Tl;dr; I completed my first half iron man (The Gauntlet - Cholmondeley Castle, Cheshire UK) in 6h52m17s. It was my first ever triathlon and I’m glad I made it through without hurting myself.
Pre-race
I registered for the Gauntlet - Cholmondeley Castle, Cheshire UK in mid-January 2022, five month before the race that would take place on the 19th of June. It had been two years I wanted to do a half iron man, and it had been cancelled twice due to Covid, this was my chance. I chose this race specifically because the date was two days after the end of my master and therefore it was nicely fitting my schedule. At the time I didn’t possess the technical ability to swim two kilometers without suffering a lot. The following week, I took up membership at the local swim centre. I knew registering for the event would bolster my daily exercising. At the start of my swim training, I swam 1.1km daily (the pool was 25 yards long). I would do 2*550 with a short break in-between, averaging 12min per 550m. I improved overtime, clocking in at 20 minutes per 1100m without breaks.
Simultaneously, I took up running short distances (<8km) to get my body used to hit the pavement again. At the time I would spent considerable time dancing in salsa clubs, so I was in shape to take on cardio training.
I didn’t have a bike, and was wondering how I would train given I didn’t wanted to buy a road bike that would be difficult to care of over the next few years. An excellent friend of mine lent me his VTT in March so I could start incorporating some bike sessions in my training.
At the time, I wasn’t even on Strava yet. I caught Covid in late March upon returning from the Télécom Paris gala. After recovering, I decided I had to increase the intensity of my training: on the first weekend of April, I registered on Strava and did 1.1km swim, 20km bike and ran 12km with a friend.
I tried to limit myself to one activity per day, which I maintained until the beginning of exams and the french cybersecurity championship in the last week of April. I was juggling a lot during this time, between the exams and the competitions, and had to travel twice to France. I mostly stopped training until the 20th of May. Following this, I tried to keep up the rhythm of one activity per day for the remainder of the time before the race.
Usually, periods of my life are highly distinguishable, my character has different “modes” that makes me efficient at doing a certain kind of activity. I had gotten used to swimming in the morning but, exercising 5 to 15 hours per week was setting me onto sports mode. It conflicted with the intellectual mode I needed to tackle cryptography challenges. This divergence was sometimes hard to cope with as I felt pressured doing both activities at the same time. Both require extreme focus.
In the final week before the race, I had several events which forced me to wake up early. After a fraught journey to the Airbnb next to Cholmondeley Castle on Friday, I was exhausted, even a bit sick. On Saturday, I went to the castle and spoke with staff in order to know what to expect the next morning. My light illness that day helped me sleep earlier (10pm) than my sleep schedule would have normally allowed.
The Gauntlet - 1,9km | 96km | 21km
Waking up
I woke up on race day (Sunday) at 6am without the usual signs of tiredness that I get when I wake up in the middle of the night (6am is indeed usually the middle of my night), and consuming various energy-boosting drinks (coffee, vitamines + electrolytes, and BCAA + CBD), I drove to the event. I was a bit late on the time they had given us and most participants were ready. Thankfully, I had been on-site the day before and I knew what I had to do and whom I had to speak to in order to get everything ready.
Swim leg - 2 x 950m
I was feeling a bit sick, maybe because of the random mixes I drank, or maybe because of the early wake up which has usually this effect on me. I was eager to begin as I thought it would help me focus on things other than my stomach. The organiser asked who was doing their first triathlon today, I raised my hand along with another guy in front of me. He resigned from the race after the second lap of biking. We entered the lake and swam to the departure line. As I was entering the water seeing nothing but darkness, I thought that surviving the event was already a solid goal.
I instinctively knew I would be fast in the beginning so I put myself in the imaginary second row of swimmers. I knew the departure was, as described in others reports, “a taste of hell”. Indeed, it was pretty violent. Unlike in swimming pools, bodies around you aren’t considered as obstacles and you swim like you are alone. I mostly had contact on the sides and I didn’t get hit in the face. My goggles were great and didn’t let water in.
On the first lap, I always had people alongside me and I could watch them instead of pulling my head out to orient myself. I felt like I wasn’t very efficient at turning around the buoys. When arriving on the shore, there was mud everywhere and I drained my energy trying to fight it when I could’ve swam through normally. I completed the first lap in 18 minutes.
It was an Australian exit, then we had to run 100 meters on the shore before going back into the lake for the next lap. I didn’t run very fast as I was still sick and recovering from the first lap.
In the second lap, I was mostly alone, occasionally bumping in the only swimmer present in a 10 meter radius. I had to pull my head out to get directions. I tried to swim the other side but it turns out I have one side where I manage to go straight, and the other one I just drift to the right. I got trapped in seaweed around 200m into the second lap. I was scared as I was dragging it with me and it wasn’t going away. I eventually managed to escape and when it happened again I got out of it quickly. I finished my second lap in 20min. I was fuzzy when I got out of the water, my beloved girlfriend shouted “40min” and I understood “14min”, a number I couldn’t make sense of.
Equipment
- High quality goggles (Excellent)
- Oneil long sleeves wetsuit (not specifically made for swimming) (didn’t feel a difference swimming with it)
Improvments
- I need more training in open water in order to get directions faster and turn around buoys more efficiently.
- I need to have a better pre-race food/sleep regime to avoid the long lasting sickness that began even before the race departure.
T1
I ran to the transition area while trying to catch my breathe. It took me 3 minutes to get out of the water and run there. Then another 3 minutes to get ready. I didn’t feel like as I was efficient, but it seemed okay. After changing, I took my bike and followed other people running out of the zone. I failed to tread on the touchpoints during the race, therefore the times displayed online are not quite accurate. I climbed onto the bike and took off.
Bike leg - 3 x 32km
I had planned to start eating as soon as I was on the bike but I could not. I tried to eat a lemon energy bar that almost made me throw up. It was my first time on a road bike ever. I almost fell twice in the beginning as I wasn’t focused on the bumpy road. I had trouble changing gears on the bike (not sure why). My water bottle was a bit too small to fit in the bike holder and it fell at the fifth kilometer. I stopped to pick it up.
I felt like I had a decent speed and I could keep going at the same pace for a while. One lap was 32km, the first 15 were flat or downhill. The next 10 kilometers however were thougher (>300 d+) and the last 7 were okay. I was too slow on the uphill parts. I did 1h12 on my first lap. On the second lap, I felt like I had a better position. My back was aching but I had get used to it and I was stretching on the bike time to time. I think I was faster on the 15 first kilometers in the second lap but had more trouble with the next 10. I had the feeling that if I was to produce too much exert, I would fall asleep. I did 1h14 on the second lap, which was still acceptable, but not quite what I had expected. I lacked power in the third lap from the 10th kilometer onwards. I thought the biking leg would never end, but it did. I completed the last lap in 1h25, which amounts to a total bike time of 3h51min. People overtook me every 10 minutes while biking.
During the second lap, I spoke with a friend I made before departure. He was aiming for 6h too (but achieved 6h20 eventually). I got out of T1 as he entered it, but he caught up to me while biking. We spoke for a few minutes while climbing uphill, he then took off and I would only see him again after the finish line.
Equipment
- A road bike rented at the event with flat pedals (I was the only one with flat pedals)
- A random shirt and biker shorts (turned out to be essential as I was hurt even through it)
- A helmet that comes with the bike
- Running shoes with random short H&M socks
Improvments
- I need a better bike positionement (easier if I had the right material)
- I need real pedals (not flat ones) to improve performance
- I need more bike training sessions (especially on road bikes)
- I need instruments to measure my ongoing performance (Power measurement, time, …)
T2
I had a relatively fast transition in 2 minutes. I dropped the bike and changed clothes without changing shoes (one of the few avantage of flat pedals).
Run leg - 3 x 7km
I knew I was susceptible of getting cramps in the first half hour after the bike leg so I decided to start slow. I was even slower given that the first two kilometers of the 7km loop (>60d+) had a positive incline. I accelerated in the third kilometer where it was downhill/flat again until the fitfth one. I ate small bites of energy bar every kilometer. Random problems were cropping up in my legs but given my speed, they went away. I didn’t walk at any point for the whole 21km. I was very happy in the first lap as I was running away from the bike leg and I was discovering the landscape. I completed the first lap in 44min. Tiredness only appeared in the middle of the second lap, that I completed in 44min too. I switched to zombie mode for a while until the third kilometer mark of the third lap. Then I regained focused. My goal was to survive the last four kilometers without hurting myself. I did 50min on the last lap. I accelerated in the last 500 meters, completing my first triathlon in 6h52m17s.
Equipment
- A short and a shirt
- Running shoes with random short H&M socks
Improvments
- I need more >15km runs in order to strenghen my legs
Results
- 80 people were registered
- 60 people showed up
- 3 people gave up
- I ranked 42th/60 scratch and 8th/13 senior with a time of 6h52m17s
- The first overall did 4h33
- 14 energy bars eaten during the race
Post race
I should have prepared warm clothes. I had to buy a hoodie on-site. My legs hurt for the rest of the day, not in an unhealthy way though. There was a free massage given at the end of the race. I manage to drive home, which was 15min away, and took care of my legs by stretching and taking hot/cold showers.
I had the dry mouth side effect due to having breathed too much through my mouth. Whenever I would eat something which was not liquid, it would sting. Solution: Eating liquid and chewing solid food 10 times longer.
The next day I was able to drive 2h30. My legs were getting better, and the next day, the pain had disapeared and I was able to hike. Tiger baulm seemed to be effective.
If I was to do another triathlon, I would train extensively for the bike leg.