An Olympic triathlon virgin – The journey to Athy Olympic Triathlon 2013

By Conor Gahan 

I joined the club at the end of January 2012 in an effort to lose weight, get fit and complete a triathlon before I turned 30.

I started by going along to the Tuesday evening run sessions in UCD and quickly realised that the ‘bit of running’ I had been doing and feeling so good about really didn’t count for much so I had a LOT of work to do.

Last year, due to circumstances beyond my control (I got married); I managed only 2 races, the try-a-tri at Joey Hannan and the Fingal sprint triathlon, as part of the brilliant new-to-tri programme in the club.

I counted Fingal as having reached my goal of completing a triathlon, but like so many others before me, I had the bug now. I wanted more. So this year I decided that I was going to aim for my first Olympic triathlon.

I did the sprint at Joey Hannan on a cold, wet and windy day in April this year and survived, which was quite an achievement considering I hadn’t raced since Fingal the previous May. Next up was Fingal itself and the weather decided to cooperate this time with a slight breeze and warm sunshine making it a good day at the office. The bike leg was shortened to 15km this year, which suited me as it’s still my weakest discipline (I know, I know… best place to make up time, etc.).

Anyway, now that I have a few more races under my belt, it’s time for the big one. The Olympic distance race beckons. Having never done one before, I had no idea of pacing or any real understanding of the limits of my endurance, both physical and mental. With this in mind, I approached Athy as though it were just another training session. It was just about completing the distance and putting together all the little bits that I had learnt. That’s all well and good until you actually get there and the glorious weather and the buzz and excitement starts to seep into you. You start to think: maybe this is my day. Maybe if I just go for it right from the start, I can win this thing!

I couldn’t and I didn’t.

I’d been swimming for what felt like an eternity and still couldn’t even see the turn-around point when it dawned on me that I might not get to the podium this time round.

I really did just have to focus on finishing so I settled back into a fairly comfortable pace and I got through the swim in about 33 minutes. I would say that using earplugs made a big difference to me in this swim as I have very little open water swimming experience so suffer quite badly from dizziness when exiting the water. The earplugs did their job and I was able to get out of the water and my wetsuit without any major difficulty.

So, in and out of T1 in about two and a half minutes, with a quick about turn to exit in the right direction (oops), I was headed off out on the bike. About 50 metres past the mount line I dropped my sunglasses and had to wait for some kid to run up to me with them. This was not the start I was hoping for but at least the kid didn’t just leg it and leave me squinting in the sun for the rest of the day. The bike leg went better than I had expected it to, although could still use some serious improvement. I had an average speed of about 28km/hour and finished in 1:26:35.

T2 took 2:05 and then it was time for the run. I was actually almost looking forward to the run as it is probably my strongest discipline. The first 2km or so of the run is back out on the road with the bikes coming against you. After that it’s down to the river bank where the ground is littered with a multitude of opportunities to go over on an ankle. The poor footing and tired legs slowed me down quite a bit more than I would have hoped but the scenery along the riverbank was very pleasant and it was easy to forget that this was a race and not just a nice run by the river on a warm summer day. The last few hundred metres of the run are back on a decent surface so I was able to pick up the pace a bit, finish strong and grab a few more places just ahead of the line. I completed the run in 51:56.

I crossed the finish line in a time of 2:56:50. I had secretly hoped to break the three hour mark and was delighted to do so considering I had no idea what sort of times I was going to put in on each leg.

Looking back now it’s easy to see the areas where I could have pushed harder and made up a few extra places but when you don’t know how much you have left in the tank, for some reason the fear of having to walk on the run was greater than the fear of being last. The first one is out of the way and there are lots of lessons learned that can hopefully be applied in my next Olympic distance race.

A big thank you has to go out to everyone in the club for the encouragement and advice all year round and particularly leading up to the race, and especially to those that have been training with me and putting up with all my questions and ponderings. Special mentions must be made for Tadhg Cronin, Sharon McGuire, Ellen Shilling, Mark McInerney, and of course my fabulous wife, Grá!

My next challenge is Hell of the West in Kilkee in a few weeks’ time. That really will be the big one as it is a much tougher course than the flat and rolling roads of Athy. Assuming I do make it across the finish line, I’m sure I’ll see quite a few of you for a beer (or seven) and a burger at some stage…