I did it - I AM A TRIATHLETE

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Sunday 30th August 09

Lymm Leisure Centre / High School

Lymm, Cheshire, WA13 0RB

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THE PINK WOMENS TRIATHLON

"Its not about the times, its about the journey"

Sprint: Swim 500m, Bike: 26km, Run: 5km
I set my alarm and got up early, I had most stuff ready, I just had to get my bike and pack everything in my car. I had a small bowl of porridge and set off. Registration opened at 7:30 but I didn't plan on arriving until 8:00. I went to registration and got my number and told them they had made a big mistake with my swim time, I said I would hold everybody up and by the time I got on my bike, the final presentations would be taking place. Luckily for me, somebody had dropped out from wave 3, so they let me take her place, I would be swimming with the slow swimmers at about 9:10. I racked my bike and left my box of stuff with my bike, got back to my car, picked up my goggles and hat and went in to wait. They were running late, so I didn't start swimming until about 9:30. I tried to swim front crawl, but everyone else was doing breast stroke, so I did a mixture. I only really stopped once to get a drink from my water bottle.
It was then a small trek through the car park to transition 1. Put on my helmet first, then shoes and other bits and walked to the line where I could mount my bike.
I took the ride quite easy, I now have a fear of falling off, even though I am in trainers and using ordinary pedals. I enjoyed the ride apart from the bridge over the motorway which was a hard climb, even worse the second time around. There were a couple of sticky moments, some guy honked his horn at me because I moved out slightly to avoid a grid! and part of the route was on a rough bit of road badly in need of repair, it was narrow and a car came straight at me, I felt he was close enough to touch the hairs on my legs. I got back to transition 2 racked my bike took some stuff off and set off on my run. Three times around the school fields, which are on a slope. It was so hard, I managed to run a bit then walk a lot, then run and walk continually. I got cramp in my left calf, then a stitch in my right side and on my last circuit blisters on my feet!
As I ran the last quarter of the last lap, I was kept company by two wonderful children, they swim with Warrington Triathlon Club, far better than me - lol. I can't thank them enough, they were pure motivation. They had cheered me while I was swimming, then on the cycle ride and now as I ran home.
I don't know my time yet, but I was back in my car by 12 noon. So that's a maximum of two and a half hours. I will update when I know and luckily there was an official photographer so I will be able to buy photos.