It all started back on the 13th July, when I decided to take part in a fun aquathlon down in Lewes. This was one big learning curve, but the bug of the idea of triathlon really started then. 3 triathlons later, I am here where I am now, it is fair to say I have had a roller coaster ride with triathlons, from my bike breaking to cutting the course short but something has kept pulling me back to them, and maybe it is just because I love it. Sometimes (okay very rarely) I have doubts about why I'm doing this, normally when I am in the middle of a tough session or when I am 35km into a cycle ride and my toes are numb and I have 35km left. Even though these moments are hard I am always happy at the end and really I do love the feeling of numb toes and being exhausted. I thought it would be an appropriate time to look back at these 4 races and briefly look at how each one went and if I have improved over the season. After buying my new trisuit for this event, I had already sort of told myself that I was going to stick at this. The aquathlon went well but I knew there was lots to improve on and from there my triathlon training started. Swim:3/10 - Got caught up in the start, and basically didn't know how to swim in a girl in a lengths pool... it is a difficult concept I promise. Run:6/10 - my legs felt like jelly after swimming, this was a new feeling. The excitement of the day before Bewl Tri is still with me but the emotion of afterwards is too. I wouldn't say I am a particularly emotional person but `I will admit I had a fair few sobs over (and during...) this event. Firstly taking my hybrid bike to an adults tri was probably not my brightest moment, but that was my bike I had at the time, so I had to deal with it. Then it breaking after 5km and having to run 5km back to the start was also not in the plan. The run, I then had to hold myself back from crying for the whole thing, because all I was doing was feeling sorry for myself. Not ideal, and not very mature either! I learnt the most from this event and that I needed to grow up and get on with it. If triathlons were easy, everyone would be doing them! Swim: 7/10 - I surprised myself coming out the water 4th Bike: 1/10 - I think I've probably already summed this bit up Run: 4/10 - bad run as I was too caught up in all my emotions Edenbridge was the week after Bewl and I was certain to set things straight after my mishaps. I had got a new road bike at the beginning of the week and I had been practicing with my cleats every day. The swim was in the pool so not my personal favourite, then the cycle was out on the roads on a sort of flatish course, then the run was around the park. After having second place taken away from me this day, because I accidentally cut the cycle route short as there were no marshals or signs to guide me on a round about, it was getting to the point were I should have been thinking of giving up. But no... for some reason this didn't even cross my mind, to be perfectly honest it made me more determined than ever. Swim: 6/10 - pretty average, nothing special Bike: 7/10 - the bike actually went well apart from the fact I cut the course Run: 7/10 - it was my best run so far, and I felt like my brick had helped this. After over a month of no tri because of missing Bodium castle Tri because of illness, I was ready a raring to go. At this point I will admit all I wanted to do was complete a tri, but when I was standing (or should I say bobbing) on the start line in the water, I knew I wasn't just going to take it easy, I wanted to give it my best shot. 1:17:22 later I cross the line in 8th place out of 350 women and I was pretty happy! This was just the way I wanted to finish the season and it has given me even more motivation and confidence for winter training now.
Swim: 8/10 - surprised myself with the 2nd quickest swim time overall Bike: 7/10 - best bike so far, but still room for lots of improvement, especially on the downhills. Run: 7/10 - apart from the slow start because of a steep hill, I was pleased with a strong run. Don't get me wrong these scores out of 10 got to the 8s by Hever Tri but by next season I will be expecting more from myself and I won't be wanting to settle with 8th place, however pleased I was with it this time. I have now got my winter training ahead and cross-country season to look forward too. I also had my first club ride this morning and even though my toes and fingers got pretty numb and I could barely get up to walk to the fridge afterwards it was all worth it, as I had so much fun... yes every 75km of it was fun (minus one very long hill, where my gears on the back wheel stopped working so I was down to about 8 gears for the rest of the ride). I have been writing down some goals for the 2017 tri season which I will share with you later on, but for now its all about getting some good solid winter training in. G x
1 Comment
|
HelloI'm Grace, a 18 year old runner, and fitness fanatic. Join me on my crazy journey through life, squeezing in an adventure in every second of spare time I have. Archives
February 2019
Categories
All
Latest Instagram's: |