National long distance title

A few weeks ago I raced one of two of my main races for this season, at Bala middle distance triathlon in north Wales. I'd had it on my radar for a few seasons and had heard so many good things about the course, race and area around it. So this year, with a shift in focus to UK races and the credit crunch everyone seems to be talking about, I was all set for a weekend in Wales. Good swim, decent bike and tough run Swim 2000m - 33:53, Bike 50 miles - 2:32:03, Run 21km - 1:27:18 The course is really stunning as well as providing a nice challenge for us southerners, being set deep in Snowdonia. I enjoyed the swim, getting out in a relatively good position with one of my athletes enjoying a nice draft on my feet for the last 400m :-). The bike was an absolute joy, with Rob's borrowed Xentis wheels (and my legs) my Stealth seemed to propel itself quite happily at a cruising speed 21mph+ along the flat sections of the course. Obviously the descents were FAST! Both T1 & T2 went smoothly and felt almost professional for once (sub 1 minute)... Saving the best until last was the lovely out and back run skirting the lake innocently enough before climbing nicely for about 2 miles to the turnaround point. I was very relieved to be running back towards the finish once I'd moved through the field on the bike and first half of the run to secure a podium place. Overall 3rd female in 4:35:12 and winner of National Long distance title F35-39 Not a PB but I was happy with a solid performance on this particular day! It's not always about winning, sometimes just doing the best you can on days when you feel pretty cr*p rates just as well ;-) Will check in again from the alps next week sometime, with progress on Training camp #2 and the Tour de France stages 16&17 Fi

15 July 2009