I was convinced that sort of distance wasn't for me, but what was? I really couldn't decide. I chatted to friends who had raced and asked what they started with, but even this didn't really help, I still couldn't make up my mind.
Why was I finding it so hard, surely just pick an event and get on with it. Some people probably would, but that isn't me. I'll take a week of full on research to pick a bike tyre, reading reviews, doing research, seeing what the best price is, who has the best returns policy. You get the idea.
And so it was the same with the first event. Super sprint, sprint, Olympic. I was coming from a reasonable endurance sport background having done 7 marathons, countless half marathons, 20 milers etc. I'd always ridden a bike (few London to Brightons under my belt) but something was stopping me going for the bigger distance. I knew up to Olympic distance, even half iron, the individual distances I needed to cover didn't worry me. Even the 1900m swim of the half iron I thought I was capable of with some more training.
And so it was the same with the first event. Super sprint, sprint, Olympic. I was coming from a reasonable endurance sport background having done 7 marathons, countless half marathons, 20 milers etc. I'd always ridden a bike (few London to Brightons under my belt) but something was stopping me going for the bigger distance. I knew up to Olympic distance, even half iron, the individual distances I needed to cover didn't worry me. Even the 1900m swim of the half iron I thought I was capable of with some more training.
But, putting it all together, one after the other though, that felt like a different proposition altogether and it really made me doubt my ability to do anything more than a sprint the first time out. But when I looked a some of the sprints, the distances didn't seem challenging at all....a 5k run, there didn't seem much point ! This was a dilemma I seemed unable to answer for myself. Around this time of great dithering, a friend sent me a website link to something called LIDL Bananman which was organised by 'Human Race'.
This event had loads of different distances to choose from. After plenty more deliberation I settled on the 'Banana Fritter' a super-sprint with distances of 400m swim, 21.2k bike and 5k run. I went on-line and entered. Wow, this is it...I'd actually entered my first ever race.
Race day came and I'll be honest, I wasn't really sure what I was doing. I'd packed 'stuff' the night before and hoped that I'd got everything. I wasn't a BTF member so would have to get a day license. I had no idea how anything worked, what to expect and I was going on my own, so had no one to ask !
On arrival I parked up and made my way to registration, looking around at everyone as I did, to see what they were doing, how were they preparing, taking on board as much information as I could. Registration was quite simple, you took your race number from a board, went to the relevant section and were given your race numbers and swim cap. Another desk gave you your timing chip. That was it, all done in less than 10 minutes. What did I do now? I had arrived so early, I had about 2 hours until my wave started. Oh yes, I had to set up my bike and transition area but not this early, surely? My wave time went off near lunch time so I went back to the car and tucked into my chicken and cous-cous that I had brought with me and just took it easy, listened to some tunes. About an hour or so before the start, I prepared my bike, adding stickers etc. as instructed. The stickers even had clear instructions as to where they went. Easy really. I got all my stuff together, locked the car (checked it 4 times) and wandered to the start (had to go back once to check the car again !).
I knew I had to have my helmet on and done up to enter transition, so made my way there. They checked all my numbers matched and told me where I would be racking and that I was entering a 'live transition'. I had no idea what that was so just made my way to my designated racking position. I hooked my bike in the right slot and that was it, that was the extent of my knowledge ! I started to look round to see what I should be doing next. Ok, set my kit out, on a towel. Didn't have a towel.,,. that guy is filling his socks with powder...I didn't do that, or have any powder on me, hang your helmet off the tri bars....I can do that.
Leave your sunglasses in the helmet, I'm not convinced about that, what if someone helps themselves? I left mine in the case...in my bag for safety ! Then from no where comes this almighty shout..."coming through, mind your backs please..." I turn round and realise I'm standing in the middle of two racks of bikes trying to learn how to set up transition and there is a guy in GB kit, piling into transition with his bike....Live transition, I get it. It means as I'm setting up, there are others already racing and I need to be aware of getting in their way.
This crash course in transition preparation went on until I was happy I'd set my space up to resemble other more knowledgeable people. My mental note pad was out of paper and I think I was ready to start. I hung around in transition, chatting to people, watching people coming and going, trying to learn as much as I could. Then it was time, my wave was called, my wetsuit on I entered swim start. The briefing was a fairly light-hearted affair covering the route we'd take, the way the start would be signalled, what to do if we got in trouble in the water, where the 'imaginary' start line was and where we should place ourselves depending on how strong we thought we were on the swim. And before I knew it, we were off. I'd started my first ever race. The swim was only 400m so passed without drama. T1 was similarly straightforward. I jogged in, did my best Houdini in a straight-jacket impression as I tried to get out of my wet-suit. Everyone else seemed to chuck theirs on the floor, but I like to keep things clean so wasn't keen, but ultimately had no choice ! I pulled my bib shorts on over my swimming jammers and then disaster...the zip broke on my cycling top...what would I do now, I tried to repair it and then eventually decided to put my running top on and then the cycling top over the top of that - what a great idea, this will save me time in T2 I thought, not considering at this point I'd already been in T1 over 5 minutes ! Then came the socks and at this point the powder trick I'd seen earlier started to make sense as I tried to put socks on over wet feet ! Eventually after what seemed like forever I made my way onto the bike course and settled in to my 20k or so ride. It was a lap course and it was your responsibility to count your own laps. I think there was only 4 for me, so that wasn't too difficult. There was a fairly stiff breeze on one half of the loop but overall it was a pleasant ride and I overtook quite a few other riders - not that it mattered as we were all doing different distances and started at different times...but it still gives you a boost to go past people I find.
So on the 4th lap I was ready to get into T2, I tried to open my bike shoes before the dismount line and then it struck me that this wasn't going to work at all as I have road shoes with a ratchet system that isn't really open to one-handed operation. I waddled to my racking position on my cleats, racked the bike and then proceeded to get changed. Running shorts over the swimming jammers and then that massive time saving of already having my running top under my broken cycling top....tied up my laces and then I was off, onto the run course. This is the first time I'd run off the bike and it was an odd feeling. I'll admit, even 5k was a struggle and I thought as I was running, I'm glad I didn't choose to do a longer distance. After my 4 laps of the run, I crossed the line, I'd finished, I had done my first triathlon and survived....but then, hang on, what is going on here, we were being handed pints of larger....what is that all about. I don't really drink and cant imagine why an event promoting health and well-being is dishing out pints to everyone. Turns out it is quite a regular feature of triathlons and said 'pints' are in fact "Erdinger" an alcohol free vitamin packed larger.
I went back to my bike, chatted to fellow competitors about their race, made sure I looked out for competitors still racing and just packed up my kit and went back to my car. As I drove home, the sense of achievement grew. Ok, I'd only done a short distance race, but I'd done it. I'd swam in open water with other competitors and managed to run off the bike ok and I didn't feel too bad after it all. I was a triathlete, I had a medal to prove it, it said "Triathlon" on it !! I had thoroughly enjoyed it, that sense of achievement of being able to string three disciplines together. It was far more enjoyable than just running. Why had I waited until I was 45 to try it ?? I was sure this would be the start of many more races.
On that drive home, my head was filled with all sorts of things I'd learned from that race, things I'd do better next time, things I'd remember to take that I didn't this time. I'd write a list, that's what I'd do, so I didn't forget...or I could add it to a blog if I ever got round to it.
➧Firstly and most importantly for me, I enjoyed the whole experience. The friendliness of everyone, from organizers, to marshals and referees to fellow competitors. There was a real friendly buzz to the whole thing and I wanted to experience it again.
➧I get now why triathlons are much more expensive to enter than my usual running races. The organisation must be so extensive and having the water discipline requires boats and water based safety
➧Transition is free time towards a better finish time. I must have spent 5 mins plus in T1 and maybe similar in T2, so if you reduce that you can take time off your overall finish for free
➧Live transition means you will be racking your bike and setting up while others are racing, or conversely you will be racing while others are racking and setting up, so you need to be careful either way
➧Although you aren't allowed to mark your position in transition there was some clever use of lairy and bright towels to place transition kit on and maybe help with location spotting
➧Although a short swim was handy for a first event, it meant that there wasn't enough distance or time for people to split up and spread out, so although it was short, it was quite busy
➧Transition seemed a lot more secure than I had thought initially so in future I probably wont be as worried at leaving glasses in my helmet
➧I see how having specific kit is a time saver. Lucky for me, a friend told me to get a race belt in advance and I'm so glad I did. Watching people in Tri-suits, you can see what a time saver these are, something to consider for another day.
So there you have it, my first race, done. I finished, I enjoyed it, I learned a lot and best of all I'd enjoyed it and wanted to do it all again, putting into practice all the things I'd learned from my first foray into Triathlon.
This event had loads of different distances to choose from. After plenty more deliberation I settled on the 'Banana Fritter' a super-sprint with distances of 400m swim, 21.2k bike and 5k run. I went on-line and entered. Wow, this is it...I'd actually entered my first ever race.
Race day came and I'll be honest, I wasn't really sure what I was doing. I'd packed 'stuff' the night before and hoped that I'd got everything. I wasn't a BTF member so would have to get a day license. I had no idea how anything worked, what to expect and I was going on my own, so had no one to ask !
On arrival I parked up and made my way to registration, looking around at everyone as I did, to see what they were doing, how were they preparing, taking on board as much information as I could. Registration was quite simple, you took your race number from a board, went to the relevant section and were given your race numbers and swim cap. Another desk gave you your timing chip. That was it, all done in less than 10 minutes. What did I do now? I had arrived so early, I had about 2 hours until my wave started. Oh yes, I had to set up my bike and transition area but not this early, surely? My wave time went off near lunch time so I went back to the car and tucked into my chicken and cous-cous that I had brought with me and just took it easy, listened to some tunes. About an hour or so before the start, I prepared my bike, adding stickers etc. as instructed. The stickers even had clear instructions as to where they went. Easy really. I got all my stuff together, locked the car (checked it 4 times) and wandered to the start (had to go back once to check the car again !).
I knew I had to have my helmet on and done up to enter transition, so made my way there. They checked all my numbers matched and told me where I would be racking and that I was entering a 'live transition'. I had no idea what that was so just made my way to my designated racking position. I hooked my bike in the right slot and that was it, that was the extent of my knowledge ! I started to look round to see what I should be doing next. Ok, set my kit out, on a towel. Didn't have a towel.,,. that guy is filling his socks with powder...I didn't do that, or have any powder on me, hang your helmet off the tri bars....I can do that.
Leave your sunglasses in the helmet, I'm not convinced about that, what if someone helps themselves? I left mine in the case...in my bag for safety ! Then from no where comes this almighty shout..."coming through, mind your backs please..." I turn round and realise I'm standing in the middle of two racks of bikes trying to learn how to set up transition and there is a guy in GB kit, piling into transition with his bike....Live transition, I get it. It means as I'm setting up, there are others already racing and I need to be aware of getting in their way.
This crash course in transition preparation went on until I was happy I'd set my space up to resemble other more knowledgeable people. My mental note pad was out of paper and I think I was ready to start. I hung around in transition, chatting to people, watching people coming and going, trying to learn as much as I could. Then it was time, my wave was called, my wetsuit on I entered swim start. The briefing was a fairly light-hearted affair covering the route we'd take, the way the start would be signalled, what to do if we got in trouble in the water, where the 'imaginary' start line was and where we should place ourselves depending on how strong we thought we were on the swim. And before I knew it, we were off. I'd started my first ever race. The swim was only 400m so passed without drama. T1 was similarly straightforward. I jogged in, did my best Houdini in a straight-jacket impression as I tried to get out of my wet-suit. Everyone else seemed to chuck theirs on the floor, but I like to keep things clean so wasn't keen, but ultimately had no choice ! I pulled my bib shorts on over my swimming jammers and then disaster...the zip broke on my cycling top...what would I do now, I tried to repair it and then eventually decided to put my running top on and then the cycling top over the top of that - what a great idea, this will save me time in T2 I thought, not considering at this point I'd already been in T1 over 5 minutes ! Then came the socks and at this point the powder trick I'd seen earlier started to make sense as I tried to put socks on over wet feet ! Eventually after what seemed like forever I made my way onto the bike course and settled in to my 20k or so ride. It was a lap course and it was your responsibility to count your own laps. I think there was only 4 for me, so that wasn't too difficult. There was a fairly stiff breeze on one half of the loop but overall it was a pleasant ride and I overtook quite a few other riders - not that it mattered as we were all doing different distances and started at different times...but it still gives you a boost to go past people I find.
So on the 4th lap I was ready to get into T2, I tried to open my bike shoes before the dismount line and then it struck me that this wasn't going to work at all as I have road shoes with a ratchet system that isn't really open to one-handed operation. I waddled to my racking position on my cleats, racked the bike and then proceeded to get changed. Running shorts over the swimming jammers and then that massive time saving of already having my running top under my broken cycling top....tied up my laces and then I was off, onto the run course. This is the first time I'd run off the bike and it was an odd feeling. I'll admit, even 5k was a struggle and I thought as I was running, I'm glad I didn't choose to do a longer distance. After my 4 laps of the run, I crossed the line, I'd finished, I had done my first triathlon and survived....but then, hang on, what is going on here, we were being handed pints of larger....what is that all about. I don't really drink and cant imagine why an event promoting health and well-being is dishing out pints to everyone. Turns out it is quite a regular feature of triathlons and said 'pints' are in fact "Erdinger" an alcohol free vitamin packed larger.
I went back to my bike, chatted to fellow competitors about their race, made sure I looked out for competitors still racing and just packed up my kit and went back to my car. As I drove home, the sense of achievement grew. Ok, I'd only done a short distance race, but I'd done it. I'd swam in open water with other competitors and managed to run off the bike ok and I didn't feel too bad after it all. I was a triathlete, I had a medal to prove it, it said "Triathlon" on it !! I had thoroughly enjoyed it, that sense of achievement of being able to string three disciplines together. It was far more enjoyable than just running. Why had I waited until I was 45 to try it ?? I was sure this would be the start of many more races.
On that drive home, my head was filled with all sorts of things I'd learned from that race, things I'd do better next time, things I'd remember to take that I didn't this time. I'd write a list, that's what I'd do, so I didn't forget...or I could add it to a blog if I ever got round to it.
Post race thoughts
So, what did I learn from that first race. Regardless of finishing time, finishing places and other stats there are always things to be learned and taken to the next race, or into training.➧Firstly and most importantly for me, I enjoyed the whole experience. The friendliness of everyone, from organizers, to marshals and referees to fellow competitors. There was a real friendly buzz to the whole thing and I wanted to experience it again.
➧I get now why triathlons are much more expensive to enter than my usual running races. The organisation must be so extensive and having the water discipline requires boats and water based safety
➧Transition is free time towards a better finish time. I must have spent 5 mins plus in T1 and maybe similar in T2, so if you reduce that you can take time off your overall finish for free
➧Live transition means you will be racking your bike and setting up while others are racing, or conversely you will be racing while others are racking and setting up, so you need to be careful either way
➧Although you aren't allowed to mark your position in transition there was some clever use of lairy and bright towels to place transition kit on and maybe help with location spotting
➧Although a short swim was handy for a first event, it meant that there wasn't enough distance or time for people to split up and spread out, so although it was short, it was quite busy
➧Transition seemed a lot more secure than I had thought initially so in future I probably wont be as worried at leaving glasses in my helmet
➧I see how having specific kit is a time saver. Lucky for me, a friend told me to get a race belt in advance and I'm so glad I did. Watching people in Tri-suits, you can see what a time saver these are, something to consider for another day.
So there you have it, my first race, done. I finished, I enjoyed it, I learned a lot and best of all I'd enjoyed it and wanted to do it all again, putting into practice all the things I'd learned from my first foray into Triathlon.
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