The Year of the Tri

Last year (2025) I discovered Open Water swimming at Merchant Taylors school. I had my first swim in April and was hooked. I met triathletes. Could I have another go?

I have done three triathlons, all for fun and loved them. But this was in earlier days and on the old hip, the last in 2017.

However, I bought a bike: thanks ebay! It was great to meet the previous owner, an avid cyclist living on the backdoor of a nature reserve.

In 2024, I swam and cycled through Spring and Summer when I had free weekends. I needed to investigate the running. The knee on my Hip Op side didn't like me running. One time, after a short jog, it blew up and took months to recover. In late Summer, I went to see the gentle physio lady, Rosemary. 'It could be arthritis' she said, 'you'd need to get your GP to book you an MRI scan to really know'. Meanwhile, she suggested some basic everyday exercises to release the hip and strengthen the knee. I did these religiously every day and I have made amazing progress. There is definitely a deep tightness in my hip that is pulling knee and back, straining them. Each day, I loosen a little more with her physio exercise routines.

So next steps. In Autumn 2025, I signed up with a local personal trainer who was running an online course for weightloss in Menopause https://www.facebook.com/sarahcooperfit. I had known how important weight training was for me (thanks Joe Wicks on YouTube) but Sarah put a whole course together and videos that incorporated weights in a 'whole body workout' designed for women my age. This went alongside nutrition and a mindful approach to wellness. She also did a helpful visit with a body check and gave me confidence to try to run again. I bought some stonkingly expensive running shoes. I was committed!

New Year 2026. I joined the local Triathlon club - Jetstream. I had finally built up the courage to go to a swim coaching session and found them all to be a really friendly and supportive group. They suggested a sign up for the Hatchend Tri even if my knee wasn't ready, I could walk the final section.

And in February, I went down to the local park and joined the Park Run. There is something about the excitement of all those people, the friendly Marshalls chivvying us on, that made me run most of this inspite of my training plan to walk-run the 5km. I came home, followed a youtube video on 'post-run warm down for knees', and do believe I have managed this without injury.