Yet another weekend of no parkrun but with good reason, This Sunday I achieved one of my goals, I completed my first triathlon, the event is what they call a super sprint triathlon, so short distances.
The event was put on by Cardiff Uni Triathlon Club, and was held at Maindy Leisure Centre and Velodrome, this is the cycling track where Geraint Thomas started his career
The race was made up of a 200m pool swim, 9km ride and a 1600m run, there were around 70 competitors and most of us were first timers but it was a really chilled and fun event, no pressure at all. Registration opened at 11 am and once that was done I took my bike and kit down to transition 1, and then had a short wait before I needed to get changed ready for the swim, the pool was unusual in that it had two shallow ends with a deeper bit in the middle, the shallow ends were under 3 foot deep so I did struggle on the turns a bit and the water was very warm for racing in, but I was first out of the pool in my heat, then a 200m jog down to the bikes, this was interesting as it was my first time on a proper cycle track, and I enjoyed it so much it is possible I did two extra laps🤭 I just kept on going😁 there was some very enthusiastic support from the marshals all along the course which was a great boost, anyway the ride came to an end and back into the transition area and a quick change into my trainers and onto the run, unfortunately as soon as I got off the bike I felt a twinge in the back of my leg, I was hoping the niggle would wear off but it refused to budge, it wasn't really painful but it did stop me from putting in a decent time on the run, nearly 14 minutes to run 1600m, still, I got it done and crossed the finish line which makes me a triathlete👍and three days later it still makes me smile😁 my time was 41 minutes which I'm happy with, I was aiming for anything under 45 minutes so not bad going, I've already entered the Swansea Tri next year which is a sprint tri, 750m open water swim, 20km ride and a 5km run, I'm really looking forward to it but I'm giving my running legs a few days off for now, I have another cross country run in two weeks which I need to be ready for
If anyone is thinking of having a go, look out for events listed as Try a Tri,, they're aimed at complete beginners, and they're great fun and so relaxed and everyone is so friendly and helpful. So that was my weekend and I thoroughly enjoyed it😁👍
The First (not) Parkrun
Parkrun splits
Next step on the bridge
parkrun and (not)parkrun
Parkrun a success
