Tim Mcevoy - The swimming Cyclist - Outlaw Triathlon

The idea of doing a Tri was born in 2021. There was a swim festival at our local beach and with a neatly measured 1k triangle, despite having not swum more than a length in over 10years, i thought i'd prove that i'm not a total wet blanket about cold water, and see how i got on.

I got out after about 30mins, not feeling too broken but as I a attempted to trot back to my adoring (!) family and a towel, it turns out not doing breast stroke regularly, will leave your hip adductors feeling quite sore.


 The following weekend was the BDCA 100, i rode a 3:20: the very tender groin  made  mounting the bike uncomfortable, although as cycling requires no hip add/abduction, I can't say it made much differnece to the result.


with the seed sewn, it was obvious that any serious attempt at a long course tri was going to need me to be able to do crawl, or at least, be able to do crawl for more than 50m without needing resuscitating. My good friend (and excellent Tri coach) Chris Dominey cast an eye over my dubious swim form: the problem, to him, was obvious. Whilst my torso and arms were clearly engaged in swimming, my legs were still trying to cycle. So they provided excellent resistance to any forward motion, whilst also draining most of the available oxygen away from the bits that needed it.


and so the glacial progress from terrible slow swimmer, to slow swimmer began. I have done some running prior to the tri, having done a handful of half marathons,  but typically in the off season to stave boredom and when there is less in the way of competitive cycling. Successful running seemed like a much easier way to a quicker tri time, than pool, so in the October '21 i thought id fly in the face of conventional wisdom (don't increase your mileage by more than 10% a week) and try and bag 5k a day for the month.
Super strong, all the way till day 5. 


Running stopped, regular swimming and cycling contniued, start of Nov '21 and running resumed, this time with a much more injury prevention focus. Things progressed well, and in the March i set a ½ marathon PB of 1:29, taking more than 10mins of my previous best. Going into the race i had little confidence that i would go sub 1:30, but after settling in with the pacer at about 3k, i found that at 15k, i was able to have a conversation with other runners, and at 18k, i knew that actually, I had more in the tank, so i sped right up. crossing the finish line in a blur, with searing pain in my hip, i limped back to the car and for the next 6 weeks, unable to run. Fitness need not be lost as cycling was still fine, and this would give me time to focus on my least good discipline, until i dislocated my shoulder in the pool, 10 days later. and that put pay to the Tri for 2022. 


With many lessons learnt from 2022, my entry to the Outlaw was deferred to 2023, although it couldnt' be moved again, so injury prevention was top of the list. training for 3 sports is hard, especially when you are used to being pretty good at one, and being able to focus on that. Training for 3 sports and undertaking an MSc is inadvisable, and that has been the hardest balancing act i've ever needed to perform. 


The great thing about IM training is that unless you are right at the sharp end, you will not be running a fast marathon. and how quick you can run 5k, fresh, has about as much bearing on your IM run time, as the colour of your toothpaste. Whilst it is fair to say  that the guys who can run a sub 3hr marathon will be able to run a 17 min 5k (or faster), it doesn't follow that because you can do the 5k time, you will also be able to run 26miles at crazy fast speed.


Occasional Tri mentor Don Brooks, advised that he rarely runs "fast" albeit that his fast, and my fast, don't really correlate, but such is his worry about injury, he can do his speed sessions at races, and the rest of it is steady.



So my run training was all focussed on getting to the startline; with the least number of injuries possible, as i learnt last year, regular running, and fast running, breaks me.



I managed to get through the year with minimal problems, a few blisters and lost toe nails, a desperatley small amount of swimming (average 1:20 a week). 
Not many long runs. From start of May- 4x  >2hrs, & a weekly total of 1:55.


Looking at these stats, it now seems remarkable that the race went as well as it did, testament really to the incredible work put in by Velopower Performance Coaching making sure that the bike leg (and global fitness)  where in the best possible shape. 


I am sure that the 6 or 7  twelve hr TT's will have helped me through the difficult times, and whilst the tri is harder on the body, actually, it feels like 3 different events, so in some ways, when you start, its not quite as dauting (especially if you're aiming to be done in less than 12hrs) as the boredom is offset by changing how you're moving. Undoubtedly, the long TT's have helped my understanding of my nutritional requirements, and i've made some concerted effort this year to consume more fuel, to reduce the gastro load for the run stage. 
 I'm super lucky to be on the books with Precision Hydration, and the flavour fatigue that can often scupper ultra endurance events, is not a problem with their neutral gels, and i managed to pack away over 100g of carb an hour for the bike leg.


Looking forward, i'm super disappointed to have missed the 10hr target, althoug i can take some solace that if triathlon was only 3 sports (forget transtion!) then i would have been in under 10hrs. i think next time will not see me changing socks.... i'll try and keep the swim to 3.8k rather than adding an extra 200m (circa 4mins).
I think that with a bit of rehearsal, I should be able to get T1/T2 down to total 5-6min time that many of the competitors in the top 30 managed to achieve. that alone will save 10 mins, and might help me to dig a bit deeper for the run.


in Numbers


10:14:44
35/660
3rd in 45-49
6th fastest bike spilt (4th if you discount relay teams)


and (not that I'm counting) 19th if it had been a Bike /Run