Fear is a state of mind…
It was a great day and once again, avid multi-sport athletes gathered for another much awaited event in Kuwait. The Al Corniche Aquathlon. The turnout of the event was not really as big as the fun runs due to the complexity of the game for most people, as the event calls for each participant to swim in an open water. There were four categories and these were the following:
Sprint and Sprint Relay – 1K swim, 5K run
Olympic and Olympic Relay – 1.5K swim, 10K run.
Most of my friends signed up for the Olympic category for they have already tried few months back the shorter version of the event. As for me, I have chosen to join the Olympic relay because I want to engage a friend in this kind of sport, meanwhile, another friend also chose to do the relay, due to his minor heel injury. It was good in my opinion for tho things, he keeps himself busy while trying to recover and he’s giving opportunity also to other athlete/friend to participate.
THE WASHING MACHINE: The start of the race – I have been with a few swim races and triathlon games; however, jitters still didn’t go away that easily, although the jitter quickly subsided after the first 50 meters, after that, it was okay. the course was not that bad too, for there were buoys from afar and there was a man in his kayak watching over us. I finished my swim at roughly around 31 minutes and immediately tapped my friend to run. Immediately, I looked for my friends on how well they were doing; gladly, they were able to get out of the water safely. I couldn’t be prouder to my friend Biboy after coming out from the water despite of finishing last.
THE RUN LEG – It was already past 10 am and the sun is already high. My running buddy Arnold started strong but later somewhat felt dehydrated due to heat. Fortunately, the run course required them to do a 6 laps to finish 10km so, we were able to see most of our friends frequently and cheer for them. Arnold clocked 54 minutes in his watch, including his transition, making our finish time at 1:25 (unofficial). Still waiting for the official results though.
POST RACE – After finishing the race and evaluated ourselves, our team mates realised the importance of open water swimming. The spur of the moment, their adrenalin and fear could still linger giving us a few mishaps especially during the swim leg.
Over all, it was an awesome event with a friendly and positive vibe!
The Argonaut 