Padded shorts and gold postboxes - catch up with Claire on her road to competition...

I am fortunate to be able to say April started off in the warmth of ‘autumn’ in South Africa. We had gone for the Easter fortnight of the school holidays and what a delight is was to train in warm weather. Despite having been really disciplined going out regardless of the weather, my family will vouch for the fact that it is always preceded with ‘I don’t feel like doing this’! However, with the sun and blue skies, training became pleasant – not quite a joy, but then I’ve still not been bitten by ‘the bug’ yet regarding exercise.  I keep hoping that will happen but it seems to be taking it’s time.  Maybe I’ll never be into fitness in the way that so many enjoy?

So having not run for over 3 weeks because of IT band issues affecting my knee, I embarked on a gentle beach jog.  It was a mile long and I got to the end without pain so headed back.  My knee was fine so I swam some front crawl in the sea for good measure.  The next day feeling confident, I jogged a little faster. But nearing the end of the 2 miles, my knee started twinging. We joined a gym for our holiday period so my son and I could train for our first triathlons which were weeks away and were joined by my husband and daughter who did their own workouts.  I cycled 9 miles and felt fine, so tentatively went to the treadmill.  Amazingly I managed my 4 miles without any pain so was delighted.

Our holiday continued with the occasional bit of training in the sea, the gym, beach and road running - with climbing Table Mountain for good measure.  On our return home, I naturally believed I’d be able to run on the road, but my knee most definitely had finished giving me time off on holiday. It had other ideas and has been uncooperative since!  

I knew I’d lose some swim fitness during my holiday but returning to the pool was hard work.  It’s been quite an effort aerobically but then I’ve never felt it’s been easy.  The good news is my time hasn’t dropped surprisingly but that’s perhaps my stubborn nature showing. I knew some good come of that one day!

As my 14 year old son was about to compete in his first tri, it meant we had to focus on kit. Having read ‘Swim, Bike, Run’, he directed me to the tri shop the Brownlee’s used in Leeds area. The owner was so friendly and got us kitted out in tri suits with some other small essentials.  Obviously we then went to find the golden post box dedicated to Alastair! At the end of April, my son raced in the York City Tri and was the youngest competitor. He did so well and it’s a great course for triathletes and spectators alike. We hope to do this together next year as a result.

I’ve been training this last fortnight in my tri suit and having never worn any padded shorts, it’s been an odd feeling when cycling and has taken a bit of getting used to. In this final week leading up to my event, I’ve twice swum my distance, then got my bike out of the car and cycled the full course and done just a mile run to preserve my knee. This has been a useful experience as it’s given me mental confidence. I could do with the weather being warmer and Bank Holiday weekends are notoriously wet but come rain or shine, on 4th May I’ll be crossing the finishing line either running or hobbling but cross it I will.

So by the time you read this, I’ll have officially become a triathlete!  

Claire's next blog will be on Wednesday 3 June. Read her previous post here.