About

What is Tri Monkey?

Tri Monkey is a resource for new or aspiring triathletes. We’re here to answer your questions, share our lessons learnt and bring you some inspirational stories of other passionate triathletes that you’ll see alongside you on the start line.

We want to take the mystery out of triathlon and encourage more people to have a go at this sport that we love.

Who is Tri Monkey?

Well there’s actually a Mr and Mrs Tri Monkey.

Mr Tri Monkey:

My name is Karl and I’ve been training and competing in triathlons since the beginning of 2013. I’m not a professional athlete or a decorated coach, but over the past few years I’ve learnt so many cool things about this sport that I’d love to share with you as you start your journey in the world of triathlon.

At the ripe old age of 43 I decided to give this sport a try, and while I couldn’t run more than 500m without stopping and was terrified of the idea of swimming more than 100m, I registered for my first Enticer event on 24th January 2013. (300m/15km/2.5km)

My goals for this event were simple:

• Don’t drown
• Don’t walk
• Finish

Since then I haven’t looked back and continued to set challenges to see what this body of mine can do. Oh and I also suffer from Atrial Fibrillation (Heart Palpitations) – which is something I’ll talk about in later articles.

Mrs Tri Monkey:

My name is Jane and I’m the lazy athlete in this relationship. I attempted my first triathlon in 2008, having only learnt how to swim a few months before. The Gold Coast water scared the ‘livings’ out of me, and I was ‘rescued’ by a very nice chap on a kayak thingy. I think. It was a little foggy.

Eight years on, and I have a few more sprint triathlons under my belt, but what I really enjoy is the training. I love Sunday rides, and the eclectic bunch of triathletes we hang with. We have met the most extraordinary characters in this sport, and if I wasn’t training with Karl I’d be missing out. I hate missing out.

Last year I had a spectacular fall at a velodrome, and a year on still have a few memory problems. Back on the bike, so obviously can’t remember why cycling could possibly be a bad idea. Plus the girls I fell on are really good friends now. If we could only remember where we parked the car…

Why Tri Monkey?

There are heaps of websites and blogs out there that provide amazing resources like training plans, lessons in technique and event reviews. But what we found when we started triathlon was that people who’ve been in the sport for a long time assume we know the simple things. (And you know what they say about assuming?)

The more we spoke to our friends and club mates the more we realised that it’s not the training plans or the coaching tips that were the barriers to this sport. It’s the day to day challenges of life, personal insecurities, self-doubt and just life in general that gets in the way.

Just like us, everyone has day jobs, kids, relationship issues, limited resources and time constraints.

Tri Monkey is about encouraging the beginner, learning from others and changing your life one day at a time. It’s a space where you can ask questions, connect with likeminded people and find out more about all things swim, bike and run. So ask a question, tell us what you’d like to see, or just join the Tri Monkey mailing list and we’ll let you know when there’s something new to check out.

CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE