From Beginner to Grinner

I stumbled across triathlon a little differently to most…

Last November my partner at the time encouraged me to sign up for Noosa Triathlon with him. You’re kidding right?! I couldn’t run 5km let alone 10km, could barely swim 1.5km, had never swum in the open water, am a little (OK a lot) afraid of bluebottles AND had only ridden a bike maybe 3 times since I was a kid. He persisted though and promised to help me with training so I thought, why not? Maybe it was time to try something new and with someone to help, how hard could it be? Half nervous and half excited, I signed up.

Three weeks later, he broke up with me. Not only was I completely heartbroken, I now had a $300 Noosa registration with no skills to use it. I deliberated for a few months about what to do. Some of my friends were incredibly encouraging whilst others disappointingly discouraging with comments like “Triathlon?! You can’t do that, you don’t even own a bike!” Gee thanks, guys…Eventually, after doing some confidence-building laps in the pool, I decided it was time to bite the bullet. I was going to do Noosa, and I was going to do it for me.

I had ten months to train and teach myself three sports before putting them all together. Sounds simple, right? As my journey unfolded, it became very obvious I had a lot of work to do and absolutely no idea how to do it. There are shoes that clip you into a bike?!

I threw caution to the wind and entered a 1km open water swim. I nervously stood on the beach waiting for my race, feeling intimidated and out of place. There was an electric buzz in the air as everyone seemed to know each other, chatting away about “the chop”. What that meant, I had no idea and the thought quickly escaped my mind as the person standing next to me just mentioned the ‘B’ word; bluebottle. My Dad had surprised me and come to watch (I think he had to see it to believe it!) and I found myself at the age of 32, standing on a beach in my togs being counselled about what to do if I got stung mid-race. Not my finest adult moment, but thanks, Dad…. I swam my little heart out and survived to tell the story. To this day, that swim is my 1km PB in both the pool and open water.

As time went on, I started to realise that there was more to this training than doing a session or two a week in each sport. The terms “double-session days”, “brick session” and “run off the bike” got thrown around. It also became very apparent that doing an Olympic Distance Triathlon as my first ever race wasn’t the smartest idea… My aunty Stacy, a seasoned triathlete, suggested I do a couple of smaller races for practice and exposure. Putting this all together with enduring guidance and support from her is how I found my coach, Dan McTainsh. It’s been the best decision I’ve made.