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Claire's Blog - October '15

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It's the moment Claire has been working towards since we met her at the beginning of 2015. The Brownlee Triathlon was now in sight. See just how she got on...

September was an exciting month, smattered with anxiety as the Brownlee Tri loomed ever nearer.  I had changed my distance at the beginning of the month to the Sprint in a bid to encourage sponsorship for my chosen charity but felt daunted by the prospect.  This was partly because I’d not challenged myself over that distance before and also because my training distances and intensity would need to increase with time running out.  Still, ever the optimist, I knew I could finish - hopefully running and not hobbling. 

I focussed on getting lots of longer bike and run brick sessions under my belt and my knee was behaving fairly well which was a joy.  Then I moved from the pool to an open water swim the weekend before the triathlon.  My son and I set off on a very foggy Sunday morning to the lake and on arrival at 9am, couldn’t see beyond 30m.  Sighting was going to be a challenge but what we hadn’t planned for was the water being so cold.  When we got in, the cold hit our feet straight away and for the whole session, I found it difficult to breathe rhythmically. The water temp was 16C and I knew that Harewood House lake wasn’t going to be any warmer.  Still as long as I got out of the lake on the day and into transition, did anything really matter?

Sunday 26th September. The Brownlee Triathlon day had arrived at last, having been my focus for 9 months.  I was nervous about the lake swim and how my knee and energy levels would hold up but the weather, although overcast and cool, was set fair for the day.  My son James and I arrived with hours to spare, keen to suss out the layout, set up our transition and watch some of the action.  On our walk down to the lake, the water temperature was just being written up on a board as 13C.  I have to say this worried us both and was the sort of info that I’d normally respond with ‘those competitors must be mad to get in there - rather them than me’!  We felt slightly better later on -having chatted to Alistair and Jonny. I still needed to be convinced but reminded myself that all I had to do was ensure I got out of the lake and no one would mind how I swam.  Of course, there’s always the element of personal pride but was prepared to put that to one side if necessary.

All too soon it was my start time.  We had to walk out on a pontoon, sit down and slip into the water to acclimatise.  There were a lot of sharp intakes of breath and exclamations from everyone as we did so but once we were all settled, I got into my ‘zone’, remembered the words on a good luck card I’d been sent saying ‘Just go in there and remember…you’re fantastic’ and the horn sounded.  There was a bit of jostling for the first few metres but it didn’t seem long before I was in clear water.  My breathing was fine and I was consciously swimming in a steady manner, not wanting to rush off and peak too soon. I did wonder half way round why no one was swimming with me but presumed I was a back marker as I could see a pack in front of me.  When I emerged from the lake, I was so pleased the swim had gone so well I was actually smiling and managed a few words as I ran past my family.  My husband shouted that I’d done a fast swim which surprised me and that I was one of the first out! 

So with a spring in my step I took to the bike.  It was a fantastic course and with the sun out, it was very pleasant and the scenery looked wonderful.  There were plenty of steep hills but some excellent fast downhill sections too which I looked forward to on each lap as I laboured up the inclines. 

As much as I was enjoying this, I was glad to move on to the run as I felt I’d still got some energy left.  The run was a cross country route through woods and a ford.  (Didn’t need to bother drying off my feet in transition then!)  Again it was a very scenic course but for me, challenging enough with the inclines and uneven surfaces.  My knee at one stage just started to niggle but after a quick talking to it stopped thankfully.  I had no idea how long I’d been and had aimed for 2 hours if all went as well as possible, so to cross the finish line in 2 hours 1 minute was so satisfying.  We had several family members staying with us for the weekend so James and I had a wonderful welcoming committee cheering us on which was so supportive throughout the event.  That said, all the spectators and marshals were fantastic too with their words of encouragement.

I can honestly say that despite my many reservations leading up to this, I really did enjoy myself.  This was down to many things going so well on the day, including the weather and I am delighted to say that to date I’ve raised £1,300 for my chosen charity.  I promised I would try hard every step of the triathlon and I really did but have been so touched by the generosity shown and thought of that as I crossed the line.

So now there is the autumn and winter to train through as I have entered into the Columbia Threadneedle World Triathlon Leeds.  This has surprised many people as I still don’t get a buzz out of training so cannot think why I’m doing yet more!  But having worked so hard to get a degree of fitness this year and having battled to teach myself front crawl, I don’t want any of my hard work to be wasted just yet.  June seems a long way off so I have my eye on some early season triathlons to keep me training through the winter.  Perhaps I have got the bug?!

    

 

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