NEVIS CYCLE & TRIATHLON CLUB

The thing about St Martin is that its always hot in Phillipsburg, you can stop the traffic and shoo away the livestock but to get a rest from the sun you can only pray. So getting up at 5am to do a triathlon was to me the promise of a great day. Having registered at Tri Sports in Simpson Bay the day before together with Winston and Sasha we were ready to get our feet wet. For Sasha it was here first St Martin Tri and she was off like a shot when the gun went off. I had planted myself in between two unlikely swimmers and quickly found clear water after a few minutes at about 75%. I also spotted my pacer, jacqueline from Trinidad and Tobago which was good so early on and so now I could find my stroke and slow my breathing. The swim was great and I was happy as I left transition to start the bike.
Its really interesting cycling a new course, the first lap is a learning experience, the second lap is perfecting what you learned on the first and then its over. I get very vocal on the bike saying hi to everybody and yelling out encouragement, waving at the TV cameras like a nut. I saw Sasha on her first bike lap and motioned to drink water, She had this silly grin on her face but still looked pretty cool.
Even at this time of the morning the sun was trying its best to make my life uncomfortable on the run. I spent my time running the four foot of shade the buildings made rather than the course and actually increased my pace for the last half a lap which is usually spent trying to ignore leg cramps.
It was an incredibly proud moment for me to watch my daughter Sasha come in with the Nevis flag held out  for the TV and news cameras, the youngest competitor and winner of the junior age group. Well Done Sasha.