Helen and I have been an item for nearly six years, and in that time she has done plenty of triathlons. I had successfully avoided them until today, mainly because my swimming is pretty dismal.
However, I was persuaded by one of my colleagues at work it would be a good to give one a try (plus Withers & Rogers paid, and paid for Helen, which helps!)
Thanks to BRAT’s excellent Sunday afternoon swimming training, Phil’s road bike, and Mark’s wetsuit, I did feel vaguely capable of getting round the course - or at least I did until I jumped into the “bracing” and murky water at the start of the 750m open water swim - and tried to get used to the idea of swimming in a wetsuit for the first time.
750m looks a long way when you see it in a straight line, so I figured I would plod along hope for the best. Helen had been telling me to do this for some time, as she half-expected me to be hauled out of the water by the lifeguards coughing and spluttering.
The swim turned out to be OK - although not exactly enjoyable - the extra buoyancy of the wetsuit certainly helping there. Plus, no-one tried to swim over the top of me or kick me in the face. There was however a rather nasty climb up hill from the water to transition.
Anyway, there I am trying to put on my bike shoes, when who should arrive looking a bit surprised, but Helen. Apparently I had emerged from the water 10 secs ahead of her...
The bike (19.8 K) did not start well, with my chain coming off right at the start, but I coped with the clipless pedals (first tried out yesterday). In fact I probably got a bit too carried away, given the feeling in my legs and resulting disappointing time over the 5.4 K run.
Helen, I suspect, put in a pb time over the distance, as her cycling times are definitely improving and she was going great guns on the run.
I enjoyed my first tri. No doubt the scenic surroundings, good weather and excellent organisation all helped. However, I’m not sure I can see myself doing more than one or two a year, as it’s a bit of a faff lugging all that kit around and then sorting it out again when you get home. Would be nice to do one inside 1:30 though!
Paul F
Full results here
| Race No |
Firstname |
Lastname |
Swim Elapsed |
T1 Elapsed |
Bike Elapsed |
T2 Elapsed |
Run Elapsed |
Pos |
Total Time |
| 4390 |
Paul |
Foot |
00:17:57 |
00:05:12 |
00:41:58 |
00:02:06 |
00:27:46 |
1178 |
01:34:57 |
| 4550 |
Helen |
Foot |
00:18:07 |
00:05:01 |
00:53:34 |
00:02:35 |
00:30:30 |
2513 |
01:49:46 |
