19th June - Calne Aquathlon Series Race 3

400m swim/5k Run.

First race of a busy weekend today, I had told the organiser I may not turn up as I'm pooped; from riding to Paris last weekend, coming back and training hard and doing a 10 mile Time trial on thursday and i gave blood yesterday avo and they were trying to scare me into not racing, but last time I gave blood i raced the next day and got a PB.

I woke up before my alarm so decided to man up and go along, even if it were just for a bit of speed work. Also i'd seen the race list and there were more girls than normal competing so wanted to have a better competition than normal. Oh and to hold onto my winning streak if possible! So i had some weetabix (was bit late for my usual porridge)

I swam with club on thursday for the first time in weeks and really noticed it, I really struggled so have made a concious decision to make at least 2 of the 3 weekly sessions and not worry so much about the lake swims, as my laziness at going has really made a negative difference to my ability.

I got there quite late and they said they werent expecting me, but were cool with me taking part still i was half asleep and put my things in transition and went to the poolside. There were two waves this week with all the women in wave one which was good as it meant i could keep an eye on them all and see where i was in relation to them once out on the run.

We got off on the swim, i was 2nd whistle off the clock and went about my business. I found it really hard work today, i couldnt get my breathing right, my legs kept wanting to sink, and i kept swallowing too much water. So I just focussed on getting to the end, keeping as good a form as I could and working o nmy technique. The girl who was started off ten seconds ahead a good 2 lengths ahead of me when i finally got out. I hauled my fat arse onto the pool side and ran out the door towards transition. Swim time was actually a pretty respectable (for me) 8.01.

My HR was waaaaay up from the effort i had put in, so took a bit of time in Transition to calm down my breathing a little, i still got confused though, i put one sock and trainer on, then looked down and saw i'd put on a trainer without a sock so had to redo it, i coudl have saved a bit of time and not bothered but i get really bad bleedy blisters if i run without socks. I eventually got out on the run after 1;15 of farting about.

Several people had already got out on the run ahead of me, so I knew i had some work to do. The lady who was ahead of me in my lane got taken out about 400m in to the run, my HR was at threshold for the enitre run and it hurt, I couldnt have gone any faster, my legs didn't have mch in them so i just focussed on catching people ahead of me. I caught a few blokes who'd also got me in the swim, and about 800m ahead i could see another woman.... i had to catch her, i wanted to keep my first place for the series, so i dug in, and slowly watched the gap decrease. At the turn around I was on  11 mins, I had really wanted to get a time under 30 mins but it wasnt to be today, as there was no way i was going to do a negative split, an even split was going to be hard enough.

I finally caught her, and passed the other women coming in the other direction, unless something went really wrong they weren't going to catch me, my lungs hurt, my legs wouldnt go any faster so i let them maintain the rhythm they had and just kept pushing on. The end was just a kilometer away, 5 mins max, I didnt catch any of the other guys ahead of me before the finish and managed to get myself across the line without puking in bang on 22 mins - this is prob my first even split for this distance, it's not something i'm ever able to do. I carried on jogging after the finish line for 5 mins to flush out my legs.

Showered, chatted with the other ladies in the buff and went for the results - hurrah! first lady still. So long as noone pulls out some ridiculous times the series title is mine :) But i still want that sub 30!

Concious of a big day tomorrow I've stayed off my bike today and skipped swim training this evening.