So there I was, stood on a beach with 300 other people in the south of Thailand at 6am.
Nope, I wasn't at a full moon party, this was the Krabi International Triathlon, and I was about to take part in my first ever triathlon! Let me rewind the clock to 3 months earlier in 2017 and tell you the story that led me to be standing on that beach, on that day and at that time!
The Beginnings
A Facebook post from an old colleague of mine, Dave Cramond, popped up around April 2017. Dave was doing some training for the Ironman 70.3 race in Vietnam in May 2017. That looks pretty cool I thought, travelling to an exotic location to compete in a race.
I'd done some half-marathons and a couple of Duathlons back in the UK, but had never really considered doing a triathlon.
I was never that good at swimming, and to the thought of swimming in the freezing cold English rivers or lakes didn't fill me with excitement!
So, even though I was quite into cycling and running, I never really gave triathlons much of a thought...
But the idea and challenge of doing a triathlon around South-East Asia was far more appealing with it's tropical weather and turquoise coloured, warm waters.
Dave was taking part in a triathlon in Krabi in July 2017, and that I “should get involved!” I liked the idea of going to Krabi, where I’d never been before, and combining a short break with competing in a triathlon.
So with no further hesitation I got onto the website and signed up!! I now only had 2 months to train and get ready for the race!!
Initially, I signed up for the sprint triathlon which consisted of 750m swim, 20k bike ride and a 5k run. But after a few days, I thought to myself, if I’m going to do a triathlon, let's do it properly and upgrade to the Olympic length of 1.5k swim, 40k bike and 12k run. That’s more like it!
At this point, I had a reasonable level of fitness, but nowhere near what would be required to complete the race I had entered for. The other major consideration at this time was that I hadn’t swum further than around 20m non-stop for god knows how long! Now I was going to be swimming 1500m in the Andaman Sea!
First priority, find a swimming pool!!
Swim Training
I found a pool at Thammasat University Campus in Rangsit and turned up one day with my newly acquired swimming shorts (no budgie smugglers!) and pair of goggles. I really had no idea of how to breathe properly!
After a couple of lengths I was completely out of breath and pretty exhausted! Needless to say, with the triathlon less than 2 months away and having invested over 5000 baht in the event, I was slightly worried!
After getting home that day, I began watching lots of videos about how to breathe whilst swimming, something I probably should have done before going the first time! A good video can be found here from the Global Triathlon Network.
It kind of made sense and sounded pretty easy, blow out under water then come up for air! How hard can it be! The next day I was going back to the pool with renewed confidence!
The renewed confidence didn’t last long after trying this new breathing method and taking in numerous gulps of water! During these first couple of visits to the pool I was rarely able to put together and continuous 25m of swimming with the correct breathing technique.
But I knew that I could do it and just had to keep practicing and learning from my breathing mistakes.
As the race grew closer I was able to swim with the correct technique for over 1k and was feeling much better about the swim leg of the race. There was one thing in the back of mind though...
Swimming in a nice calm 25m length pool at Thammasat University and swimming in the Andaman Sea was going to be 2 completely different propositions!
Bike Training
I'd bought a new bike, a Giant Escape, back in March 2017 - more for recreational use than anything, but now it was going to used in a triathlon!
At this point, I had only been doing some easy cycling near my home, but with the race less than 2 months ago it was time to step things up a bit and put more miles into my legs! In the 2 months leading up to the race I used two different routes, each had their own objective.
Cycling Route 1
The first route of around 38k was used to improve my VO2 max and top-end fitness levels by including intervals into the route. Initially I started off with 4-5, 30-60 second sprints and slowly built this up to 10 sprints nearer the race.
The thing I like about doing intervals is that it helps to vary the workout and make it quite challenging. Each time you go out try to do 1 more sprint interval than you did last time!
Cycling Route 2
The second route was longer at 71k and the objective of this was to build up strength and stamina. I managed to fit this route in 3 times before the race.
I’ve always been quite naturally fit, so I was able to do the distance in relative comfort. It wasn’t easy, especially with the temperature being over 35 degrees, but I knew the bike leg itself wasn’t going to be a massive problem.
What Equipment Did I Have?
I only had some basic equipment at this time, a couple of 500ml water bottles, a set of old-school pedals (no clipless pedals at this point) and 150 baht cycling gloves. Nothing high-tech but enough to get started.
No point spending a load of money to then find out that you don't really like the whole triathlon thing after all!
Triathlon can be an expensive sport if you want to get some top of the range gear, and how much you spend probably depends on your own personal reasons for doing a triathlon.
But if you just want to start out and see if you like it, you only need a few basic items which you can buy for a pretty low cost. Decathlon have quite a good range of basic gear to get you started or check out what your local bike shop has.
Run Training
I have a fairly good background in running and used to compete in half-marathons back in the UK, so I had solid base for this part of the race.
As with the cycling, I had 2 different types of workout that would boost my speed and fitness.
High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)
I'm sure you've heard of this acronym or type of workout before and maybe wondered what it is!
HIIT is a specific type of workout where you blast your body to it's absolute maximum in a very short space of time, and then allow yourself to recover before repeating.
HIIT can help to significantly increase your fitness levels, and also has the added bonus of making your metabolism work overtime, so is a great way to lose weight as well.
There are so many different types of interval training, I'll cover some of them in another post.
HIIT Workouts in the Gym
400m sprints on the treadmill at the top speed you can handle, followed by 200m rest. Repeat 10 times.
set the incline to a level that pushes you to the limit for 30s, then rest for 1 minute. Repeat as many times as possible
HIIT Workouts Outdoors
This really depends on where you live and what facilities or running areas you have access to. I live in a village which is not too busy, so there are a couple of workouts that I can do
My favourite was a 1k sprint followed by 3 minute rest. The 1k sprint would take around 4 minutes and you should be able to see your time decreasing and speed increasing with each workout.
Race Weekend in Krabi
Flight booked. Accommodation booked. Packed my bike into my new bike box and headed off to the airport with ever supportive fiancée, who at that time was the owner of a restaurant and had to ask her father to help run it while we went to Krabi for 3 days! Thanks Dad!
We’d arranged to be picked up from Krabi airport by our hotel. As we were waiting for our bags at the baggage collection, we were looking around to check out other competitors. Some real professional type guys and gals were there!
We arrived at the resort and now was going to be the fun part, trying to put the bike back together again. As we couldn’t actually check-in until 2pm (it was now 11am) we had to re-assemble the bike in the restaurant, while other guests sat around eating their lunch!
It took us around an hour to put the bike together and it seemed to be fairly stable! Race check-in was from 12pm onwards and they had bike service tent available, so I was happy to have them give my bike the once over.
The race check-in was pretty smooth, picked up my race bag, which was a nice Krabi International Triathlon branded Tote bag, race branded t-shirt, swim cap, race number stickers for my bike and run and a running belt.
There was also a pre-race briefing by the organisers where they explained about the course details, transition points, check-in time, feed stations and race rules.
After the briefing we had a walk down to the beach to check out the conditions, and was a bit shocked to see the tide way out! Might not be doing much swimming after all!!
We had a couple of big plates of fried rice on the way back to the resort and chilled out for the remainder of the afternoon and hit the sack around 8pm, as we planned to get up at 3am!
Race Day!
Alarm went off at 3am, and Namfon continued to snooze whilst I made some coffee and toast. From doing some research about what to eat before a triathlon, I settled for a couple of slices of toast and jam and a small bowl of granola. Namfon woke up, and after checking my bag about 100 times we set off for Noppharat Thara Beach.
As this was my first ever triathlon, I had no idea what to expect when arriving at the transition area. I was taken aback when we arrived to be greeted by thumping techno music and a throng of people preparing for the race, and it was still pitch black at 0430am!
I checked my bike in, got my race number tattoos onto my arms and legs and went to find my allocated spot in the transition area, which is designated by your race number.
Transition Set Up
I set up my space, using some of the tips I’d read about.
Sunglasses on your helmet
Race Belt should be easy to pick up and clip-on
shoes laid out correctly. As I didn’t have clipless pedals, I’d be using my running shoes for the bike leg as well.
We met up with Dave Cramond and his crew from Lamai Fitness and pumped each other up for the race. Stood on the beach at 0600, looking out to the sea with the sun rising was an amazing sight and some nerves were definitely starting to kick in.
After all, I had only been swimming properly for 2 months, and even that was in a nice, calm swimming pool.
We took a couple of final photographs together on the beach and then it was time for me to line up, the starting gun was going to be in 5 minutes!
Race Time!
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 BANG! And we’re off! What a buzz as I sped off down to the sea with the other 200 competitors!
Swim Leg
The swim course was going to be 2-laps of 750m in a triangular shape. Unfortunately (or fortunately), the tide hadn’t fully come in so the first 20-30 metres we could actually walk and it was too shallow to swim. This was causing some humour among the competitors!
Finally it was deep enough to swim and I managed to complete the 2 laps without too much trouble, if pretty slow though.
I started off in the middle of the pack and was one of the last swimmers to run up the beach and head towards transition for the bike leg!
I was feeling good after the swim and got back to my bike and made sure I took my time to put on my helmet, shoes and pack up my energy gels for the 40k bike ride that followed.
Bike Leg
It was a beautiful route around Krabi. Mostly flat with a some decent hills to test the legs. I got too excited going up a couple of hills, which I would pay for later on, but hell it was good fun and seemed like a good idea at the time!
The bike leg was fantastic, although I did start to feel a slight cramp in my calf towards the end of the ride. That’s ok I thought, shouldn’t be a problem!!
Run Leg
Bang!
After reaching the end of the bike leg and getting off my legs felt like lead, and it was starting to get pretty hot now at 9am! In my hot state and with my legs hurting, I suddenly couldn’t recall where my bike station was!
After pushing my bike around the transition area for what must have been 2-3 minutes I finally located my slot, slipped off my helmet, took another gel on board and headed off for the run.
During my training I hadn’t done any Bike-Run workouts, otherwise known as Brick Workouts. I guess this name is derived from how your legs feel after cycling and then being asked to run!
The run course itself was good. It went out along Noppharat Thara esplanade and into Ao Nang, which has a quite nasty little hill leading into it. We were going to complete 2 laps of the 6k route. There were aid stations every 2k which had some sports drinks and some much needed cold sponges!
First lap went ok but by the time the second lap started I was starting to struggle.
The temperature was well over 100 degrees and I couldn’t take on enough water!
Say Hello to Mr Cramp!
Cramps were getting bad in both my quads and calves, but I knew that if I stopped running they would cramp up even more and be almost unbearable. I must have looked like something out the Monty Python Ministry of Silly Walks sketch!
The sleeveless top I’d chosen to wear didn’t prove to be a great choice either, as it held all the water and sweat and probably contributed to adding another 1-2kg of weight!
Finally the finish line was in sight, and after the crossing the line I was presented with my medal and held upright by Namfon as I consumed about 5 bottles of sports drink!
There was a nice little complementary food area set up at the finish area, so I devoured a few big plates of meat and pasta and that was that… I had completed my first ever triathlon and LOVED IT!
I loved it so much I signed up for the Phuket Half-Ironman race that was taking place in November! More about that race later!
How You Can Get Started!
If you're looking to do a triathlon, then JUST DO IT!
To get started and do your first triathlon you only need the following essential, basic equipment:
Trisuit or Tri Shorts (if you wear tri shorts you'll need a top for the bike and run
Swim Goggles
Bike (if you don't have one you can rent or borrow from a friend)
Water bottles for the bike leg
Helmet (compulsory for races)
Running Shoes (don't need to spend a lot - just find something that's comfy)
Sunglasses (I still use the 250b pair that I bought on Krabi beach!)
Motivation!
After you've done a couple of triathlons and decided that you're up for doing more, then you can buy more equipment to make your race experience better!
There are different distances that you can take part in depending on your current level of fitness and how much time you have to train and increase your fitness.
Bangkok Tri Dash - Get Signed Up!
If you're looking to just try out a triathlon then the Tri Dash in Bangkok. I wrote an article on this event here
Good Luck and hope to see you at the start line soon!
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