In the footsteps of champions

I've just come back from an incredible weekend at the ITU World Triathlon Championships in London, where I was treated to a five-star lifestyle without breaking my budget of pennies, courtesy of Dextro Energy and my friend Mo.

I took my bike down on the train, which was an experience in itself, and emerged from King's Cross station to brave the crazy London traffic on two wheels. I made it to Hyde Park just in time to catch the end of the women's elite race. I've never seen a championship event like this up close before and knowing that the same course will be used for the 2012 Olympics made it all the more exhilirating.

I stuck around to watch the start of the men's race - the swim was amazing, they just zipped through the water like they were jet-powered - but witnessing a couple of crashes on the bike section started to give me the heebie-jeebies for the next day so I headed off to investigate the hotel.

Dextro Energy looked after me (and the 50 other competition winners from around Europe) very well. We were put up in a beautiful hotel in the heart of Mayfair, treated to a 3 course dinner and given a fetching red and black tri suit to make sure we looked the part. Before dinner, there was just enough time to sneak in another weekend treat - a lavish afternoon tea courtesy of my friend, who was reviewing it for the magazine she works for. Amazing! I'm sure there must be a scientific study somewhere that says that vanilla cupcakes and rose champagne are perfect pre-race fuel. No? Oh well, I was only there for the fun of it so wouldn't be taking my nutrition strategy too seriously.

Sunday morning was an early start - 7.30am breakfast (more sensible - berries, cereal and yoghurt, mmm) then a short cycle to the start area to prepare. After a group photo we were left to rack our bikes and get ourselves ready for our 10am start wave. This gave me just enough time to freak myself out watching some of the earlier waves take to the murky waters of the Serpentine. The water was a tropical 21 degrees C so I'd taken the brave / stupid decision to forego the optional wetsuit. It was my first open water event and I had visions of writing around on the ground beside my bike trying to break free. Better to put up with the cold and save myself a few minutes. I'd need it - as I've said before, swimming is not my strong point. Neither is cycling or running, come to think of it.

Before long, we were ushered along the plank / pontoon and plunged into the lake. We had to swim a couple of minutes to get to the start point and that's where I really started to panic. It was so strange to look through my goggles and see nothing but brown water. I tried closing my eyes but couldn't get it out of my head that my face was submerged in bird poo, feathers and pond weed. Get it together, I told myself. Breathe slowly. We had a few minutes to gather our thoughts before the horn sounded and this was just long enough for me to convince myself that I did want to do this.

Fortunately the dark water was soon lifted by bubbles from the feet in front of me. Slow and steady, I made my way round the 750m course. I still can't swim front crawl so was surprised to find I wasn't last out of the water.

I thought I'd make up some time on the bike but it wasn't to be. My legs are usually pretty strong but the water had left me feeling queasy and it took a while for me to feel like pushing it. It was a really flat course with some tight corners and, strange as it may sound, I think I'm better on hills. There was quite a high proportion of serious-looking competitors, sporting time-trial helmets, tri bars, disc wheels or, at the very least, a proper racing bike, so I didn't feel too bad on my little hybrid.

My one brick session last week must have paid off - I finally made it onto the run section without experiencing jelly-legs. Again, the course was flat and easy - a simple two loops on a section of paths. I felt like I was pushing it but going fairly slow, so I was surpised to see my final time as only 24 minutes for the 5k. Encouraged by someone on my tail in the last minute, I even managed a sprint finish. That's not like me at all - usually I've got nothing left in the tank at the end and hobble along the last few minutes looking like I might need a paramedic!

I thoroughly enjoyed the whole event. My time won't be setting the record books on fire but it was much better than I expected (1 hour 36 minutes - I thought I'd be getting picked up by the stragglers bus). With a bit of training, I might even break out of the bottom half of the results table.