After much persuasion and repeatedly being told ‘You’ll love it!’ I joined Wexford Triathlon Club in March of this year. Tuesday night pool swims with Heike became part of my week and dusting off an old mountain bike soon followed! After braving a pool mock tri and a sea one too I decided to give the ‘ real thing’ a go. I booked the Kilkenny Triathlon for Sunday the 3rd of July and though my rickety 15 year old mountain bike had served me well for the mock-tris I decided to invest in a sleeker set of wheels too! On the Wednesday before the race during the post swim run in the Strand I got answers to all my triathlon questions and queries! Ger you should write a book ‘Tips for you first tri!’
Race Day arrived and so did glorious sunny weather-the setting of the triathlon in Kilkenny castle was just beautiful. Being a first timer I had arrived in plenty of time – parked up the car (Thanks Phil for the parking location tips too!) and strolled into registration to collect my time chip numbers etc. After a bit of observing I worked out where to stick all the number stickers and made my way to set up transition! All of the advice from the previous week came in handy, I managed to set it all up and practiced walking from where we’d enter after swim to my bike so as to make sure I’d find it! The coloured towel tip certainly helped with 350 bikes surrounding mine!
Race briefing was next and I met Phil here too. It was lovely to have another person in the Wexford colours on the walk down to the swim and also to get a few additional tips ( though I did have to help Phil when he was putting his wetsuit on back to front!) There was quite a wait between the 6 waves but eventually my wave 5 was called. I decided to stick near the front of the pack for the swim and though there was initial crowding I managed to find my space and enjoy the swim with the help of the nice downstream current! Transition between swim and bike involved a 450m run and I was thrilled to manage to find my bike straightaway! All the officials were most helpful in directing competitors through the transition to the mounting line and once I was out on the road for the cycle I settled into it and enjoyed it . Mid cycle I realised I didn’t know how to change a puncture-so I’ll add that to my ‘to do’ list for the next race! The cycle went well and the 2nd transition was straightforward . The 5km run around the castle grounds was lovely- it was full of turns with a variation between grass woodland and road which was nice, even nicer was the downhill finish!
Overall the fabulous setting, glorious sunshine and lovely course made for a very enjoyable first triathlon. Aside from the enjoyment of doing the first official triathlon I have thoroughly enjoyed the weekly swims and runs and the monthly Mock Triathlons with the Wexford club. Everyone is always so welcoming, friendly and encouraging to us ‘newbies’. So yes I have to agree with what I was told before joining – I do love being a member of such a friendly and welcoming club and am enjoying the sport of triathlons!! So much so that I’ve booked my second race already for this weekend in Carrick on Suir…..I still don’t know how to change a puncture though! .
Helen