Somewhere, something went wrong. My first triathlon for 2011 is a week away and I’m terribly overweight, verging closely and dangerously on the 90-kilogram mark; I’m terribly unfit; motivation is at an all-time low; and I am still struggling with a litany of injuries. I was suppoeed to be fit, at my ideal weight (77kg) and ready to go, at least that’s what my plans said.

But the Thurgau Triathlon is on the cards and I plan to go for it, at the risk of further injury (and embarrassment). Anyway, it’s a terribly short triathlon – 200 metres swimming followed by a brisk 17 kilometre cycle and a four kilometre run. The problem is that the latter two (of course) are generally uphill (it doesn’t feel as though you ever come back down).

Last year I clocked in at one hour six minutes 21 seconds. As usual, I messed up the swimming part, so if I manage to keep calm at the start, I might manage to beat the 5.22 minutes time. Last year was also my worst cycling time (38.09 minutes) – a staggering three minutes slower than my best time recorded in 2007. And running, the discipline I train most, is always my worst as calf muscles are all jammed up – and we go into a killer hill very soon after the start.

So, my predictions, based on the above, are that I’ll be in the same water as last year, maybe a bit slower. Up to one hour seven minutes is OK – anything less is an achievement. Long term plan is to go under one hour – it won’t happen this year, but it will, eventually.