This year I decided I wanted to be a triathlete. I’ve run for a few buses, swum on holiday, and even rode my bike to school once – how hard could it be? The first step was gauging my my abilities for each component, and taking it from there. It was only when I completed my first lap in the pool, and looked up at the horrified yet pitiful expression on my coach’s face, that I realised how difficult this was going to be.
I’d uncovered this mysterious confidence I’d had for many years after being repeatedly told I was a good swimmer (by my Mum might I add), and quickly binned it after a sufficiently humbling first training session. It took hours of practice to unlearn my very clunky, (and what I thought was very effective,) technique.
Next on the list was running, which is arguably the hardest part of a triathlon. I had never run more than a couple of kilometres, so took to the streets of Nottingham in ambiguity to see what I was capable of. It’s fair to say I had no idea what I was getting myself into and unsurprisingly overdid it, running for way too long and way too fast. After a speedy two-month recovery (I’m not joking), I redownloaded Strava and took a more calm and relaxed approach, hysterically begging my friends to run with me so I had some company, and someone to carry me home if I did end up collapsing halfway through.
To fill the two months of no running, I dusted off my dad’s brand spanking new, never used, definitely forgotten about, five-year-old bike. With the help of about twelve YouTube videos and lots of trial and error, I managed to figure out the gears and took to the road. Unfortunately, being painfully aware of how easy it is to get knocked off has prevented me from cycling as much – alongside the fear of being injured without ever having done a triathlon which would be beyond embarrassing, and just my luck. Regardless, it’s become one of my favourite parts of a triathlon. I suspect it’s either because there’s no coach telling me what I’m doing wrong, or because if I get tired, I can happily rest my legs and breeze down lovely long hills.
Despite a rather awkward and clumsy start to my triathlon journey, I’ve loved getting into it, and I’m excited to see where it goes. Of course, the next step is to gradually get better and to actually DO one, which is creeping its way up on my very long to-do list. Hopefully next time I’ll have more failures, even more successes, and plenty of advice for my fellow trying athletes.