I went to swimming classes this semester, and at some point I told my self “Well, I can run, ride a bike and swim, a triathlon sounds like a perfect idea!”. Classic amateur enthusiasm and very typical of me. Not that it’s bad, as long as it is safe for you and everyone else close to you, why not? Lately, my reckless ideas have started coming back and I love it. The reason why many friends have been telling me “I cannot understand how you can be so smart and so stupid at the same time” along the years is exactly because of things like this, and I consider these reckless plans part of my identity.
Anyways, back to the triathlon, let’s give you some context on my experience with all those disciplines. Swimming is the one I was the least experienced in, so my goal was just to complete the distance, regardless of the time. With cycling I was pretty confident, in 2022 I did a solo 3-day trip covering 90 km (another reckless idea if you wonder) and it went fine, so I guessed that shouldn’t be an issue. Running is the discipline I have the most experience with, I started consistently running one and a half year ago and my performance has improved dramatically.
This is for those who think they cannot run: before actually started running as I do now, I tried at least in 5 different seasons and failed to keep up in all of them. Notice that I didn’t say fail to run, but rather fail to keep up. This is because you literally cannot fail to run! You may need to go slower, take more breaks, run only 500 m today because you don’t feel well. The only thing you can fail at is not showing up to run, at least once a week (unless you got a serious injury or need rest). That is failing the hope you put in yourself when you said some weeks ago that you would start running for reals. In case you fail, try again and again and again! I did the same and last year I decided it was enough of lying to myself, I locked in and I started to show up for myself, regardless of the distance or speed. After some months you will start to notice the differences and you will be so glad you didn’t stop, good luck chuck!
Once again, back to the triathlon. So I told my partner “Hey, I wanna do a triathlon this summer, I’m already searching for some options in Germany” and after some debate around how I would probably need more months to train (which I agree on, but I didn’t care about a fantastic performance, I was curious about if I could complete it), he suggested we could choose a triathlon route ourselves and save at least 100 euros. Fantastic idea, I just wanted to show myself that I can complete a triathlon, so a DIY triathlon has everything I needed.
So he took over the route planning and I focused on training. As I am not a big fan of long distance races, the idea was to complete a Super Sprint: 400 m of swimming, 10 km of cycling and 2,5 km of running. Running that distance was easy peasy, cycling that distance would probably leave me short of breathe but okay, and with the swimming I definitely needed to put on some work. I was training at the Cospudener See close to Leipzig, but it was difficult to know the distance as Garmin loses GPS signal when it’s underwater. Also, I couldn’t go to the lake everyday because I had tons of work to do with my thesis, so it was a difficult time to organize my thesis, one exam, my work, strength and triathlon training.
Triathlon day!#
We were in Bergen (Norway) for our DIY triathlon but as usual, the weather in Bergen had been rainy and windy for several days. That could be a problem for the swimming section, as the lake was above in the mountains and the water would be close to 10°, which is definitely not warm. We always follow the golden rule, dear readers, safety first. I am not an experienced swimmer in open water, I do not have a wetsuit and I do not know how my body will react to stress + cold water, so I let my ego go and decided that if necessary, the swimming distance will be shorter. Now let me tell you a quick summary of each section:
Swimming: the weather was slightly better (only showers and eventually there would be sun according to the forecast), but the water was still pretty cold. Following the golden rule, I decided to shorten the swimming section to 100 m, as I was getting nervous in the water because of the cold and the stress of the triathlon. This is another aspect I love about sports, how they can be an exercise for mental strength and pushing yourself to do things. As I mentioned, the swim was short so after getting back to land I just went running to dry myself and start with the longest section, cycling.
Cycling: remember how I said that I was pretty confident with cycling? Well, I just have to say: never underestimate when a Scandinavian tells you that the path goes only uphill. When he told me that, I assumed that for most of it, it could go uphill, but it can’t be that bad right? Needless to say I was absolutely wrong: the path went basically upwards all the time and I was too tired to even think about changing gears. Exhausting is a really light word to describe what the cycling stage was, it was a constant battle in my head, telling myself I can get to the finish line and avoiding to watch my watch, realizing I only did 3 km and I still had 7 to go. This is another reason why I wanted to do this triathlon, figure out my weaknesses to start working on them for next summer. So, even though I was breathless by the end, I did 10 km cycling up a mountain, how insane is that! One year ago I would have never believed it! Now I know I can do it and I know I have to put more effort on it for next season.
Running: so after that cycling stage I was definitely struggling to walk, it took me a couple of minutes to get my legs working properly again. This stage allowed me to enjoy more the views, as I am more used to pushing myself while running, so it has become much easier. One funny thing is that in steep sections, I was faster running that when I was cycling, which I’m really proud of, considering how much I have been running in the last year. I thought at first it was 5 km so I was saving some energy, when my partner reminded me it was only 2,5 km I went sprinting and completed 3 km. That last thing was due to a misunderstanding, he was going to wait at the finish line and he went too far, so I run a bit extra for those meters that I didn’t swim.
Cool-down hike: not that much of a cool-down but we continued going up the mountain for 8 km, and I have to say it was completely worth it. The mountain had beautiful waterfalls and crystal clear water running through it, together with the characteristic summer-green shade of nature in the Norwegian mountains, it was mesmerizing. Here you can see a bit of all the wonders we saw that day, it’s a pity that the camera cannot capture perfectly how beautiful the landscape was.
Now the actual cool-down: enjoying the views in a more relaxing way on the way back (with a beautiful weather, the sun came out after the triathlon was finished), going to a petrol station to get some burgers and getting back to the house to drink some tea and not move anymore. The next day the pain wasn’t that bad, I wonder if it’s because of a 12 km hike in Hovden we had days before, maybe that was more challenging? Maybe I didn’t push myself enough? Maybe my fears were blocking my full physical potential? I think it’s a mixture of all of those options, so it’s good to know what I have to work on for next year.
Extra surprise: Northern lights! Seeing Northern lights in Bergen with the naked eye is difficult due to 2 reasons: it’s not that close to the North and it is always cloudy. I was already in bed and exhausted, but my partner told me to go outside and we realized that those were not clouds, they were indeed some really nice green and pink Northern lights! It felt absolutely magical, I felt like in the movie “Brother Bear” (well they were not moving that fast or intensely, but it was definitely a lot given the location of Bergen). They were moving quicker than I thought they could, but still there are some nice shots of them. Eventually the clouds arrived and the show was over, so here you can enjoy some of the pictures of that night :D
Here is a closer look, the colors were noticeable with the naked eye but not as intense as in the photographs.
