There can’t be many people as jammy as me. I am in the very fortunate position of trying to learn to swim at the same time as working alongside some of the world’s greatest swimmers. Talk about having great inspiration! It’s like learning to play guitar and then have Eric Clapton invite you to come and work on his tour.

It’s all because of my job hosting the British Gas Swim series, a huge mass participation open water swim series which has also attracted some of the world’s greatest swimmers.

Swimmer David Carry

Among them is Scotland’s David Carry, the double Commonwealth gold swimmer who is also the new Scottish National Champion at 200m and 400m.

Carry is training for his next swim at home when he lines up in Strathclyde Park for the British Gas Great Scottish Swim on 21 August.

The event is part of the British Gas Great Swim series which has become the biggest open water swim series in the country. In London, 5000 people took to the water in one day and in Scotland numbers are way up on last year. But for British swimmers like Carry the event’s growing profile means the elite field is tougher than it’s ever been.

“As the event grows then the quality of the swimmers attracted to it is greater. It’s going to be a much tougher field this year. Last time I wasn’t in top form, but this year I am so hopefully will be able to use my sprint finish.”

The series has also been attracting some top triathletes including GB’s Richard Stannard and the seven times Australian Ironman champion Ky Hurst. Both of those athletes should be competing in the Scottish swim where they will line up alongside Channel record holder, Petar Stoychev and Germany’s Thomas Lurz, an eight time world champion in open water.

The elite races will be one of the highlights of the day but it’s the mass waves that will bring the crowds. The one mile swims have been a huge draw and for anyone thinking about making the move to open water for the first time, David Carry says don’t hesitate.

“The sense of achievement you get swimming outdoors is so much greater. In the pool you are basically finishing where you started off but in the open water you can get out of the water and see just how far you’ve come. It’s an awesome feeling.”

I asked David for some tips for anyone who is doing it for the first time.

“Everyone laughs, but the major factor is the temperature. There’s no getting around the fact that open water swimming in this country is cold and that initial shock puts people off. I’d say get into the water early and let the water get into your wetsuit and your body will cope. By the time you get back in then it’s not so much of an issue.

Anyone who saw Dave Davies lose the gold in Beijing by swimming off course will know how vital it is to make sure you are swimming the correct course.

“There are no black lines to follow so sighting and spotting is an issue” confirms Carry. “You need to get used to sighting every four of five strokes. Try and decide where you are going to swim before you get in the water and pick a spot like a tree or a white tent in advance.”

My philosophy in life is that you should always try and tap into the experience of folk who are wiser and more talented than you so I couldn’t let David go without getting him to share his favourite session with us. So for anyone who wants to have a bash here it is:

2500m warm-up: “Mixing up the strokes and getting quicker so by the end my breathing is quite heavy. This is followed by 5 x 100m,200m and 300m with short recoveries. “The 100m and the rest is 1:30, the 200 is off 2:30 and the 300 is off 3:30.” Finish off with a cool down of 1000-1500m.

For more information and entry into the British Gas Great Scottish Swim visit greatswim.org

Here’s a bit of news that will not surprise you in the least: I did my novice triathlon at Stirling, loved the whole experience and by 2pm that afternoon was already on the internet looking for my next one!

I had a feeling that I was going to get hooked on triathlon. Well, what’s not to love?

Well, maybe the 7am registration on a Sunday morning. But as I was too excited to sleep properly anyway, the early start didn’t really matter.

Everyone at registration was friendly and helpful to all us novices and after picking up numbers and chips, I couldn’t believe I was standing in a queue labelled ‘body marking’.

Having someone scrawl a number on your bicep is quite an experience and does make you feel like a proper triathlete. Pinning a number on my running vest is just never going to feel the same.

I hadn’t anticipated there would be so much ‘faffing around’ with gear and shoes etc so despite being there early I think we were some of the last people to put our bikes into transition.

Running down the hill as the PA announces ‘two minutes till transition closes’ is not the most relaxing way to start your day.

After racking our bikes, the biggest mistake I made was watching the fast guys swim. It was hugely exciting, but their swimming was a world away from mine. I felt really sick and began to wonder if I was kidding myself about my swimming abilities.

I had to get out of the pool area and try and calm myself down. Watching the later heats of course was much better and completing the swim seemed like a much more realistic proposition.

At last it was time for heat number 13. The start manager in the pool had done a great job all morning keeping everyone informed of what was going on. When he ran us through our pre-race briefing, I don’t think anyone could tell that he’d delivered that same speech 13 times in the space of a couple of hours.

Lining up in the pool with cap and goggles on I felt as excited and fired up as I do at the start of a big live broadcast on telly or radio, where it’s hard to tell if that feeling in the pit of your stomach is pure nerves or just excitement.

Soon as the whistle went I knew I had made a huge mistake in my swim training – I had never shared a lane or had to swim behind anyone.

All my training has been at the gym in the morning when the pool is deserted. Swimming with four others for the first time, I freaked. My timing was off and I couldn’t get going with a proper stroke.

After working my way to the front of the group I was so nervous about ‘leading’ that I got over excited, sprinted away like a madman and found myself struggling for breath at the end of the lane. I dropped back a few places and lost my focus.

However, the timing officials in our lane were shouting out our names and really kept us going in the last few laps. Thanks guys.

My swim time was a disappointing 11:43, but I was determined not to fixate on that. My mate Barry is an experienced triathlete and he had advised me to treat each bit as a separate sport and enjoy each section in its own right.

T1 seemed to go fine and I was keen to get out on the bike. I loved the bike ride. Really loved it. When you are so far behind on the swim then I think you are more motivated to try and pass folk on the bike. I felt like I was flying along.

I got into a good race with a couple of guys and we battled all the way to the end. It’s been the most enjoyable bike ride I’ve done and I could have happily have gone on longer. 29:09 for the bike ride put me in the top ten for the cycle which I was happy with, especially as I knew my strongest discipline was coming up.

Getting out of T2 onto the run I felt like I was shuffling rather than running, but I didn’t seem to suffer too badly from jelly legs.

Stirling is a tough course for the run as you are onto the big hill within the first 30 seconds of the run, but at least in the novice we only had to do it once. I was wishing the run was longer though as by the end of it I was really getting into my stride and was enjoying my race enormously.

Run time was good (10:00) and I finished well up the field. It meant I had some weird stats though. There can’t be many people who finish 94th in the swim and second in the run!

I was 15th overall and I’m delighted with that. It was a fantastic day and I have not stopped thinking about it since Sunday. I met some great people, found out some things I’m good at, and learned about some areas that could…er…do with some more work.

Having a shower before heading to the pub I was careful not to scrub off the race number on my arm. Reaching over for the wine bottle and seeing ‘579’ peek out of the bottom of my t-shirt sleeve was a reminder of a great day and the fact that at long last I was now a triathlete. Happy days…

“Breaking news!” was the subject line on the email. When you work at the BBC and you get an email with that subject line then you tend to react pretty quickly.

As I grabbed the mouse to open it, I saw that it didn’t come from any of my journalist colleagues, but from my mate Stewart. The news turned out to be that “They’ve just put the heat times and lane allocations online!”

Not everyone’s idea of breaking news, but when you are doing your very first triathlon then an announcement like that becomes as important and dramatic as anything that comes out of the newsroom.

Stewart and I are both competing in the Novice race on Sunday in Stirling and it’s hard to believe that something so short could dominate every single conversation we have had over the past few months.

Finally the big day is almost upon us. I’ve done my last training sessions which thankfully went really well. I did a great run session in Pollok Park which consisted of 10×600m with just 30” recovery. It was knackering and I finished the session lying flat out on the path, but I was happy.

My final swim session saw – Jason my swimming teacher – surprise me by telling me we were going to swim 400m against the clock…and then he revealed we were doing it three times with only a minute between each set.

I assured him he was living in fantasy land, but amazingly enough I managed it and It’s been a huge boost to my confidence before Sunday.

It’s taper time now, but I got a great tip once from a top marathon runner. She told me that the night before a race she likes to go out and do a few strides at race pace just to remind her body what it needs to do in the morning. So, if I can tear myself away from Britain’s Got Talent final that’s what I’ll be doing.

It’s come as a bit of a shock that my first race is almost upon me. It was only when I was going to put my next couple of swimming lessons in the diary that I realised I’d run out of weeks.

I feel like I’m back at school, the exams are coming up and I haven’t done the studying required. I feel some serious cramming coming up.

My fitness is improving though and I’m much stronger than I was six weeks ago. I went for a time trial with the guys from work at lunchtime and I’ve got my mile down from 5:33 to 5:26 so definitely headed in the right direction.

I like the idea of a regular time trial to motivate myself. I think I’m driven by targets as the swimming sessions I enjoy most are those based on time.

The week has been dominated by two shameful appearances on video which have brought the truth home to me on two issues I’ve clearly remained ignorant about. The first was an appearance on STV’s The Hour to publicise our show about the Edinburgh Marathon, Everyone’s A Winner.

The chat went well but when I got home to watch the recorded show I was aware that the camera work revealed that what once was a thinning thatch is now a gleaming baldy patch.

Despite the fact the director of the show is one of my best mates, it seemed that every time they featured a shot of me, my gleaming bald spot was firmly in focus.

My second video nasty was when my swim coach, Jason suggested that he film one of my lessons as it would be useful for me to review my technique. Excellent idea I thought.

When the video playback started I was pleasantly surprised. My hands were gliding through the water, my shoulders looked strong and as I came up for air every third breath I was actually looking like a proper swimmer!

However as the camera panned down my body it turned into a very different kind of film. I looked less like Michael Phelps and more like Charlie Chaplin. Both my feet were pointing outwards at different angles, my hips had sunk like the Titantic and my legs were about as flexible as a pair of tree trunks.

I wasn’t so much swimming like a fish, but swimming like a frog, and one that seemed to be swimming in fear of its life. It honestly looked like my top half and bottom half didn’t belong to the same person. This was a horror movie I was watching!

So, two very different videos that have given me a lot to think about. Clearly, there’s not a lot I can do about the bald spot (apart from wear a swim cap) but I really do need to do something about my wonky kick.

I’ve booked in a couple of ‘emergency’ lessons to see if that helps. I realise I can’t change my bio-mechanics that quickly, but perhaps it’s a step – and a kick – in the right direction.

With less that a month to go, I feel my training over the past few weeks hasn’t been as consistent as it should have been…now there’s a sentence we are all familiar with!

I’ve just come off a couple of 15 mile weeks. No that isn’t a mistype and I haven’t left off an additional zero at the end. I’m afraid my milage for the week really did amount to 3×5 mile runs. Hardly flat out.

It’s not like I’ve been spending all my time in the pool either. I’ve managed to keep up my weekly swim lesson, but I’d be lying if I said I’d got in the water much outside that.

As for the bike it’s been a couple of trips from home to the BBC. 2.25miles each way. Again, not a misprint.

Is there a new category of ‘not quite a novice triathlon’ that I could enter?

My main problem with fitting in the training is that I’ve been working most weekends.

As well as my day job at BBC Radio Scotland, I also do a lot of commentating at large sporting events. Unfortunately, what should have been my month of mega miles coincided with the peak time for races.

I’ve done back to back stints at London Marathon, Great Edinburgh Run, Women’s 10k, Great Manchester Run and Edinburgh Marathon which means I’ve spent more time talking about running than actually doing it!

On the upside I’ve got to work with some of the world’s top athletes and it’s very inspiring. The highlight was meeting Haile Gebrselassie at the Bupa Great Manchester Run. Like Tim Don (who finished second Brit in a brilliant time of 28:56 ) I think he’s the greatest distance runner of all time.

Me and Haile compared our experiences running last year’s Berlin marathon, although I did point out that he’d been showered and had his winner’s medal by the time I crossed the line. “Still, at least both of your times started with a two” said my mate Dave cheerily.

Seeing stars like him and great triathletes like Tim Don compete has obviously inspired me as I came back from Manchester to run a cracking hill session on the Monday and my strongest swim set yet the following day.

I didn’t run quite like Haile and I certainly didn’t swim like Tim but I did feel they were pushing me to achieve. Two good sessions in a row could mean I am back on track. I just need to make sure that ‘less talking, more training’ is my mantra for the next few weeks….

BBC Radio Scotland’s Bryan Burnett is attempting his first triathlon this year. In the first of an occasional series of blogs he talks us through his training.

Triathlon Scotland blog
Bryan Burnett
April 28, 2010

I could’ve stuck to running. I’m a good runner. I feel comfortable. When I go to a road race I enjoy bumping into familiar faces and race rivals. I know where to go and how the course will look. I know what I’m going to wear and most of the time, how I’m going to run.

So why did I decide to get out of my comfort zone and plunge into the unknown by entering my first triathlon?  Right at this moment I am asking myself the same question.

My mate Stewart and I kind of talked each other into it and our target is to do the novice category of the Stirling Triathlon on 6 June.

Having bought a ‘triathlon in 20 weeks’ book I have realised that opening the book with 10 weeks to go till my first tri was probably a bit remiss of me. Still, I reckon with my background in distance running then I should be able to jump in halfway through the training programme.

I got myself a decent bike last year so that’s sorted. I run 5-6 days a week and as I work evenings then I’ve got the mornings free to train. I’ll do 4-5 steady runs and one hard speed session a week.  I should be well prepared for the run leg.

There’s just the small matter of the swim. Up until a few weeks ago I couldn’t even get all the way along the 20m pool at the gym. As I’ve got a 400m swim coming up this could prove to be something of a hurdle.

I’ve been taking weekly lessons and it’s made a big difference. I now feel like I am able to do a passable version of front crawl but only for 100m at a time. “It’s not pretty “ said Jason,my swim coach, “But it will get you there.”

My problem is breathing. In running, I am used to taking huge explosive breaths, sucking in the air and letting it all out again. Clearly this isn’t working in the pool. If the rules allowed the use of a snorkelling mask then I’d be looking at an impressive swim time, but as it is I’ll have to work with the lungs I’ve got.

Still, I feel like I am on the verge of a breakthrough and very soon it will all come together and I’ll be knocking out length after length. The power of positive thinking eh?

As for the other disciplines, running is going well and I decided to try out my cycling legs by entering the Ayr Duathlon a couple of weeks ago. I finished 16thafter the first run before plummeting to 62nd on the bike leg!!!! How is this possible? I knew I’d drop a few places but 46 of them?

It’s back on the bike this weekend for some hard training and the mental challenge of getting from 62nd to 16th!

Keep checking back regularly to find out how it’s all coming together as Bryan’s triathlon debut edges ever closer.