So a quick look back at the first triathlon of the season: the FrenchMan Sichel Sport Triathlon L at Carcans. It's a triathlon I know well, having already done the M format 2 years ago.

This first triathlon of the season was there to lay the foundations and validate the many winter training sessions in the rain and cold!

The aim was to keep up the pace, check my nutrition and meet my new coach Jeremy Staffent, while having a good time with my club mates.

Swimming: I set off in the first SAS with the elites on my pace (i.e. not very fast!), I didn't get off too badly, but halfway through the course I saw that there was a group 10m ahead of me, so I made an effort to catch up and got out of the water in around 32nd place (46th overall) in 26'48, a time in line with my expectations.

At T1, I took the opportunity to put on my socks and made a decent transition.

Cycling: I got off to a fast start, and the start of the course had some small bumps that were rather to my advantage, so I took the opportunity to climb back up a bit. After 30km, I was in a group of around ten riders, and things were going well. I'm keeping my pace. By the 60th kilometre I'm feeling pretty good and I hesitate to take the lead of the group to pick up the pace a bit, but I tell myself I wouldn't gain anything by doing so, so I prefer to take it easy and finish my bike fresh on this very fast course: 2h05'12 (7th fastest time), I never thought I'd do such a time!
I put the bike down in 15th place, and after a lightning transition, I came out of the bike park in 9th place (best time at T2, thanks to the socks I put on at T1).

Run: This is where the triathlon really begins with the bike+CAP sequence. During my training, I'd set a pace of 3'30/km, which meant I could do a half in 1h15. But there are sometimes big differences between theory and practice... So I set off at my pace without getting carried away, or getting carried away by the atmosphere, and I caught up with a few competitors to take 6th place around the 8th km. The supporters were everywhere along the route and it was really exhilarating. After the 10th km, I'm told I'm 4th, 5th... In short, I don't know how many places I've got, but I'm still in good shape, so I keep up my pace of 3'30/km, remembering to hydrate and eat regularly. At the halfway point of the 17th km, I saw that the competitors behind me still had a good stride and that my legs were starting to feel heavy! So I headed for the finish without really knowing where I'd finish and I was announced 3rd! As incredible as the time I saw: 3h49'43!

Well done to Quentin Barreau and Casimir Moine for their 1st and 2nd places, and I'm hoping to get a bit closer!

This first race was full of promise for the future, but we mustn't get carried away - the hardest part is still to come. Now it's a question of confirming that in the next few races.