Race Season Has Started!

So 3 races in 4 weeks isn't too bad :) I kicked off the season with the For Goodness Shakes Legs of Steel Olympic distance race out at Dorney Lake. Fabulous facilities out there but of so boring course. I almost fell off my bike with boredom. One guy actually did fall off at one stage but I think it was due to the rain not the boredom :)
The course was 1500m swim in the lake, 40km on the bike which was 8 laps of the lake and then 10km run, or 2 up and back loops.
My cycle computer doesn't work in the rain and it was raining so I took it off my bike. I also left my watch at work so was relying on my ability to count to 8, something I managed to learn as a child in between torturing my younger brothers. Well you would think it would be simple enough. Not so. I got so bored going round and round this stupid lake in the rain I got to lap 8 and wasn't sure if that was it so decided to do another one just to be safe. It wasn't until I got round the corner and saw the women I came out of the water with and was cycling with in transition I realised I was on lap 9 and past the point of return. Round I go again. I got out there and ran a sub 42 10km trying to make up some time so got a 7th place in 2:35. Not bad, would have been a 2:24 or so which I would have been pleased with. I was just making a point that I am not a short course athlete, either that or I am just simple :)
I must say the level of organisation for the race wasn't at it's military precision I usually display.
* Arrived late (got lost cycling there from Slough).
* Spent the time I should have been getting ready talking to a friend I hadn't seen in ages and didn't know was going to be there
* Forgot to get body marked (see point above, she was supposed to body mark me) so when I finally did go to get ready, couldn't get into transition and had to go back to registration
* no race belt, had to go buy one at the last minute
* was putting wetsuit on when they were starting the briefing
* looked like a bag lady with everything in garbage bags in an attempt to keep shoes dry
* Lost timing chip. Very embarrassing when they called out my number in front of everyone for me to collect it (I was still struggling with wetsuit at this point)
* Forgot my watch
* Took my cycle computer off
* Apparently can't count to 8.
* Had this woman who must have been 5'11'' try and over take me at the 5km mark on the run. No way love. See the pictures, I beat her home only just but we fought for the last 5km side by side each one of us surging trying to take the lead. Was actually really fun because we were flying and just eating people up, 1 girl tried to stay with us and we spat her out in roughly 75m, so good!!. I reckon we did a sub 20min 5km on the 2nd half of the run, but who would know with my watch safe on my desk at work!
* I am officially logged as coming 8th but I beat girl above in sprint finish. I think they got us confused at the end because someone chased me down as I was leaving the finishing area asking about the time I finished in.
* Managed to get grit in my eyes on the bike which shredded my right contact lens, so I ran only being able to see out of my left eye. I got 2/3 of it out at the end of the race and had to cycle home with 1/3 of the shredded lens lodged on the back of my eye ball. It didn't come out till Monday morning.

All in all a debacle from start to end. I am pleased I did it, I needed a wake up call on both transition and preparation which carried over well to the 1/2 Ironman distance race I did last week in Weymouth.

The event is called the Wymouth Middle Distance and is a 1900m swim, 90km bike and a 21km run. The water was so so so cold. Maybe around 10 degrees. Too cold. It took me about 10 mins to settle into the swim and stop gasping. Got through the swim OK, would have liked to have been a bit quicker but just couldn't get into the rhythm of it. Out on the bike and was very pleased with my performance, I caught quite a few of the girls and only had 1 go past me. It was reasonable hilly, one of those courses with lots of drags which I hate. I would rather a sharp up and down rather than these slopes that go on and on. It was hot out on the bike and I wasn't eating enough. There seems to be something wrong with me that as soon as the wind picks up I forget to eat. I panicked coming into transition so I ate a gel about 7 - 8 mins out of T2. Big mistake. I paid for that.

Got through T2 and basically got a cramp immediately, hello Mr Gel. I know better than this!!! I had problems with this lat year and found that not eating or drinking for the last 20 mins meant I was fine and could really kick into the run. I had to walk the first 15 mins of the run and was having problems breathing from the pain of the cramp. So frustrating!! This is the part I am supposed to be good at! I knew it would pass and it was only a matter of time and I had to be patient which isn't really a strength of mine. I was getting quite stressed at the number of people going past me, especially the girls I had worked so hard to go past on the bike.

The cramp eventually cleared and I could set into a 8 min mile pace which is a fair bit slower than I would have liked. I had to take it easy because every time I tried to push it started coming back. I started running with this lovely guy, I think his name was Tim. He was wearing all white and was telling me about his Ironman Austria attempt the year before. Things went horribly wrong and he ended up in a coma for 10 days. Fair play to the guy, not only is he out there still doing triathlon, he is doing Ironman Roth in 4 weeks. Amazing. Maybe if we weren't chatting so much we would have been paying more attention to the route signs and wouldn't have got lost! Add a few extra mins there...luckily we only lost around 3 mins.

Anyway, I managed to crank up the pace for the 2nd lap and got home in 5 hours 11 mins. I am very pleased with that given I am not in the shape I would like to be in and it gave me a whole lot of confidence for Ironman Austria that is less than 4 weeks away!

Yesterday I was in Wales doing The Dragon, a 180km sportive through Wales including the Brecon Beacons. There are around 13 climbs and more than 3000m of vertical. I loved it and the atmosphere was very friendly. I had to take my tri bars off so I wasn't always that comfortable on my bike but spent a lot of time on the drops. I also set myself the challenge of not touching the brakes unless I really had to on the descents. I got up to 70km (45miles)an hour going downhill which was exhilarating and terrifying at the same time. I can't help but think that if I fall it is game over for Austria as well as a few broken bones thrown in for sure.

The Flting Dutchman is incredible going downhill, the man is faster than gravity so he has been giving me some tips, and it works, you really can make up some places and cover some ground and lets face it, it is so fun! He wasn't out there but was in Germany at a friends wedding.

I met this woman called Chloe out riding. She was on a bright pink Trek and a really cute outfit. It was so nice to finally meet another woman who loves the pink girly side of cycling, but can hold her own. We were matched on speed and spent a couple of hours together, at one stage pulling a bunch of about 8 blokes along behind us! We were really flying along and getting lots of encouragement from the blokes as we breezed past them with our triple chain rings! I lost her on the last climb, I really wanted to nail the last 40km so went for it. I did wonder at the time if I would make it home, for the last 10km I was doing at least 40km (25 miles) an hour on the flats and flying up the hills like a woman possessed. The risk was that I hadn't eaten very much during the ride, just 2 bananas, a small cake, 2 gels and some energy drink across the 9 hours since breakfast. I am really struggling to drop down to my race weight so was deliberately not eating in an attempt to burn some fat yesterday. I made it home in 6.52 which was great, I wanted under 7 hours, It was a lovely feeling to get off my bike and know I didn't have to run a marathon!!

I was a bit short on time, the race started late and it took an hour to get to the start line. I had to get a 16:50 train and had to cycle from Pencoed to Bridgend and didn't know the way. Its about 5 miles so set off with a hand drawn map, the not eating strategy totally came up and bit me. I almost fell off my bike when the dizzy spell hit and I could hardly move my legs. Anyone that has ever 'bonked' as it is called will know what I am talking about. You are totally wiped and out of energy. I knew I wouldn't be able to stand so kept rolling. I had a backup powerbar in my pocket and I absolutely devoured this thing. It takes a few mins for it to work but then I was fine, I only just made the train with a minute to spare. Getting on the train was a complete mess. There were more bookings than bikes and people were getting irate. Everyone was a little tired and grumpy. 112 miles of hills does that to you :)

Everything is going great guns with The Flying Dutchman, I am loving have a boyfriend again, and especially one a great as him. We don't get to spend that much time together but we seem to make it work for us. We are both often away on the weekends and have fallen into this pattern of meeting up Sunday nights when we get back. He is great :)

Training is pretty intense at the moment in the last few weeks before Austria. Terry is working me hard but that's what he is paid to do. The sessions are a challenge but I can just about manage them. It is a big workload and most days I get up at 5:30 - 6:00 so I can train before work. I am now looking forward to Austria, but Arizona is the big one.

Anyway, enjoy the evening!
Cxx