Chirk - 3rd time lucky? No officially last

Preparation this week went really well. Had a fantastic run on Thursday and took 5 minutes off my 5 mile bike on Saturday and ran off offroad really nicely so was confident I’d at least maintain last year’s time.

The day started badly. I was violently sick. I guess it was nerves but I really didn’t have any.

The weather was warm but the forecast was showers I deliberated what to wear for the bike. I decided I’d wear my Tri Talk cycling jacket.

As I was off at number one it was great for transition positioning.

Swim – it was incredibly hot. I had a mild panic attack but calmed myself by humming Happy Birthday (don’t ask! a technique Tracey the sports massager taught me – it works). The whistle went and off I popped. Wasn’t fast but was at the pace I was comfortable with. There was 3 minutes between waves and I’d done 4 lengths before the next person started so was confident of a 12 minute time. I’m convinced the lane counters made me do an extra 12 lengths but bearing that in mind 13:45 wasn’t bad.

T1 – complete disaster. It was really hot and sunny when I left the pool so decided to ditch the jacket. Couldn’t get my socks on. Have no explanation why not. Wasted a great deal of time and in the end put my trainers on sockless.

I knew I’d struggle on the bike but didn’t seem to be going that slow. Really can’t get my head around how I could be 15 minutes slower than last year. I was carrying water and did feel incredibly thirsty. Have to consider if I was dehydrated from being sick but still wasn’t confident enough to take water on the move. Big mistake. The road was pretty bad, not just the potholes which in fairness had mostly been painted bright yellow. It was just an incredibly bumpy surface.

T2 broke off the side of my glasses. Transition Ted offered me his but in the end I ran with just one arm. Well “ran” is a loosely translated word. I ran out of transition. I walked for a bit up the hill – my HR monitor was bleeping at 190. Once I’d got over the duel carriageway I ran most of the way and only really walked the steep bit to the duel carriageway on the way back. Was yet again expecting a reasonable run time but was bitterly disappointed with 5 minutes slower.

There were 2 DNF – which I wouldn’t wish on anybody, but does that make me officially not last?

I did really enjoy it – which I guess is the main thing.

Had a fantastic afternoon timing the finish. Met some fantastic people and caught up with old friends.

Huge congratulations to Rhian Roxburgh who won the womens event by a mile and was 6th overall.

12 weeks to the Deva Divas. Should get my new bike this week. Consistent training is the order of the day. I really don’t want to be last again.

1 Lynne Evans Wrecsam Tri 44 F 00:13:38 01:22:59 00:47:11 02:23:48

Chirk - One week and counting

Well I never! 3 months since my last blog! Excuses? My PC is running really slowly and as I now have the benefit of an iphone it very rarely get used. However, iphones are not the best for reading and certainly writing blogs so apologies bloggers you have been neglected.

Work is going really well. Brain is getting a serious workout constantly. It is high pressure. it is stressful, I am being financially rewarded (yes I've had a pay rise!) At the end of the day I’ve used my friend Mr Wine bottle to cope which has hampered training and weight loss.

Training has been sporadic to say the least. When it’s good it’s really good and when it’s bad it doesn’t happen.

Swim wise - despite only one swim session since I learned to swim crawl properly last year I’m absolutely fine. I swam 60 lengths crawl no problem. It’s probably not very pretty. Undoubtedly it’s not very fast but this time last year I needed oxygen after about 4 lengths. The plan for next week is not to do breast stroke.

Run wise – well again not pretty and not fast. The Chirk course is pretty hilly but it’s no worse than I do round here. At the end of the day it’s 5k and as long as I can feel my feet when I get off the bike I’ll be fine.

The bike – this wonderful employer offers the cycle to work scheme so 5 weeks ago off I trotted to the LBS and chose my lean, mean, racing machine. Applied online, employer approved application and I’m waiting… and I’m waiting… and I emailed Cyclescheme… and HR Manager emailed Cyclesheme… and HR Manager tries to contact them by phone and left voicemail….and still I’m waiting…

Looks very likely I will be on my trusty hybrid. In a way it’s not a bad thing as I believe the road is pretty bad and…well I have to be perfectly honest,. my bike fitness will let me down. Due to lack of space I have no turbo. I spent a great deal of last winter in the gym on the bike but this year I’ve done nothing. There you go – I’ve said it out loud!

Weight wise – an absolute disaster but hey ho! Went to see my Trusty friend Tracey of the fantastic sports massage fame. Had a Kinseology treatment to identify the reasons for my overeating. Didn’t really feel as if had done anything. Erm I’ve lost 11lb since last Monday. Not hungry. Not deprived. Feel absolutely fantastic!

So back to Chirk – no expectations of time but if I can crawl all the swim and run all the run I’ll be a happy bunny.

Good luck to everyone doing the VLM next week especially Matt Malloy – If he ever gets back from Lanza – can think of worse places than La Sanza to be stranded