New to tri: Week 8 – John

This blog was meant to be all about the sport of Triathlon and to do the sport justice there
is one very important aspect that I have to mention, travel. I have been off in Kenmare
all week, and whilst down in Kerry it dawned on me that all of you Triathletes train hard
for one reason. Please don’t give me all that fit and healthy nonsense because as far as I
can see you are all just looking for excuses to get sneaky weekends away to Irelands most
beautiful places. And all under the auspices of hard work, what a load of bluffers.

Looking through the race calendar I can see events in The Mournes, Valentia and Kilkee
to name just three. All three locations are notable for three reasons, beautiful scenery,
fabulous creamy pints and by some coincidence a triathlon, how convenient. The
simplicity of your plan is genius; kill yourself training for a few months and then bugger
off together for a bit of exercise and a serious party. I love it, and feel like a fool for not
working it out earlier.

I cannot believe that I have spent all of my sporting life doing laps of football fields or
listening to bad dance music on gym floors. If it were not for my Tri training I would still
be under the illusion that Dublin is a grey and industrial city. Of course the people are
great craic, but I don’t think I ever really gave the place a chance.

I honestly never thought that I would say this, but Dublin is a beautiful place. I have lived
and worked here for two years, yet it is only in these last two months I have begun to
appreciate what is on my door step. I put this recent enlightenment completely down to
my new found sport. Of course the recent spell of good weather makes it so much easier
to get out and about, but when the sun is shining it is a brilliant place to train.

I stuck the bicycle in the boot for my week away and in between climbing Carrauntuohil
and a visit to the Skellig islands I managed to squeeze in a spin. I had to do something to
burn off the ice-cream. I set off along the ring of Kerry from Kenmare to Sneem before
taking a right and heading back to Kenmare via Molls gap. The place is incredible and I
for one will definitely try and get an entry into one of the Triathlons down there over the
Summer.

It is hard to believe that in such a short period of time I have been lucky enough to train
in so many great places. My training highlights, in no particular order, include:

• Cycling along the Ring of Kerry
• Swimming at the Forty Foot
• Cycling around Carlingford
• Running through Irish Town nature reserve to the lighthouse at the end of the
• Great South Wall.
• Running around the Glen of Imaal
• Swimming in Camlough lake
• Cycling around Blessington lake

I’m sure that by the end of the season the list will have doubled, but in the meantime
I would love to hear your highlights and recommendations. Obviously for research

purposes I would also like to hear of where the best ice-cream and Guinness can be found
so that I can tailor my training programme in advance.

Thanks for reading

John