If I never Tri, I’ll never know
It’s been 1 month since I relocated to Leeds, quit my job as a Physics teacher and decided to take up swimming and cycling on top of running. Some think I’m crazy, mad, brave maybe but yes…I’m finally giving Triathlon a shot.
At the start of Jan I moved into Jonny Brownlee’s house and started training with some of the top guys and girls in the sport at the Leeds Triathlon Centre. It’s been a huge leap into the unknown and there have been a lot of changes along the way. Moving to a new city, making new friends, new coaches, adapting to a new lifestyle…oh and picking up new skills for 2 new sports which I’ve had to get to grips with pretty quickly.
The Olympic Triathlon distance consists of a 1.5km swim, 40km bike and 10km run. Straight through. No recovery. At least I can do one of those disciplines pretty well! But after a couple of weeks I was beginning to think…what have I signed myself up for?
Other than the occasional 3–4 weeks I would hit the pool sessions while a running injury forced me to off load, it’s been 8 years since I did any proper swimming training. Classic Beth, I think I might have been over ambitious in the first couple of weeks because I soon picked up an overuse shoulder injury. Diagnosis….strained long head of bicep. It that even a muscle? And am I supposed to use it for swimming?….apparently not. I was sidelined for a week unable to lift my arm straight above my head or get my sports bra on or off. After some much needed Physio I was back in the water. I definitely can’t afford to be skipping arm day.
As for cycling…I think some of the girls (and guys) in the group would agree I’m very much a novice at this sport. In the past month I’ve managed to fall off my bike several times travelling at a whole 0mph. I think I could be close to driving my Mum to an early death from anxiety with my bike handling skills. Practice makes perfect eh. They say girls are supposed to be good at multitasking but the technique of ‘clipping out’ when you approach slowing traffic or even a STOP sign hasn’t quite become second nature yet.
Last week I tried some cyclocross to help with my bike handling. For those who don’t have a scooby what that is…imagine doing a cross country race on a bike. It was the quickest 90 minutes I’ve ever done, and a whole lot of fun and this time it didn’t hurt when I fell off! Every cloud…
Jokes aside, the cycling here is great with the Yorkshire Dales on my doorstep and lots of pretty countryside cafes to stop off at to refuel mid ride. I’ll get the hang of it soon Mum….I promise!
But I think my favourite session of the week is Tuesday night track. I suddenly feel at ease running laps on the oval. Not much has changed in terms of my running apart from I’m doing a little bit less and feeling a little bit fresher and running a little bit faster. I already have some races in the calendar for the spring and summer. One of them being the World Trials in May where I’m aiming to qualify for the Commonwealth Games next year and the World Championships in London this summer. But first up…I’m off to Falkirk to put up a pretty big fight for my National XC title.
The past month has been tough. I would definitely say more exhausting than chasing a bunch of year 11s for their Physics homework. And I’m pretty sure there have been blood, sweat and tears along the way. But what is life without a challenge? I’ve learnt a lot already and I have no regrets about giving Tri a go.
It is however safe to say, I’ve reached all new levels of tiredness, my appetite has trebled and my training load has doubled. What’s not to love?
Keep tuned for the next instalment.