Posted on April 30, 2015 by Jenny Cromack
Whilst tens of thousands of runners hit the streets of London last weekend (Sunday 26th April) to run the London Marathon, I was taking part in my first ever competitive triathlon – The York Triathlon. I say competitive triathlon because I took part in the Pink Triathlon last year, which was great but it’s a non-competitive event designed to encourage women to try a triathlon. I must say I really enjoyed it, but did feel a bit uncomfortable zipping past everyone on the bike and run trying to get the best time I could whilst others were doing it just for the enjoyment. However, it did give me the bug!
So this year I decided to challenge myself and entered the York Sprint Triathlon (400m swim, 18k bike, 5k run). As most people who read our blogs know, I would class myself as a runner but having done my fourth marathon last year, and let’s be honest, not really enjoying it as much as previous marathons, I decided I wanted to do something different and push myself out of my comfort zone. Here is my triathlon story…..
Cycling
I bought my bike in February, a Liv Avail by Giant and I love it. I cannot tell you how much I am enjoying cycling (If you had asked me that a year ago I would have laughed in your face!).
When I talk to my personal training clients about cycling I almost describe it as having a love-affair. It’s like I’ve been in a serious relationship with running for the last 20 years and all of a sudden cycling has become a sordid affair. I feel like I am betraying running BUT I can’t get enough of cycling.I set off for a bike ride, and all of a sudden I’m thinking….I’ll just do an extra couple of miles, let’s see where that country road takes me….I can’t get enough! Sorry running, as much as I love you, I feel like I need an open-relationship between you and my bike!
Improving my cycling fitness for the triathlon was probably the easiest part of training as I’ve incorporated my cycling training into my daily commute for work. A quick 5 mile cycle into work on a morning and then either a longer cycle home or a hill sprint session on the way home to make sure these sessions became ‘proper’ workouts. I’ll let you into a secret too, it’s been great for unwinding on the way home! I also then included a longer training session of up to 20 miles, on a weekend to build up my aerobic stamina.
Swimming
Prior to starting my training, I knew swimming would be my weakest element of training. I used to swim a lot when I was younger but at the start of my training I could barely do one length of front crawl before feeling like my lungs were about to explode! As a qualified swimming instructor I hang my head in shame!
I swam for 30-40 mins once per week (luckily some of the local leisure centres open until 10pm on a Wednesday evening which is a god send with the long hours I work). I started off gradually building up the number of lengths I could swim front crawl and when I hit 8 lengths back to back it all seemed to fall into place. I can now swim for 30-40 minutes front crawl without stopping!
For the triathlon I needed to be able to swim 400m, my goal was to swim it all in front crawl which I did! It wasn’t the most graceful of strokes, so my next goal for my next triathlon in July is to improve my technique and efficiency in the water.
If you’re reading this and think ‘I’d love to do a triathlon but can’t swim front crawl’ then don’t worry there were people swimming breaststroke and side stroke at both the Pink and York Triathlons.
Running
Normally I would run 4 times per week, but I’ll be honest, running has taken a little back seat. For the triathlon I only ran outside twice per week, with a third interval session on the treadmill at the start of one of my strength sessions.
As running was my strongest point I was happy to cut back on my running. My target for the day was to do a 8 min/mile pace, I ended up doing a 7:42 min/mile pace so was pleased with that!
I’ll ramp up my running again for the next triathlon and focus more on tempo runs and intervals to work on my speed.
Transitions
I practised the cycle-run transition 3 times during my training, rather blasé I thought my legs coped quite well and I didn’t seem to experience too much of the jelly legs everyone talks about. Well, I obviously hadn’t biked hard enough on those training sessions as on the day boy did my legs feel it!! The felt like lead for the first 1k and I look like I’m running like a thunder bird on the videos taken on the day!! It was only the last 2k where I felt like ‘me’ running again and managed a sprint finish!
Training Plan
So, how did my typical training plan look for the triathlon?
Monday – Cycle to work (5 miles).
30-40 mins strength work (after I’d finished my morning PT sessions)
Cycle home (around 8-10 miles or 5 miles of hill sprints)
Tuesday Cycle to work (5 miles).
6-8 mile run (after I’d finished my morning PT sessions)
Cycle home (around 8-10 miles or 5 miles of hill sprints)
Wednesday Cycle to work (5 miles).
30-40 min swim
Thursday Cycle to work (5 miles).
30-40 mins strength work
Cycle home (5 miles)
Friday Cycle to work (5 miles).
6 mile run
Cycle home (or put the bike in the car if legs were tired!!)
Saturday Rest Day
Sunday Long bike (20 miles) or long run (10 miles)
York Triathlon is a great first triathlon. The event is held at York University with the swim performed in an indoor pool. The cycle and run are both pretty flat so perfect for your first triathlon. The event was really well organised and the race marshalls were great, I even got a hug at the end!!
Overall I have loved my triathlon training and only wish I had started sooner, I was the 10th woman on the day, just think of what could have been if I had started at a younger age! My body likes the variety of the training, yes I still get DOMS from a tough training session but I’m not as ‘tight’ in places as I used to be. If you’re reading this and thinking of doing a triathlon then I have two words for you….DO IT!!!