FREAK EVENT AT THE WEEKEND…..

Last weekend was kind of freaky in a couple of ways.

I competed in my first open water triathlon.

Changing from rugby to triathlon has not been easy. I miss the team feel, I did miss training with my mates, I missed the physical contact and going from training for 40-60 minutes to the 3 1/2 hour bike sessions on the weekend was a HUGE culture shock.

BUT this weekend I arrive at:

The Freak Events Olympic Triathlon.

In case you don’t know my girlfriend described my swimming stroke as like a bear with a stick!!

It was a little scary. I was a bit apprehensive about the swim part.

I guess with any new situation you are always apprehensive.

So the day started with me doing my standard, waking up like an excited child at Christmas, trying to tell myself to go back to sleep.

I got to the event, ready and raring to go.

I had a very clear idea of exactly how I was going to get out of the water, undo my wetsuit, the place in which I would put my bike ready for that phase. I had my shoes, hat and sunglasses all ready in the exact order I needed them.

This is something I had practiced.

What I hadn’t expected is what came next

———THE SWIM——-

I am at the start line, nervous but READY!

My feet went numb before the start, it was cold, tried kicking my legs to get blood flow to the feet, I nearly got cramp I kicked that hard!

I positioned myself at the back right of the field, so I didn’t hold up the more experienced guys in the race, 87 of us in total.

We set off, I didn’t get kicked or climbed over too much an infact I was enjoying it, with my eyes firmly set on the first bouy (650m).

Round that one, on to the next, and round that (250m later), then into the sun light to the next bouy which made it a bit harder to see where I was going.

Then once I was there I was back at the start point with 1/3 of the distance roughly to go.

At this point there was no one around me, I began to start thinking that I was behind and that it would be ok I would just keep going at my pace and what will be will be!

So I am nearing the waters edge, it wasn’t the smoothest of exits, tried to touch the ground, but it wasn’t there!!!!

Quick glance at my watch and I was 8 minutes ahead of my predicted time. REALLY??

Anyway no time for looking back….

Out we get, a little audition for Swan Lake and up the hill to transition.

Still wobbling, can only put it down to the fact that I had been lying down prone in the water for 30 minutes, then tried to get up that hill as fast as I could.

On to the next phase……

——-The Bike—-

I knew the course, I went for a lap of it the weekend before as part of my easy session before my sprint triathlon at Tiverton.

I knew where the hills were, I knew where to push, where to feed, where to drink, where the pot holes were (part of the course is bike wrecker if you get on the wrong side of the road) and which part I could make time up on.

To be fair, I smashed this bit of the course, coming in 5 minutes ahead of my time on the two laps.

It was nice to hear people cheering me on and giving support on the course, particularly my mum and brother (who is now taking up triathlon outside of rugby…watch this space).

I didn’t eat as much as I thought I would on the bike. Felt very good at this stage.

———-The Run——–

hmmmm….. in transition I thought putting my trainers on was a good idea….maybe willies would have been better for small parts of the run route.

Legs were a bit wobbly, calfs a little tight, but that eased after the frist mile. I managed somehow to stop my watch during transition from the bike to run and didn’t realize for the first ½ mile (approx.) of the run. Bit annoying as I didn’t know how long I had been running for exactly.

The run was a combination of tracks, paths grass, “bogs” and a few slippery slopes to. More cross country I guess.

This made it a bit slower than I predicted but I felt strong enough.

So I crossed the line in 2:31:31. Which at first I was a little annoyed about, I had loosely set myself a target of 2:30. This was on the basis of the run being on hard standing.

After two minutes though and some reflection….I was very happy.

——–The next freaky thing——–

I got my results, 9th overall and 1st in my age category (19-29).

Happy with that on debut in open water.

I met up with my mates, Jo and a couple of clients who had come to support and they told me about how I came out of the water in 13th place.

I still cant believe it, that’s my weakest event!

——- Was it a completely freak event?——

I text a couple of people to tell them how it went, told them that I had surprised myself.

They both text back to say that they weren’t surprised.

OK!

They pointed out to me that I had actually done everything I would tell them to do.

HMMMMM….I suppose I did!

What did I do that made me enjoy that experience so much?

1. I followed a plan from my coach, 99% from December 2012.

HERE is what Andy ( who is one of my best friends as well) actually thinks about my suitability to triathlon!

Not exactly cut out for it according to Andy , who should know seeing as he has competed at the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii.

2. I ate extremely well- I made sure I practiced using the fuel I was going to use on the day. I ate blueberries and my favourite breakfast as well, in the morning of the race as I know these are a vasodilator and will encourage blood flow. I also took my amino acids as these to are vasodilators.

3. I trained hard, but smart.

4. I looked after my recovery and supplemented my diet with alpha-lipoic acid, lean greens, heart fuel (vit c and d-ribose combination), amino acids and magnesium citrate.

5. I left my mates wedding a bit early , so that I was in bed by 10pm.

6. I was nervous, but I was determined that the only person that could make this happen was me! I was HUGELY accountable to MYSELF!
So was it such a freak event, maybe NOT.

I did what I know works for my clients, why should it not work for me?!!

–—–VIDEO——

HERE is a quick video of the weekends action for you.

I am now on to the last 3 weeks of my preparation for my MAIN EVENT on June 16th at Wimbellball, Exmoor.

An event rated by the pro athletes from around the world, as the hardest half iron man in the world!

Nothing like going “in at the deep end” hey! ☺

Thanks for reading,

I hope this inspires you to take the leap of faith and have a go at that “thing” that you have been telling yourself you will commit to.

My Best

Matt “not so freaky” Luxton

p.s here is that video again for you ☺