the bike. Passed around 15 people and wasn't passed by anyone - I REALLY enjoyed the bike leg and it was easily my best leg.

Felt surprisingly good going into T2 although I knew I would get massacred in the run. Took my time getting my shoes on, having a drink and getting prepared for the worst - I REALLY can't run:(

On a positive note, I know I wasn't the worst runner there - I passed one person - but most of my run was plodding along to the sound of approaching footsteps and the mild doppler effect as they passed. My main goal was to run it without stopping and I managed to struggle through. It probably sounds lame but for me this was a real achievement - on Thursday it will be 2 years to the day I was in hospital having my back bolted together and I genuinely believed I would never run again.

Crossing the finish line I tried really hard to smile.

Walked into the stand to see the family (was a little surprised they weren't at the finish line) to find my daughter crying with a migraine. Packed the car, sent them on their way and rode my bike back to the hotel. Unfortunately, didn't get to stay for the presentations or take in any of the after event activities. She's came good after a few hours of throwing up and a sleep. I joked with her I thought I'd be the one throwing up and sleeping.

All in all a good day. Not overly happy with the way I went but I learned a lot and am super keen to have another go. And hey, there's a lot of improvement to be had - especially in the run. Total time was 44 minutes and I finished somewhere MOP. Age wise finished second - about 3 minutes behind the AG winner - we were pretty much line ball after the swim and bike.

FWIW, the overall winner did it in 32 minutes which will probably give a better idea of the level of some competitors. There's another novice tri in 3 weeks so I'm going to try and get some running training in. I reckon I'll still get spanked in the run but at least it'll be fun:)