“I can’t breathe. I can’t do this. What am I doing here?” Those thoughts arrived almost as soon as the starting signal. Triminator Radków 2019 was my first triathlon, and after only a few metres in the water it looked as though my debut might end before it had properly begun.
I eventually reached the finish in 3:02:15. I missed my dream of breaking three hours by 2 minutes and 15 seconds, but something more important happened that day: I discovered that I wanted triathlon to remain part of my life.
This is not the story of a perfect debut. It is the story of panic in the water, joy on the bike, an empty tank on the run and a finish line that immediately made me want more.
Why I chose a mountain triathlon for my debut
I needed a new challenge, so I entered Triminator Radków. Several people warned me that a mountain race was not the best place for a first triathlon. The date suited me, and the promise of beautiful views did the rest. I described the decision in more detail in the story of how my triathlon journey began.
I arrived in Radków the day before the race. Pack collection was straightforward: a shirt, a returnable timing chip with its strap, stickers for the bike and helmet, and a swim cap that felt almost like my first trophy.
The Triminator Radków quarter-distance course
I knew the course would be beautiful, but unquestionably hard. I drove the bike route beforehand. I am still not sure whether that was reassuring, but at least I knew what I would have to face.
- swim: 0.95 km (one and a half laps)
- bike: 45 km (two Radków–Karłów–Radków laps)
- run: 10.55 km (two laps, partly through the Czech Republic)
The full race was said to include roughly 900 metres of elevation gain, almost all of it concentrated in the two long climbs towards Karłów.
Race morning and transition
The alarm rang at 6:45. Breakfast was a bread roll with jam, followed by getting the children ready and driving about 12 kilometres to Radków. We arrived at 8:30. The car park beside the reservoir was already closed, but the signs and organiser’s map made the race area easy to find.
I left only the essentials in transition: helmet, glasses, cycling and running shoes, socks, arm warmers, race belt, water and food for the bike. My swimming equipment waited beside the reservoir.
Looking back, I had prepared my equipment more carefully than my nutrition. I knew the two Squeezy gels, but the bar and final gel were untested. That mistake would return later in the race.
This article contains affiliate links. If you use a partner banner, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.
The longest two hours before the start
I set up transition quickly, so at around 9:00 I watched the half-distance athletes start. My own race did not begin until 11:00. Hunger was already creeping in. I ate another roll with jam, but it never really felt enough.
After a short warm-up and a few strokes in the water, I felt good: ready, excited and focused above all on reaching the finish. Somewhere deeper in my mind was a more ambitious goal — breaking three hours.
The swim: panic after only a few metres
We started in the water. The signal triggered the classic washing machine: bodies colliding, everyone fighting for space, and no easy rhythm. I went out too hard. Within a few metres my breathing fell apart, the wetsuit seemed to squeeze the air from me, and panic joined the physical discomfort.
I tried front crawl without putting my face in the water, then breaststroke. The only priority was to calm my breathing. I reached the first buoy, roughly one third of the way through the course, without feeling in control. There the panic began to fade. I returned to front crawl, found my rhythm and even passed a few athletes.
I left the water in 22:07, the 56th-fastest swim. Garmin recorded 1,100 metres rather than 950, but even against the official distance the split was better than my usual time of about 25 minutes. After that opening, simply regaining control felt like the day’s first victory.
The bike: climbing, descending and a textbook nutrition mistake
In T1 I wrestled with the wetsuit and briefly felt a calf cramp, but stopped it before it took hold. After 2:18 — the 22nd-fastest transition — I was on the bike. The pressure of the swim disappeared and the race became fun again.
The first climb to Karłów seemed endless. I pushed hard while the computer showed an average near 18 km/h and sometimes only 9 km/h. At kilometre ten I reached for an untested bar. One bite was enough to know I could not eat it. I had ignored the most basic race rule: never introduce new nutrition on race day.
Karłów finally delivered the reward. On the descent, the difference between running and cycling became very literal: instead of 15 km/h, I saw about 50 and occasionally 55 km/h. I finished the first lap smiling and began the second to loud support from my family.
I ate my second and final familiar gel on the next climb. The spare gel, like the bar, tasted impossible. The bike leg remained great fun, but the hunger kept growing. I finished it in 1:46:00, the 27th-fastest bike split.
The run: doughnuts, mental arithmetic and an empty tank
T2 took 1:16, the 15th-fastest transition. I covered the opening two kilometres at roughly 4:30/km. My legs felt like rubber and my quads burned, but the pace still looked promising.
The first climb drained the energy from me and forced me to walk. From kilometre three onwards, I could think of little except the doughnuts my mother had bought. The descents briefly brought back 4:00–4:15/km pace, but on the second lap the hunger began to win.
I kept calculating whether three hours was still possible. An eighth kilometre at about 6:00/km removed most of that hope. I tried short surges, only to slow again after a few dozen metres.
With about a kilometre remaining, I saw Ola and our older daughter. Martynka ran beside me for a moment; I was so tired that she passed me. On the finishing straight, an athlete with whom I had traded places several times on the bike came past. I had no response and crossed the line five seconds behind him.
My first triathlon result
| Stage | Time | Rank on stage |
|---|---|---|
| Swim | 22:07 | 56th |
| T1 | 2:18 | 22nd |
| Bike | 1:46:00 | 27th |
| T2 | 1:16 | 15th |
| Run | 50:35 | 23rd |
| Total | 3:02:15 | — |
The run took 50:35. By my own standards it was average, but it completed a first triathlon result I could be proud of. I had missed three hours, yet the strongest feeling at the finish was not disappointment. It was simple: I loved this.
What my debut taught me
- Panic in open water does not have to end the race. Slow down, regain your breathing and return to your own rhythm.
- Never race with new nutrition. The untested bar and gel cost me energy on the run.
- A mountain course can be a hard debut, but clear signs and good organisation make an enormous difference.
- The bike and transitions delivered a completely new kind of sporting joy. I already knew this would not be a one-off adventure.
Triminator Radków was very well organised: clear information, useful maps, efficient pack collection and careful course marking, including warnings for poor road surfaces and sharp corners. If the calendar allows, I would gladly return.
It was my first triathlon, but at the finish I already knew it would not be my last.
Most photographs were taken by Ola. The images previously marked with an asterisk came from startlist.pl.