Bishopbriggs Triathlon is a bit special, a bit like your first kiss, because it was my first foray into the mysterious 3-pronged world. Funnily enough it was exactly 3-years ago that I first dipped my toe into this new sport, nervously tackling the novice event. When I say 'nervously' boy, do I mean 'nervously'. Think sleepless nights, sweaty palms, pounding heart, countless toilet trips, feeling sick - hard to believe when you consider I was pretty fit and all I had to do was swim 16-lengths, cycle 10k and run 3k. God, I could have done that and still got home in time for breakfast and a day's work. In fact, at the time I remember a friend asking what the distances were, then looking at me incredulously and saying: "God, is that all - you'll probably win!" Win! Ha, I thought, she clearly has no idea what an ordeal I'm facing. I'd had to work up from not being able to swim 1-length without passing out from hyperventilating. As for the bike, well, I was riding a mountain bike, nervously, and could barely turn around a cone in the road without wobbling. Rarely had the balls to get out of my saddle when climbing and braked like a wimp around every corner and slight decline.
I was second vet home in the novice category that day - mainly due to having the fastest run time by far!
But more importantly, when I looked over my splits that night and those of my competitors, something stirred inside me. A driving determination to overcome, what I saw, as my ridiculous bike fears. I wanted to be better, wasn't satisfied with ticking the 'I've had a try, but now I'm returning to what is comfortable and familiar - running'. This was a demon that needed taming, many fears that needed conquering.
So yesterday was a bit of a milestone.
I had entered initially to run through a race scenario and put it together, albeit over a much shorter distance. In fact, when I'd finished in 1.24, I realised that I'd probably just be finishing the Ironman swim in that time! Yesterday though, was made even more special by joining over 20 or so fellow competitors from Lomond Masters Swimming and Triathlon Club, most of who were tackling this for the first time too. I totally understood how they felt and their sense of relief and achievement in crossing that finish line.
I survived the swim, as I always do. Raced my bike like never before. Ran - comfortably, maybe too comfortably! Finished 3rd vet. Yep, pretty chuffed with that.
IronPhil commented that 'I looked like I was putting in an effort on the bike'. Putting in an effort - my quads were burning, lungs were burning, for the first time, ever, I overtook loads of people on the bike, but very few went past me. That's what I call progress. It certainly wasn't the case three years ago. If you ask IronPhil what I looked like then, he'd probably say I was just short of a wicker basket and a string of onions around my neck.
Ironically, it was the same year - 2011 - that Phil added Iron to his name. Little did I know what I'd be doing in 2014.
It wouldn't half be a dull life if we all gave in to middle age and took up golf or lawn bowling.
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