Harry Palmer
Hometown: Bitton, Bristol, UK
Harry Palmer
Age: 26
Hometown: Bitton, Bristol, UK
'If it was easy everybody would do it.' Harry Palmer
Harry's Story
My parents were always incredibly supportive and allowed me to get involved in any club when I was younger as long as I enjoyed it. I slowly cut the list of sports I was taking part in down to swim, bike and run. My Dad signed me up for the local triathlon (Oldbury White Horse) and it was the most painful day of my life – I was hooked!
Being a triathlete is a lifestyle. Especially being a pro trying to compete with the best, you need to eat, sleep and breathe it and diving into all these little percentages and trying to get the best out of myself is in some sense addictive. It’s the constant pursuit of something better, whether that’s subjective or objective or both.
GREATEST CHALLENGES:
I would say the greatest challenge is being satisfied with what you've done and where you're at rather than thinking about what you want to achieve and where you want to go. It'sreally easy to think about where you want to get to and take for granted where you've got to.
SEASON GOALS:
I am approaching 2024 slightly differently. I have all eyes on Ironman South Africa and then the result from that will dictate the direction of the rest of the season with regards to races. But, a goal of mine as always is to push my PTO ranking down and closer towards the top 50.
BEST RACE PERFORMANCE:
Ironman 70.3 Belgium 2023. Had a disappointing swim due to some tactical errors on my part but on the bike I decided to dig my heels in and chase hard, this was the hardest I had ever pushed in a 70.3 and I pretty much dragged the whole chase pack along for 90km without losing time to the front guys. Off the bike I was concerned I'd worked too hard but my run legs came good and I managed to run myself into 3rd place, my first Ironman 70.3 podium.
TOP 3 SWIM TIPS FOR SOMEONE GETTING STARTED IN TRIATHLON:
- Have a goal and a focus for each session so you know why you’re doing it, this will help you stay motivated.
- Have patience. Swimming can be a very frustrating sport to see development and improvement in and you need to give it time.
- Swim with others who are better than you, this will elevate your training and make you a better athlete.
WHAT ZONE3 KIT DO YOU RECOMMEND:
The aspire wetsuit is my favourite bit of kit. I prefer a bit more buoyancy and a higher neckline and the Aspire gives me just that. It's also really quick at getting off which helps with faster T1 times.
RACE ENJOYED THE MOST:
Ironman Florida 2023 was a really cool experience. It wasn't the result I was after but travelling to the states, spending time there after the race and meeting new people was such a cool experience.
FUN FACT:
I did target a few 10 mile TT's after lockdown as they were the only races that were on and my fastest time was actually on a day that my gears ran out of charge and I was just forced to ride as hard as I could to turn the pedals.
