Saturday sees me participate in my first – and probably only – triathlon for 2012. It was supposed to be the year I moved up from Sprint triathlon to Olympic, but there’s no way on earth that was going to happen. At least, thanks to a change in scheduling from last year, I get to sleep 40 minutes longer.

My plan was simple – train hard, eat better and get in shape in time for the Zurich Triathlon. I did none and so decided – reluctantly – to be realistic and stick to Sprint for now – I didn’t want to take on the longer distance, do badly and get de-motivated.

The thing is my running is still very weak (average 5:30 per km) and I did very little time in the saddle. On a positive note, my swimming has improved tremendously – especially thanks to my Trigether swim trainer Iris. Only this week, I managed 500 m in 10:45 min, my fastest ever. That on its own, however, is not enough to progress to the next level.

So on Saturday, at 8.40am, I’ll be joining hundreds of others in the Sprint distance – 500 m swimming, 20 km cycling and 5 km running. A year ago, the start was at 8am, so I guess it’s 40 minutes more sleep for me. I almost feel better now.

Last year, I clocked just over 1 hour 21 minutes – anything quicker will be a bonus.