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The results are in
All the training and all the hard work comes down to a two row table in a ugly shade of blue
| Race No | Firstname | Lastname | Time | Pos | Swim Time | T1 Time | Bike Time | T2 Time | Run Time |
| 873 | David | McGeorge | 01:56:41 | 366 | 00:21:22 | 00:03:39 | 00:52:01 | 00:01:33 | 00:38:09 |
A big thanks to all the people who sponsored me, wished me good luck, called, texted, emailed me and the people who came down on the day. Couldn't have done it without you.
Holy shit!
So, it’s the Thursday before the Sunday of my Triathlon. To say I’m a little nervous is an understatement. I’ve dropped my training right down this week to just a few gentle activities, noting too strenuous and thrown in a couple of rest days for good measure. If I’m not ready now it’s too late.
Pasta pasta and a bit more pasta
In the 2 days prior to the race I need to carbo-load. Its recommended that I eat 10g of carbohydrates for every Kilogram you weigh. I’m 11.9 Stone which is about 75kg. That means I have to eat 750g of pasta/noodles/rice/potatoes etc. I don’t know about you but that seems an awful lot. Especially when you think a regular bag of pasta is only 300g and that normally lasts me a few weeks. Pasta Party!At last weeks open water practise session the trainers gave a few tips and went through what to expect on race day.
“You should all mentally prepare for race day”
Err ok, not really sure how one would mentally prepare. Does that mean think about it a bit? In my attempt to mentally prepare for the day I just though I would write down what I was going to do. Here goes...
THE DAY
- Get up well early and have some breakfast
- Aim to be at the event about 2 hours before my start time (8:30)
- Get signed up and get my number
- Setup my bike in the transition area and make sure everything is in place and in the right order
- Suncream on
- Wetsuit on
- Start shitting myself (optional)
- Get in the water and float over to the start line
- Try and chill out a bit and relax
GO!
- Do my swim length 1 lap of the dock
- Start kicking my legs a bit more before exiting the water ready for the bike section
- Probably not going to run the 100m from the waters edge to the transition as its over tarmac and I’ll have bare feet.
- Fast walk to my bike
- Goggles on my head
- Wetsuit to my waist
- Swimming hat and goggles off
- Wetsuit off
- Quick dry of my face and legs
- Running shorts on
- T-shirt on
- Helmet on
- Push the bike out of transition (penalties if you ride before they say you can)
BIKE
- Two laps of the bike course
- Take in a gel pack (like an energy drink but in gel form, very weird but seem to help)
- Drink all the water in my bottle
- Hop off the bike at the line
- Push my bike back to the transition
- Helmet off
- Straight back out for the run
RUN
- Take the run slow
- Do 1 lap of the running course
- Look for the water points along the course
- Keep head up and try and take long strides
- Cross the finish line
- Do a backflip (optional)
- Collapse in a heap on the floor (more likely)
- Brag to people saying that it was easy
- Watch the England match
END
Even writing that has put a little bit of fear into me. Triathlons are won and lost in the transition so people keep telling me. I think this is where I can pull it back :) I’m really not aiming for a “good time” or anything like that. I just want to be able to swim all of the swim, bike all of the bike section and run all of the running section without stopping. If I can do that I’ll be a very happy man.
Nothing left to do now apart from eat shed loads of pasta and get ready for the day.
See you on the other side
Race Numbers and Start Times
To quote Will Smith
"This shit just got real!"
I have just received my race number and start time for the big day. I will be starting the triathlon at 10:30 on Sunday 27th.
THATS ONLY TWO WEEKS AWAY!
donate-a-tron
Hi Everyone
It's a bit late in the game as my triathlon is at the end of this month but finally I have setup my JustGiving page. Everyone can easily donate and can help me raise some money for the British Red Cross. This makes it all the more worth while and putting that little bit of extra pressure on me to finish :)
I touched a jellyfish
One of the most difficult things for me to train for is the open water swimming section of the triathlon. Being 'always prepared' I booked myself on 3 open water swimming sessions.
The Wetsuit
A wetsuit is mandatory for entering the competition. I picked mine up last week and oh boy is it tight. I now know the meaning of skin tight. It pushes everything down and in. It gives me acute skin claustrophobia but then there is also nothing more liberating than taking off this rubber prison.
And we're in...
As I've never swam in anything other than a swimming pool the idea of doing some proper open water swimming in a part of the Mersey where I couldn't touch the floor and was filled with Jelly fish was a little disconcertion to say the least.
After some flexing and stretching on the dock side I finally squeezed into my wetsuit. A quick safety briefing and it was time to go in. The session was quite free form, "just get in a have a bit of a swim see if you freak out or not".
I jumped... and everything went pitch black. It didn't occur to me that I wouldn't be able to see anything whilst underwater. This massively freaked my out. After surfacing and calming down and I could see where I was going things felt that little bit more relaxed. Until.... I touched a Jellyfish! Well I think it was a Jellyfish, it felt a bit weird. It could have been a plastic bag or a condom. Sometimes you get lucky!
Breaststroke?
After a lot of training in the pool I had decided that even though I would look like a nana I was going to do the entire swimming section breaststroke as oppose to front-crawl like the real athletes. I just can't swim for a sustained amount of time in that style. Until now!
After donning my Vader esk suit and swimming a few strokes I suddenly realised that it was quite easy. Like Jackie Chan in The Tuxedo I too was moving with the power of ten men, well maybe not but a lot better than I did previously. My suit gives me a fair amount of buoyancy in the water so much so that I was only using my legs for balance.
After a fairly trying hour in the dock I emerged feeling good about it all. The swim section: Not so unsettling after all!
And for all you perverts out there
I'm a heel striker
This is not a lifestyle choice. It's a style of running and it's not very good for you.
When running your foot should come into contact with the floor in an equal and flat manor. Most people (myself included) who haven't had any formal running training end up developing unorthodox techniques such as heel striking (see the video above). This means that each stride I take the heel of my foot takes the full impact of the floor which can lead to a multitude of "bad shit" happening to your legs, calves and shins.
I'm slowly but surly improving my running gate. Although the actual act of running doesn't seem to be getting any easier. Shins sill kill, legs wobble and my calves still ache. On a positive note my overall fitness does seem to be going in the right direction.
Now to look forward to my first open water swimming session - first time swimming outside!
*shivers*
DRINK! FECK! BIKE!
Training has been on going for a few weeks, nothing really to write home about apart from the last 7 days. I'm not sure if I was overdoing it a bit or just a little run down but I have missed a full weeks worth of training. Shock horror!
After a few innocent drinks (not the smoothie) one evening, I awoke the next day feeling like death. I'm not a big drinker but this felt more than a light hangover. One day off work and the whole weekend later I still felt like crap! I'm not sure what this is telling me... Should I not train as much? Never? Not drink as much? Probability? Or not be sick? Maybe?
Alcohol is a Poison... fact!
On reflection I think it was a mix of doing a little too much exercise, having a bit of a cold and drinking on an empty stomach. All lessons to be learnt at the school of novice triathlon training.
The time spent recovering wasn't totally futile, I was on the internet researching for food tips for exercise and training. I really am a super fun guy! I have worked out that I need to eat more and take in more calories. A situation I have never been in before. I have to watch what I eat to stay the same weight so loosing weight was new to me and a little disconcerting.
It's all carbohydrate boosting and creatine loading from now on. Pasta party!
ps. After, what feels like endless weeks of bidding on ebay I have finally got my bike. Woo Hoo! I can now take to the streets on this wheeled beast
Testing the water... bike and road
As well as my normal training this week I have attempted to swim, bike and run the full distances of the triathlon. Not at the same time, one activity per day.The results are in: I'm a bit crap!
Another err... minor issue is that I did all of this training in the comfort of my gym. Not outside in the cold with hills, wind and other competitors. You never know the triathlon could have random tv's dotted around with MTV playing and a juice bar?
The only way is up?I added an extra five lengths to the swim as I won't have the luxury of being able to kick off each end of the pool when swimming in open water. After a measly four lengths of front crawl I changed to the more sustainable breast stroke, I could be the only nanna stroke swimming triathlete on the day but I don't care.The bike test went surprisingly well, it took a bit longer than I would have liked but overall not too shabby.Run forest run! I think I've found my weakest discipline. This was hard. Very hard. Probably the longest length I've ever run and it felt like it. Legs were like jelly when I stepped off the treadmill. This week has been a positive one. Little steps n'all that. I can't help think that, although I completed each distance, I was in no fit state to do anything afterwards never mind more intense exercise.
Another err... minor issue is that I did all of this training in the comfort of my gym. Not outside in the cold with hills, wind and other competitors. You never know the triathlon could have random tv's dotted around with MTV playing and a juice bar?
No Turning Back
Oh My God! No turning back now. It is official.
I'm 100% no going back doing a Triathlon!?!?!
Panic, apprehension and slight feeling of nausea is filing my body.
I've signed up for the Sprint distance Triathlon today (don't let the name fool you I will be doing very little sprinting, maybe 'All fours crawl/drag' would be a more apt name) I've also booked onto 3 practice open water swimming sessions. This is something that I can't easily practice so I need as much time doing it as possible. Unless I take a walk down to the Huddersfield Broad Canal.
Facts and Figures
Swim 750M > Bike 20K > Run 5K
Average times
Swim: 17:20
Transition 1: 2:30
Bike: 45:50
Transition 2: 2:30
Run: 27:31
Which makes a total of 1:35:41. Eeek! These must be the times of "athletes" not web designers?
Designed by Stevie Wonder
Who the hell designs running shoes? Why are they all modelled on rejected space ship designs from 80's sci fi films?
These are my new running shoes
Posted
from Huddersfield, United Kingdom
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