Emma's Try-a-Tri diary, week 1
Try-a-Tri is a programme dedicated to helping beginner athletes to get the most out of their first triathlon. The course lasts five weeks, offering one swim, one bike and one run per week, making a total of fifteen coached sessions. This exciting venture has been organised in partnership with OxfordTri triathlon club, GO Active and Fusion Lifestyle Leisure Centres. During the five weeks, participants will learn about efficient swimming, strong cycling and fast running, while also understanding the importance of a good transition to hold it all together on race day!
Emma Shaw, a 31-year old student nurse is one of the participants on the Try a Try programme. Although she already tried a range of sports – running, biking, kayaking and swimming, Emma wants to challenge herself with a triathlon. We'll be giving weekly updates on Emma's progress through the Try-a-Tri programme and following her highs, lows and aching legs as she moves towards her first race.<
Week 1: Back to basics
One of the big barriers to triathlon is the perceived fitness of other participants – it has a strong image of only including the fittest, strongest athletes. As Emma found out though, it is a lot more inclusive than she had imagined. “The first week of Try-a-Tri was pretty daunting – I had no idea if everyone was going to be much fitter, much faster and much more experienced than me, so it was a relief to find such a wide range of abilities on the course. Everyone's been really friendly too and it's hard not to smile when you're surrounded by 17 other people looking silly in goggles and a tight rubber swimming hat”.
The most daunting aspect of triathlons – for many beginners and seasoned racers is the swim. Just because you're strong, it doesn't mean you're fast, and this is certainly a part of the sport where form probably takes presidence brute power. “In our swimming session, we were split between lanes according to speed and then assessed for stroke style”, said Emma. “While drills feel a little odd at first – why aren't we just swimming faster - the coaches Ian and Peter were firm that you need good foundations to swim fast. The best swimmers are usually the ones who seems to be putting in the least effort in the water – it's all about the glide, not the splash!”
The running session followed a similar style – not rushing out for a 10km sprint, but assessment of running form to pick up any points for improvement. As Emma found out, one thing to say “I'll just go for a run” - but there's so much more to it. “The coaches went through different running styles with us (fore- mid- and heel-striking) and then showed us an ideal running posture. People might say it's just a case of putting one foot in front of the other, but they clearly haven't been to Try-a-Tri and learnt about fast feet drills, muscle memory and hip/knee alignment!”
So, after the first week of Try-a-Tri, how did our rookie athlete feel? “Having completed by first two sessions, I was left feeling buzzing. Triathlon has a bit of a reputation for being hard core, but this course is helping me realise that with a bit of practice, it really is accessible to all. Whether I'll be saying that next week after the biking sessions remains to be seen...”
Claire Inness, Oxford Tri publicity officer