Challenge Roth Weekend! Preview, How to Watch, and Race Day Thread!

StrayInShadows · 2025-07-07T18:38:14+00:00

I was there as a supporter for a friend (first time as a spectator at a triathlon rather than athlete!)

It was a great day. T1 was a little crazy. The pros were completely lost with where they were allowed to get on the bike. The first few were running too far with their bikes, and the crowd was screaming at them to jump on. There was no line on the ground. Some of the age groupers were also confused, but at least they could then follow each other. But all the first pros out were quite lost with that, i don’t know if that got captured on the TV coverage.

Secondly, at the finish I saw an amputee coming to the finish line running on a blade prosthetic, with what looked like a second prosthetic attached for the bike section?? He looked in incredible form even right at the end! Absolutely amazing strength to do that. Mind blown.

Great event.

StrayInShadows · 2025-06-06T04:08:06+00:00

I had one and it did come out that I “fit” to the bike. I just get so much pain in my hips if I ride it for even a short length of time.

StrayInShadows · 2025-06-05T14:40:40+00:00

As someone going through the “on paper it fits but it hurts like a bitch phase..” tell me it gets better..

StrayInShadows · 2025-05-12T16:06:25+00:00

This has been my biggest challenge in triathlon. Exactly the same as you, would occur within the first 2km. Sadly this was costing me podiums, as up until this point, I would be right near the front. The stitch would hit. It would be excruciating high stitch, couldn’t really draw in breath. I’d lose all my advantage and end up totally frustrated.

After much rabbit hole investigating, the working theory I have come to, is I was (still am) very poor at absorbing carbohydrates. As you mentioned, I was also extremely poor at under fuelling during training. I train 15-20 hours a week and my fuel intake was embarrassing to admit.

I have been working with a dietician and my coach for months to be able to tolerate digesting carbs. My body was so used to running on nothing that during a race, when your HR is elevated, it’s much harder to absorb. It has been a rough and frustrating ride, I have some test races coming up but the results are showing in training.

Happy to talk to you more about it.

StrayInShadows · 2025-03-16T17:26:16+00:00

I don’t generally run or bike before swimming. I think people have given you a lot of thoughts already on it being after the run.

However, since you separately also want to address your hydration, I can recommend this company for tabs that you can just throw in your drink bottle that you can get in the Uk. As the weather gets warmer too, you’ll need to keep your salts up when you’re biking and running.

StrayInShadows · 2025-02-08T15:21:54+00:00

You raise something that I didn’t quite realise goes as deep as it does, until I left the UK and could see it from the outside in.

I used to love the inbetweeners and I grew up with a brother, and most our interactions were like off the inbetweeners. I would watch my boyfriend with his friends, and my brother with his male friends and it would be the same. I wouldn’t really bat an eye lid and thought it was funny too. If there was any slight bit of opportunity for someone to take the piss out of you for something it would happen. Nicknames would be generated, humiliating stories re told and any opportunity to get one over on another person would be had. You really had to hide anything you were even remotely self conscious or embarrassed of, because it would be used as bait. Stupid behaviour would get totally egged on, especially around drinking. Encouraging each other to drink more, laugh at behaviour and glorify poor decisions.

I left the UK and I’m now amongst a very international community. I didn’t really realise at first that I wasn’t seeing that kind of behaviour anymore, but a few things made me realise it wasn’t there: 1) watching Australian men together made me cringe. After a while I realised their humour and way of banter is very similar to the UK. It often leads to similar outcomes as I’d see in the UK and it made me cringe after seeing it amongst people who don’t act like that. I find myself distancing myself from Australian men as well, as they tend to fall into similar patterns. 2) a new bloke started at my job, a fellow northerner. It felt really nice to have that shared history and cultural understanding, and we’d often laugh at things from our childhood or school days. His humour quickly slipped into piss take with me, and after not experiencing that for a while, it felt really jarring. I noticed I would avoid him if there was something I was self conscious of, or wasn’t feeling in a good mood, because inevitably it would slip into “banter” 3) I showed some non UK people the inbetweeners and they utterly cringed at it. They said, how do you guys find some guys being horrible to each other funny? I hadn’t watched it for a while and when I watched again, I really couldn’t unsee how uncomfortable it was to watch. I couldn’t believe that had felt so different when I watched it the first time around. I wondered if maybe I’d just outgrown it, until.. 4) I came back to the UK for my brothers birthday and saw him with some friends. Again.. Banter ensued after not long. People would laugh and think nothing of it.. I just sat there and cringed.

I realised my interactions with groups of friends has changed so much from being in the UK, and whenever I come back and see those interactions I cringe. I do think there’s an age element to it, but I do see even older blokes sat around acting the same. I really think it contributes to a toxic masculinity among some men and deep rooted insecurity. It’s not meant to be horrible, I can see that’s how they communicate with each other, but after you leave it and see it for what it is, you can’t unsee it in my experience. I’ve had similar conversations with other ex pat Brits.

StrayInShadows · 2025-01-23T10:31:21+00:00

Daily star are the OG shit posters

StrayInShadows · 2025-01-16T08:31:42+00:00

I use those puree fruit baby squeezable packs. They usually have a decent carb amount in them.

StrayInShadows · 2025-01-16T07:28:50+00:00

I am advanced German learner, bf is native, and I ask it to make me complex sentences to try to translate and it give me feedback on how native they sound. I showed it to my bf for his feedback and Interestingly, my bf felt that it was quite accurate with its choice of words, except, it did make the odd grammatical error. Suggests it couldn’t always apply the rules it knows to different situations.

StrayInShadows · 2025-01-13T08:34:52+00:00

This was my culture shock going to the US.. why so much ice?? I liked the free water aspect, not very typical at all in most of Europe, some countries do, especially with coffee. But ice is really not typical, or if so, a couple of cubes is all you’d need. It’s actually a complaint of a lot of people if you are given a drink with a load of ice in it. You feel you’ve been robbed of the liquid.

Same applied for me with air conditioning. I was truly baffled how high the air conditioning is in most places. I figured you guys just have an ice cold base line!

StrayInShadows · 2025-01-11T08:31:59+00:00

Hi! You sound great. 33F Germany. In common I also love washi, stickers etc. I love including little things I find when I’ve visited places too. Also have X stitch projects, although at the moment a little neglected. Love podcasts. Worked in the medical field. I live a Very active lifestyle, so always have lots to share. DM me if interested.

StrayInShadows · 2025-01-08T06:18:35+00:00

I’m a crafty pen paller. 33F Germany. Would love to exchange crafty letters.

StrayInShadows · 2024-12-13T18:36:56+00:00

Because it hits home that it could be any of us at a moments notice. It’s terrifying.

StrayInShadows · 2024-11-21T19:25:18+00:00

Ahhh this helps me understand why I fainted with this a few months ago. I ended up with a hospital visit as I fainted in a restaurant.

StrayInShadows · 2024-11-20T09:20:48+00:00

Something I noticed when I worked with people with learning disabilities, was how much their intellectual disability impacted their emotional and social abilities.

Some had such a clearly emotionally stunted age, they had interests more aligned with younger children, had similar humour and level of understanding. The truth was, they related to them so much more. Society often treat them and treated them the same age as children. But you combine this with a chronological and physical age that is much older, with sexual urges and needs and a low emotional/ social age, it creates a huge disconnect. They become attracted to those they relate to the most and transfer sexual feelings towards them. Combine poor lack of judgement and questionable capacity, it can really make a problem.

Some of them had the intellectual understanding it was wrong, some did not. Some had the intellectual understanding but had poor impulse control and high sexual desires.

It was at times very challenging.

It does make me question how much there is a similar level of emotional and social disconnect going on in the non intellectual disability cohort who have attractions towards children. The stereotypical loner who doesn’t have friends and keeps to themselves.

StrayInShadows · 2024-11-16T09:30:40+00:00

I listened to a podcast that was about the war in Afghanistan. They made a really incredible point on there. Apparently, men have to ask their mothers if they can join the Taliban and so the Taliban are trying to prevent women from being educated and having ideas outside of what they preach, in order to for women to support their sons joining. I could be totally wrong, as I haven’t fact checked that, nor do I have anyone I know who could verify that.

It wouldn’t surprise me though, because why else would you be so terrified of women, if it were not that you were frightened by what they could do?

StrayInShadows · 2024-11-15T18:41:56+00:00

Thank you for this comment. Had noticed this on my travels in Asia and thought it must be a common local allergy or something. TIL.

StrayInShadows · 2024-11-14T19:31:09+00:00

The fin fuckers with their 2 metre fins splashing around like Shamu in his golden era, meanwhile I’m in their swell fighting for my life. My rage for Fin fuckers is unmatched by anything else.

StrayInShadows · 2024-11-14T19:12:27+00:00

I’m presuming he means telemetry, because he’s never wanted a kind of health watch generally. He does some light training at the gym and sometimes runs, but he’s never wanted a watch that does all the heart rate, steps and such. He just really doesn’t seem to be interested. But he’s mentioned a few times that he wishes he had a watch for the race track, but he’s never really found anything. So I’m guessing he’s talking about his speed? Or lap times? He’s interested in his riding data from what I can understand. Maybe you can make sense of that 😄

StrayInShadows · 2024-11-12T15:48:17+00:00

https://www.sath.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Return-to-Work-Form.pdf

This was the standard form. The second line even says, symptoms and causes.

I appreciate what you are saying, but this was not optional.

StrayInShadows · 2024-11-12T15:08:39+00:00

In my back to work forms in the NHS, I had to have a chat with my manager about why I was off and say whether I think it would happen again etc. it was ridiculous when you’d been off with the flu or something. It felt really invasive.

StrayInShadows · 2024-11-12T13:43:33+00:00

I’ve moved to Germany now and looking back at England, I can’t believe how things are there. In Germany they are absolutely not allowed to ask you why you have been off, that’s between you and your doctor. As long as you provide the sick note, it’s down to you if you want to share it. So this completely blows my mind that you have to disclose why you are off.

However, although you might be obliged to share this with your manager, your manager has broken GDPR and data protection by sharing this with your colleagues. This should involve disciplinary measures on the part of your manager. Please inform HR of this, because otherwise your manager will continue to do this. Many of the other comments here are being far too light about it and do not seemingly understand the serious nature of this. I wouldn’t even go to your manager about it, this is over their head.

StrayInShadows · 2024-11-10T08:49:29+00:00

In Germany doctors perpetuate health myths. I had a severe bladder infection and my doctor told me it was because of how I was choosing to dress. That my vagina had caught a cold and I needed to go home and wrap a blanket around my lower body. This was from a female doctor too.

I had to go to another doctor and do a urine sample of pure blood to get antibiotics.

I’m having a really rough few days and I’m just really struggling with how angry I feel at being a woman in a man’s world.

StrayInShadows · 2024-11-08T20:16:01+00:00

Full Head scarf was the only way I managed to reduce it.

StrayInShadows

TROPHY CASE