5 Things I would definately do differently

Posted On Saturday, 26 September 2009 at at 19:16 by Sean  

This was my first triathlon and as expected things did not go to plan ................

Here's a few things that won't happen again!

  1. Have a wetsuit that fits - My wetsuit was a few years old and way too tight in the chest, not being able to breathe does not help in the swim!
  2. Do some open water swimming - It was such a pain to get some open water practice organised that I just didn't bother.  It is not like a pool and the wetsuit is not neccessarily easier to swim in (see point 1)
  3. Have something to eat before the event- my race was starting at 215 in the afternoon, no lunch was not a good idea
  4. Do not cycle from the rail station to the event- It is ok before, but soul destroying afterwards
  5. Have a list of what I need - I didn't miss anything, I took loads of stuff I never even got close to using

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I Finished!

Posted On at at 18:50 by Sean  



It seems like a long time ago now, but I did finish and was absolutely ruined afterwards!  In fact 2/3rds of the event went to plan, the swim was tough though.  It was my first real swim in my wetsuit and the breathing was really hard, I finished the swim dead last in my wave and feeling pretty miserable.  If it wasn't for the fact that I was already half way out into the lake taking a rest may have been the option.  But a little mental toughness got me through to finish the swim and T1 in 17:07.

After the not too speedy transition I settled onto the bike to be passed by the race leaders absolutely flying past on their 2nd lap. At one point their was people overtaking me on both sides simultaneously, which I was none too pleased about.  After the first couple of minutes nobody was passing me and I was relatively pleased with my pace.  That was until I hit the first obstacle a deceptively big pyramid to roll over (5ft?) and nobody to follow to show the best way.  I hammered the pedals to make sure I got over and nearly overcooked it, going so fast I nearly hit thee right turn sign on the other side.  Into the second lap I sighted another straggler and gradually made up the 200m he was ahead, it was a big help to have someone to aim at. I finished the bike in 36:07.

With the bike finished I got into my running shoes and exited ransition a few seconds behind the samerguy (no SPD's) and made it up to him in quick time, but didn't have too much left for the 5K run, we settled into a decent pace and ran together the whole way round.  To have someone to talk to and some motivation was great.  He was running for leukaemia research and had suffered ankle ligament injury in his training (if only I had a good excuse...............).  He was great help though, maybe I'll see him next year.

I finished the run in 29:14 and promptly devoured every sports energy/recovery drink i could find, very tired, but very happy.

Now whats next .......................

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My Bike Raring to go

Posted On Friday, 18 September 2009 at at 14:57 by Sean  


If only I was as fast as the bike!
Click on the picture for the Bikeradar review

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Rough Track Triathlon

Posted On at at 14:26 by Sean  

Wow it's getting seriously close to my first triathlon this weekend and the nerves are beginning to set in.  So many things could go wrong, but as long as I don't drown I think it will be alright!  The training has been pretty tough for an overweight, overworked man and probably not nearly long enough, but it’s too late to back down now.

The race is a sprint distance off road triathlon, comprising 400m lake swim, 10km mountain bike course and a 4.5Km run.  It may well be a bit more challenging this week as there has been plenty of rain in the south east of England, if there is one thing England does well it is producing mud!

I've done all my equipment preparation and my bike is serviced and raring to go.  I think I overspent a little on my equipment in a desperate attempt to make up for my lack of training, which probably amounted to around six weeks of serious work.  The swimming is only 400m which should be fine from the pool training, and the bike is my best discipline thanks to my daily cycle commute.  However the running is a different matter, I've been trying the run/walk method (9mins run, 1 min walk) I heard about from the Ironman Talk podcast .  However even with the rest I'm only managing an 11min/mile pace.

I would be quite happy just finishing the race this time, but if I had to pick a target time it would be less than two hours.  Without disaster I should be able to make this from my training, but who knows what will happen on the day.

Wish me luck, and I'll post the result here next week.

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