Once again, I signed up for a race by mistake.
Because of a typo on the Tri-Factor Series website, I thought I was signing up for a Standard race consisting of a 5.25km run, 500m swim and 10.5km run.
It was only after completing my registration online did I realise the swim leg was actually 1,000m.
The farthest I swam in a race was 750m so one full kilometre was a bit scary for me.
My previous Tr-Factor race was run 6km, swim 500m and run 6km.
So I posted a message on the Tri-Factor Facebook page:
![](https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yKOnPFmbUKA/WVyNgTWXUTI/AAAAAAAAU_Q/hSvXJp4L918WZs6IED0kA-Hs7ZsOhRY3QCLcBGAs/s1600/trifactor.png)
No one from Tri-Factor contacted me, but that's OK.
I just hoped that the swim leg would be broken into two loops, thus making it less intimidating.
When the route map was released, I saw that I got my wish.
![](https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kNqOSssGxLg/WVo51bLvxbI/AAAAAAAAU8A/qQnw4LLde-Uxv5uTPcxklWVuaEfSCzthgCLcBGAs/s1600/route.png)
My goal was just to survive, not break any personal records.
For the first time, my wife didn't accompany me to a run-swim event in case I drown. I guess I had joined and survived enough of these races that she could be complacent.
So I had to take my own pictures this morning.
I think I have those shoes.
![](https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1M1tX2BD7D0/WVpLEQMUWwI/AAAAAAAAU9U/Xd7_oSTLbHo-DBzhcHh6bsamO3MtlKXxACLcBGAs/s1600/runin.jpg)
![](https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wfx3xIsjNro/WVpJlHC7uRI/AAAAAAAAU9M/2Epr0U_I5qk_ZCzZwEXAQizJPjXHhIkUgCLcBGAs/s1600/swimout.jpg)
![](https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mqRRR8B3JmY/WVyAfcE4gWI/AAAAAAAAU-k/IN8O7xaTQe4x9XpIpVos6NuIbp20b4ypwCLcBGAs/s1600/swimout0.jpg)
![](https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8lw_WjhBfWY/WVpJlNp4LdI/AAAAAAAAU9I/dp_hVE2-Hqcb621fWS4IeiL9Cn-d9xL2gCLcBGAs/s1600/swimout2.jpg)
![](https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-i2acvlWqSbw/WVpJlFOYXTI/AAAAAAAAU9Q/uUG8aUf8CSYm94WJkuzssP2ZeWtLua2JgCLcBGAs/s1600/swimout3.jpg)
I had never felt so tired after a race.
Usually, after a half marathon, my legs would be in pain. In this case, I felt no pain, but I was so exhausted, I had to lie down for a while.
![](https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bw2TjVT9c9Y/WVpUBfKmLHI/AAAAAAAAU98/w9Cxvq-t6Pc7hPmNAwgWfbx2VnXsrfc3QCLcBGAs/s1600/Results.png)
My time for the 5.25km run was half an hour, which is around my usual time.
I believe I took the longest to complete the 1km swim, 46+ minutes.
And it took me almost 90 minutes to run the final 10.5km, which was about half an hour more than if I hadn't run 5.25km and swam 1km beforehand.
I didn't come in last, although it felt like I did.
![](https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-r21yZiv1-Ds/WVx_3I7vvoI/AAAAAAAAU-g/nm7egKX4cX85qCdIqLOz-skWb4V95tuJgCLcBGAs/s1600/Cert.jpg)
EARLIER: My first Tri-Factor race: Run 6km, swim 500m, run 6km