My Triathlon time is getting better as I am getting older

I did my first Triathlon in roughly 1 hour and 35 minutes in my 50th year. This year I returned to Loughrea to complete it 3.5 minutes faster in 1 hour 31.5 minutes. The main improvement was in my swim time which improved from over 20 minutes to under 17 minutes. This surprised me since I had only swam twice in the last year (both in the week leading up to the Triathlon). Maybe I am just getting better with age :-)

What was truly inspirational about the Triathlon was watching the athletes with various disabilities taking part in the national para-triathlon championship which was hosted in Loughrea this year.

Father-Daughter Triathlon

Yesterday, myself and my daughter Niamh got to take part in the TriAthy triathlon event. It was an absolutely lovely day weather wise with bright sunshine all day.

Apart from the enjoyment of the event itself, we had great father daughter  bonding while we were training for the event. I don't think we put in a huge amount of preparation, but Niamh is already very fit from Hockey and other sports and so we managed to complete the event without any great difficulty.

The official results don't seem to be up on the web site yet, but I think our time was quite respectable. Perhaps TriAthy will become an annual event for us. Roll on the wicklow 100.

Starting Triathlon Training for 2014

The days are beginning to get longer and so I think it is time for me to be working on my fitness, This morning I cycled to work the long way in order to get a few more km on the clock.

This year, to help with my training, I joined Fingal Tri triathlon club. Hopefully I will soon gain enough confidence to join some of their training sessions. I might even be wearing their stylish gear at TriAthy this year.

Completing my first Olympic distance Triathlon

I originally signed up for the Sprint distance at TriAthy, but when the races schedule was published I found that the sprint distance would not be held until the evening when I had a conflicting commitment. As a result I signed up for the Olympic distance instead.

The registration for this event closed at 8:30 am, so I was up and on the road from Dublin at 7 am. I was already excited before I arrived at the registration venue, but my adrenalin levels went into orbit at the sight of a beautifully decorated school filled with athletes preparing their equipment. I was dismayed by the length of the queue for registration, but the organisers were so efficient that it was no time until I was heading back to my car with race number etc. safely in my hand.

There is a lot of preparation required for a triathlon and so I didn't have time to draw a breath until it was 10 am and the race marshal announced that it was time for the competitors to line up behind a pipe band and march to the starting point. This was a lovely touch which added to the sense of occasion. I was delighted to meet a former college classmate and two work colleagues also lining up for the start and so I knew that even if I was crazy to be competing in Triathlons at my age - I was not the only one. The competitors were very friendly and offered lots of encouragement to each other.

We were soon under way and the 1,500 meter swim went much better than expected. I was surprised to find myself getting cramp in calf muscles towards the end of the swim, because I had not really been kicking my legs very much. I took it easy during the transition in order to give my legs a chance to recover.  This was  probably a good idea because I was delighted with my performance on the 40 km cycle. I used the tri-bars for most of the run and average marginally over 30 km/h. However, this did take a lot out of me and I limped home quite slowly on the 10 km run with plenty of time to admire the beautiful scenery along the River Barrow. The results are not yet available on-line  but I guess that I probably completed it in around 4 hours because I reached the end shortly after 2:30 pm and I was in the 4th wave to leave which meant it would have been after 10:30 and before I started.

I later found out that Leo Varadkar (the current Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport) was one of the competitors in the sprint event. I think that this is great example for a Minister for Sport to be personally involved in such an active sport. .

Overall I think this was a great way to spend a sunny June Bank Holiday weekend.  I overheard some experienced triathletes who said that if there was a prize for efficient organisation - TriAthy would be the winner. However, the pains in my legs the day after have convinced me that maybe I should stick to the sprint distance in future.

Update 12:30pm:  It seems that my tiredness caused me to be wildly inaccurate about my timing. When the official result was released it seems that I was closer to 3 hours (3:07) than 4 hours. This beats my expectations. Unfortunately they recorded me as 21 years old rather than 50.

Training for my second Triathlon

I signed up for my first triathlon last year to mark my half century. It went so well that I was confident to sign up for TriAthy this year. I didn't worry too much about my preparation, because the race wasn't until June. However, it just dawned on me that it is now only 2 weeks to the event and so the time is running out to ensure I am prepared. I did my first open water swim of the year today in Blackrock.


I am inspired to increase my dedication to keeping fit after reading the inspiring autobiography of  Gerard Hartmann's the renowned physical therapist. I new that he had been an athlete in his younger days, but I hadn't realized that he dominated the early days of the Triathlon sport in Ireland before his career was tragically cut short by a serious cycling accident.

I feel I am fairly well prepared for the cycling, because I am training for the Wicklow 200/100, but I think I still need more training for the swimming and running legs.

To tri-bar or not to tri-bar? - that is the question

When I bought my racing bike through the bike to work scheme, I had 50 euro left over. The bike shop offered to give me a voucher for the unused money, but I was keen to spend it on some accessory. I asked the shop what I could get for 50 euro and I finally decided on getting tri-bars.

Tri-bars are extensions to the handlebars on a bike which allows the cyclist to take on a more aerodynamic position. They are called tri-bars because they are normally only used by participants in either a triathlon or an individual time trial.

The advantages of the tri-bar are:

• The position of the cyclist is more aerodynamic so it is possible to cycle faster and expend less effort.
• While using the tri-bars the cyclist will normally rest their elbows on soft pads which eliminates all strain on your arms or back.
• You look really cool when using your tri-bars (this was probably the main motivation for me to purchase the tri-bars),

However, the tri-bars also have some dis-advantages:

• When your hands are on the tri-bars they are quite some distance from the brakes, so sudden braking is not possible. Hence they cannot be used in traffic or when cycling in a group.
• You have minimal steering control while using the tri-bars so they can only be used on straight road. In fact it is not even feasible to swerve to avoid pot holes while using the bars so they can't be used on poor road surfaces.
• While it is more efficient to cycle with tri-bars, it takes some practice to get used to the different cycling position.
• The tri-bars use up some space on the handlebars which reduces the space for attaching other accessories. 

When I initially started cycling on my new bike, I found that I hardly ever used the tri-bars and so I decided to remove them. However, when I started training for a triathlon last year I re-attached them and decided to make a concerted effort to learn how to use them. I still find that I don't use the bars very often, but I think that it is still worth having them because they don't get in the way very much when not being used.

Looking for a Triathlon swimming coach - any tips

One of my proudest achievements last year was to complete a Triathlon. I did it shortly after passing the half century mark and it definitely helped me feel like I will have many productive years alive ahead of me. Therefore, I decided that I will complete one or two Triathlons again this year.

I am not necessarily aiming to be fast, but I do want to make sure I am able to comple the course. I am reasonably confident that I will be capable of finishing the cycling and running legs. Unfortunately, I am not as confident of the swimming leg - typically I need to stop a few times to catch my breath and check direction. I think it would be a good idea for me to team up with a formal swimming coach for a few sessions. Does anyone have any advice for me on who would be a good person to go to for advice?

Triathlon Report

Glynn-O'Donovan Triathlon Team 

As you may have noticed, I have been doing a lot of talking recently about my triathlon preparation. The big day finally arrived on Sunday and I was quite nervous when I got up, especially when I looked out over the lake and saw that there was a strong wind blowing and hence the lake was quite rough. My worries only increased when the rain started to fall shortly afterwards. However, I had committed myself to completing the triathlon in such a public way that I couldn't back out and so I proceeded to the start point.

Luckily the weather began to improve as the day went on and when I saw the under-age competitors (starting with the under 8 event) I began to gain in confidence. When the rest of the family team arrived along with a vocal group of supporters I even began to change my focus from competing the event towards achieving a good time. The wind also died down and the lake was quite calm.

When the swim started I hung back near the back of the group to avoid getting crowded. Unfortunately many of the swimmers at the back were doing breaststroke rather than crawl and hence were taking up more room and it seemed to be equally crowded. At one stage I decided to put my head down and swim hard, when I lifted my head to look around a canoe based marshal was shouting at me "turn right you are off course". Although this detour added to the distance I had to swim, it was probably a good move overall since I was then separated from the crowd and able to swim in peace from then on.

When I got out from the swim I got a big cheer from my extended family and so my spirits were lifted. I struggled getting out of my wet suit, but when I got on my bike I saw that it was only 24 minutes from the start so I was ahead of my schedule. I cycled steadily and I managed to complete the cycle leg in slightly over 40 minutes. I almost got a penalty as I  went through the second transition because I thought I was allowed unclip my helmet  immediately after dismounting - luckily the marshal knew that it was an honest mistake and so he let me off with a warning.

The began to fall towards the end of the cycle, but this didn't really interfere with my progress because it was only light and helped keep me cool. I struggled on the running phase, but just concentrated on keeping moving rather than trying to keep a fast pace. The full results are now available on-line and I have been credited with a time of one hour 35 minutes and 4 seconds which seems a respectable time for a beginner.

Overall I was delighted to have taken part and even began to discuss about possibly coming back again next year. My father told me that he ran his first marathon when he was about the same age as I am now. I think staying active has worked out well for him and I would be very happy if I am as healthy as him in the decades ahead.

Triathlon Plan

It is now just under 4 days to go to the triathlon, so I am taking the advice that I should stop training to ensure I am fully rested on the day. I have never done a triathlon before so it is hard for me to judge what would be a reasonable time goal, but I am going to aim for 1:50 minutes in total. I am allocating my time as follows:

• Swimming 750m in 30 minutes: In the gym I normally complete my 750 meter swim under 25 minutes (in fact often below 20 minutes), but I think that 30 minutes will be a challenging goal for swimming in a lake.
• Cycling 20 km in 50 minutes: Based upon my training times, I think that this should be quite achievable. In fact this is where I will try to get ahead of schedule if possible.
• Running 5km in 30 minutes: I normally aim to complete a 10km fun run slightly below the hour mark. In theory I should be capable of doing a faster pace over 5km, but the fact that this will be the last leg of the triathlon will mean that it will be quite tough to even reach this pace.

I used to think that when people spoke about their Triathlon nutrition plan they were wondering what they should eat before and after the Triathlon, but it seems that it is also important for me to plan what I should eat and drink during the race itself. My current plan is:

• I will have porridge for breakfast the morning of the Triathlon since the slow release of energy from the Oats tends to keep me going. I will also indulge myself with a few espressos to top up my caffeine level.
• I will have a bottle of plan water attached to my bike for consumption during the cycle. I also plan to have two power bars stored in the pocket of my cycling jersey so that I can consume as much of them as I feel able for during the cycle. During training I found that it was almost impossible to open the wrappers while cycling at pace, so I will have the wrappers partly removed before I start.
• I don't think that I will need to eat any more during the running plase, but I will store a bottle of GatorAde in the transition area to bring woith me for the run. I think I might needs a more sugary drink at that stage of the event, I had experimented with the idea of bringing along Lucozade tablets and adding them to my water bottle, but again this is messay when I am getting tired so the bottle of GatorAde is plrobably more feasible.
• After the race I think I will replenish my fluids with Guinness the national drink especially while watching Galway beat Kilkenny for the second time this year in the All Ireland Hurling championship.

P.S. I found out why I was accidentally posting supersonic swimming times to DailyMile. I use the Tracks2Miles application and I had set my default distance units to be Km because this makes sense for running and cycling. When I entered details about a practice swim I would enter 750 in the distance field and then click on the drop down selection box to change my distance units to meters. What I didn't realise was that the application was trying to be helpful by automatically converting the distance I entered into 750000 meters (I didn't notice this  because I wasn't paying full attention, but also because the application automatically advanced focus to the comments field and hence the distance field was no longer visible).

Triathlon Training Update

Some of the equipment I need to bring
when going for a swim in the Gym

I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of positive reaction I got when I announced that I was going to complete a triathlon to celebrate my passing the half century mark. Lots  of people have been giving be advice and encouragement. The triathlon I signed up for is now only a week away so I thought it might be nice to share an update on how my preparations are progressing.

I am amazed at how much equipment is needed to complete a triathlon. I know that not all of the equipment I purchased is absolutely essential, but I want to ensure that I don't fail due to lack of the proper gear. In any case it is part of the fun to get kitted out like a professional athlete. One of my main worries is that I will forget to bring along some of my new gear on the day of the event. I have been told that bringing along a bulging kit bag is a sure sign of a rookie - the experienced athletes will bring along just a few essential items.

• Initially I was most worried about the swimming. I still think this will be my weakest link of the 3 events, but I have now swam the distance several times and I am confident that I will be able to complete the swim even if my time is not too fast.
• Since cycling is my normal mode of commuting I am confident of my abilities on this event. Since I started triathlon preparation, I switched from my normal commuting bike to my racer so that I become comfortable with it. Unless I am running late for work, I typically divert through some of the back roads of county Meath on the way to work each morning so that I can get a real training cycle in. 
• The main area that I still need to work on is my running. I have been neglecting this a little since I thought 5km is not a very long distance, but I suspect that it will seem a lot tougher when I go straight from swimming and cycling into my run.

I didn't realize when I entered the race that it would be on the same day as Galway's first appearance in the All-Ireland Hurling final in 20 years. However, the organizers have kindly arranged a big screen at the event so that all athletes will be able to watch the match as soon as they complete their event. I suppose this will provide additional motivation not to do a slow time and miss seeing the match.

My planned mid-life crisis

I will have a significant birthday this year (I won't say what age I am, but I am approaching the half way mark in my bid to persuade the President to send me a congratulatory cheque). It is traditional for people of my age group to have a mid-life crisis where they try to make themselves feel younger by doing something normally associated with younger people.

I considered buying a flashy sports car, but I didn't think that would suit my personality. I also considered going out to late-night parties, but since I used to fall asleep at parties even when I was younger I ruled out that possibility. Eventually I decided that the right think for me to do was to participate in a Triathlon in Loughrea on 9th of September. I am reasonably confident that I can competea 5km run and a 20km cycle should not be a major challenge, but the 750m swim will be a major challenge for me.

A picture of me modeling my new Triathalon swimming Goggles

I did a few practice swims in the gym before deciding to sign up and since they went fairly well , I am now purchasing the necessary gear for the event.

The fact that my nephew is also planning to take part should be a major help to my preparations. I don't know if we will be able to emulate the teamwork shown by "Mrs Brownlee's Boys" but hopefully we can complete it without any disaster.