Race Build Up: I left the corporate world towards the end of 2015 knowing it was essential to maintain a ‘life purpose’ during this career break. Having swam and ran as a youngster (I’m now 49) and enjoyed some road cycling since 2014 I signed up for the Thorpe Park Standard triathlon.

Fortunate to be off work, in January I decided to enrol some help. I found the Viceroys website and contacted Mark who soon put together my first training plan. 6 month’s hard training followed with, naturally, highs and lows. The swimming came back fairly quickly and the bike improved steadily including the tough Dragon Ride in Wales.  However, it took until April to overcome a calf injury and run properly. 

Race Day: My training downfall had been to start time trials too quickly then fade. It was essential I pace myself correctly. Target times were: swim 23:45, bike 1:10:00 (ambitious) and run 42:00. Given I’d never put all three together I set myself an overall goal of 2 hours 30 mins.

Early in the swim I had a ‘what have you taken on here you idiot’ feeling  Soon after I laughed, held back a bit and finished strong in 23:50. So far so good. I stuck to Mark’s advice on the bike and never strayed beyond 7 out of 10 effort for the most part. However, I was having so much ‘fun’ I put a little too much into the last 10km and smashed my target with 1:08:47. 

When I started running there was doubt in my mind as to whether I’d even finish. The first 3km were weird, I felt I was hardly moving but the Garmin confirmed I was doing ok. I entered a deep dark place from km 6 to 9 being very careful not to let a few muscle twinges turn into cramp. It was clear I was going to finish now, just not clear when. Thankfully I did with 44:40 for the run giving an unbelievable (for me) total of 2:19:21 and 5th in Age Group. 

Incredibly happy I realised how important it is to make a plan based on current performance and stick to it…well almost…especially early on when you feel strong. I sense this is just the beginning of a new adventure in life…’

As raced and reported by Sandy Whisker