I fell into triathlon completely by accident; I was in a sedentary desk job and, after the birth of my two kids, had stopped prioritising any exercise at all. It is fair to say that my get up and go had gone long ago and my confidence was at an all-time low. I went out to watch Sam and my brother complete the IM Barcelona in October 2016 and watched lots of very normal people achieve something really special. The moment I realised I needed to have a word with myself was watching a 76-year-old man compete – How could I keep making excuses to explain how unfit I was?!?!
After a few beers that night I woke up the next morning having agreed to race a 70.3 in Stafford in June 2017. Just to explain how bonkers this was – I could only swim two lengths of a pool without drowning, I had never cycled further than 25 miles and I have never voluntarily run more than 5 miles in one go. I had a lot of work to do.
Sam was a huge help on the side with very positive encouragement through the good times and the very low times and I successfully finished the 70.3 and had caught the bug.
I will never set the world on fire when it comes to triathlon but I can achieve much more than I ever believed. After Stafford I immediately signed up for a repeat in 2018, this time I wanted to use Sam’s experience and signed up for a training programme with Podium Addict to see how much better I could do. I realised very quickly that I had only “played” at training the year before and with proper planning, and personal tailoring of my programme, training could be hugely enjoyable as well as rewarding.
Every session gets feedback which then influences future sessions. I work in a job that is very hours hungry and these change from day to day which makes planning my training really hard work. Podium Addict coaches have shown me just how flexible and understanding they can be and they enable my programme to work around my job and two beautiful children who have priority for my spare time.
Podium Addict is not just about the training programme; it is also about the supportive, enthusiastic and inclusive environment that the coaches provide for all the athletes. The use of social media to bring all of the Podium Addict athletes together and let us share our stories and pictures along the way, helps us all push ourselves that little bit harder. I can’t recommend Podium Addict enough if you are thinking about taking the next step in your triathlon career. Give it a go and you won’t be disappointed.
