How it all started
I watched the Salford BG World Cup Triathlon in 2007 which was an incredible sporting event and immediately afterwards I realised I had the bug - this is what I wanted to do!
I decided to enter the North West Triathlon in Nantwich last year but as this was to be my first triathlon I thought it better to just start with doing the running leg of a sprint relay. So I started serious running training for the 5km distance. I’ve never been the best runner in the world, or so I thought, so I planned out a 5km route and just tried to cover as much of the distance as I could without stopping.
My first attempt was jogging, walking, jogging until I completed the route, but completed it I did…in 33 minutes! Every other day I went out on the same route and each time my jog, walk routine became less frequent until it was run, jog, run; then one day I realised I had run the whole distance without stopping once! That was in the space of just four weeks, which I thought was fantastic!
My next goal was to get as quick a time as possible so I looked at the elite times for 5km, which were under 14 minutes and I took the view that 175% (24 minutes) of that would be a realistic target.
By now I had looked on the internet at the British triathlon site and located a triathlon club close to where I live- Tri Team Wigan. After sending an initial email I soon became a member and was being coached in all three disciplines.
I reached my 5km, 24 minute milestone two weeks before the race but I was determined to keep pushing for a faster time and set my goal for the race at 22 minutes.
The week before the race I eased down so my body was in good shape for the day.
The event itself was a time trial version, with competitors starting in the pool every 20 seconds. A 500m swim in the only heated outdoor brine swimming pool in Great Britain, followed by a one lap 20km cycle around the South Cheshire countryside until returning to the Barony Park in Nantwich for 4 laps around the park itself. This meant that overtaking any race numbers lower than yourself was an automatic 20 second gain.
When it came to transition two I had warmed up and downed two energy gel packs and our cyclist, just like our swimmer had pushed as hard as possible so it was up to me to keep up the momentum! I started the first lap at a steady pace and picked it up each time I passed the drink station, soaking up shouts of encouragement from my mates, and most of all my wife, I kept my knees high and my stride long. It was difficult to see where I was in relation to other competitors as we only had race numbers on our front, but I had passed a number of runners and was only overtaken by one guy who was on another level.
The last time I hit the drinks station I grabbed a cup of water and threw it over me and the water was freezing and I shuddered as a ran! It gave a few spectators a laugh though. I picked up the pace and got a respectful nod from the relay runner who’s team, ’The Untouchables’, had started 20 seconds before us but fell behind in the pool, on the cycle ride and now in the run. That was a good feeling! I came up to the last two hundred metres and kicked hard and sprinted with everything I had to finish in 21 minutes, 28 seconds. A warm down jog, a carbohydrate & protein drink and a shower later it was job done! 8th fastest team, 6th fastest runner- not bad for a first attempt.
