{"id":14047,"date":"2022-05-12T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-05-11T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/?post_type=purple_issue&p=14047"},"modified":"2022-05-16T11:53:56","modified_gmt":"2022-05-16T09:53:56","slug":"weekend-warrior-desperate-to-tri","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/2022\/05\/12\/weekend-warrior-desperate-to-tri\/","title":{"rendered":"Weekend Warrior: Desperate to Tri"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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DESPERATE TO TRI<\/h1>\n\n

Brunty\u2019s knackered from his single-sport pursuits but, as a result, he\u2019s never been more excited about the start of a tri season <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n

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I love triathlon. <\/strong>I know that\u2019s an obvious thing for a columnist in tri\u2019s number one publication to say, but it\u2019s true. And you, dear reader, can be my witness that by all that I hold sacred, I absolutely cannot wait for this year\u2019s season to start. But, it\u2019s not for the reasons you might think\u2026<\/p>\n\n

Like all of us, I\u2019m always keyed up for the season ahead at this time of year, but it\u2019s more than my weekend warrior annual new-season enthusiasm, for which the expression \u2018a triumph of hope over experience\u2019 was invented. I honestly don\u2019t remember a time when I have more eagerly awaited my first race, and my mind is brimming with excitement about whether I will finally overcome my three main obstacles to triathlon greatness \u2013 qualifying for Kona, remembering all my kit for at least one race, and just once managing to swim, cycle and run well all on the same day.<\/p>\n\n

And why am I so full of excitement? Because I need some variety, and I need a bloody rest.<\/p>\n\n

In common with most triathletes I don\u2019t do one sport, I do four, because as well as triathlon I compete in all three disciplines individually (the word \u2018compete\u2019 is doing a lot of work in that sentence). And if you\u2019re not careful all this can lead to most of your year being taken up with non-tri races, forgetting that the only reason you\u2019re doing all this stuff is that it\u2019s supposed to be good training for triathlon.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m amazed I haven\u2019t fractured my jaw with the size of the yawns I\u2019m doing\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n

And that is what\u2019s happened to me. I\u2019ve forgotten that I\u2019m only supposed to be participating in solo sports as part of my quest for triathlon supremacy, and I\u2019ve become obsessed with events which have not only brought, nay hammered, home to me that I\u2019m not cut out for single-discipline races, but they have left me absolutely shattered into the bargain.<\/p>\n\n

Long-time readers of this column may remember that a couple of years ago, after some daftness involving three marathons in three days along the north Cornwall coast, I realised that I\u2019d run 25 marathons. Most of them were as part of Ironmans, and the rest were all as training for Ironmans, but the voice in my head said \u201825 marathons? Why that\u2019s almost 100. It would be cool to run 100\u2019, setting off a chain of events which has left me as the exhausted, cardboard wreck I am today.<\/p>\n\n

At the time of writing I\u2019m up to 86 marathons. I\u2019ve done six marathons and three ultramarathons in the past nine weeks alone, and I\u2019m contemplating my next event in a fortnight which will involve running 50 miles in Shropshire on a course which not only goes around the Wrekin, but over it. \u2018Cool\u2019 this most definitely is not.<\/p>\n\n

In hindsight, running nine races in nine weeks was always going to end badly, especially as the final two were 35-and 40-miles long, respectively. The last of which being a particularly cruel circular trail run called the Coventry Way, which not only takes you distressingly close to Nuneaton, but which is never more than about five miles from my house, testing my mental strength by giving me endless opportunities to sod off home when the going got tough.<\/p>\n\n

I honestly don\u2019t remember a time when I\u2019ve felt more tired. You know that feeling of deep fatigue that comes over you when someone else starts telling you about their PBs? Well it\u2019s like that only all the time.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

I\u2019m amazed that I haven\u2019t fractured my own jaw with the size of some of the yawns I\u2019m doing, and my legs are so weary I have to take a run-up to step up kerbs. More disturbingly, I\u2019ve missed loads of training because I\u2019m too bloody tired. I don\u2019t remember the last time I went out on my bike, and I\u2019ve even missed club swim sessions, an occurrence so rare that I\u2019ve had coaches texting me to see if I\u2019m still alive.<\/p>\n\n

To be honest, it\u2019s the variety of tri that I miss. It might be a faff to get all your gear in one place and ready to go but there\u2019s something lovely knowing that you\u2019ll break the mono-sport monotony by jumping on your bike after swimming and pedalling off into the misty morn, and upon returning you can hop off and shuffle off up the road. It\u2019s a lot less fun when it just comprises the last bit.<\/p>\n\n

My first tri might be a few weeks away but I honestly can\u2019t wait \u2013 and if in the meantime you are out running and you see a dishevelled, sleeping old man lying in a roadside ditch, be kind to him, because it might be me.<\/p>\n\n

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MARTYN BRUNT<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Martyn is tri\u2019s foremost average athlete and is living proof that hours of training and endless new kit are no substitute for ability.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Brunty\u2019s knackered from his single-sport pursuits but, as a result, he\u2019s never been more excited about the start of a tri season <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":14046,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ub_ctt_via":"","purple_page_number":"98","purple_custom_meta_purple_page_number":"98","purple_seq_number":"1","purple_custom_meta_purple_seq_number":"1","purple_source_article":"article_98-1.xml","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_article":"article_98-1.xml","purple_source_issue":"June-2022","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_issue":"June-2022","purple_external_id":"June-2022-98-1","purple_custom_meta_purple_external_id":"June-2022-98-1","purple_issue_code":"|0000083690||","purple_custom_meta_purple_issue_code":"|0000083690||","purple_android_product":"com.im.220mag.404","purple_custom_meta_purple_android_product":"com.im.220mag.404","purple_ios_product":"com.im.220mag.404","purple_custom_meta_purple_ios_product":"com.im.220mag.404","purple_web_product":"","purple_custom_meta_purple_web_product":"","purple_publication_id":"69718c89-6ce1-4a00-8e50-78dba8209b85","purple_migrated":"","kt_blocks_editor_width":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2022-05-12T07:34:51Z","apple_news_article-theme":"","apple_news_api_id":"2868d7ef-db0b-4dc5-9479-c9c9b3f0f492","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2022-05-16T09:54:02Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABQ==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AKGjX79sLTcWUecnJs_D0kg","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":true,"apple_news_is_preview":true,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_article_theme":"","apple_news_sections":"[]"},"categories":[16],"tags":[63],"apple_news_notices":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/47\/2022\/05\/ccd61e25-4460-40e4-a746-56bf97bed83e.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"5","apple_news_title":""},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/47\/2022\/05\/ccd61e25-4460-40e4-a746-56bf97bed83e.jpg",1674,1348,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/47\/2022\/05\/ccd61e25-4460-40e4-a746-56bf97bed83e-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/47\/2022\/05\/ccd61e25-4460-40e4-a746-56bf97bed83e-300x242.jpg",300,242,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/47\/2022\/05\/ccd61e25-4460-40e4-a746-56bf97bed83e-768x618.jpg",768,618,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/47\/2022\/05\/ccd61e25-4460-40e4-a746-56bf97bed83e-1024x825.jpg",800,645,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/47\/2022\/05\/ccd61e25-4460-40e4-a746-56bf97bed83e-1536x1237.jpg",1536,1237,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/47\/2022\/05\/ccd61e25-4460-40e4-a746-56bf97bed83e.jpg",1674,1348,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Brunty\u2019s knackered from his single-sport pursuits but, as a result, he\u2019s never been more excited about the start of a tri season","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14047"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14047"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14047\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14454,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14047\/revisions\/14454"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14046"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14047"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14047"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14047"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}