On September 2, 2007, the time had come - my first middle distance and the highlight of the season, all at the same time. There were a 1.5m/2,5km swim, 56m/90km bike ride and 13.1m/21,1km run between the two pictures.

But, let's start from the beginning: I registered my bike at Lake Fühlinger, at noon on Saturday. There was enough parking, so I didn't expect a lot of stress in the morning.

After registering, I checked out the surroundings, including a (okay, it was tiny) triathlon exhibition and then I was already on my way back into town to load up on some carbs (noodles).
The next morning, after a restless night, I left for the regatta inlet at Lake Fühlinger, which was 9.3m/15km away, at 5:30am. The long distance was scheduled to start at 7am, the middle distance at 7:25am. The whole thing got delayed by 45min each… don't know why. At 8am, the time had finally come and I could finally throw myself into the waves, in my black costume.

Somehow the time just flew. There wasn't much navigation going on, since the race just went up to the bridge and then back down again. Also, it was a regatta channel and the buoys are attached by ropes that run below the surface, which can be used to feel your way along. After a little over 44min, I was back on land again...

....and a few minutes later, I was pedaling hard for 2 laps of 28m/45km. Pretend to be utterly relaxed and give a little wave...

... and after an hour and a half, I was back in the changeover zone. As a precaution, I put on my hiking socks for the final run...

...first a lap of 4.3m/7km around the lake and then another 8.8m/14km more or less along the Rhine towards downtown Cologne, the chocolate museum and the finish line.

Conclusion: with just a few changes, especially concerning the promotion in Cologne itself (some people didn't know it was even going on and looked at us like we were crazy) and the organization of the changeover zone, this couldl be made a really nice competition!

Chain to the right!

Nina