Lonely Muppet

"Come on legs, work," must have gone through my head a hundred times in two minutes as I slogged my way through the third km of the 10km run.  It was hot now, the cloud cover of earlier having burned off and left the sun beating down onto the baked mud.  Nothing on my body seemed to have any energy or power left.

The usual chain of events in the triathlons I have competed in runs a little like this.  I come towards the back of the swim pack, catch quite a few people on the bike whilst also being caught by a few myself, then overtake lots on the run.  This one, my local Waterlooville tri, was very different.

It was only a small event, clashing with Chichester who had changed their date resulting in ours suffering.  Most of the people in transition at the start looked somewhat fit and it was clear that most of the first timers had gone elsewhere.  Perhaps the length of the event might have had an effect.  My longest yet at 600m swim, 40k bike, 10k run.

I got overtaken by both the gent and the lady in my lane.  A firm push off after the lady had passed me at the end of the lane and I inadvertently tapped her toes twice.  So at the end of that lane she moved over to let me by.  Of course she was slightly quicker so within two lengths she was tapping my toes to come back past.  That muppetry cost us both time. Then, after a speedy transition (shoes clipped onto pedals don'tya know, check out the Shoe Muppet Blog for what happened last time I tried that), I jumped on the bike and headed out on my own.  The loneliness kicked in as I spent almost the whole hour and 27 minutes on my own, with only the whir of someone much faster coming past me every now and again.  Then onto the run and immediately I was overtaken again.

A flash of blue ahead gave my a sudden lift and I realised that I might just catch someone.  "Keep going mate," I muttered to him as I plodded past, sounding as though I had been passing people all day.

I made it to the end with some encouragement from wife and daughter around the corner from the finish.  This was a brilliantly marshalled event with tricky corners well covered and an interesting course.  Some tough climbs and hot weather made it tough but I was chuffed to get through it in a time of 2hrs and 35mins which is about what I expected.  33rd out of 44 so at least I didn't come last!  More training next time.

Muppet rating: 2 (toe tapping buffoonery, lack of training misery)

Triathlon Muppet

Muppet Sketch

Too much muppet

The muppet has definitely overstretched himself.

Last weekend I competed in the Steelman at Dorney Lake.  Being a 3 quarter Olympic event it was the furthest distances I had completed in any triathlon (1000m, 32k, 7.5k).  The problem is that I have been embroiled in end of term stuff at school.  Reports, end of year assemblies, awards evenings etc. etc.  Don't panic, I am not about to complain about the teacher's lot!  I have a great job and love every minute of it.  But you would think that I would realise, after 16 years, that some times of the year are just way too hectic to do any training (never mind blogging).

Hence I went into the Steelman under-cooked.  My brother beat me in the swim but I beat him out of transition 1.  I kept a steady pace throughout and was actually quite pleased with my performance.  What might have been had my training been better.  Times below:

Swim - 22.04
T1 - 1.43
Cycle - 1.03.37
T2 - 1.11
Run - 36.25
Overall - 2.05.02

So here I sit having finished the school term.  Now when I go into work I can ride and I can tailor my days around training.  The only problem being that my local triathlon (an Olympic distance event) is on Sunday.  So I have 3 days to pack in 3 weeks worth of training.  My muppetry score is all based on scheduling this time!

Muppet rating: 5

Triathlon Muppet