always been shit at sports (my form tutor and sports teacher once said i was enthusiastic but wildly uncoordinated, and i firmly believe she thought that was a compliment!) and weighed 9st 5lb until i into my mid-20s. i joined the rugby club at uni and my most appropriate position was 'flag post'. i like sports though, and despite being scrawny and crap i would always give stuff a go. after i finished my second degree i was playing 5-a-side a few times a week - crap, but enthusiastically.
my first full time job after uni happened to be next to a swimming pool so i joined it and went to the gym two or three times a week. there was a barely used pool so i started using that, too, and taught myself to swim 'properly', or some approximation. i was 25 then, i think.
when i started my current job about 6months later there were lots of runners and cyclists about and i guess i started thinking i could do that. i swam twice a week and played 5-a-side a couple of times. regularly i would double or triple-up - play 5-a-side for an hour, drive across town, play again, then head to the pool. by then i could swim 3k an hour and had received some rudimentary coaching.
when i was 29 i trained for a half-mara (having never run properly before) and got ill before the race so didn't do it. the office signed up to the cyclescheme and i decided to buy a folding bike. we'd moved so i didn't play as much footy, and the best pool to swim in was 6miles away. i started cycling there, rather than driving, and the running joke became that i should run home and then i'd be doing a triathlon. i wasn't 9st anymore, but maybe 11st 7. gym and swim had given me shoulders.
through the cycle scheme, and my trusty airnimal, i discovered that i quite enjoyed cycling, and fancied buying a 'proper' bike to commute directly to work on. about a month after i got it i was looking for triathlons online, and found one in highworth, about 20 miles away.
i had to fill in a form and send the cheque for £25 in the post. i remember ringing the organiser to ask if there were still spaces and him being a bit surprised i'd bothered. it was only a couple of weeks away. i remember having the most idiotic worries, particularly about nutrition - would 2 bottles of water be enough for a sprint? what about food, what should i eat? ah, the naiivity...
i'm not sure i tried a brick training session, or anything like it. i wasn't running a huge amount back then so probably popped out for a few 3-4 mile scuttles. i had clippy shoes, but not tri ones, and so had practiced leaving them on and trying to slot my feet in - which wasn't very well. i bought some very cheap 90s warehouse fire sale tri kit. it was cheap for a reason - one of the bits of kit was what i thought was an orange and blue running vest, which turned out to be a crop top. my other half was nearly apoplectic with laughter and made me swear i'd never ever ever wear it in public.
i got a really early start because i'd guessed my 400m swim time as 15mins, so got the second wave (8:20am?) and so was in highworth at some hideous time in the morning. i like a wait around, ideally for 90mins or so
little village hall, lots of cake, getting marked up, being given a chip. i was racking with the first few and it was really nice, a gentle atmosphere without egos or anyone looking at my stuff and tutting (i'd left the crop top at home 
). the other bikes were like mine - entry level road bikes, or shoppers, or mtbs, or aging racers. i met a big-ish rugby lad with a bleached barnet and a predilection for pink who'd come over from the windsor area. everyone was supportive, cheerful and very non-judgemental. for someone who had often been made to feel like i was an 'extra' in sports this meant a lot. the race is really a blur. i remember lapping the others in my lane and being first or second out of the pool. i had an elaborate set of kit with race numbers pre-pinned to get over the lack of race belt and my being embarrassed by my hideous 90s patterned £5 tri shorts. i remember having some fruit bar / stick things (never eaten one before), eating about half of one on the bike and instantly regretting it. it was a lovely, crisp, september morning with a low, warm sun and i was on my own for a lot of the bike.
i also remember the fruit bar repeating on my during the run and feeling rather sick. the run was hard, lots of grass and trail and i found it really tough. there were lots of incredibly supportive marshalls there and i think they'd been given people's race numbers because they cheered you on by name.
most of all i remember how happy i felt when i finished. not just in a 'thank bollocks that was over' way, but also in a 'that was a lot of fun' way. there seemed to be a lot of camaraderie and good humour. i've still got the finishing line race photo from highworth, 2008, and i look really content.
i finished in 1:23, about 65th or something. i didn't really care, i had just a brilliant time and couldn't wait to do it again. the only shame was it was one of the last races of the season and i had to wait until june to do another!
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in 1.04.25