Many of you may have read about Peter Neal's and Elliot Smales's successes in Duathlon and triathlon and wondered how easy it is to get started in multi-sports such as triathlon (swim, bike, run), duathlon (run, bike, run) and aquathon (swim,run).
A talented runner, Peter has proved to be really strong in duathlon. Gary Ridgway, Phil (Fatlad) and Elliot Smales and I are also involved in multi-sports, with Elliot proving to be a real talent.
From my point of view as one of more "mature" athletes in Rotherham Harriers, I have found it a good way to stay more injury free than I had been. When I started about 3 years ago, although comfortable swimming breast stroke, I couldn't string 2 lengths of front crawl together. I still find the swimming challenging but am now up to the stage where I'm working on technique to try to get faster. My consolation is that although I get out of the water towards the back of the field, it's a positive feeling to be overtaking people on the bike and the run.
You don't necessarily need an expensive bike to get going. When I started, I asked people I knew (mostly Fatlad) what sort of bike would be a good buy and decided on a budget of £700 and went to see J E James who were really helpful (other bike retailers are available!) People do use mountain and trail bikes in road-based triathlons but I think it's better to have a road bike. There are mountain bike-specific triathlon competitions too, but personally I'm not good at the technical side, so prefer a bit of tarmac and the exhilaration of the speed of a road bike. Fatlad wouldn't mind me saying that Elliot is now more knowledgeable than his dad about bikes and if I were buying another bike, I would ask Elliot's advice.
Gary is a particularly strong and knowledgeable swimmer- you will know already that he's a brilliant runner if you run with Pete Humphries group. Gary has given me some advice on swimming technique and I would recommend a chat with him about swimming in triathlons/aquathons.
With Peter specializing in Duathlons, he has some good tips on speedy transitions and time trials on the bike.
I have to admit, my running has suffered because of the time I spend swimming and cycling training, but hopefully this will get back to where it should be with the help of and Pete Shaw and Jim Brogan's endurance group training on Monday nights on the dreaded hill.
I can't tell you how much I really love triathlon now, and couldn't believe it when I qualifed in Llandudno for the age group sprint triathlon GB team earlier this year (yes-even after a horrendous sea swim with a deep water start 200m from the shore!) The high spot of my year was competing for the GB team at the age group Sprint World championships in Hyde Park, swimming in the Serpentine. It was incredible!
Give multi-sports a try- you'll love it. I can recommend a multi-sport approach as an older runner, but don't stop your running as it's a fantastic base for everything.
Paula Fisher