My first Triathlon is Looming – Sooner than I Thought!
Last Tuesday (9th June) I got an e-mail in my inbox telling me that I had won a prize in a competition…
Me: Fantastic!
Reading on: The prize is free entry into a Triathlon
Me: That’s good I want to enter a Triathlon
Reading on: It’s a Sprint Triathlon – 750m swimming (in a lake), 20km cycling, 5km running)
Me: Eek 750m sounds like a long swim and I haven’t swum in 2 years
Reading on: It’s a week next Sunday (28th) at Dorney Lake, Eton
Me: Whaaaaaaaaat!!!
So I asked Nathan if he thought it would be a good idea for me to enter and he said I should give it a try (note to self, ask someone else next time).
My thoughts are:
- I haven’t swum in over 2 years and I have never swum a long distance before
- I only got a road bike 3 weeks ago so although i can do 20km, I’m probably not going to be very competitive
- I can run 5km before, but I have never raced that distance (I have done 2 half marathons) so i don’t know how to pace myself
- I haven’t had any time to train for it – Monday (tomorrow) needs to be my last training day else I’ll be weak on race day
- I don’t like to back away from a challenge, so I’m going to do it!!!
On Friday lunchtime I went to John Lewis and tried on some swimming goggles. I don’t know if I still had impression marks around my eyes when I went to pay for them, but it’s likely that I did…
Then yesterday, after working from 6am – 9am, cycling with Team MK from 9.30am – 1pm) and working from 1pm – 3pm I bought myself a wetsuit (my first one). I tried 2 sized of 2XU Elite on at Phil Corley Cycles. Then I tried 2 versions of the Orca at Twenty 3c (nice shop and very good customer service). In the end I bought the Orca 3.8. The first time I get to try it will be on the race itself!
Orca 3.8 Wetsuit
I went for a swim at Stantonbury Campus today – they have a decent 25m swimming pool (£3.50 to get in though which I think is a little expensive). Anyway, I got in, did a length and immediately realised that to do the equivalent of another 29 lengths wasn’t going to be a) quick or b) easy. I swam for over an hour (I probably rested more than I swam) in a fairly busy pool – I hope on the race day there aren’t people wading and swimming in front of me. The hardest thing about the swimming was getting the breathing right – I kept ending up with mouthfuls of water instead of oxygen.
I’ll go for a swim again on Monday after work – and then maybe Tuesday, but certainly no more after that.
Pasta, chicken and all other manner of carbs are on the menu for this week
June 22nd, 2009 at 09:28
Ouch… sounds like you might finally have bitten more than you can chew… I’ll be rooting for you dude. Hang in there and let us know how preps and actual day goes.
Enjoy…
Yemz
June 22nd, 2009 at 12:19
Yes maybe I have
But it’s all part of the learning process lol.
Thanks.
Paul
June 28th, 2009 at 00:01
[...] I mentioned in my previous post, I won free entry into the For Goodness Shakes Sprint Triathlon and was only given 2 weeks [...]
June 30th, 2009 at 20:11
[...] stated in my previous posts, by way of winning a prize in a competition, I got free entry into the For Goodness Shakes! [...]