Minchin - Dare to tri my journey from the BBC Breakfast sofa to GB team triathlete

I would like to dedicate this book to David, Mia and
Scarlett, my wonderful husband and daughters.
Without your love, support and patience,
I couldnt have been on this incredible journey.
Thank you for making it possible, and for being part of it,
and supporting me every step of the way.

Contents

Louises amazing journey to becoming a triathlete encourages us all to be a little more adventurous.

I think (!) she wont mind me writing this, but it is precisely because Louise is not an overly exceptional athlete that her wonderful personal achievements are so encouraging. In fact, I remember many times being on holiday with her when the most energetic things she did all week were swim just a little, read a book and sunbathe.

This all changed, though, once she took up triathlon at the age of 45.

Louise made this decision despite being a full-time working mother who juggles the responsibilities of family, work, dogs, a very old cat (which I have tripped over numerous times in her kitchen), several rabbits, miniature ponies that regularly escape and her exceptionally early 3:30 a.m. starts.

In Louises endeavour to compete for Great Britain in triathlon, she made use of attributes that we all actually possess, especially if we dig a little: bravery, mental strength and determination. She used them brilliantly and to the full!

Being a bit stubborn and a little competitive, Louise saw the opportunity to make the British team in her age division, and took it. As you can imagine, this was an adventure not without its incidents, as Louise faced fear, danger and disappointment, as well as success.

By her example, she shows us that we should strive to be our best and to grab opportunities that are offered to us or forge them ourselves if they are not immediately obvious, finding both the courage and determination to do so.

Dare to Tri reminds us that we all have different strengths, that we are never too old to start a new challenge and that life is wonderful.

As Louise strove to become a British athlete, she found a strength that she did not think she possessed, embraced a new outlook on life and fitness and she never ever gave up, one of her finest qualities.

Well done, my old friend!

Darcey x

Five years ago, if anyone had suggested to me that there was the slightest possibility I could compete in a triathlon and represent my country, I would have told them to stop being ridiculous. What an absurd thing to say!

I didnt even know quite what a triathlon was. I had an inkling it involved swimming, running and cycling. I knew that a pair of brothers from Yorkshire were very good at it. But what did you do first swim, run, or cycle? How did you change from one sport to the other? And how far did you have to race? I had no idea.

Apart from being clueless, I wasnt even looking for a sporting challenge, and I certainly didnt class myself as an athlete or particularly sporty.

I was a long-term resident of the BBC Breakfast sofa, a working Mum in her mid-40s who had given up competitive sport as a teenager. The only exercise I did was to occasionally ride my bike a few miles into work. Being involved in an endurance sport and representing my country was unthinkable completely beyond my imagination.

So, what changed? How did I get from a fun BBC Breakfast Christmas Challenge to daring to think that I could represent my country?

This book tells the story of how I discovered a sport that became a passion and then an obsession. It describes an adventure that has not been without its challenges. I have struggled along the way, overcoming nerves, personal disappointment and the odd bike crash.

My triathlon journey has tested me to the limit mentally and physically, an experience both unexpected and exhilarating. It has made me fitter, stronger, happier, and awoken in me a competitive spirit and a love of sport that I assumed I had lost.

Here is my story.

Louise x

The most exhilarating, satisfying and memorable half-second of my life.

The moment I touched the handlebars on the tall, skinny racing bike with no brakes and no gears, my life changed forever. I was dressed in an unfamiliar outfit of tight-fitting Lycra, being filmed by BBC Breakfast in the Manchester Velodrome on a drab Friday afternoon in winter.

In the autumn of 2012, I had a seemingly innocuous conversation with one of the Breakfast producers, Nadia Dahabiyeh. I had no inkling that this short discussion would turn out to be a pivotal moment for me, and would change my life in so many different and exciting ways.

Nadia asked me if I had any ideas for our annual Christmas Challenge. This had become a BBC Breakfast tradition: every year in the run-up to Christmas, the presenters were paired up to compete against each other in a variety of challenges. To date they had filmed a version of Come Dine with Me at the houses of presenters Susanna Reid and Sian Williams, and a cake baking competition judged by one of the stars of The Great British Bake Off , Paul Hollywood. The feature was much loved by the Breakfast audience and was always hotly contested by the presenters. The Challenge and its results were shown on Breakfast in the lead-up to Christmas Day.

December 2012 was going to be the first time I would be involved in the Christmas Challenge. I had become a permanent member of the Breakfast presenting team only in April that year, when the programme moved from its base at Television Centre in London to its new home in Salford, MediaCityUK. That year, I would be competing with the other presenters: Bill Turnbull, Susanna Reid and Charlie Stayt.

I had spent much of the summer of 2012, like millions of others, with my eyes glued to the TV watching the London Olympic and Paralympic Games. The haul of gold medals our athletes had won had been inspiring. With that in mind, I suggested to Nadia that perhaps this time, instead of what had been until then cooking challenges, we should plan something to reflect the wonderful summer of sport.

A couple of months later, I had almost forgotten our conversation when she called me to say that she had found the ultimate sporting challenge for us all. We had talked about doing something a bit different, but this was a brilliant, ambitious idea and much more exciting than I had ever imagined.

She was planning a cycling contest at the home of the hugely successful Great Britain Cycling Team: the Velodrome at the HSBC UK National Cycling Centre in Manchester. The scale of the challenge was epic; none of us had ever cycled in a velodrome before. We would have an Olympic cycling gold medallist to coach us and, if that were not intimidating enough, we would compete in front of a crowd of 4,000 people.

The idea was inspired but terrifying.

The actual race itself was going to be a type of sprint relay, and the rules were very simple. There would be two teams, with two presenters in each team. Each individual rider would race one lap of the 250m track. The finishing times of the riders would be added together, and the team with the faster time would win the Breakfast gold medal.

We didnt have a choice about which team we were on and, to make it even more competitive, the teams were chosen according to our on-screen partnership. So Bill and Susanna, who presented at the start of the working week, would make up one team, and Charlie and I would race together in the other.