My first Half Iron Man - Part I - Race application, swim cut off and sleepless nights....

As with most events I've entered, the amount of anxiety I feel pre-race is proportional to the amount of time in advance I enter, the earlier I enter, the less I worry....initially.  

And so it was, on a typically beautiful day in Greece whilst on holiday, I made use of the free wi-fi and after much panic and reliance on a friend sending me event links, I entered my first half iron man - Staffs 70.3.  In Tri-talk, this was going to be my 'A' race for the coming year.

I entered on the first day of availability, not only to make sure I got the cheapest price but also Staffs was known as an event that usually sells out very quickly.  So, on the anxiety-o-meter, I was fairly comfortable.  Ok, I'd just entered my first half iron man and up to now, had only completed one super sprint and an Olympic distance, neither of which I could safely say I covered myself in glory at !  However, I had faith in my ability to do the required training and be in the best shape I could come the day and, on top of which, race day was months and months away...what could possibly cause me to worry unduly.

I hadn't stopped training since I did my super sprint and Olympic earlier in the year.  I carried on training after those events and now with the goal of completing a 70.3 race, I continued to train virtually every day through winter.  Training was going well, it was consistent and I was getting in some good sessions.  And then it happened....

The first 'Athletes Guide' arrived from Iron Man and I duly started to read and digest each and every word on my daily commute to and from work.  And then I spotted it, whilst reading the swim guide, those two words that sent my anxiety-o-meter through the roof - "CUT-OFF".  There it was in black and white, the two words guaranteed to start second thoughts about my ability to complete the event.

No one told me !! No one mentioned it, there had been no cut off's in the previous races I'd entered and completed.  Clearly, still being a novice had meant that I was not aware that in most (if not all) middle and long distance events, cut offs are common.  I had vaguely remembered friends mentioning cut off times when doing Iron Man events, but hadn't really taken it on-board, as at the time I had no ambition to complete at Iron Man distance.

I couldn't get it out of my mind, I read and re-read the athletes guide, maybe I invented it, dreamed it.  When it was clear it was for real, I started to ponder how it would work.  Would there be an official at the swim exit waiting for me and telling me I couldn't continue, maybe I'd get a tap on the shoulder in T1..."sorry son, you can't carry on, collect your gear and follow me..."  I went through all these different scenarios, genuinely believing there was a real opportunity of me not making the grade.  But, I had to, I had to get to my bike ! The bike and run were my better disciplines, where I could hope to make progress to my goal of that Iron Man finisher medal.

So back to those two-words, CUT OFF.  For the swim, it was 1hr and 10m in total.  I started to calculate in my head if I was capable of completing 1900m in that time.  I was fairly sure I could based on previous lake swims where I was completing 2 laps (1800m give or take depending on navigation!) around the 50 min mark.  However, at the time, I was only swimming up to 1500m really as I was only training at that time for an Olympic distance event, so I wasn't going 'all-out' for these two laps and didn't consider it a reliable benchmark.

But even so, based on this approximate benchmark, the margins for predicted 1900m weren't great and I convinced myself that any mishaps on the day, or some poor navigation could easily eat into whatever margin I had and see me fail to complete the swim.

Over the following weeks and months I had to make a concerted effort to improve my swim, buying paddles and a pull buoy to focus on technique and referring to my 'swim smooth' book.  I had a friend who happens to be a swim instructor come and watch me swim and leave me with lots of things to work on.  It was good to have this focus in the pool, so I could make sessions count toward improving the areas where most gains might be made and then see how I was doing as soon as the lake opened in April.  All the time telling myself, you have to get to the bike, you have to !  Besides, imagine telling my wife when I came back, that I'd just paid £200 for a swim !

Now here comes the really interesting part.  During my training, when friends, family and other tri friends would ask how I was getting on, I always said it was going well.  I said the swim was my big challenge and this was (still is) true.  However, what I never let on about was my approach to the swim training, which at the time, made sense to me, but writing this now seems somewhat odd.  So in the pool, I was averaging 2 swims per week.  Monday was always my endurance set, Friday's was technique.  In those Monday sessions, I would swim 1500m, nothing more and note my time for this.  On average I would be hitting 37 minutes for 1500 (yeah, ok, its slow, I get that!).  On some days, I could get near 36 mins or 35 mins.  I knew 400m was taking me in the region of 9 minutes so in order to assess my capability to get inside the time limit of 1hr 10m for 1900m, I would just add the two times together and tell myself, I should be ok, especially as I was banking on gaining a small amount of time from the wet suit.

What I wouldn't do would be to swim 1900m so I could see my ACTUAL time for that distance, the distance I'd need to cover on race day.  I knew I was kidding myself that adding times from a 1500m swim and a totally separate (not even on the same day!) 400m swim was no way to gauge my estimated finish time.  But the thought of swimming 1900m and being somewhere near an hour, really made me nervous...I'd rather not know.

This game carried on for many sessions until the point where something got the better of me.  I had to start swimming the distance to see (a) if I could make it and (b) more importantly if I could be inside that cut off.  I started to work toward the 1900m distance in my Monday sessions and once there, I was always 'comfortably' under the hour, although there was still that nagging doubt that, on the day, with perhaps only a 10 mins or less buffer, I was cutting it fine if my navigation was off on the day.

I did consider looking at early 70.3 races in order to get some practice in but in the end, decided my first attempt at the distance would be the Staffs race day.  In the meantime training continued to go well, I was getting in consistent sessions and feeling like I was making good progress.  The swim still loomed large so I just kept plugging away at it - got to get to the bike, got to get to the bike I told myself.

Friends would ask me when they saw me how training was going, I always said it was going well and always added...and I've got ages yet until race day - I've got 3 months to go...2 months to go, 1 month to go......before I knew it race week was upon me.  Where did that time go?  It was almost time to get started on my packing and organisation for the big day.

Join me for part II where I talk about race week, packing, more pre-race nerves and the excitement of a stay at the Holiday Inn on Jct 13 of the M6.....

From Iron-ing man to (half) Iron Man. Training 'smart' to achieve some race goals

Free-Time, the one thing you cant really put a price on, yet it has so much value and is so precious to us.  The one thing we always seem to run out of.

But....you want to compete in a Triathlon, it is next on your list of things to achieve and one thing a triathlon requires, above all, is time (and money....but that is for another discussion).

However, you are a working Dad (or Mum) but that doesn't impact your enthusiasm, desire and drive to complete a triathlon or many triathlons for that matter.  You have the motivation, the drive, the energy, or maybe one of those three !  But guaranteed, the one thing you are likely to experience a deficit of is time.

One of the very reasons it has taken me a while to write this article is in the main for this very reason.  A lack of time to dedicate to writing, other things taking up any time I might otherwise be putting fingers to keys.

However, let this not be a barrier to realising your triathlon ambitions.  With some planning and diligent use of time and a smart approach to training it is surprising what you can achieve.   I'm pretty certain much of what I say here you wouldn't have already thought of or considered yourself, or will (might) read and say, 'well, that is just common sense' and you'd be right.  There is no real science here, nothing world or life changing, but yes, just a common sense way of approaching training and getting the consistency I think you need to prepare for those first races.

To set the scene in context of my background, I work full time and my main sponsor (my better half of course) works part time.  My two boys are active lads playing basketball and football.  Basketball in particular trains 2 nights per week with games usually on a Saturday. The range of travel can be very wide and regardless of tip-off time requires all players to be at the venue an hour beforehand, whether that is home or away.  Football and basketball follow similar seasons, albeit football generally trains once per week and luckily games are on Sunday.   Travel isn't as far for away games and unlike basketball doesn't require that we are there 1 hour in advance.

So where to start.  I think before you even set off on training, or targeting a specific event, it is useful to be realistic about targets and goals, especially if you are going to be restricted on the number of hours you can train.  This is something I didn't do at the start, it didn't really cross my mind.  I had visions of not only being able to finish events I entered, but in my age group, I thought, how many decent people can there really be doing triathlon at the age of 47.......well, you'd be surprised !  I guess it is specific to events and who turns up to what races.  Suffice to say there are some seriously good age-group athletes out there.  I mentioned previously about not over-estimating your ability when choosing the first event you enter  - I did the exactly this with my overall assessment of my triathlon capability.  I thought, even assumed, that given a decent endurance background, I'd be half decent but those first couple of races I did were real eye openers for me in terms of where my ability placed me.

With this in mind, set realistic targets about what you think you can or might achieve given the time you can commit to training.  Having raced my first half iron man on probably an average of 6hrs or less training per week (which I felt was a lot), come race day, that felt like the minimum.  I'm not sure I would have wanted to attempt it on less training than I did. Again, we are all different.  Many people will arrive on the start line on less training than I've done and still finish.

Schedule or non-schedule

Again, this is going to be mostly individual as to whether you follow a set plan or not.  There are plenty of free one's around on the web and there are schedules you can pay for from triathlon specific coaches. Personally, I don't follow a set plan mostly because of the unpredictable nature of any given day.  Train delays, work delays, the wife having to go out to meetings, uber jobs...etc.  If I was fixed to a timetable, I would quickly get annoyed at missing things.  Of course, you can shift any timetable around, but for me, I work better not having one.  Does this impact how I train and my results - I've no idea.  Probably.  But it is what it is.  I took a few training schedules from the web for the distances I was looking to race and saw what sort of volumes they covered (longest swim, bike and run, frequency of each etc.) and used that as a guide.  Above all else, I try to aim for consistency in my weekly training load.  By that I mean always being able to fit something in somewhere and somehow.  That said, I have learnt to accept that if it isn't possible and one or two days pass with no session, then the rest is just as important.

Sort of planning

At the start of any week, I will try and plan as much as I can, to see what uber runs I am lined up for, what meetings or other plans the wife has and this gives me a sense of what I will be able to do and when.  If I'm feeling adventurous, I might even pluck up the courage to ask what the weekend looks like, again if only to get a sense of what might be possible.  

Despite not following a fixed timetable, there are some sessions I try to stick to but only because they happen on certain days (e.g. lake swim, or the only session at the local pool where you can use floats, paddles etc.).  There is no guarantee I'll make these, but will try my best to keep to them if I can.  These sessions aside, most other days are random and I try to keep a balance between the runs and the bike during the week.  Bike sessions are tricky during the week, so the turbo comes in handy here.  Weekends are for longer sessions and even brick sessions if time allows.  So on average,  the week might look something like this:

The week

During the week, when time is always at more of a premium, I tend to only have time for 5k runs, so I will make sure at least one session is a decent pace, or some fartlek to try and keep the speed in the legs.  Just because it is only a 5k run, it doesn't mean it can't be effective.  I have no issues with doing an 'easy' or steady 5k and just seeing it as a tick-over session.  If the wife is out and a run is out of the question, because there are basketball or football sessions to do drop off or collections for, then the turbo is usually the best option. Again, it might only be that I get 30 mins or 45 mins, but the turbo can still allow for a really decent session in this sort of time frame.  Often, the turbo session might be a late starter, 9pm or later, depending on collection runs, so there is an amount of dedication and commitment needed to climb on the bike after 9pm but that turbo is a great investment, it's always there to offer a session, any time of the day or night.

The mix of runs and turbo sessions will really depend on all the factors above, work, commuting reliability, Uber runs etc.  If I manage to get my Monday and Friday swims in and a mix of runs and turbo sessions in the week, I consider that a decent week.

The weekend

When the weekend arrives, longer sessions may be on the cards, although even here, it may call for some early starts, depending on what other commitments there are.  Where I choose to swim at my local lake,  the saturday session requires at least a 5.30 am start. There are other lakes I could use with later starts, but in this case, I can do my long open water swim and still be back before 9am.  If I'm lucky, that will even allow me to get 40 miles or more on the bike afterwards - or, if I need to be indoors, the turbo will suffice.

'Smart' training

Saying 'smart' makes it sound as If I am some sort of expert here, or have some sort of insight into clever training sessions - nothing could be further from the truth.  What I list below just comes from the reality of trying to be the best that I can be at Triathlon whilst at the same time having to fit in everything else that has to be done in any given 24 hour period.  And, I have to add, not all of these are my own work, but ideas taken from other triathlete mates in the same boat trying to achieve the same end result.  Many of these are based on how I try to fit sessions in and around the chores and tasks and work I have, so may not always specifically relate one-to-one with what you are doing in any given day, but, I'm guessing the approach or ideas will translate

• Bike ride to/from weekend sport events: One of the larger time consumers at the weekend is the transport and watching of my boys sport events (football and basketball).  In particular, basketball requires us (for reasons unknown) to arrive an hour before 'tip off'.  For home games I can set off on a bike ride making sure I finish up at the venue in time to change and watch the game.  Pack baby wipes and some deodorant so as not to offend too many other supporters who you might sit next to. You can ride home again after or just take the car with the family (assuming the bike fits in the car !).  Football isn't so generous, as you do not need to arrive so far in advance but again, set off an hour or so before kick off, do your ride and end up at the ground. If you are lucky and your wife or partner is watching, they can take some trainers, food and a warm coat.  If not, you'll look slightly odd supporting in your cycling gear.  But, to be honest, at my boys clubs, they've got used to me doing this !
• Run to/from weekend sport events:  Same rules apply as above.  For away games of basketball, that spare hour before, depending on your run pace, is a window for a 10k, with time to get changed and in the crowd to watch. If you are lucky and the game is at a school, you will have changing facilities and perhaps even an Ice cold shower - good for open water swim acclimatisation!  I always enjoy this type of session as invariably it is in a new location and it is nice to not really know where you are headed, just out and back making the route up as you go.  In some cases, usually only with basketball, the match is held in a sports centre where the is a pool.  So always worth adding some trunks to the kit bag in case.
• Cycle or run home from a family day out:  If there is room in the car, I often load the bike into the car with some appropriate kit and drink and at the end of a family day out, will cycle home.  I even like to 'race' the family and see how far I can get before they over take me !  Alternatively, chuck some running kit in and if the distance is agreeable, run back from the day out.
• Training with the kids:  Taking part in Triathlon can often involve a high volume of training so in order not to miss time with the kids, involve them in some sessions.  I often take my boys swimming and am lucky they are both strong swimmers so whilst we all share the same lane, we can go at our own speeds and do our own thing - which usually involves me trying to see if I can go quicker than my eldest (I cant !). One of my favourite sessions to do with the boys is a brick run.  Come back from a ride, the boys join me on their bikes and I'll run while they ride.  They can help set my pace, provide me drinks on the go and take some great pictures for Strava.
• Training as part of commuting:  Not an original idea by any means and not one I've made the most of.  A lot depends on shower and changing facilities if you run/ride to work and then remembering to have your work clothes/shoes etc. ready to go.  I find it too much to plan ! But I've done a few runs to work, taking the train part way and running the rest.  Or doing the same but in reverse, running part way home and getting the train the rest of the way.

So there it is, my take on some ideas and suggestions for how to try and fit training in around a busy life.  It isn't easy, it might mean some early starts or some later evening sessions, or some planning to combine something with a commute.  One thing I'm sure you will find though, when you do make the start line for that first...or 100th race, when you cross the finish line, the satisfaction of completion is made all that more special (I think) when you consider the challenges and sacrifices made getting your training in.

My First Ever 'Race'

So the time had come to select my first race, to put all this training to the test.  But what should I do....a sprint, super sprint, Olympic.  I had no idea.  I did a lot of reading and must say I was surprised to find that some people took on the half iron man as their first event.

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.

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.

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.

I can sort of swim now...but in a Lake ??!!

Even though, in my own mind at least, my swimming was progressing well, each Monday I visited the pool and jumped in, thinking 'wow, that is colder than last week...' I knew that for me, the 'ultimate' challenge would be moving from the 'safety' of the pool, with its nice marked out lanes, black line to keep me straight and what I now know, it's relatively warm water, to the lake.  Just those words 'the lake' played on my mind....how cold would it really be...how deep is it...what will I be able to see when I put my head under...what will I be able to hold on to after 400m when I need to take a rest !

If my fledgling triathlon adventure wasn't to falter before it even got going, I knew that at some point, I was going to have to conquer the lake swim, or any open water swim for that matter.  Of course, there are some events where the swim takes place in a pool, but the majority of the events I wanted to have a go at, all involved open water swims.

I think what helped here, was to enter an event that contained said lake swim.  Otherwise I could have quite easily put it off forever.  So, I duly entered the Lidl Bananaman (http://humanrace.co.uk/event/lidl-bananaman-triathlon/) and selected what I thought would be an easy distance to take on - the Banana Fritter (Super Sprint distance) which included a 400m lake swim (more on how 'easy' that first event was in a different post).  

So now, the challenge was laid down, I had the focus I needed.  I'd just spent 60 quid on my first triathlon event and I couldn't see that money go to waste by not being able to swim in the open water.

What next?  I had no idea what my next steps should be.  Where was there a lake, what about a wet-suit etc.  This is where friends and friends of friends come in handy.  At the local pool where I was taking lessons, I was told that there was a guy who often came who had done Iron Man and I also found out that you could hire wet suits for a season.  Lee (Iron Man) did come to one of the Monday sessions at the pool and I duly introduced myself and made sure I got all the information I could on open water swimming local to me.  

Other friends had mentioned a good place locally to look at wet-suits, that had an 'endless pool' so you could actually swim in the suit you selected.  Both Gill and Dawn at Tri N swimwell (http://www.trinswimwell.co.uk/) were so helpful.  I decided to take the plunge and buy my suit - something about wearing a second hand one didn't appeal.  The girls gave me a lot of their time, getting the right size suit, asking me what events I was planning to do and taking time to make sure I had the right suit.  I was  even lucky enough to get about half an hour of free instruction, such was the sorry state of my swimming at that stage, I'm sure they felt sorry for me !  They also explained about repairs if I damaged my suit and that they would buy my old one back should I want to upgrade.

I went for a HUUB suit, their entry level one (HUUB Apperitif) as I was trying to keep costs down, plus as this point, didn't know if I would actually take to the open water or complete in a Tri, so didn't want to spend massive amounts.  I'm really impressed with this suit and for the money, seems to be superb value 

In terms of the lake, luckily for me, there is a lake around 20 minutes from me called Stubbers (http://www.stubbers.co.uk/) complete with a triathlon and open water swim team that ran open water sessions there (http://www.swimfortri.co.uk/).  Again, I cannot praise the team at SwimforTri enough, from telling me how it would all work, from my first 'skills' lesson to being able to swim on my own in the fitness sessions.  That first skills lesson was invaluable, as it helped to ease the nerves and worries, there was a fairly sizeable group which brings an element of comfort, from not being the only first-timer.  After registration and getting our numbered band (to check us in/out of the water) we were taken through how to put our suits on, use of products such as bodyglide which would help prevent rubbing, we covered land-based warm up, how to stop our goggles steaming up on entering water. Eventually we were ready for the water, which was advertised as a balmy 14 degrees.  I had no reference point whatsoever as to what that was like, other than remembering the local pool was always advertising the main pool at 29 degrees and that always felt cold initially. Well, for reference, 14 is COLD !

Needless to say, there were a number of strange and perhaps unexpected noises emitted as we all entered the lake for the first time and that icy water filled our suits.  Initially, I was taken aback with the buoyancy of the suit.  I really hadn't expected it to float me in the water and it felt quite odd.  We made our way to the centre of the lake and by the time we were there, a few minutes in, I didn't even notice the cold. I was surprised how warm the suit kept me.  Even my feet were fine as were my hands.  In the centre of the lake, we were introduced to the specific needs of open water swimming.  From getting attention if in trouble (roll onto back, raise hand), to swimming in a straight line and how to swim 'head up' briefly for navigation. Types of breathing to deal with swell/waves etc.  It was a really useful session.  In all the session lasted around 45 mins, by which time my hands were frozen and I was glad of the decision to call it a day.  Back on land, there were hot drinks and biscuits provided.


Yet again, another massive sense of achievement washed over me.  I'd done it.  I had actually swum (ok not very far) in a lake !  What struck me again was the enthusiasm of the swimforTri team, their depth of experience and ability to make you feel at ease and like the pool, the friendliness of everyone else who was there for the first time, or who was there for the 100th time, how easy we talked about it being first-timers, how silly we looked in wetsuits and rubber hats...how we were worried about the cold, what was underneath us...but all this chit-chat does matter.  It is important not to feel like the outsider, to be welcomed.  This is most certainly the case at Stubbers and I'm sure at many other open water venues around the country.

So, now having completed my skills session, I could swim on my own.  The first couple of times I went, it was still a learning curve for me.  I managed one lap, which depending on how good my navigation was, should have been somewhere around 900m or so.  Gradually I moved up to two laps and that sense of achievement was there again.  Not that long before I was just finding my feet in the pool, now I was swimming over 1500m in open water, non stop.  I do not think I've experienced a bigger sense of achievement in anything sports related before, even finishing my first Marathon.  And that was it, I was hooked. Open water swimming beats pool swimming hands down.  No contest.  Even if you do not plan on entering a Triathlon, I can't recommend the open water enough.  On some mornings at Stubbers, the lake is totally calm and flat, the sun just coming up over one of the banks, its just perfect, you never get that swimming in an indoor pool.

Now I've moved on to the open water, the pool still plays a big part in training, its a must during the winter months.  But, as with those first pool sessions I took, for all the worry and fretting I did, there was no need...everyone is so friendly, the instructors are great, the sense of security is comforting (there are boats placed around the lake and you are counted in and out of the lake) and the enjoyment of the open water is fantastic.  I tell anyone who will listen how good it is and how they should be doing it.  I'm sure like me, you may have many reservations about the open water, but really, if I can do it, anyone can.  

Find your local lake, get a wetsuit and get out there....and dont worry about there being no edge to hold on to...you really dont miss it.

But I cant swim.....

And to a degree that is still true....but I'm getting better (sort of).

So, after years of running and biking and biking and running, I decided that Triathlon was what I wanted to do next.  The one sticking point was, the swim.   I guess I could have tried multi-sport events that didn't include a swim but it was really Triathlon that I wanted to do.

I had no choice therefore but to confront my 'cant swim' dilemma.  After much deliberation, I decided the best approach was to take advantage of the adult lessons provided at a local pool, where both my boys learned to swim.  At least knowing the instructor might prove somewhat less embarrassing for me !

I was so nervous before that first 'lesson', not knowing what to expect, not wanting to be the slowest, or the worst swimmer, yet resigned to the fact this was how it would be. The pool was divided into 4 lanes and it looked as if the objective was to make it to the 'fast' lane where all the 'real' swimmers operated.  So to give some perspective to where I started with my swimming, the opening conversations went like this....

'Ok Brian, we'll start in the slow lane' - nothing out of the ordinary so far.  

'Where are your goggles?' - 'I don't own any....never have'.  'ok, well how will that work then with putting your head under water?'  

'Aah, well there's a thing, I don't like my head being under water...'

It was going to be a lot of work to get from here to being able to swim well enough to start thinking about entering a triathlon.  To start off, that first session, no goggles, not liking to have my face in the water and having to stop every 2 lengths to get my breath back...I wondered if I might have picked the wrong sport !  Here I was, someone who a month or so previously had run a Marathon and a couple of months later couldn't make 2 lengths of a 25m pool without stopping.  I didn't get it.

Over the next 4 to 5 weeks as the instructors worked with me to correct and remedy my 'style' I actually began to feel more like a swimmer, rather than someone trying to get from one end of the pool to the other without sinking, drinking the water or crashing into someone coming the other way !  As a result of feeling this progress, I resolved to carry on with this weekly session, bought myself a book to read (Swimsmooth) and watched a number of youtube videos to try and take on board as much as I could.

I had acquired a Triathlon watch so was able to sit in wonder after my swim and study a plethora of numbers and statistics I had no idea of the meaning of (SWOLF for example).  I could also share such confusing statistics with my mates on Strava.  My instructors insisted on doing it the old way, and counted strokes in a length and told me what I should be aiming for....I think my fellow swimmers preferred this approach as they all looked round in annoyance as I hit the multitude of buttons on my watch and made lots of beeping noises. 

Despite all this new information on my wrist, I was still the slowest in the pool by a wide margin and never once finished the sets we were tasked to complete in the 30 mins we had. That said, every week, I managed to get closer to finishing a set, or reduce the number of times I was lapped.  Gains were small and at the margins...but I had grown to love the weekly swim, the challenge it presented and the seemingly endless technique there was to master.  But no one was ever critical of my slow progress, or lack of speed, totally the opposite.  Instructors and fellow swimmers alike were nothing but positive and supportive. After a while, I got quicker than the other two in my lane, I wasn't the slowest anymore.  My swim fitness started to improve, it all started to come together.

In or around April, I had enough confidence to attempt my first open water swim - more about that in a separate post.  I remember going back to the pool the first Monday after that open water swim and being so pleased with myself and telling my instructors, who were just as pleased for me and the progress I'd made.  This spurred me on to improve further.

After a few more weeks of the Monday sessions I decided to take myself swimming at the local council run pool and continue by trying to coach myself.  I needed to swim twice a week so would mix this with a session in the lake as my second swim.  Unfortunately for me, the second swim with the group I started with was an 'invite only' and my progress hadn't been good enough to warrant such an invite (fair enough).  The Thursday carrot was dangled as I continued to progress... 'at this rate Brian, you'll be able to come to the Thursday session soon...' but alas, I never quite made the grade.

To conclude, even if you think you can't swim, like I always did, I think as adults, we are more concerned about joining a group where there will be others better, faster etc. than us. Yes, that is true, there will be those people...but they aren't ogres, they will be nice people, they will encourage and support, give tips, advice etc.  

So if you are thinking of taking up triathlon, but keep telling yourself, '...but I can't swim' don't let this put you off.  Find your local adult swimming classes, get yourself down there and get into it.   To my own surprise, despite the swim being the weakest of my three disciplines, I actually tend to enjoy it the most.  I love the challenge of learning, progressing and also the very technical nature of swimming.  I plan to post more on swimming as there is so much to cover.

Don't be afraid to start...go on, dive in !

The Mighty Tri's first ever post.

So here we go, the first post on the mighty tri.  

Why start a  Blog? Last year, having got quite bored of running Marathons, I decided to try Triathlon.  It was something I had been thinking of trying for a while.  I've always ridden and enjoyed bikes (road and MTB) and my running had got to a reasonable standard...but I kept telling myself I couldn't swim  (some would say I still can't !), let alone take on an open water swim.

But, I resolved to try, so last January I took up some swimming lessons and that same year completed my first two events, a short sprint and a longer Olympic distance triathlon.

With those first two events, I soon realised that this new sport I had taken up was quite a lot more involved than just entering and completing say in a marathon.  There was so many things I was learning as I went, so many things I learnt on race day and other things I learned from friends who had previously competed in events.  

I found myself writing down these things I'd learned so I would remember for future events. 

Recently a friend asked me a few things about getting into triathlon, the sort of questions I found myself asking when I was starting and I remember writing my friend a big long email about Triathlon, outlining the different distances, where to get into open water swimming, where to get a wetsuit...etc.  I realised I actually enjoyed sharing this information and more so writing about it.  It also got me thinking that, as I first started, I struggled to piece together a lot of the information I wanted to know and was now able to share with my mate.

Instead of writing that big long email, I thought how neat would it be to write it once and then be able to share it, just by giving out a link....and here we are. 

What am I going to write about here?  To be honest, I'm not sure.  Anything triathlon or triathlon related really.  Training, nutrition, racing (well, participating in events and hopefully finishing), equipment and just general triathlon chit-chat.  I'd like to provide reviews on kit, gear and anything else I buy to use in triathlon.  I'll ask friends and fellow triathletes to contribute as well. 

So here we go, push the 'publish' button and get going - and like the events I enter, see what happens.