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

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

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

2nd Lap

1st Lap

Starting the Bike

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

A Welcome Drink

Going In

The Run

I wasn't looking forward to this race very much in the few days beforehand, for quite a few different reasons.  I was nervous because it was a race that I hadn't done before and so I didn't know what to expect, I was also nervous because I haven't managed to fit in much open water training this year, I've been for a proper swim at Pugneys only twice - I've been in with April and down there on spotting duty, but neither of those will have helped my swimming.  The other problem was that I'd rather lost the plot in the week, I wasn't too happy at work and I'd been struggling to get o

Coming Together

A Nice Ride

Rushed Start

This event was a race with a bit of a difference as it was a joint effort between the junior and senior members of the tri club.  The idea was mainly to have some fun and to bring everybody together in a social setting.  The race comprised of the short course duathlon, minus the second run and was called the Junior Senior Relay.  The idea was that children would be paired with their adult counterparts, the children would complete a run and then the adults would complete the cycle section.  April and I went intending to race as team Pendery, Daniel and Ryan came along too

This was my fourth running of this race and it proved to me again why it it that I keep going back.  I know I must sound like a fun2tri advert at times, but they really do know what they are doing and it makes all the difference.  This race has the potential to be quite confusing with split transition areas and the need to collect your stuff in it's numbered bag at the end (which I did without any trouble at all), also with the swimming through the pool.  The reality is that it all goes very smoothly because they know exactly what they're doing.  Having said all that, we

Outdoor Pool

Outdoor Pool

The Finish

This summer series event wasn't one that was actually organised by the tri club.  We were encouraged to take part in the weekly time trial run by the Calder Clarion cycling club.  This involved a 10 mile cycle ride with everybody being set off to complete it at 1 minute intervals.  I'd never done anything like this before and was quite apprehensive about what it would be like.  On the other hand I thought some more race pace riding would do me some good.  It took me a while to find the place on Heath Common, mainly because I don't know the area very well, then sudde

I'm not really sure where to start with this one.  What a brilliant race!  It was great in lots of ways.  I like this race anyway because I've done it a few times before, I know what to expect and it's always really well organised and enjoyable to complete.  I do like to go back to a race and to try and better my previous times.  I was also happy this time because my full cheering committee were with me and it gave me such a boost towards the end of the race tosee the three of them there and hear them shouting encouraging things to me.  The weather was beautifu

Tonight saw the third in the Wakefield Triathlon Club's Summer Series of races.  I missed the second one when I wimped out because the weather was atrocious.  If I'm honest, that could have easily happened again today, but now I've done it I'm very glad that it didn't.  I was sitting at Ryan's martial arts class watching the rain pour down and wondering what on earth I'd let myself in for.  However, there could be no wimping out this time - Daniel was working away and wouldn't be back until late, so I'd arranged for a friend to babysit.  I couldn't excatly say I cou