Triathlons and me

So what have I been up to this Summer?  Recap time.

Triathlons…

Some say it has taken over my life…

I would say some are right.

The first:

400 meter swim, 20km cycle, 5km run

my times:

swim 7:35; T1 3:02; cycle 43:33; T2 1:03; run 25:15

http://www.humanrace.co.uk/eton-supersprints-2011

My first triathlon.  Out of stupidity I thought I would try.  I did manage to drag along 4 friends for the ride though.  Haha.  The blind leading the blind.  For my first tri I borrowed a friend’s bike and a friend’s wetsuit.  Borrowed a friend’s shoes too…

How was it?  I almost died in the water (first time I had done open water swimming or even worn a wetsuit for swimming).  I got lost in the swim…  Had to stop several times to figure out where I was going.

Bike was ok.  But my bike was slow (sorry Wilfred) and I got tired of watching people whiz past me…

The run was one of the most painful experiences of my life.  I did not realise how painful it is to run right after cycling!  Anyhow, managed to stumble over the finish line a bare 7 seconds ahead of my other newbie friend, and a full 5 minutes behind my evil triathlon rival (LL).

The second:

South coast triathlon

300 meter swim, 20km cycle, 5km run.

13 min swim, 44 min cycle, 26 min run (or something like that, timing was quite bad for this race and was done by people writing down your number as you went past)  plus I have no idea how long the transitions were.

why is the swim so short you say?

have a look why…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_Hk08PIkcg

they decided to cut it short on the day.

So yes, I was stupid.  After the pain of the first tri I thought I had to do more.  A sea swim wouldn’t be that bad right?  Never again.  The cycle had quite brutal headwind and a really tight hairpin turn on either side which meant you had to drop your speed completely…  This time I had upgraded to my new bike (which arrived 2 days before thank you very much).  See previous post for a picture of my bike.  Run was hot hot hot.  I came out of this tri with a bad sunburn…

The third:

HSBC triathlon

750 meter swim, 20km cycle, 5km run

swim 14:16; T1 2:00; cycle 34:50; T2 00:58; run 24:09

this was back at the same place that I had my first triathlon, dorney lake.

Now I appreciate pancake flat courses and lovely smooth roads.  Really helps you to get the speed up on the bike.  Now that I was used to my bike and all my new special accessories (no need to borrow bike shoes etc) I managed to shoot ahead.

The fourth:

Hever castle triathlon

http://www.castletriathlonseries.co.uk/The_Series/Hever_Castle.htm

1.5km swim, 40km cycle, 10km run

28:25 swim, 2:32 T1, 1:20:58 cycle, 2:08 T2, 56:01 run

My first Olympic triathlon and the main event.  First time I raced in gear that was all mine.  No borrowed kit this time!  See previous post for race report.

The end:

So that’s the end of my triathlon season.  Next one will be in May next year.  A long long time away.

Time for a new hobby!