About the Event

The event comprises:

- Swim 750 m (in the cold water of Hartlepool Marina!)

- Cycle ~20 km (from Hartlepool Marina to Seaton Carew 3 times)

- Run 5 km (around the Marina)


I did the swim by myself with Benjamin supervising from the shore.

For the Cycle, we used our special tandem - a Hase Pino. I aspire to Benjamin helping with the pedalling, but he rarely does, unless I am trying to stay still and talk to someone!

For the run we used Benjamin's cross country wheelchair - an Advance Mobility Freedom chair.


Saturday 7 September 2013

Try-a-Tri

I went on the Try-a-Tri event that the local authority had organised to help with preparation for the triathlon.   I went by myself because it is not really Benjamin's sort of thing.
In the morning the coaches went through a few triathlon techniques such as:

  • Basic running training (just like old times - strides, high knee lifts etc. hadn't done that sort of thing for ages.)
  • Core body strength exercises (these felt like they were doing a lot of good - I may not be able to move in the morning!).
  • Transition skills (how to prepare your kit, and run with a bike)
  • Cycling (bike control, getting on and off without crashing - remember to un-clip from your pedals...).
In the afternoon we did the part that I was particularly keen on - a dip-in-the-dock (sorry, open water swimming practice).  This went much better than the dip-in-the-sea last weekend:
  • The water temperature was higher than the sea, so I didn't suffer the thermal shock problem - it wasn't too unpleasant at all!
  • No waves!
  • I jointed the novice swimmers, as I am rubbish at swimming.  The coach helped us be confident that it was very difficult to drown in a wet suit by asking us to sit on the bottom of the dock.   I didn't make it all the way down, but when I opened my eyes there were a few jellyfish floating past - it was very good - just like the sea life centre!
  • It was hard to judge how the swim went because we did lots of short ones rather than just a slog around the 750m course, but it wasn't bad - the front crawlers were faster than me, but I don't think I was the slowest, which is encouraging.
So, a very good, well organised day.   Thanks to Hartlepool Council for organising it!

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