whoohoooooooooooyeahhhwowwwwwwwwwweeeeeeee!

I really did it! Can't believe it! After that trial run a couple of weeks ago I was very seriously worried it was not doable for me...but I DID it..

And I enjoyed it! For about the first time ever I didn't enjoy a bike ride that other week going round the route....just felt too hard and was really struggling...threw all sorts of doubts into my head about not wanting to do this sort of thing anymore. But now I'm thinking I want to do it again! And with more strength and endurance and less weight - which I've struggled to get down this year - so I can go for more of the hills and still beable to finish...

I felt strong after the bike leg...going up that final little sting out of Hardraw before turning back to Hawes I was thinking 'I could carry on biking here'!

I'm still not sure of my overall time/position in category etc as my computer's died, and this one wont read the results....but about 8 hrs 20. roughly 40-45 mins for swim, 4hr 20 for bike and 3 hr run..and ages in transitions!!



So the run down:

What a civilised start time - 10am! I was still up at 6.15, so I could get a cuppa and biscuits in before some breakfast - unusually for an event, as I follow the Hammer Nutrition guidelines of not eating 3 hrs before an event - so there's not usually time (which the guidelines say is not a problem - your glycogen stores wont deplete much at all overnight). Actually, it was hard to eat, and lead to more toilet trips than would otherwise have needed.

And it was SO luxurious having a support team - especially for an event that started and finished in a different place..my sister simply wheeled my bike, upright - into the back of her peugot van-car thing - wonderous, and my younger son was more nervous than I was!! So off to register...a bag - what was that about - no tee shirt or other memento saying Wensleydale tri 2010 on to show off...(looking later, it is a good quality small waterproof rucksack...but even so..).

Semer Water, on arriving, looked beautiful...really still. In fact the weather at this point couldn't have been better - dull, not raining , not sunny, not windy...

I felt surprisingly relaxed going into the swim - again, having my sister and son there distracted me from worrying - think I was a bit numb too - not really taking in what I was about to attempt. My main thought at this stage was 'I'm going to enjoy this - just think of it as a day wondering around the dales...'. It was a small field - about 60 - so not as frantic a start as most..and I relaxed into swimming straight away..didn't need any breast stroke lulls to catch my breath the whole way, and looked at the hills when I breathed. It was so calm too, which helped. Did feel quite a long way - which it was, at 1800m - my longest open water swim to date in events or training - but the distance felt greater on the first lap than the second, when I was settled into it. The sun even came out.

Which I could've done without really...but at least I had put on sun cream, even though I'd felt silly doing it in the grey of an hour before...I was ages in T1 - not sure what I was doing...taking endurolytes for one thing - electrolyte pills to help prevent cramp - should've taken earlier aswell as now - but forgot - and did cramp up towards the end of the swim..just sorting myself out after all that time in the water felt really hard!

As planned, I didn't even attempt to bike up the 1 in 4 soon after transition. Felt good to get on the bike at the top though and get going..off to Bainbridge...then Askrigg...passed the 'Cakewalk' cafe - looked longingly yet again, thinking I really must go there one of these days! And off the bike again for the start of the 'Askrigg set'...I ended up only biking 1.5 of the 6 sections - the 3rd one, and half of the last...which seemed harder than I'd thought it's be....possibly because I was in a mindset of not going all out on hills in order to get round - also it was hot sun at this point...I was going to ditch the long sleeved top with my sister who was scheduled to be at the top - but luckily she wasn't (I was early! Out of swim/t1 earlier than thought). Got overtaken by 2 women and a bloke. Then the glorious section over the moor tops...got stuck behind a car for 5 mins, which was frustrating, as it's possible to go quite fast on some parts here...but at least the sheep stayed out of the way today! Then the scary descent down to Swaledale...a bloke at the bottom was trying to mend his bike - the second drop out I'd passed - a woman on the way up Askrigg had broken her chain - she was really upset.Passed the cream tea cafe in Muker - still no sign of sister and son - and on up Buttertubs..on foot to start with. Did a mixture of on and off. At last my support team materialised, shouting, 'Slow down! We can't keep up'. Had a chat with a fellow competitor who was walking up the steep section faster than me...no.44...it was his first triathlon - what a one to choose! He said there was still one person behind..

Those moor top sections are such fun - you can get up alot of speed and see for miles...I was whooping out loud!! And I managed to change gears successfully without my chain falling off this time, on the sudden change from down to up on the right turn to Hardraw - at which point a fellow competitor passed in the opposite direction on his way back to T2 - wow, incredible! Mind-blowing in fact!

The stretch of main road towards Sedburgh I find surprisingly tough...partly because in my head it should be easier...and it's a bit relentless - and in fact, it is pretty hilly still - it's just that because it's not as dramatically hilly, in my head it's flat!! Which it isn't at all..and it must be a good 7 or 8 miles...then a left to Garsdale Head - I climbed as far as the station, passed the hamlet...then mostly walked for what must've been about half and hour...the never ending and steep climb out of Wensleydale into the clouds. Thick cloud...I couldn't see more than a few feet in front - and once on the tops, it wasn't possible to speed up because visibility was so awful. I was quite relieved to be caught up by the back marshall van, as I didn't feel quite so alone in the middle of nothingness up there..having dropped down the very steep and bendy descent into Dentdale, I had a chat with them and found that they'd pulled out the person behind me as they'd been so terrified on the downhill sections they'd been trying to do them with their feet on the ground! I managed to stay focussed this time on the section through the valley alongside the river, and push on a bit...stopped for second pee behind a wall - first had been under Garsdale viaduct on the main road - also topped up the HEED bottle with the back up bottles in camelbak. I was glad to be on the final hard hill, up under Newbyhead viaduct...the guidelines seem to miss that climb, but it's really quite steep, especially at that stage..and then the really whizzy main road back to Hawes (though it still has a few uphill bits) - I'd love to know what my top speed was along there - probably faster that I've ever gone! Then there's a bit of a teaser at the end, because you're actually in Hawes - but have to go another 3 miles out of Hawes and round through Hardraw (up 2 more hills!) to approach T2 from the other side - thus avoiding the town centre. I was glad I'd cycled it before, or mentally, it would've been very tough to be so close to t2 and have to go away from it!

A group of people (from the campsite - family/friends (team) of a couple - one of whom was doing the whole thing, and one as part of a relay team - cheered me out of transition - really nice - then I was joined by my sister, who had checked it was ok to run with me. I had predicted I would almost need physically dragging at this point - but I bounded out of the industrial estate, full of beans, on a high that I felt so good after 'that' bike ride! I did, however, lose my beans once trying to climb up the Penine way path out of Hardraw, which is fairly steep..it was just a case of trying to hang on in - my sister bullied me into running more bits on the way up than I had thought I would be capable of - in fact, I'd thought I would have to walk all the way up - but probably ran more than walked, especially once in the less steep bog lands higher up..she also distracted me from dwelling on how much of a struggle it was! But even though I was struggling now, I still felt way better than I had predicted I would...I had no doubt now that I would finish. Passed a few competitors coming down...the last being no. 44 - who was still probably a good half hr or more ahead of me...some of them looked much rougher than I felt ! After some wading through muddy bogs, we made it to the top to receive a welcome and luminous wrist band of proof from a chap with beautiful eyes...an angel, I think! I enjoyed the 'bound' down again..although the last section of road to the finish seemed quite long!! I was surprised there were so many marshalls at the end. I was near to tears heading in - so happy and a bit overwhelmed that I'd managed so much better than I'd predicted. So what if it was a good way behind everyone else (that finished)...that's just the way in small fields - you just don't tend to get many of my ability level entering them.

I was knackered! But not ill - surprisingly! So obviously my nutrition had been good...although i was now starting to hunger for some solids! (bottle of Heed before swim, 1 bottle 2 scoops HEED,(topped up with emergency tiny bottles at about 30m) 1 bottle of 8 scoops Perpetuum (4hr bottle) and Camel bak water on bike, 2 little Nathan bottles of 3.5 hr Perpetuum (7 scoops between 2 bottles)and camelbak of water on run) Had Hammer gels - but didn't use them. Did enjoy my Cumberland sausage, mash and gravy at the Green Dragon after though!

2 days on - my main aches and pains are:

- a bruised left ankle, from the timing chip!
..and stiff, aching inner forearms - I think from breaking on long steep windy descents on the bike!

Roll on next year!

swim - 18oom - 43;21
t1 - 5;50;40
bike - 4;18;42
run - 3;09;14
total - 8;17;08

41st overall
6th woman overall
not sure in category? top 3?