Outlaw triathlon 2018

Background

Sat at work in the middle of December, the nights are dark and it is cold.  I am a little overweight and looking a bit grey, so I am feeling the winter blues, a familiar story for a lot of people.  So I am sat there thinking of something to do or a challenge to look forward too, hence ironman.

Now it's fair to say it is not the first thing that springs to mind, normally I dream about getting fit and entering mountain bike events and wonder if I could do well.  This time, although mountain biking is still there, I just wanted to do something different.  I had been taking the girls swimming most Sunday mornings and decided to start doing a few lengths with limited success, but it started me to dare to think I could do this as it was always the swim that put me off.

Then the real reason for looking into what it involves is reason itself.  Most reasonable people take the point of view that these things are great to aspire too, but say you need to train for years, put lots of hours in, money, and generally put barriers up.  I decided to enter the outlaw in February having never swam more than a length or having formal swimming lessons, hated running and had absolutely no idea what a triathlon was.  That coupled working full time, bringing up two daughters and a healthy appetite for henry westons cider.

How

I didn't know anything about ironman, I just thought ironman were all the same.  Now I know that ironman is also a brand and have events all over the world.  The outlaw is an ironman distance race but is it's own brand.  I thought about it and concluded that it doesn't matter, its the same distance, I am from Nottinghamshire, the swim is not in the sea and I live close so logistically and becoming an outlaw made sense.  Decided to take the plunge and enter, which one of the ways was to enter on a charity place as I had left it late.  I deliberated for a bit and thought ok, lets do it, it is a good cause and will focus me into actually doing it.  I reached my target due to the generosity of family and friends, and I must admit it does give you a great feeling.

The Swim

July 29th, 5.50am treading water whilst cleaning my goggles, put them back on and instantly they fog up, so off they come and I clean again.  This happens about 4 or 5 times, so not nervous then.  The water was surprisingly warm and I felt comfortable, people started to get in the water and before you know it the starting gun had gone and we were off.  The usual but not as manic thrashing around occurs and after doing the sprint triathlon earlier in the year I am not as intimidated.  The swim went well, weirdly I had lower back ache which I put down to buoyancy of the wetsuit, and I didn't drink as much water this time.  My sense of direction needs working on, I was all over the place, but I managed to latch onto a couple of swimmers which helped me along.

                                   
 Bike leg

I got out the water, checked the watch and was bang on my predicted time.  Wobbled into the change tent and sorted myself out.  I was going to wear my arm warmers but couldn't get them on, I also forgot my gloves.  This wasn't a bad thing as the weather was horrible, wet and windy.  Saw Debbie and got out of transition, I knew I wasn't going bad because there were a few of us who set off together.  Started pedalling and felt quite good, was going surprisingly well and my average hovered around 17-18mph.  It was tough, the head wind and rain was brutal, I saw Debbie at the first major round about and this spurred me on, so I cracked on.  The north loop of the bike leg is where I started to dip, it was a bit more hilly and I started to feel unwell.  I convinced myself it was the water from the swim and my head dropped a bit.  Then as I got to Epperstone through the bleak driving rain I caught two figures cheering me on.  Dr Geary who I work with and her daughter were at the side of the road and this really made me smile, especially to brave the weather.  Got to a hundred miles and thought that's it, but the extra 12 miles really were hard.

The Run

Oh dear, was really fatigued by now but ok.  Got ready and set off, checked my watch and the pace I was jogging at was 10 minute mile pace, this felt comfortable and I expected to be able to maintain it.  I was wrong, my legs just got heavier and heavier and I planned to get to half marathon distance before taking a break.  I did it, but once I had stopped it was hard getting going again.  The next 13 miles were tough and the last leg of the run goes around the lake before the finish, which is 5km, I had to dig deep, really deep.  Got to finish and had enough energy reserve to do the floss to the cheering crowds (had to be done).

It still hasn't sunk in what an achievement this is, will see if I take to triathlon but for now I will rest.  The reason to all this is that I wanted to prove to my girls that anything is possible, had to finish for them and all the people who donated to cancer research.  Debbie was fantastic and really supported me which is just brilliant.  To all family and friends who came to watch and supported the cause I thank you so much.

Coedy came to watch to, he behaved brilliantly and was such a nice sight too see when I got back.  He is a star and very handsome.

Now what next...……………………………………..