- Three, two, one. (fog horn blaring)
(upbeat techno music)
- I've just arrived in Malta ahead
of my first ever XTerra triathlon,
an off-road triathlon, and actually my first race
since retiring from professional racing
and off the back of pretty little training actually.
I've kind of enjoyed myself since retiring.
And apparently I've thrown myself into the deep end
because this is one of the toughest XTerra courses.
We're out here for week of filming ahead of the race,
so probably not the most ideal prep,
but I'm really excited to race my first ever XTerra.
Everyone tells me how fun they are.
Yeah, can't wait to get stuck in.
(upbeat electronic music)
We are good to go.
XTerra Malta, here I come.
♪Oh ... ♪
♪Mmhh ...♪
♪Oh ... ♪
♪Mmhh ...♪
Well, we thought we'd head out for a little swim reccie,
but given it's been a while since I've last swum,
I didn't want to use all my energy before the day,
so we're in for something a little bit different
to check it out, but I'm a bit worried.
We're taking on a lot of water,
so I might actually have to end up swimming here soon.
(splashing) (bleep)
- What are you doing?
- We're taking on so much water, Heather.
- What, you're leaving me?
- Yeah, save yourself. Save yourself.
I'll see you back on dry land.
(laughing)
- Thanks, Mark. Geez, we're har as well.
(laughing) (smooth music)
- [Mark] Been filming a little bit this morning
and it's actually the start of the Xterra for the swim.
So had a nice little reccie.
It's looking pretty cool, but I've got to be honest,
I'm a little a little bit nervous
because taking a little bit of time out from swimming
and this is actually gonna be the first open water swim
since my last triathlon as a pro.
So, kinda going into, well, the unknown really.
I've taken this much time out of swimming.
Don't think I've really got swim fitness,
but it should be quite fun.
It's an awesome venue.
It's really glassy water.
We've got a beach start, which I love.
The choppier the better for me, but we'll see.
(upbeat techno music)
Well' I'm out on the mountain bike course
here in Malta for the XTerra
and first impressions, it's pretty impressive.
I have to be honest, this isn't totally new to me.
I have actually got a bronze from
the ITU world cross triathlon champs,
but it's been a long time since I've ridden a mountain bike.
After a couple of broken bones,
I decided ta put the mountain bike away
and focus on my middle distance racing in my pro career.
But I am absolutely loving being back on the mountain bike,
but I have to be honest,
this dry stuff here is a little bit alien to me.
I'm just used to riding in mud.
So I think I need a little bit of help for this.
(upbeat music)
Okay, so I've called in the help
of professional XTerra athlete Doug Hall.
He's kindly offered to show me around the course.
First things first, Doug, what is this stuff?
It's pretty dry compared to the stuff
we're used to in the UK.
- Yeah. After totally about nine months of rain over winter,
it's just great to be out somewhere where there,
there isn't a cloud in the sky.
- Yes. So, how would, well,
from someone coming from the mud,
alright, what am I meant to do riding on this dry stuff?
Tyre pressures? How do I ride it?
- So there's a few considerations to kinda make
from going from the mud to the dust.
The tyre pressure is a big one.
I know triathletes tend to run 100 psi in their road tyres,
off-road it's a little bit different.
You want to lower your tyre pressure
to kind of increase your grip.
How low you go depends on your riding style,
your weight, and your experience,
but we can change it around and experiment a little bit.
- Cool. Is there anything I should be
wary of on this course?
- There's a few rocks, there's one or two out there.
Malta is a giant rock,
so (laughing) we'll probably find one or two.
- Alright, well, let's give it a go.
(upbeat techno music)
(hissing)
Right back in from a course reccie,
not a full course recce, I've just done part of the course.
And I'm glad I have because there
are some really technical sections.
I kinda got showed around by Doug Hall
and his partner Nicole, and a few others.
It was nice to follow their line
and kinda do the right line.
One take away bit of information I got from them,
I was running far too high a tyre pressure.
So I was going around a few of the corners
and it was sort of slipping out.
So, sorted that out, feel a lot more comfortable now.
Yeah, I'm, so now, feeling a little bit
more comfortable about race day knowing what's ahead of me.
Yeah, fingers crossed.
(upbeat techno music)
(smooth piano music) (patrons talking)
About 24 hours, or just over 24 hours, away from the race.
So, my prep for this race hasn't been great.
I haven't trained tonnes
and this last week, obviously, we've been busy filming.
So, I haven't been on the bike loads until today
because we had a little challenge between me and Heather.
Racing across the island.
Which is great, until this happens.
I got a little bit carried away.
I thought I was, you know, busting on the bike,
and yeah, came off.
My biggest problem is that I like to kind of,
I'm still very competitive,
so I'll still try and beat them
even though I'm probably, fitness wise, can't.
So, who knows what state I'm gonna be in
at the end of the race on Sunday.
(electronic music)
So this time tomorrow, we're gonna be
kicking off from this bay,
and conveniently the wind has picked up.
So you might not be able to see particularly any big waves,
but it's really choppy out there.
Which will make things interesting,
but like I've said already, the choppier the better for me.
But hopefully that will split out the field a little bit.
The bit I am concerned about is out onto the bike course,
because it's so exposed, we're following cliff paths,
all sorts, so that's going to be really interesting.
But for now, we're just go
and get checked in and course briefing.
(piano jazz and techno music mix)
'Kay, I'm all checked in, but I'm age 30 to 34.
It's the first time ever,
because my birthday is literally just after this race.
So that came as a bit of a shock, I wasn't expecting that.
Hopefully there's less in the 30 to 34 category, we'll see.
Ah, first might be pushing it,
but like I said, I'll always give it my most and my best.
So, ya never know.
(exciting music)
It's just gone half six, morning of the race.
I'm super excited, but I obviously quite nervous.
But it's kind of like nervous in a different way from normal
because I'm already kind of gunning it for,
I don't know, the podium or to beat the other athletes.
But, this is really different.
This is almost like, I'm scared what I'm about
to do to myself 'cause I'm not very good at holding back.
I'm not massively prepared and fit,
so I'm actually slightly nervous I'm about
to blow up on this. Yeah.
And also it's a quite technical course,
so I'm worried I might try to push myself beyond
my capabilities on the technical course.
But yeah. Pretty excited at the same time.
(exciting upbeat music)
Well, I'm not superstitious
but I do have a little thing about
three loo stops on race day.
If I don't have them then,
things might go a little bit wrong.
So, I'm on my way to the third now.
(upbeat music)
- [Announcer] Three, two, one. (horn blaring)
- [Man] There he is. There he is.
(crowd congratulating contestants)
- Ah, whole new world of pain, that.
I think I might have to have a debrief later.
It's just like a whole different kind of racing, you know.
Like, you have to be so conditioned for it.
It's so many, like, short bursts of high intensity.
It just takes it all out of you.
Added in with, maybe, not doing enough training,
but that side like these guys are awesome.
(electronic music)
Cheers. (Clinking glasses)
First in my age group. Woo-hoo-hoo!
Wasn't expecting that. (laughs)
30 to 34. Bonus of being (slurs).
- First place Mark Threlfall.
- [Woman] Wooo! Yeah!
(audience cheering and clapping)
- GTN guy.
- Thank you very much.
- I've seen that top before. (laughing)
- Well done. Well done.
- [Announcer] Everyone, well done.
(Crowd cheering and clapping)
(gentle piano music)