A tale of two races:

 At the beginning of the year I made the, possibly brave, decision to sign up for the Border Series triathlon and duathlon events. The theory was that I would train better with events to aim at, and it does seem to be working. What is important to really understand as well is that these events attract the very serious athletes, and any chance of me finishing anywhere near the top half is remote to say the least. The first event was Galashiels on 18th April, which I was hoping would be reasonable weather wise and a good start to the year. On the day, it started cold and did not improve too much at all. I knew I was in for a tough time when my husband (kindly) pointed out on the way to the start that it was no longer raining – it was turning to snow! I reckon it was around 4-5C as the first swim heats started off – at least they were in the warm in the pool. I had a good swim, for me anyway, completing it in 17:25, jumped out of the pool and ran around the car park to my transition point.

I lost a few seconds putting gloves on, but they were essential given the low temperature and worth the time to don. I had been warned that the cycle was challenging in places and the hill out of Gala is certainly a wake up to legs not yet warmed up for the bike – it is the closest I have come to pushing the bike, but I dug in and made it up out of the town using the granny ring – hardly ever use the front easy ring on the bike but I did need it.

The rest of the cycle is undulating and seems to go on forever, but the scenery is stunning and I even had time to realise that I was really enjoying myself. The run was tougher than I thought as it was an off road route which was a bit of a surprise. It was also two laps of a 2.5km route which would have been beautiful if I was in any state to take any notice of it at all. My husband was cheering me on and at the halfway point was encouraging me. I just had time to point out that if I could feel my legs they would really be hurting!! In the end I did an ok time for me of 1:37:05. Also, I was 87th out of 91 competitors so not last, and I have room to improve.

The second event this year for me (I skipped Selkirk tri as I am not up to a standard distance yet) was the Tweedbank duathlon. This is my first ever competitive duathlon so I was not too sure how it would go. As everyone starts together I know it is important to keep to your own pace and not let the others push me too hard to start with. I also wanted to make sure I kept enough in the tank for the second run.

According to my Garmin, the run is really 4.55km not 5km, but they add the distance to the cycle to make the total distance to 30km. The first run was 24:03 – I knew it was an ok time, and then I set off on the bike, but something was immediately wrong – the rear tyre was totally flat even though I had pumped it up at home and double checked it at the start. I pumped up the tyre and hoped it would hold – which it did. I think the valve is faulty so new inner tube next week before Stirling.

 I had not done a run to bike very much before, only once in training, so was not completely familiar with the feeling. The route is not too bad, just one hill into Newton St Boswells, but the 5mile secton on the A68 (out and back) are not fun – far too much traffic even though most of it tries to give you room I did get badly cut up and honked at by a camper van halfway up the hill. Also, as I turned and went back down the hill I had just worked hard up, the wind was in my face so there was no easy ride back to the start! The cycle took me 52:37 officially, and I know I lost 2mins with the tyre so if that had been ok then my time was not terrible but I am sure I have a lot of room for improvement here.

The final run started with the familiar feeling of heavy legs, there seems to be no way to really ever get used to it, but after the first 1k the route dips down the hill and gives you chance to stretch out the legs a bit, and I got into an ok rhythm. The second run time of 24:54 was not too far off the first, I did pass two male runners so felt good about that and came 34th out of 39, so not last as I had thought I would be. I am enjoying the series, I am finding all of the other athletes really friendly, kind and helpful even though most of them are in a different league to me.

They seem genuinely pleased that I turn up and take part, and I am starting to recognise a few faces. Getting encouragement from those who are clearly way ahead of me is such a lift – to be cheered home by the winner as he puts his bike into his car is good even if it does emphasise that I am a long way back. For me, it is about personal achievement and completing a challenge. That is what I think is so great about triathlon – anyone can do it and get a lot out of it. Next event is Stirling, not part of the series, but this is the first ever tri I did last year so am keen to see how I am doing, and the following week is the next Border series event, the Peebles tri. Should be an interesting couple of weeks.

Denise