A big new adventure

The first of January this year saw a big first for me, and no I don't mean going to bed before the bells stone cold sober on Hogmanay!

At 1130 on New Years  Day I lined up on the edge of the Royal Commonwealth Pool in Edinburgh with my friend Harrie and 400 other competitors to start my first Triathlon! My preparations had gone well and I was healthy, but I was very nervous!

The swim was awful, as is my swimming. But thanks to Sam and Jason at Virgin Active I was a much improved swimmer, and I had done a similar swim at the end of the gym Tri. But it was quite a shock to have so many other swimmers around me, and I found it really hard to get into a rhythm. But I did it and made it onto the bike safely.

I really enjoyed flying round Queens Park on my Trek, but found the 450 foot climbs round Arthurs Seat ( 3 laps!) hard, but made it up the last time and back to transition. 

Frankly I cant remember a great deal about the run! Just the one lap this time and once I got the cycling stiffness out of my legs and drank an energy gel the run down to St Margarets Loch was fun, and I was catching people, then came the climb. All I can say is I kept going, and did get past a few, but I was done as I came down the hill and used the last ounce of energy to climb up to the entrance to the Pool, and really had to dig deep for the minute uphill stretch to the finish!

So I'm a triathlete! Boy was it a struggle, but I got there. I had no idea on a time, but I wasn't last. I finished and that was the main thing :-) Turns out I beat about 35 others, and beat my 2hr estimate by 5 mins!

My new bike did the biz as it was my best leg by far and my swim the worst - there's a surprise! I was 5th in class. 

Finally caught up with Harrie aftrer we both got changed and showered. She finished too having had to do an extra bike lap. Fantastic effort from her!

Did I enjoy it? Afterwards yes! Will I do another - Probably! But iot was a tough one to start with, nearly 2000 feet of climbing and the cold to contend with! Even the winning girl found it hard, and good finisher in the mens' told me it was the toughest one they do in Scotland!

Finally thanks to Natalie my PT at Virgin. I thought she'd lost her senses when she entered me in the Gym triathlon, and her jaw just about hit the floor when I told her that I'd then gone and entered a proper tri of my own accord !