My disabled son, Benjamin and I competed as a team in the Hartlepool Big Lime Triathlon on September 22nd. Benjamin has a few challenges - he is autistic and has severe learning difficulties as well as coordination issues. These pages are a record of our preparation and of the event itself. I might well start adding to it again if we enter another event.
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.
Friday, 30 August 2013
What to Wear?
Everything I have read says that you need a special swimming wetsuit that will keep you warm, but is flexible enough to swim, and also has a smooth surface to reduce friction.
But these are quite expensive for what is probably going to be a one-off event for me. I could hire one, but then realised that Amazon has a mega special offer on a 'normal' one that makes it about half the price of hiring a good one.
So I have bought a very cheap 'normal' wetsuit (for <£19!) to see what that is like - if it proves impossible to swim in, I will hire a good one.
The wetsuit arrived this morning and I was pleasantly surprised - I managed to put it on, and I can imagine swimming in it - I think the limiting thing for the swim will be my poor technique rather than poor equipment! Even tested it by getting into a bath of cold water. I can't say that it was pleasant, but I could lie in it without feeling like I was getting hypothermia.
Will try it out in Hartlepool Bay on Saturday morning......
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