Well, it's been a busy week racing and training wise! I kicked off last Saturday with the 'Run for Relief in Burma' 5K race. A great race around the Meadows in Edinburgh. Nice and flat, so normally would be good PB race, but it was very windy, so no chance of that!! Did a time of 21:10, so not quite the sub 20 minutes I was going for. Was enough to take first senior woman though, so I was very pleased....think that's the first race I've ever won!!
Then on Sunday I decided I would start the first of my 'long runs'. With 6 months till the marathon now (sounds a long time, but it's not!), I want to start building up the miles between now and Xmas, so that it's not such a shock to the system in January when I get going on my training plan. So...I did 9 miles along the canal with no ill effects. Lovely sunny weather to spur me along, and being along the canal....it was flat!! The rest of the week's training involved more of the tough stuff on the hills on Tuesday followed by circuits, and a long run around Holyrood Park (more hills!) on Wednesday.
Today was the Balerno Ladies Triathlon. Gillian was entered, and I was on a 'waiting list' but I thought I'd hedge my bets and see if I could take the place of a 'no show' on the day. Balerno is about 7 miles outside Edinburgh City, so it was a good warm up on the bikes just to get to the start! The sun was shining today, a perfect day for a triathlon. I managed to wangle my way into the race, although the only free spot was in the fastest swim heat!! As long as I agreed to move to one side when the fast girls wanted to get past, I was allowed to do it! So I did!
The race was a super sprint - 400m swim, 6 mile cycle, 3 mile run. However, don't let those short distances fool you into thinking it was easy! Bike route seemed to be mostly uphill and the run route off road and bumpy, and somewhat undulating also!! Gillian went off in the second heat. She had a great swim, really good technique. I went off in heat 4 - way to fast! Being in with the speedy girls scared me a bit and I payed for it over the last few lengths! haha! The bike route followed the same route as the Rigg Race we'd run earlier in the year, so we knew the route well. Nice views of the Pentlands to take your mind off any pain! Legs were fairly wobbly at transition and I got cramp in my leg for the first 2 miles of the run. Was ok by mile 3 though, haha!! The run was great, with the finishing straight having the words 'Girl Power' emblazoned on the tarmac! It was quite a girly affair - flowers for the winners, and a bar of soap and socks in a pink ribbon for all finishers! Brilliant!
My results were as follows:
Position: 21st
Swim: 0:08:50 (37)
Bike: 0:30:37 (31)
Run: 0:25:45 (12)
Total: 1:05:12
This was my last triathlon of the season. Another long run tomorrow (it is Sunday after all!) and then the cross countries start next weekend..... watch this space for the mud report!
Well, the theme for this weekend was mud, rain, cold, mud and wind! Oh and did I mention mud?? Saturday was the Scottish Cross Country Champs in Cumbernauld. 3x4000m (4 legs for the men) around a country park. Conditions were 'difficult' to say the least. There had been heavy rain overnight and throughout the morning. Along with that were very strong winds! The nature of the race also meant that the later runners were going over well trodden, churned up paths. I was in a team with fellow club members Gillian and Megan. I was on the third and final leg. Having sprained my ankle the week previous, this was my first run in over a week. With a heavily strapped up ankle I ran carefully around the course with no problems. This was also my first XC race
in almost 4 years, and despite the tough conditions I really enjoyed it!! Cross countries will feature highly in my weekend running over the next few months, so I think the washing machine will be working overtime! All good marathon preparation i'm sure?!?
