Author: Karen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-dCKuybXH0&list=PL9_HffJD8ng1282eP15PBwVtnxXeKd_74&index=4&t=0s&fbclid=IwAR14kriyfyf5wlZaWYvan_5gm7HgE48U9I9qH8WA1kH4R_aCpRLZeVkZ9Nw&app=desktop

This is a nice low key fell run which is part of Bampton Sports Day. I’ve  done the race a couple of times now  and I thought it would be nice to do it on my birthaday. It was a really hot day and I knew by the time of the race at 2.30pm it was going to be the hottest part of the day. The race starts on the sports field then heads out along a narrow path that runs along the river and once you’re on it there’s no way of passing people ,so I made a fast start so that I wasnt boxed in. I managed to get into a good position as we ran along the river , After about a mile we wade across the river and then we head up to Bampton Scar, .I knew that there were some good fell runners behind me and they were fast at decending so I had to try and push hard up hill to get as big gap as possible as I knew I would get caught on the way down. Its a tough climb up but managed to run all the way and once on top I knew it was a flat run out to the first check point where we collected our first band . It’s a short decent to the second check point and the second band and then back up onto the top and return back to the finish the same way we came up. I was a bit more confident about the decent and had a bit more control so didn’t lose to much time. As I rn back down the hill all I could think about was the river and was looking forward to cooling off as I was starting to over heat. I crossed the river and made sure I got a good dowsing which helped for the last section along the river back to the finish. It was nice to finished first especially on my birthday but the best bit was the swim in the river after the run.

I decided to do the Lakesman triathlon as a rehearsal for the European Long distance Triathlon championships in September. It was a local race and just the right time of year to give myself time to recover. I had picked up an injury after running the Florence marathon back in November and it was taking ages to recover. I had to cut back on my running to help with the recovery and with the help of my coach  Neil Copper, I had to adjust my training and concentrate on my swimming and biking. As the time got closer I started to increase my run distance and with a few sessions from my physio Emma Cooper I managed to put a few long runs in and after completing the Yomp I was a little more confident. I’ve done 6 Ironman distance Triathlons now and this is the first time I haven’t put in all the training that I would normally have, and so wasn’t sure how the race was going to go.

On the morning of the race the weather in Keswick seemed to be good, no wind or rain and not to cold. I racked my bike in transition put on my wetsuit and got in the water with the 300 other triathletes. I had a good swim and covered the 2.4miles in 1hr 11mins and came out of the water 3^rd lady. I took my time in transition to make sure I had everything for the long bike. The route heads out from Keswick towards Cockermouth on the A66 and as soon as we got on the open road the wind picked up and it felt like we had a head wind for most of the route. I arrived back in Keswick after cycling 112mile in a time of 6hrs 17 mins and I had dropped down to 5^th Lady. Normally the run section would be my strongest discipline but I wasn’t sure how my foot would hold out. The run route was 5 lap in and around Keswick and I was really looking forward to this as I knew there would be lots of support from family and friends that would help me to get round. After 4 laps I managed to get into 2^nd place, but people kept on telling me that 3^rd place was getting closer and closer and when I started the last lap the gap had dropped to 1 minute. It was only the continued support and encouragement from family and friends that I managed to keep second place but only by 22 second. I wasn’t expecting a fast marathon time but I was happy with 3hrs 53 mins.  Considering the injury I had at the start of the year I wasn’t expecting such a good time of 11hrs 33mins which is my second fastest long distance triathlon. I have to thank everyone that has helped and supported me to get to this event especially Justine of Traybake Ltd Penrith and Emma and Neil of Lakes2Tri coaching

After Emma  had worked on my leg a few more times it  seams to be improving. and with the lakesman only 2 weeks away I was starting to feel a little anxious as I hadn’t done any endurace runs. 

A friend from the club told me that there was a 23 mile fell run on Sunday which is part of the fell running championship so after checking with my coach and Physio I was given the go ahead to run as long as was sensible . Not running fast  keep off my toes and no running hard down hill.

As it was so close to the Lakesman I did as I was told.

I just set off with the rest of my team mates but it wasn’t long before we started to split up.

The run was a lot hillier than I was expecting ,but managed to run up most of the hill and was careful on the descents. the views were beautiful , I was really enjoying myself saying hello and chatting to other competitors a long the way,  most of the time not taking my eye off the terrain, knowing if I did I would fall, and it was far to close too the big race, the last climb was up to the  9 standers fell , it was a awful path down very bitty then on to a rather steep tarmac road , which normally on a race I would of charged down , but no I gingerly creep down too the finish. I was happy to finish in 4hr 15m , and feeling complete that I’m ready for the lakesman in 14 days . Un be known to me I had also come home 1st lady which was lovely as I just want to do it to test my foot, touch wood its s little sore , but not any worse .

We had a good turnout from the club

Jack won  1st male and with David and Charles took first team

After visiting Emma I was told that I have tight calf which is causing my foot pain and could be plantar fasciitis so I have to be careful . The hangman’s noose is another club championship race . I knew I had to be sensible and protect my  foot so didn’t set of to fast. After a couple of mile my foot felt ok and just pushed on to the finish .

It was quite a small race and not many fast ladies and so managed to pull a win out of the bag.

 

There wasn’t many ladies running from our club but we managed to take the ladies team prize as well

I was using this race as a rehearsal for the Lakesman Triathlon in June. We had read the instructions for the race  -don’t know how many times but this is  where the problems started as we read it as a Draft Legal race ,which meant no Tri bars -so we took them off and left them at home. It wasn’t till we got down that we found out the race was “DRAFT ILLEGAL” and everyone was on TT Bikes.

We when down the day before and registered and had a good look round the venue and went back to the hotel for an early night.

4.30am the alarm went off and I managed to get a good breakfast into me. I was feeling  good I was looking forward to the event.  As I walked down I practiced my mount and dismount on the bike which were perfected . I racked my bike and set up my gear in transition and put my wet suit on ready for the start.  I had a look  at the swim course in the lake and checked to see were all the buoys where and where the exit for the swim was. I was looking forward to the swim feeling confident . I listened  to the race brief and made my way into the water . I moved to the outside of the group to have more space so I wasn’t in the middle were all the thrashing happens . The hooter went and we were off. It was still in a  battle at the start so I tried to find my own space but for the first lap were ever I moved I was still getting hit . After a putting up with this for a whole lap I was getting frustrated and I think this anger fired me up and managed to pull away and  have a decent second lap. Still fired up I exited the swim and not concentrating I went the wrong way ,taking another competitor with me. We both got shouted  at by the crowed who pointed us in the right direction . I ran into transition and even though I lost a little time going the wrong way I realized I had swam a 1500m PB of 24mins 12.secs

I had a good transition and collected my bike but on exiting the transition I struggled to get on my bike as other competitors were on the course coming into transition, Finally got away and settled in on my bike . The course was pan flat and perfect for a TT bike so found it hard to make any progress . There were a lot of competitors on the course and so the officials were on the look out for people drafting and so I was careful of not breaking the rule, so was upset when another competitor accused me of drafting in front of a marshal. So from that point my head went down thinking I might get penalized. I pushed onto the finish in a time of 1hr 11.43 -slower than I wanted as I know I could have gone faster. Left T2 without any problems and just settled into the run knowing I couldn’t push it because of my foot and finish the run in 45mins 17 sec and an overall time of 2hr 25.08. 4th in my age group  . I thought this event was just a qualifier for the world championships in Australia and I didn’t  realise it was also the British triathlon championships . As the winner of my age group was Scottish she wasn’t included in this race so I was awarded a bronze medal . And ss the silver medalist hadn’t shown her intent to qualify for the worlds I was awarded Q2.

I made so many silly mistakes in this  race , which I have learnt from but just glad it wasn’t in my A race . When I returned home the first thing I did was to make an appointment with my physio Emma hoping she could sort my foot out.

 

After doing the Triathlon I thought my foot was getting better and so I decide to do our club championship 10k at Long Martin. This is a local race and is organised by the primary school and all proceeds go to the school . This is a tough undulating race and not a PB course.  I was first lady for most of the race and ran fairly steady , apart from a friendly  tussle with a fellow club member James.  I was concentration to much on James I hadn’t realized that the second lady had slowly closed the gap and it was only a spectator that told me she was getting close.  The finish wasn’t far away and so I put my foot down and manage to win but only by 10 seconds. This was the third time I have won this race its always tough and hot but I always enjoyed it.

The next day when I woke up I found I had aggravated my foot injury and could hardly walk  and I think this was a result of running hard down hill on hard tarmac roads. I had a triathlon on the Sunday at Southport and it was an age group qualifier for team GB for the world championships at standard distance so I had to stop running to protect my foot and so just concentrated on swimming and biking.

First swim of the year in Derwent water very cold about 10 degrees but managed to swim around the island.

Well the winter training is over and it was time to have a go at my .first triathlon in Kendal. I’ve had a slight injury all winter and so my training hasn’t been as good as it could, so I’m quite pleased with the result today. Down on last years time but still managed 3rd V40

Being injured has affected my running which has meant that I focused more on swimming and biking . I have been concentrating on my swim technique and trying to get my times down . I have been trying to get my 400m swim time to below 7 mins and managed it a couple of times in training so was pleased to get 6 mins 50 sec which is a PB. I’ve also been practicing my mounts and dis mounts from the bike keeping my shoes attached to the bike .Its always harder trying new things under the pressure of racing and  I managed to get on without a hitch but at the end of the bike I took my feet out of my shoes ready for the dismount  I realized the timing wasn’t quite right as I  still had a roundabout to negotiate .and  I had to stop and wait for traffic and then try and get going again which is normally easy with shoes on but i was bare foot now and so I lost a bit of time . Once round the roundabout it wasn’t far to the dismount line and I was delighted to do a perfect dismount going from bike to run without stopping. After a quick transition I knew I had to be careful not to aggravate my leg and so just ran at a steady pace all the way to the finish . I found out later that I was 9th Lady overall 3rd V40  and after a roll down meant I got 1st V40. Overall very please with how it went

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I received a silver pin badge today from British Triathlon as recognition of my international performance for my podium place ,silver x

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