Biker Dad

So last year was my first every Triathlon and I was 57. 

I am fortunate that I have my health and I am still reasonably fit. Having said that I did not break any records, in fact, after completing the Triathlon timings and places are put up on the London Triathlon scoreboard. Yes! I came 5^th in my category! Oh, hang on, there were only five entries in that age group. Oh well.

I managed to do everything wrong and still had a great time.

So the first mistake was in getting the wrong type of wet suit for the swim. I got a regular waterskiing suit instead of a Tri Suit. Do yourself a favour and spend the money, they are only about £100 - £150 for a more than adequate suit and you will at least look like you know what you are doing which is half the fun. It is also quite easy to hire a suit for the season at a much greater savings.

My second mistake was in not understanding the swimming course, which is the first part of the Triathlon. I entered the Super Sprint category. This is a 400mtr swim a 10K bike and a 2 ½ K run. Well it was going pretty good until my training kicked in and my body said, “this is about 400 metres.” I stopped swimming to seek the information from one of the guys in the safety kayaks. Who simply started laughing given that I had missed the turn off buoy by a good 100 metres. “Never mind.” I spluttered, “I’ll just keep swimming.’ So I completed the full 750 metres of the sprint category.

My third mistake was to think that I could complete the bike leg in style on a mountain bike with full nobly tires. I had several other entrants saunter past me who even by my age standards were old. Now this was just wrong, but I have to say I was inspired to see so many game people giving it hell. I think I may have been overtaken by a couple of Boris Bikes.

Lessons learned here is my bike for this year.

A Shift In Thinking: Biker Dad

A Shift In Thinking: Biker Dad: In 2013 I completed my first ever Triathlon. I was 57. I am now hooked! Last year the company I worked for ran a program called ‘Fit N...

Biker Dad

In 2013 I completed my first ever Triathlon. I was 57. I am now hooked!

Last year the company I worked for ran a program called ‘Fit Nation’. The project sparked my attention and I got involved. At first it was all about getting a little gizmo called a fitbit and tracking the amount of steps I do each day. The national goal it seems is 10,000 steps per day (Which is easier than you think). In fact because of the amount of walking I do on my my job, I had to up my goal to 15,000 as most days I was walking about 12,000.

Fitbit has an interactive website which tracks your steps and also gives you other information such as calories burned, miles walked, that sort of thing thing. All of this is automatically uploaded every day using the dongle that comes with your Fitbit.

So as I looked at the program being put together by Fit Nation, I noticed several other options. 5K runs, bike rides and the London Virgin Triathlon. So like the mad impetuous fool that I am, I signed up for the lot. Okay, you can stop laughing anytime you want. The thing of it is, it’s very easy to let these things slip by all the while muttering, “If only I had some way of keeping fit.”

I walked a lot last summer and on several days I walked over 25,000 steps, I did not manage to accomplish a 5K but I did manage to sign myself and seven other unsuspecting staff members up for the Triathlon. We entered a Team Relay Event and three of us entered as individuals in several different categories. In all it was an amazing day even though I completed my leg of the ride on a mountain bake with full nobly tiles.

Tomorrow, March 17^th I start training for the 2014 Season along with approximately 20 friends and colleges from work. Obviously they have seen the glory of accomplishing the goal. We still talk about last years achievement as though it were only yesterday. No, we did not break any records and yes we did drag our poor tired asses over the finish, line but we all succeeded in our aim and the smell of that victory is still sweet today.

I have no gain from promoting the Fitbit at all and I am not affiliated with the company. It just turns out to be a good bit of kit.

http://www.fitbit.com/uk