Some people flog themselves, others walk barefoot for miles in processions, others still get crucified, presumably to win favour from God. I do triathlons. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy triathlons, but jumping into a pool with a water temperature of around 17 degrees Celsius is not fun. It was so cold I nearly stopped breathing.

But my first triathlon, in Thurgau, of 2011 can be considered a success as I managed to finish a staggering seven seconds (well, 6.7 seconds) faster (yes, faster!) than last year – despite the excessive baggage I carried around my waist, the lack of training and motivation at a low ebb.

It’s funny though. I felt good in the swimming as I conditioned my body to get used to the cold; cycling was also good, but my running was weak. In reality, I was four seconds slower in my swimming, 22 seconds slower in the cycling part, but 33 seconds faster in running. My end time was 1 hour 06 minutes 15 seconds.

The conclusion is that training helps; all I did for the past eight weeks was running, albeit not much of it, with a sprinkling of cycling. Also, my transition times – the period when you change from swimming to cycling and from cycling to running – were dreadful.

One crucial point is that I enjoyed it – I hadn’t enjoyed my last three events and was thinking of quitting the sport. I even started football with this in mind. But now I feel newly invigorated to do well in the Zurich Triathlon coming up in a couple of months. The question is: should I do a half-marathon?