Well dear friends, what can I say? My sincerest apologies that it has been so long since I last sat and put fingers to keyboard!! Needless to say it has been a bit busy!!
What with...? Well... April saw Team Tits complete our first ever Sportive Bike ride - the 76 mile Mad March Hare - postponed from March due to the ice and snow. We had been crazy nervous about this event - our furthest ride by a long long way, and with some mean climbs, but we managed it fine! We also took part in our first triathlon (a sprint distance) at the end of the month, which was a great introduction to the triple disciplines that would dominate the rest of our season. May saw us taking part in Rat Race Dirty Weekend - a 20+ mile, 200+ obstacle race, and then our first century bike ride (actually 107 miles) - the Tour of Pembrokeshire - with an epic 10, 221 feet of ascent! Again we had been nervous about this ride, but it was a glorious day, and the aid stations were well stocked with great foods and drink, so it ended up being an amazing day in the saddle. We also jetted off to Mallorca for a combined family holiday and warm weather training week. We got in 6 runs, 3 days in the saddle, included a couple of 50 plus milers, and a few sea swims! June saw us take on our first half-Iron distance triathlon - the Lakesman Half - a 1.2 mile lake swim in Derwentwater, followed by 56 miles on the bike and a half marathon. We loved it!!! It was the first time we had properly competed under the "Team Tits" name and the Lakeland crowd really got behind us!! We had so much fun!! Fast forward to July and we took on the Long Course Weekend. This was truly our Ironman Dress Rehearsal - the same swim and bike course as Ironman Wales, although a different run course, but done across Friday evening (swim), Saturday (bike) and Sunday (run). We were so lucky for the weather. Friday night, the sea was blissfully calm and warm and the sun was setting as we swam. It made sighting the beach a little tricky but it was a gorgeous swim and I must confess that, despite my dislike of swimming, I actually almost enjoyed it!! What I didn't enjoy however, was the chafing to my neck which started about 600 metres into the swim and got progressively worse over the distance. By the end, the whole of the back of my neck was red raw and weeping, a condition it remained in for the rest of the weekend! Saturday's bike ride was, to be honest, attritional! We knew it was going to be tough - it's a long, tough old course - but we probably weren't fully prepared for the mental fatigue of pushing through for so many lonely miles. It was, however, very good preparation for the real event in a couple of months. The marathon was hot... really hot... and rather hilly! To qualify as a finisher for the marathon and also for our fourth (Long Course Weekend) medal, we had to complete the distance within 6 hours. Normally, this wouldn't seem too much of a challenging cut-off, but with the previous 2 days in the bag, with a very hilly course, and with a hot sun blaring down on us, it became potentially more of a challenge!! We got chatting to a couple of people just before the start of the marathon who recognised us (or more specifically, our Team Tits T-shirts) from the Lakesman!!! We were becoming nationally (internationally? we were in Wales...?) known!!! Our aim was about a 5:45 finish, and we finally made it home in 5:34 which we were actually very pleased with! Mission accomplished for the weekend... We were long course athletes!! August saw us taking some down time from competing whilst getting some solid training and holiday family time in - a week on the gorgeous Gower coast and a week up in Anglesey, all accompanied by our trusty bikes and running shoes!! And then it was into September... and Ironman Wales on the 9th!! My account of that day will follow in the next couple of days ...
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
All content of this site copyright of Luan Wall unless otherwise credited.
..........................................
Archives
November 2018
Categories |