If I could have known on that day that 9 months later I would be taking part in a triathlon and pushing my body to extremes and limits I had never even dreamed of before ... I would probably have laughed at myself!!! Going to the gym gave me such an incredible new lease of life! I made new friends away from the humdrum of school runs and at the same time, something amazing was happening to my body! I had an ultimate weight loss goal that I wanted to beat but had also set myself other targets along the way to make the ultimate goal more reachable. Just after Easter 2003 my weight loss had started to slow up and it was getting harder and harder to shift the last stubborn pounds ... I had 7lbs to go until I reached my first target weight, and that just happened to be the same time as the 2003 Triathlon sign up sheets went up on the wall at the gym!!!
The drinking water was *right* in front of the sign up sheets - you just found yourself staring at it as you got a fresh drink of cold water in between a work out. One day as I had been standing there staring at the wall trying to catch my breath after a 20 minute stint on the cross trainer, my instructor came up to me and whispered into my ear "you know you want to do it!" .... and of course that was it then! The seed had been planted and needless to say, I found myself signing my name to the board before I went home that day.
The events consisted of 2000m (1.2 miles) on the rowing machine, 5k (3.1 mile) cycle on the exercise bike and 2.4k (1.5 mile) run on the treadmill. I'm pretty hot on the bike and have no problems there, but I'd never used the rowing machine before and I am *definitely* not a runner!! I upped my training at the gym and started working out harder and for longer and just in those few short weeks I noticed yet more changes in myself. My general fitness shot up, my new clothes started hanging off me and I was getting closer and closer to my weight goal! As the day grew nearer I began to believe more and more that NO WAY was I ready for it! I was okay at the events in singles, but doing them one after the other with a stopwatch on me? What was I thinking!
Well, today - 29th June 2003 I did something that I had never before even dreamed that I could do ... I completed the triathlon!! Not only did I do it, but I actually exceeded all of my own expectations for myself!! I did my best ever row time of 9 mins 18 seconds - 30 secs better than my personal best! My 5k cycle was 20 seconds slower than my best, but as it was straight after the row I am *very* pleased! I let myself down on the 2.4k run a little ... I had an almighty stitch and had to keep dropping to a fast walk and I can remember thinking I was never going to get through it - but I bloody well did it!! Took me 15 mins 43, but that is still a whole TWO MINS faster than my best time so far!! My overall time 34 mins and 53 seconds.
2000m row
I did the row first because it was a middle ground event for me. I'm not particularly GOOD at it, but it's not my worst!! You can see from the motion in the right hand pic how fast I was moving!! Row time 9 mins 18 seconds
5k Cycle
This has always been my best event! I opted to do it in the middle so I could make up any time I lost on the rower, and try to give myself a head start on the run. The left hand pic shows me just after I'd started ~ taking a sip of water ... and the grin on my face in the right hand pic is because I had almost completed the distance! Cycle time 8 mins 43 seconds.
2.4k Run
I knew I would struggle with the running - it is by far my worst event because aside from the training I did in the 6-7 weeks before the triathlon I'd not done any serious running before! For this reason I did it last so I could literally give it everything I had left in me ... which trust me - wasn't much! These two pics were taken almost at the end and you can actually see the expression of pain on my face in the right hand pic!
