Why I’ve decided to take on an Outlaw Triathlon in 2022

* My Place in Outlaw Triathlon is a gifted race entry*

2022 is the year it happens, after all of the hints and nudges from my wonderful partner George, I have finally agreed to tackle my first triathlon. Here you can find out why I’ve decided to take on an Outlaw Triathlon in 2022, my first triathlon event.

George is all about multi discipline, having tackled a variety of race distances when it comes to running, tackling multiple triathlons, rowing, weight lifting competitions as well as Crossfit competitions, being pretty damn good at each of those too. I tackled various sports as a child thanks to a Grandfather heavily involved in the Sports Council, I ran, swam and played football for Haringey but that all stopped as I grew older with only swimming remaining in my teens where I swam for Middlesex. After that stopped there was a huge gap until I rediscovered running and fitness in my late thirties. Running became my thing, with a bit of Crossfit and OCR on the side.

Well why have I decided to take on an Outlaw Triathlon in 2022, well other than the obvious gentle pressure from George, it is because it fascinates me to watch the sport, and how each of the disciplines come together, how each of them have an impact on the other and how you have to balance your performance across the three to do well, or even enjoy it haha. What took me so long to agree to one? Being honest I have a fear I will rabbit hole, become obsessed and disappear into a world of constant training, wanting all the kit and chasing times. Where as currently I’m in a great place with running where I’m doing it for the love of the sport, and the feeling it gives me. Will I get the same feeling from a triathlon? Or could training for one change my love for running?

Let’s break down the various aspects of a triathlon and see where I feel like I’m at with them:

Running – Good base level fitness and running decent times with no structured training

Swimming – Having trained swimming since aged 16, last swam 5km for the Swimathon 2019 and it wasn’t fun as I hadn’t trained but I got it done.

Cycling – I am confident on a bike but not on aerobars or anything fancy, always cycle in the highest gear to make it feel harder because that’s the idiot I am?

What do I think the biggest challenges might be for me? I think that I will get proper jelly legs off the bike, and brick training is the only way to prepare for this… maybe also not cycling in the highest gear. This is also one of my challenges, I’m not great at long bike sessions on the turbo, I get twitchy and bored and want to get off. My mind isn’t as strong on the bike as it is on the treadmill. I think I will struggle to pace myself and lead to burn out in the later stages, and the big one for me is I struggle with fuel and being so critical in triathlon it is something I need to get so much better at.

Which race am I going to be tackling? I’m will be at Outlaw X Thoresby Park, the distances are as follows:

Swim: 1.2miles Bike: 57 miles Run: 13.1 miles

Have you done a triathlon before? What did you find most challenging with the training? And what were the biggest lessons you learnt from your first? Let me know in the comments below…

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