As many of you know, I set myself a challenge this year, my 50th year; to complete a triathlon! I took part in a GoTri ‘This Girl Can’ training programme at the local leisure centre and met a great group of women! I have been training for the last few months and it has been good fun and I have certainly increased my fitness levels. I decided to try to raise some money at the same time, so set up a ‘Just Giving’ page to raise money for Staffordshire Wildlife Trust and was thrilled to raise £441 for them, plus the £85 Gift Aid!
Last Sunday, I took part in the event and I was pretty nervous. I knew I could do all the individual distances, but had never tried putting all three together. The bit that worried me most was the getting out the pool and running, barefoot and dripping, round to your bike and then having to cycle 20km and run 5km soaking wet! I am pretty much cold-blooded and really feel the cold, so wanted to try to dry myself as much as possible. I was not too fussed about the time it would take me, so decided to spend a few minutes drying myself off a bit and putting some additional clothes on before heading out on my bike after the 16 lengths in the pool. My transition was a massive 4 minutes…. compared to just 30 seconds for the serious triathletes!
It was a rather blustery affair out on the 20km bike section and my hybrid trail bike was not quite a fast as the slick road bikes that seemed to be overtaking me for most of the course! I was keen to have enough energy left to run the 5km at the end without stopping though, so I took it at a steady pace.
By the time I headed back to The Friary, I wasn’t feeling too bad. I racked my bike back up in the transition area and headed out for the 5km run. Again, I took it steady and managed to run the whole distance, not feeling too exhausted … I even had a bit in the tank for a bit of a raised tempo towards the finishing line!
No award-winning medal performance, but I had achieved my goal… to complete my first triathlon!
A massive thank you to all those who generously donated to my Just Giving Page… it means a lot to know that people were willing to give up some of their hard-earned cash to support me on this challenge and to support Staffordshire Wildlife Trust. I can now officially call myself a Triathlete….. and will I be doing some more???? ….. we’ll have to wait and see!
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