Westport Triathlon (My First Triathlon) - 2019

I have a habit of diving in at the deep. My first ever race (as an adult) was GaelForce West 2014. I only started running 3 months before the event and didn’t even own a bike. That race didn’t go well and you would be forgiven for thinking I learnt my lesson. Unfortunately not. I registered for the Westport Triathlon in March, three months before the event. At that point I couldn’t swim front crawl, didn’t own a wetsuit and had never been open water swimming. I hoped that the 3-month lead would give me time to correct these issues. When I lined up to start the race however, I could barely swim front crawl, owned a wetsuit that I had never used and had never been open water swimming. Oh, and I signed up for the Olympic distance. Needless to say it didn’t go well. My swim was an unmitigated disaster. I struggled to get any kind of rhythm going and then cramped up badly only 200 metres in. I spent the rest of the swim doggy paddling my way around the course. The bike and run went OK and I was very happy to complete my first triathlon. Things could only get better from here…