The best inspiration is not to outdo others, but to outdo ourselves

Today was a day for standing by and watching, cheering very loudly and willing them on. The kids were out there competing again. They both really enjoyed these events last year and were very keen to take part in them again - even when faced with another dip in the lake! Once again we took a good sized cheering committee down to the Rother Valley to support them in their efforts, not quite as big a one as last year, but still. Daniel and I were there (of course), but also my Mum and Dad, so they were suitably yelled for as they raced.

This was another new race for me, but one that I was expecting to enjoy as it is run by a group whose races I have enjoyed in the past. This race is another one organised by Freebird Events. I went just hoping to enjoy the race, clearly after what I was saying about last weekend, I hadn't done enough training (seems like the story of my life at the moment), so I just wanted to get out there and enjoy racing.

I was really looking forward to taking part in this race. My training had been going pretty well, I'd been doing quite a lot of running with a view to the Half Marathon in a few weeks time and I actually felt relatively well prepared. Mind you, I was still feeling nervous, especially as it's a race that I hadn't done before. My day prior to the race probably wasn't ideal pre-race stuff, I was out all day long shopping with my Mum and my sister - but hey! It was fun.

Cycling

Running

In Transition

My Mum had been telling me for a couple of years now that this race existed, right on their doorstep, and I'd been thinking I'd like to give it a go.  It turns out that I did so just in time as this year saw the last running of the Balerno Ladies Triathlon.  I have to say it's a shame too, the race was great - small but perfectly formed as they say.  The race was set up for a maximum of 64 ladies to take part, 62 doing so on the day.  I really enjoyed the race, was very impressed with the organisation that would put some bigger events to shame and would have been keen to

This was probably my last trip to Stratford for this race in the forseeable future.  Not because of the race itself, which I really enjoy doing, but because of it's distance from home.  We're trying to find races rather nearer here for next year, trying to cut down on the fuel and accommodation bills that go with racing.  It can become a very expensive business, especially with prices rising as they are doing at the moment.  And what a trip it was!  We made a bit of a thing of it this time and stayed down near Stratford, after all, we've generally just blasted in an

This year saw my seventh running of the Derby Triathlon, a run that I'd like to keep up.  I enjoy this race and certainly wouldn't want to miss it.  I can't quite believe that I've been doing triathlon long enough to have done anything seven times, but it would seem that I have.  This is always a good race, a beginner friendly one which is probably why it was the first race that I ever really enjoyed.  The first time I raced there was my make or break for triathlon, was I going to keep doing it or was I going to decide that it really wasn't for me after all.  All th

The Swim

Etwall

Running Out

This was my second and final olympic distance race for this year and I approached it feeling pretty hopeful.  My preparation had been okay, better than the run up to the last one, that's for sure.  I never do quite as much in the summer holidays but it had been working out so that I was still getting a fair amount of training fitted in.  That really, was why I started making sure I had an August race, to stop from me from downing tools for six weeks, losing loads of condition and fitness while putting on weight - not a good combination, especially as I then always wanted to r

Allerthorpe Country Park

Today saw April take on her second triathlon.  She was somewhat nervous going into it, so was I on her behalf - it's almost worse than doing it yourself!  She hasn't had much time for training as we seem to have been very busy and then her bike spent most of the last week at the repair shop after she fell off it on Monday and managed to snap the brake lever off it - not good (she didn't half cry!).  Anyway, this was a good race for us in many ways as it was local and organised by people that April knows, a lot of the kids that she knows from the tri club were taking part alth

Run out with the Bike

The Bike

Back to Transition

I didn't do this race last year because it clashed with Salford, but there's no Salford this year, so back I went to Trentham.  It's a lovely backdrop for a race and a good family destination for a weekend away.  That's what we did, got ourselves organised nice and early, booked ourselves into the Premier Travel Inn that's actually on the site and made a family break out of it.  This is another fun2tri race and as such I expected, and got, a well organised race.  I did have mixed feelings going into the race though as I've had a rather chequered history when it comes to

The Lake

The Swim

Sprint Finish

What a great race!  Things went surprisingly well, and with my entry being such a last minute thing (for me) it all worked out very well.  I entered this race on the back of my disappointment last weekend when I missed out on competing at Wakefield because I was ill.  I looked around on the net to see if there was anything with which I could replace it and make myself feel a little better.  I was really lucky to find this race, it was the following weekend (where we did actually have some free time), it was in Ripon which is less than an hour away and it had still h

Waiting for the start

Swimming in the Lake

Nearly Finished