Anyway, the race itself took place at the diving centre in Chepstow so was nice and local for me and is actually somewhere I've spent a bit of time over the summer doing some training so it was good to be able to do a race there.
The swim itself went quite well. I was a bit apprehensive at the start because I've still got quite a nasty cut on my knee from Tough Mudder last weekend so wasn't sure how that was going to be both in the cold water and also with the movement of my legs for all 3 stages. The cold water part was fine and it gave me no problems swimming.
After the swim, there was a run up what I would call a substantial hill to transition. To be honest, anything other than flat I'd call substantial but it was quite steep, honest! From transition it was out onto the 2 loop bike course which included 2 climbs of a hill that I'm gutted to say I didn't make all the way up on the bike. There were 2 small sections that I had to get off and push up. Although it's disappointing it just shows that whilst I've made quite good progress this year, I've still got a long way to go. After the hill, the rest of the lap was either flat or downhill which was enjoyable. It was also really good to go past the dive centre to start my second lap and get cheered on by the supports there including a large number from the tri club.
Finally, the run. Now the route wasn't for me at all. It was all off road and a mixture of loose gravel, wet grass/mud and forrest meant for it was uneven and not much fun. Just after the turnaround point on my first lap I also managed to go over on my ankle. I was able to carry on after a few minutes hobbling around but since the event it's got a bit worse. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that it's better by next Sunday for the Cardiff Half.
I don't know what my overall time was but I know that it wasn't anything special or close to a PB but I'm happy that I got around and had fun doing it. It was also nice to race again with so many people from the club and there were lots doing a triathlon for the first time.
So there's just 1 more event to go now and then that's it. It's definitely not too late to sponsor me if you would like to. The address for my donation page is www.justgiving.com/huw2013 and here is the finishing photo from today.
