Chilling out on the beach once we'd all finished
If you follow me on Instagram or Twitter you probably know what I got up to yesterday. I completed my very first triathlon. It was a super sprint - 250 m swim, 16 k bike ride and a 3 k run. And I didn't drown, forget my bike, cry or receive a helmet violation penalty. The helmet violation rule was keeping me awake at night, but it's pretty simple, don't take your bike off the rack until your helmet is done up. My personal rule was, don't TOUCH your bike until your helmet us done up.
I found the whole setting up stage of the triathlon quite stressful. Making sure my numbers were pinned to my shirt properly and stuck on my helmet and bike. Making sure all my 'transition' clothing was ready and good to go when I got out of the pool. Making sure I hadn't forgotten my socks.
I was number 7 in the line up, which meant I had the added pressure of pretty much everyone watching me start my swim. But after my 10 lengths of the pool, it was really nice to hear all my friends shouting 'go on Jenny' as I ran up the ramp and out of the water.
My transition was very unprofessional. I was wearing a tri suit, which in theory meant I should be able to just get out of the water, stick my tshirt and trainers on and off I go. Unfortunately it is a beautiful grey colour, which means when I bend over, the bum area is slightly see through - shorts were a must I'm afraid. I also realised why everyone had big towels with them. A long sleeved running top is not easy to get on when you are soaking wet. After having a little wrestle with the tshirt and ripping my numbers in the process I then progressed to my feet. There was a lot of talcing up of trainers going on during set up, turns out most people don't bother with socks. My friend had bought me some lovely pink lock laces to go with my pink shoes, so I could just slip my trainers on, but the night before I couldn't work out how to lace them up. I am officially useless. I was overtaken in transition by about 4 people I was that slow.
The bike ride was the longest part of the race and a few people overtook me, but not too many. I was riding Ben's fancy road bike which helped. The triathlon was held in Great Yarmouth, a sea side town on the east coast so I was expecting wind. It wasn't too bad in the end. The bike route was 3 laps of a road that ran along the sea front, it was pretty windy in one direction but then the wind helped you along on the return route.
Bike ride - done, dismount - done, bike back on rack - done, running out of transition - hopeless. My legs felt like someone elses. I was running like I imagine a grandma would run. My mental state was not good at this point, I began thinking 'is it really bad form to walk for a bit.' Luckily I battled through and kept going. My legs didn't feel normal at any point and I think my run time was awful, there was no sprint for the finish line, but I did cross it.
Four first time triathletes
Unfortunately, my timing chip wasn't working right, so I still don't know what time I did. I was wearing my heart rate monitor but I forgot to stop it when I crossed the finish line. I faffed around a bit, getting my bag and chatting to a fellow competitor, and then I remembered. It said 1 hr and 10 mins. So I know I did less than that. We shall see. I expect some pretty horrendous pictures to appear online soon, I may or may not share those with you!
2012 is the year I get fit and shape up. And in the process I am going to be doing it for a great cause. I'm going to keep shamelessly plugging my sponsorship page, I hope you don't mind, but I am raising money for Myeloma UK. My very good friend Eli's dad has Myeloma and I promised her I would raise as much money as I can for the charity.
I hope you all had a lovely weekend and if anyone ran the London Marathon yesterday, well done! Puts what I did to shame!
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