GREGORY COMPLETES HIS 1ST OLYMPIC DISTANCE TRIATHLON AT WASAGA BEACH!
Congratulations to Gregory Robertson for completing his first Olympic Distance Triathlon! Gregory is from our Virtual Beginner Olympic Triathlon Program and is the 2nd athlete in the program to complete his A race with a large number of the other athletes racing this coming weekend at the Somersault event with the remainder racing in the Montreal Espirit.
Gregory had this to share with us after his race in Wasaga.
After months of training, I completed my first Olympic Distance Triathlon (1.5km Swim, 40km Bike, 10km run)
Many emotions go through your head during a 4-hour race but in the end, it is about putting one foot in front of the other. I will save you all from the photos of my blisters!
Conditions: Warm, no wind, no waves.
Course Description: The swim was an out and back, long shallow for the first part and end of the swim and required a long walk in the water. A jog to T1 had a bit of a run on the sand that left my feet sandy. The ride was a relatively flat ride, it did have a hill at the turnaround that caused a bit of exhaustion as I was not prepped speed-wise. The run was fantastic, 2 laps of a neighbourhood with lots of variety and flat.
Lessons learned: Take time to remove sand from my feet, the sand caused blisters all over and could have been avoided.
Goals: I had three goals for this race:
1. finish in under 4 hours,
2. finish under 4:20; and
3. just finish.
Outcome: finished 4:17
Thank you to everyone, so many people helped me get over the finish line but I will list some. Thanks to my supportive wife Bridget, Coaches Gabi, Brenda and Julia from the Virtual Beginner Triathlon Program, program teammate Sarah Allen and everyone in Team Triumph.
If you have any interest in doing a tri, I highly recommend their beginner program.
This is not the end of my season but the biggest race of the year for me.
Can't wait till next season #iron
A year ago I could only tread water and had not run since childhood. With the amazing Virtual Olympic course, support, guidance, and tips from of all the folks at Team Triumph I've ended the season with my first Olympic distance triathlon under my belt and am hooked! Really looking forward to the 2025 season and even to the hard work over the winter to prepare. Karen Houle
I wanted to let you know that the Perth triathlon was a great experience, I somehow placed third in my age group! What a supportive group of participants (including Team Triumph athletes), cheering bystanders and volunteers.
Thanks to your swim lessons, I learned the technical basics and gained confidence to get back in the pool after decades. And it was really special doing this with Ann Laidlaw, my bestie for many years. We did a couple of additional swims with Kevin and Team Triumph people, also a great way to continue learning and practicing good technical form.
I will continue with lane swimming and who knows, maybe there's another triathlon in my future!
I love the accountability and the structure of the Virtual 70.3 Half Ironman training program. I don't think I would have gotten this far without the program. The accountability is huge for me!
Deborah Jackman