SIX months ago I could barely swim a couple of lengths without getting out of breath, but after yesterday I can proudly say I’ve done a triathlon. I’ve even got a free and quite stylish T-shirt to prove it!
This time last week I'd only just bought a bike and was still unsure of whether I could swim the distance without stopping. But a session in Llanrwst pool last week gave me the confidence that I could, so when I got my start time of 8am a few days before Sunday's race I was raring to go.
The only problem was the early morning! At 5.45am on Sunday I could have thought of a hundred things I'd have preferred to do than get up to race a triathlon - going back to bed being the number one choice.
But the good thing about being in the first group to set off was that I had no time to get nervous about the race. By the time I'd driven to Llanrwst, registered, run back to the car after realising I'd left my helmet on the passenger seat and legged it back to the swimming pool, it was time to start. After months of worrying about how my swimming was going, I was surprised by how easy it eventually was on the day.
Turns out it was the bike I should have been worried about! Having bought my racer less than a week before the race and ridden it for the first time only the day before, I still had no idea how the gears worked!
Okay, it's not rocket science and on the road out from Llanrwst towards Tal y Cafn I figured how to change up through the gears. But then I realised I didn't know how to change down again, so stayed in the same gear for the rest of the race!
I came unstuck on one of the hills on the way back towards Trefriw, and ended up jumping off the bike and running with it to the top of the hill. Then my ineptitude was confirmed when my mate Steve, who started his swim a full 10 minutes after me, overtook me and pedalled away into the distance.
Then for the run - the easy part, I thought, just a nice 5km. What I wasn't ready for, though, was that as soon as I jumped off the bike my legs felt like jelly - it was like learning to run again!
A few minutes into the run Ifound my legs again - the course took us along the Marin trail up into the Gwydir Forest, uphill for the first 2.5km. Afer 400m swimming and an hour-long bike ride this part was tough, but knowing it was nearly over and the last half of the run was all downhill made it much easier. Plus, on the way down you pass all the poor souls who are still struggling up the hill, so I hope they didn't think I was being smug when I shouted words of encouragement at them as I made a dash for the finish.
I've found out today I finished in one hour 33mins 38secs - a respectable effort for a first-timer as far as I know. Afterwards I felt great and wanted to do another one, so I'll definitely be doing some more next summer. What else am I going to use my new bike for (when I finally figure out how the gears work!)?
Thanks to everbody who turned out to help the race run smoothly. There were stewards everywhere on the course, you were never in danger of taking a wrong turn and everybody seemed to be enjoying themselves thanks to way the event was organised by Carneddau Triathlon Club.
Finally, last year the race raised over £8,000 for Hope House Ty Gobaith Children's Hospice, and hopefully it will have raised even more this time around for the same worthy cause. Keep up the good work - see you next year!
