Trilogy of a Triathlon

PART 1

TO TRI TO SWIM OR TRI NOT TO…… HMMM IS THIS A QUESTION?

I always said I would write about this one day and so, one day is here. It is however a 3-part story, like a Trilogy. A trilogy of training, pain, questioning our own sanity and life choices, what we thought were near death experiences; as well as laughter and spending time with special friends.

If you looking for something new to tri, then this could be your thing!!

One of us decided (we still cannot remember who it was – they say it was me), to suggest we do a Corporate Triathlon, to raise funds, for a non-profit organisation we had founded, packing care bags for Cancer patients starting their treatment.

We had a friend who had done numerous full triathlon events and we turned to him for advice, and then we all went very quiet, as he explained the journey ahead. Very quiet……you could hear a pin drop around the table that evening, as we sat gaping at this guy as if he were suggesting we start a colony on Jupiter.

So, the first leg of a triathlon is the swim. We only needed to swim 480m in the ocean. Now, before I continue, I must point out that there was only one of us who could actually be called an athlete of any kind (and she hates water) …. having taken part in a number of cycling events.

The rest of us…. Well, we were more geared up for floating around our pools on lilos, champagne or Margueritas (for those of us that drink) in hand, talking nonsense, than frantically throwing our arms out to swim, at the fastest speed we were capable of, to a finish line in the big blue, (sometimes grey) and beautiful (sometimes angry and stormy) Indian Ocean. It is an unpredictable, large body of water, with a sick sense of humour, that sometimes fills your head with thoughts like “I’m gonna die!!”

But first; training in the pool. Our advisor was well connected in the triathlon world and was able to recommend an excellent swimming coach. He did contact the poor woman before-hand, to brief her on what she was getting herself into by agreeing to become our coach…. Sending a group of women, very close to 50 years old, menopausal, quite grumpy, only capable of floating, who think they can not only part take in an event of this nature, but actually complete it in the allotted time.

Swimming times – every morning 05h30 – or, as we fondly call it “stupid o’clock” or, in Winter, “dark ‘o clock”. So, that meant actually having your costume clad body in the water by this, frankly unreasonable time of the day. We arrived keen and eager, ready with all the necessary equipment. One of us even arrived in a wet suite….. which normally isn’t necessary for a pool swim. It was like the arrival of a motely crew. It was the beginning of a new type of entertainment for anyone watching. We had to learn to swim using our arms, breathing correctly, up and down, increasing our speed and distance over time.

There was many a morning, when we were all leaning on the side of the pool, goggles on, staring up at our coach, who would be explaining her expectations of us, for the next part of the training session, thinking “you want us to do WHAT?” Our one friend got fed up enough the one morning to actually say “ok, I am going home” with some expletives thrown in-between. Hauling herself out of the pool, she put her towel around her and headed home to a warm beverage and a shower; this is one of the upsides of being 50+ and menopausal… when you say you done and leave, no-one tries to stop you, as it could be a hazardous intervention on their part. Best to just leave said person to go on home. She did however return the next day to continue.

I discovered that this would be something I grew a real love for, despite having had numerous near drowning experiences while participating in school galas, against my will. I would tell, or rather warn the teachers that it was a bad idea to make me swim, especially butterfly…. And you would think, that by my second last year of school, based on eye witness accounts, that they would have let me be, but noooooo!! That is why I turned to lilos in the pool. But here I was, levelling up from floating to actual swimming.

The true test would come though when we had to enter the ocean and swim there. The playing field changes dramatically. It’s like moving from a game of tiddly winks, to riding in a rodeo on the outskirts of Texas.

We were not ready, our wet suites were, for the most part, ill-fitting and conditions were, well, frightening. It was windy, the sea was all over the place. It was not ideal. One of the things that does make you a better swimmer, is the will to live to see the next day, and it is with this in mind, that you can swim in even the most crazy conditions. Well, we traumatised ourselves to the extent that we needed to hire the services of a kind of ocean psychologist; one who takes you into the water, flanked on either side by people who know what they doing. They treat you like a four-year-old (which we were extremely grateful for), talking to us, giving us advice and praising us when as we got more used to being in the water.

When we emerged from the ocean after our first failed attempt at ocean swimming, we felt like vomiting, battled breathing, were pale, and got coffee, so that we could just stare out at the beach and at each other, wondering how we even survived, and then vowing we would go back to lilo floating in the pool, never to enter the great ocean again.

But we did go back, again and again, eventually being able to swim much further than we ever anticipated, as well as further than we would be required to swim during the upcoming event. We experienced quite a few what I call “character building swims”, & some days I decided that my character had had enough building, opting for coffee in the car.

There is nothing quite like being in the water early in the morning or late in the afternoon swimming with friends, stopping occasionally to float and watch the water go by (you can take a person off the lilo, but the urge to float never goes away).

This would be my strongest discipline of the three I would be required to do on race day and any other day thereafter. My athletic abilities for other disciplines is fair to very dodgy. I would provide many unbelievable and mostly hysterically funny incidents on our training journey. Sometimes I would not be amused but could provide entertainment for those around me.

It’s a life changing experience and one I am always grateful for….. but wait…. there’s more….

Be on the lookout for part 2 – The Baffling with the Bike!

PS – If you would like to share your experiences around this subject, please do so by clicking on the “Send me scribbles” button. I would love to hear your thoughts & stories.

Yours in Soul Scribbles

J