Given I’ve just signed up for my third marathon, the fact that I like to challenge myself should come as no surprise.
So the gym triathlon, from Decathlon like many things, seemed like a good idea at the time. At the end, when I was sweaty, exhausted and swearing, it still felt like a great achievement… But one that pushed me hard.
Well, let’s be honest, I pushed me. And I did it twice, because I didn’t think I was fast enough the first time.
The idea, is pretty simple, row for 2km, cycle for 5km and then run for 3km, then register your times on their website and you could be in with the chance to win £200 worth of Decathlon vouchers. Not bad eh?
And you don’t have to worry about getting a fast time, it’s done as a random draw. I’m just a little competitive. Especially with myself.
I picked a nice quiet day in the gym, one where I wouldn’t be bothered by runners next to me, or getting in my way. I had good music in my ears, well paced to keep myself distracted as well as moving at a good pace.
The rower was always going to be my strongest area. For some reason (I’ve yet to figure out why) I have a good amount of speed and power when I row. I concentrated on technique too, as I have a tendency to get lazy when I row, even though I know that technique is the difference between rowing at 42 strokes and getting an ok time and rowing at 37 strokes and getting a fast time.
Next up, the cycle. This proved a challenge. My gym’s cycles have huge seats and feel clunky and blocky. How I can say this with a backside the size of mine, I’m really not sure, but I can.
It does, however, turn out that our spin cycles on the gym floor are set for distance too, so my second go was much faster than the first.
The run, despite my penchant for it, was always going to be the slowest of the three. I’m built for distance rather than speed and though I pushed myself, even the second time, didn’t get anywhere near as fast a time as I’d hoped.
There is reason for me doing it twice. The first time, I did it on very little carbohydrate. So little that by the time I hit the run, my body was crying out for a good hit of sugar. I had that real, desperate gnawing ache in my stomach and no amount of water could block the stitch for very long. For that reason alone, the first time around my times were:
2 KM row: 8:49
5 KM cycle: 10:37
3 KM run: 22:12
I knew, after the first time, that I could do better. And so the second time I did it, I ate carbs. Not tons of them, but enough to mean that I had fuel to burn. And the difference in some areas was massive.
I also found the spin bikes and used one of them. Unfortunately it was set to miles and I didn’t notice until it was a little too late, so I’ve had to guestimate my cycle time. The improvement though, is easy to see.
2 KM row: 8:41
5 KM cycle: 07:20
3 KM run: 20:54
Yes, my row wasn’t much faster, but my cycle was a vast improvement and yes, my run was still weak, but it didn’t hurt so much.
Though this competition ends on 14th September (you’ve still got a couple of days to get your times in), I’m thinking I might revisit this in a few weeks, see if as my fitness improves the times do. And see what effect the marathon training and only running for distance will have.
I’ll keep you posted.