A few days ago a friend of mine (Shannon Roberts) placed a tweet up on Twitter . “Competing in a running & triathlon event is both terrifying and exhilarating. And therefore, addictive. #run #triathlon” which I replied with “I remember finishing my first tri. Totally exhausted on the grass and 5 mins later wanting to do it all again right now”, she retweeted the comment.
I spent the day thinking about my life as a Tri-athlete/athlete and how I got here. Story goes back to 2009. The company I work for put on a in-house training program for staff on Time Management the instructor was an American lady a cross between Dolly Parton and Lucy Ball. She was a very funny lady and got us all thinking not only about Time Management in the work place but in my private life’s too. She said you need to set a goal and aim for that set a timeline and stick to it.
My story goes back earlier than that, my back had been playing up for some time. I could not stand up for more than 5 minutes without massive lower back pain. One of the girls I work with put me onto an Osteo and after she started to correct my back she suggest I lose some weight and build my core. With a gym only 50m away from work I joined the gym, got a personal trainer or three, stopped drinking over 2 liters of coke a day and eating crappy fatty food. For the record I didn’t stop day one I changed my habits over the course of 3-6 months. I got fit, I ran, did weights, swam, spin class and I lost some 15+ kg of weight. My back felt better and I saw the changes for the better my only regret is that I didn’t start this process earlier on in life.
After the Time Management training day I started to think about Triathlons. I’d seen a few on tv so what better to do is to go see one up close and personal. Xosize had a race on a Brighton so I went along on race day and watched and took notes on the whole event, I loved the idea of the challenge. So I started to train for a Triathlon, I ran, swam and did more spin class didn’t have a bike yet and had not rode in years. So I got myself a Mountain Bike and started to ride the tracks around home, found out how to change the tyres from mountain bike tyres to road tyres, ok hybrid tyres. Next on my list was a Trisuit and Wetsuit started to swim in the bay, all this would do for the my first Triathlon.
I felt ready so I signed up for my first Tri the Xoszie race at Sandringham I remember it well. I went down on the Saturday collected my race kit, walked through the transition area made sure I felt ok. Xosize put on a training session at Brighton Baths which I went too for some open water swim training, I remember it was hot as we all could feel the heat in our wetsuits and couldn’t wait to hit the water.
The following day was race day. I race and I ran that 800m run from the beach up the hill to transition, may be Sandringham was not the best race to start doing Tri’s with. I rode, I ran. I completed my first Tri! I remember getting over the line sitting on the grass and my girl friend at the time said “You did! And how did I feel?” I replied “stuffed”, but after 5mins I want to go again, right now! no waiting, no delay I wanted to race again.
I was addicted to this new thing called Triathlons! After completing my first Tri I got a road bike and completed the last race of the session better than the previous race. The following session I signed up for 5 races Xosize races and then 3 with Active Feet. I had a mixed session mainly my open water swims were not great but still loved the sport getting better and learning new skills all the time.
The last year I started to get serious about my training and joined Tri Alliance, with Tri Alliance I’ve completed a full season of Sprint Tri’s, signed up for Noosa and complete a Level 1 Triathlon Coach course.
Running Event, Road Race or Triathlon are all a race against the clock for the individual it’s exhilarating and addictive sports, like a drug and once you hooked it’s not something you can let go. To anyone who is reading this blog and is not a part of a Tri Club, Run Group or some group fitness find one join in. All I can say is I have meet some really good people who are keen to share your goals and help you reach them
Just want to thank Sharon for tweet and getting me thinking back over the last few years.