Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Here are a selection of the equipment I used this morning. Arising at an unweekendly 7am, I found myself preparing for a triathlon for the first time.
I should probably have sorted preparing some time ago, as in maybe some training. The only training I had undertaken was running up the downwards escalator at North Greenwich with my Friends of the Earth Croydon posse andthat 17 mile wrenching blister production line run that I did 7 days ago – and that left me incapacitated for quite some time.
I have always wanted to give a triathlon a go, especially after finding myself 7 people deep in Hyde Park at the London 2012 men’s triathlon as I watched the Brownlee brothers bring triumph to Team GB.
I spent some time looking for a proper triathlon, asking people at the swimming pool among various internet searches. But I soon realised that my hopes to do a competitive one were looking slim, especially after taking up work 5 weeks early.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Thanks to WalkJogRun for this little route.
So, I have devised my own: 500 metre swim, transition at the pool, cycle loop to the South, transition at my house, run loop to the North. Should work out to be 37.5km in total.
For a warm up, I cycled the couple miles to de Stafford school pool. Once there I joined the other early risers for 20 speedy lengths of front crawl. Well, not as speedy as hoped but it has been a while.
The transition was obviously pretty slow, what with changing rooms and stuff but we got there eventually. And, on the bike we got. It was great to be back on the vehicle, it has been quite some time since I last rode my little road bicycle. It’s not quite the right size for me but it’s still a heck of a lot of fun to pootle round on.
And pootle I did. Going south out of Caterham, through Chaldon and on to Bletchingley. This is where we met the A25 and the cycle immediately became easier. On through Godstone, Oxted and Limpsfield. This was all going rather splendidly…
Well, until I met an incline entitled Titsey Hill. Normally, I enjoy a bit of a climb but this was horrible. I’d tricked myself into thinking that I had cycled up here before but, my goodness, how wrong could I be. It begins a very steep gradient, must be something like 22/23%. It levels off a tiny amount but maintains a gruelling gradient that progresses much further than I could handle.
Very annoyed with myself, I click-clacked out of my pedals and continued up the mountain on foot, most intimidated by the 4x4s haring past. I touched my chain at one point as a fellow cyclist went past in the other direction, just so it looked like I had a mechanical fault not a lactic acid in calf muscle fault.
Eventually, we found our way to the Limpsfield Road. Warlingham came and as I reached the fringes with Whyteleafe, I hit my second transition. Note to anyone doing a triathlon in the future – never have your home as a transition station. I entered the house briefly to change shoes and encountered the most gorgeous aroma of my parents’ Sunday morning coffee. It was ever so tempting to just stay.
Reluctantly I pressed on. I downed a banana a couple steps down the road to give me a bit of energy but it wasn’t energy that I needed, it was a fresh set of legs. My lower limbs hadn’t a clue what was going on. They were constantly being assaulted in a whole manner of different ways rendering my body utterly confused. My calf muscles were so tight I could barely manage a jog.
Not a great time to encounter Tythepitshaw Lane. Another steep gradient up but not as long. I had to walk this part again. I hated every minute of it but there we are. From then on I just had to press on until the legs got looser and the house got closer.
I completed the triathlon in about 2 hours 21 minutes. My respect for triathletes is now vast. I will think twice about doing another of those without training.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
