Share this page

Friday 15 February 2013

Helena's Big Adventure. Chapter 1 - Introduction


Joining the Bespoke team has been great! I have only been here a short while but have learned a lot. I see a lot of cyclists and triathletes of all levels every day. Ben Hallam suggested trying to do a triathlon myself and the more I speak with people coming in the shop, the more I want to do it. I'd like to do it for research reasons and I like a challenge too!

Being new to this triathlon "thing", I came across few things. One is that there really are no full triathlon calendars available, unless you are a member of a club. The other is that I do not know much about it. I have known few people competing in Ironman competitions and triathlons, but all I ever heard about is clocking miles and struggling to fit training in their daily routines. So I have had to read and research a bit about the sport.

After looking around I really wanted to do The Blenheim Triathlon, because I was told it's a very popular one. This, however, will have to wait till next year maybe because there are no spaces left. So I have settled for Henley-on-Thames super sprint on 23rd of June. And who knows, maybe I could do a half Iron (wo)man next year?! ;)

I have to mention that I have been ill for a while now and have been taking medication since November last year. My diet is very restricted and I had stopped doing sports for a while so I expect this will be a challenge.

I can cycle and run a bit, I can float in water too, but how to do it all together is a big mystery! My friend talked me into signing up for a 5km run on 1st of June, so I have been running a bit, however weather and health have not allowed me to train as hard as I want to. I am very grateful to my friend however, because she got me out of bed and moving. I found a swimming pool near me and have done a 200m swim now. I wanted to do more, but stopped myself, and good I did. I can really feel it in my upper back and arms, and have discovered I need to build up slowly.

I started doing yoga this year and have found it harder that I thought it would be. I used to do Olympic weightlifting, so I always thought that yoga is for people who don't want to do real exercise. I was wrong! I
admit it!

Things to do now. Keep running. Learn to swim properly. Get back on bike. And how to put it all together?

No comments: