So I Completed My First Triathlon On Saturday. Here's What Went Down...

Rain. Lots of rain. Received 2 unintended slaps in the swim. Gave 4 unintended slaps in the swim. 1 lightning strike. Some thunder. An ounce of panic. 1.5km swim cut in half for safety from lightning. Dangerously wet cycle route. 17 punctured tyres. 1 friend with a punctured tyre. 1 stop to help friend with punctured tyre. 2 cycle collisions. 1 bloody cyclist. 9 abandoned water bottles. 1 water bottle drop of my own. 1 stop to pick up dropped water bottle. 1 abandoned bicycle pump. Thousands of SiS energy gels. 2 sore calf muscles. 2 keep going! pats on the back. 1km of wanting to quit. Hundreds of supporters. Thousands of triathletes. Lots of love, fight, determination and hunger. 3 stages. '1.5km' swim. 40km cycle. 10km run. 1 triathlon.

I can end this post right here. However, I'll continue below and run through my experience on each of the stages of the triathlon, lessons learnt and hopefully provide some motivation for anyone seeking or facing a challenge of their own.

The Swim - 1.5km (Halved)

This was my first ever time swimming in open water let alone the lovely River Thames (it's actually a dark green rather than dirty brown for those of you who ever wondered). It was also my first time trying out my new wet suit - poor planning on my part. However, I was unusually calm having done all of my training in an indoor swimming pool. Once I got into the water I felt some buoyancy from the wet suit which helped a little, and before I knew it, they sounded the horn and everyone was off! I let a few people go ahead of me to avoid the hustle and bustle of the seasoned triathletes and went at my own pace.

Panic Attack

Five minutes into the swim, the unfamiliarity of the open water was getting to me. I began to panic, and somehow, water started to creep into my goggles (this never happened during training!). Luckily, the wet suit meant I was able to float a little and fix my goggle leak. I carried on swimming, swallowing the tasty River Thames water from the splashing caused when there were lots of swimmers near each other, caught a few slaps and accidentally hit people who were in front of me.

I Swam Half Way And There Was A Lightning Strike. Literally!

Panic reduced, swimming was going well, reached the halfway mark (c.750m) and then the lifeguards on the kayaks start telling everyone to evacuate the Thames. Turns out there was a lightning strike and it wasn't safe to continue. Annoyingly, it was only the one strike during the whole day (Saturday 22nd July at around 3.10pm) and so everyone that started wave 13 (the 2.50pm olympic mixed triathlon) only swam around half of the swim. None of us that were swimming had any clue that it started raining heavily or that there was lightning and thunder. Apparently one guy completed the 1.5km swim within the 20 or so minutes. Hats off to him!

Key Takeaway

Success and failure are one decision away.

At times, the swim felt by far like the most uncomfortable thing I'd ever done in my life (unfamiliarity combined with nervousness and panic) and as advised by the officials I wanted to roll on my back, wave for help and be pulled out.

However, I learnt that the difference between continuing and stopping, or succeeding and failing, is a split second. It takes 1 second to make a decision. It takes a few seconds to gather yourself when in a swimming panic. I decided I wasn't going to quit and so gathered myself and continued. When the going gets tough, try to step back, stay calm and collected (in this case it was literally stop swimming, float and breathe) and make a rational decision rather than a reactionary, impulsive decision that you might regret later.

The Cycle - 40km

The swim ended and though everyone was slightly confused about the situation, we all ended up transitioning into our cycling gear and headed out. This, for me, was the least challenging part of the 3 stages. However, the heavy rain was the beginning of over an hour of prayer that followed. The route consisted of a few steep climbs and to complete the 40km we had to do 4 laps of a 10km circuit. On lap 1 I cycled past 7 participants who where either walking their road bikes or dealing with punctured tyres, 1 bloodied cyclist and a few accessories that were abandoned throughout the lap. Lap 2 saw the number of collisions and punctures increase together with the number of abandoned water bottles and empty SiS gel packets (carbohydrate gels for energy).

Lap 3: Afzal To The Rescue! Sort Of...

Throughout this, I was simply praying to make it to the end of the cycle safely. The last thing I wanted was to crash or have a puncture in the wet weather. After all, this was my first triathlon. I wasn't ready for any of that to happen!

On lap 3 I saw my friend on the side with his bike. One of his tyres got punctured. He didn't have a puncture repair kit on him - it's the last thing you might prepare for! I stopped. Gave him my mini-pump, puncture repair kit and some moral support, consumed an energy gel, took in some water and on I went. This took around 6 minutes of my time though I honestly couldn't care given the lightning/swim issue earlier and most likely would have stopped regardless - can't be leaving your friend to suffer like that! I felt bad for him as that delay ruined his end time but at least it was a puncture and not a collision.

I was hoping I didn't see him in the same place on my next lap. Turns out my repair kit got him a kilometre or so in distance until he needed a new inner tube. Fortunately, someone gave him one.

Key Takeaway

Life's a [enter expletive word]! A very random [enter same expletive word]!

There I am, doing a triathlon, not too fussed about my overall time, just doing it to complete the damn thing and I managed to survive. But then you have so many people who were actually competing for their personal bests, came prepared with some seriously high-spec bicycles, gear, etc. and 'life' just ruined it for them on the day with a punctured tyre, bent wheel, lightning impacting their swim distance and time, collisions and injuries.

Moral of this story? You can never be over-prepared. There's a higher power that will always dictate the outcome of your journey. The most you can do when lightning strikes is to keep calm and carry on.

The Run - 10km

I was ready... Ready to quit within the 1st kilometre of the run... Seriously!

When I jumped off my bike after the 40km ride my legs felt like jelly. I'm actually serious. Jelly! I dropped my bike off, changed footwear and then attempted to jog away for the 10km run. Wow! Simply wow! How my legs did not want to comply was not even funny. It was painful!

No Pain, No Gain.

If my legs could talk they would have been telling me to "sit the f*** back down and call it a day!". My gastrocnemius, right and left, had never felt so weak. That first kilometre was deadly. On par with the toughest physical challenge I'd put my body through (I know there are some solid runners/triathletes reading this post - I see you. I'm a newbie to this game. I'll be on your level one day. Give me time! Feel free to comment below any tips/advice you might have for the newbies out here.). Fortunately, each kilometre felt easier (slightly). Either that or it was a mental effect. To add, running away from the 1st kilometre and getting closer to the 10th aided in keeping my drive to complete the run high and the thought of quitting the run low.

Key Takeaway

Humans [strangers] are amazing!

The run was tough. It took determination, drive, focus and a sort of stubbornness to overcome the voices in my head telling me to quit. But what was really inspiring was the encouragement and support from strangers. People I had never met before were shouting words of support and cheering the race participants on at every stage of the swim, cycle and run. I attempted to walk on the run twice, and immediately got a pat on the back from fellow runners telling me "you can do this, come on" and "don't stop now, you got this!". If anything could describe the support on the day, I would say it was a very warm feeling, even though it was raining heavily and the roller-coaster of emotions consisted of fear, nervousness, pain and joy!

The Moment When You Complete The Triathlon

That moment when you do one last sprint to cross over the finish line, reach the grandstand and walk over to the person putting medals around necks puts the whole triathlon experience into perspective: the hard work had been done (the laborious and often dry training sessions before the event and the efforts on the day), the challenge had been conquered, everyone competing had their own story, whether it was to set a personal best, put their body to the test, do it for fun, do it again or to raise money for a good cause. Everyone was in this together and it was one hell of an experience!

A Few Last Words

I would have never considered doing a triathlon in my life let alone swimming more than 25 metres. However, a weird thing happens when you witness your friends or strangers achieve their goals by putting in lots of hard work and dedication toward something they're either passionate about or even scared of. Therefore, I'd like to take this opportunity to encourage you, the reader, to challenge yourself a little. The next time you stumble across an opportunity to go above and beyond, or the next time you see someone doing something or see something that you think you would never be able to do please just give it a second thought and possibly train and try it out. Failing is fine. Just fail fast and keep moving. It's about the journey, not the destination.

Always remember, our minds can make things seem worse and harder than they are. At the end of the day, it's all in the mind. What you think, is what you become and achieve. Visualise to realise.

And yes, I'll be doing it all again next year!

Thanks for reading!

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The views and comments expressed in this post are solely those of Afzal Hussein and are not representative of any organisation, charity or third party.