My First Triathlon

When I was first offered a place to compete in a sprint triathlon, 10 days before the race, I was somewhat apprehensive of the idea.  However, I had wanted to do one for some time and knew I needed a kick and push into it. Even personal trainers need encouragement and motivation sometimes !

 

The distances weren’t too bad for me individually; 400m swim; 22k cycle and 5k run.  It would be how well I could string them together.

 

I knew my swim would be my weaker area as I had no time to improve my appalling front crawl stroke – so it would have to be breast-stroke.  I was also offered the loan of a racing bike, but I had never put my feet in cycle clips before!  This did not seem to promising.  After some quick instruction on the bike and a cycle plan for the remaining 5 days, I was set for this new experience of triathlon racing.

 

Despite arriving in plenty of time, I still managed to get flustered around not knowing where to go etc.  I somehow managed to miss my briefing slot and got a ticking off for that.  I approached my swim lane with 1 minute spare, so was straight into the race before I could calm down and focus.  Telling myself to relax into a steady stroke, I was encouraged to note several competitors also opting for breast-stroke, however less encouraged to see a couple overtake me !  16 lengths and 10mins later, I jumped out of the pool and ran off to my bike.

 

Transition 1 – socks on; shorts on; t-shirt on; shoes, gloves, helmet – off and into the next leg of the 22k cycle.  I soon discovered that half the route was going to be into the wind and consequently made it a real slog.  However, I actually began to catch-up and overtake a few triathletes – yippee!  I was so surprised not to be bothered about cycling in a wet swimming costume – it was definitely the least of my worries.  Once at the half-way point, I turned around and started to power back as best I could.  With the wind behind me I picked up the pace to an impressive 26 mph on one straight.  Go girl go !  53 minute cycle – done !

 

Transition 2 – swapping cycling shoes for trainers I was off again on the final leg to run 5k.  I had had previous visions of me powering off for this short run, of a distance that I run all the time, but my legs were having none of it at the end of the cycle ride.  I have never practised a cycle to run transition and my legs felt so weird and wobbly.  Maybe it was the wet socks and maybe it was going almost straight into an uphill stretch.   Either way, my legs felt like jelly for most of the way – and I was really tired.  With 2k to go, my running legs partly returned and I really dug in and focused on all the words I normally use to encourage other clients. 27 minutes of plodding running and I had made it!

 

So my total time, including transition times, was 1hr 36mins.  I’m quite happy with that and would definitely do another, but perhaps with proper notice for training.  I’m unsure how much a really enjoyed it during the race, but I certainly felt a big achievement for completing it.

 

I would like to say an enormous thank you to Simon Hill for his guidance, encouragement and support throughout the preparation and that much appreciated push to “get on with it Girl !”.

 

Helen

August 2012