Richard Tries A Triathlon – Part 2

Apologies that I haven’t been posting on this blog as regularly this past month or so. The truth is, I’ve been a bit low on both inspiration and motivation. But I’m sure I’ll rediscover both of them at some point.

It’s now just a few days until my first triathlon, so I thought I’d give a little update on how the training has been progressing. The thirteenth of August was a big day: that was when I ran a full five kilometres for the first time. Technically, I ran for a full 30 minutes (as per the last stage of the Couch to 5K program) and measured my final distance as 5.38km! It felt great, especially considering I’d never really run at all before signing up for this triathlon. When this is over, I intend to try progressing to longer distances.

I’ve also been practicing my cycling by doing laps on a 5km loop. The first time I did a full 20km, it was a very windy morning which made things extra hard! I’ve done two more 20km rides since then – and the last two, I followed up with some running to get a proper idea of how the triathlon would feel. It took a few minutes to get my knees working properly, and I wasn’t able to run all the distance that I intended – I had to walk a bit – but both times, I never stopped, and I was able to practice optimal pacing.

So, considering this is my first triathlon, I think I’m as well prepared as I can be – my main concern now is the itty-bitty details, particularly in the transitions, but I’m sure it’ll come together just fine. I think my chances of finishing are good, and I’m interested to see just what time I can manage. Unfortunately, there’s currently a strong possibility of wet weather on the day, but I haven’t put all this effort in to let a bit of rain stop me!

Bring on Sunday!