New To Tri Blog: Introducing Leo Hughes

Hey Everyone, I’m Leo Hughes and oh yes im a Tri Newbie and a new member of Piranha.

I’m from Carlow but have been living in Dublin for over 8 years.. Why Tri? Why the hell not. In school I was always the last to get picked for GAA etc as I had 2 left feet.  However I had a bit of a flair for landing punches and kicks on various parts of the human anatomy effortlessly hence my long carrier in martial arts. I started with Karate and kickboxing, got bored and took up Jiu-Jitsu.  Spent 8 years getting to black belt and had the pleasure of competing around Europe for almost 16 years. I teach a wee bit now whenever Im home but some old injuries and age have made competing a thing of the past.  While recovering from a shoulder injury I had the pleasure of meeting Aish and Louise in the WW Jacuzzi after a piranha swim session (which I watched from the Jacuzzi).  We had a chat about training and the girls Tri buzz was infectious .  I went to meet Elena, the following week which was the week of the clubs Triathlon and was invited to meet everyone (which means helping out at the DCT) ;-]  I helped James and all the crew in transition and watching everyone take off in the swim was frightening and I wanted in.  

I started training in late October when the club sessions started back.  Everyone I had met at the DCT was unbelievably sound.  I was used to more attitude coming from martial arts and expected a bit of a cooler reception.  I was blown away at how cool everyone was and how helpful everyone is in giving advice on everything from kit totraining etc. 

I decided to get a few swims in prior to starting with the club in October as I could only manage 2 lengths ofthe pool due to my fitness level.  Since starting Tadhg and Elena have always been on hand to offer advice and encouragement on training and even when yourflagging a bit they are there to push you on.  There are tonnes of club sessions weekly but due to work constraints I have only been able to make the weekend sessions and the odd week day sessions as well as training at home.

My goals for 2012 and the new to tri program is to,

·       Get a grip of time management and plan in as many club sessions a week as I can.

·       Get a handle on eating healthy as Im a terrible eater and need to shed some pounds. 

·       Improve my swim/bike/run technique and hopefully my fitness will come while practicing all 3. 

·       I hope to enter 5 sprint and Olympic distance races and get some NS points for the club. 

I like to thank everyone for the extremely warm welcome and look forward to representing the club at some races this year.

   Leo