First Lady at Cheshire Sprint Tri for Caroline Stalker

500m swim (outdoor brine pool - interesting), 21k Bike (1 loop - nice scenery, shockingly bad road surfaces), 5k Run (4 laps - not fun)

Well triathlon racing can be a mixture of highs and lows, but today was most certainly a high with taking the 1st female prize at Cheshire Sprint Tri in Nantwich. Although that doesn't mean there weren't any mistakes!

The first mistake was when you realise 1 day before the last ammendment to swim times that you have entered your 400m swim time instead of 500m, phew managed to change it as that would have been a little embarrassing with people swimming past me.

Headed to Nantwich the day before as with an 0810 start time I really didn't want a 0400 alarm to get there in good time. This also meant I could do a recce of the bike route and I'm glad I did as I've not done this race in 6 years and although it's the same route it has certainly got a lot more pot holes. I'm lucky my teeth fillings are still in given some sections!

After a restful night at a local hotel with the boyfreind and my parents it was a 0600 alarm to get to the venue nice and early as at this event its a spilt transition, so needed to drop trainers off before heading to the leisure centre for the swim.

Arrive at transition and bagged a prime spot for the bike (no allocated places), all set up in good time which left plenty of time for a couple of nervous wees lol I've been doing triathlon for nearly 14 years and no matter what the race I'm always super nervous before hand, god help my family having to deal with me in the run up.

So now the race begins......

Well what can I say about the swim.....choppy doesn't do it justice, I've had less waves in open water swims! I was meant to do 4 lengths dip under the lane rope and then do the same in the next 3 lanes before getting out. It all went wrong when getting into the second lane when I somehow managed to do 6 lengths, thankfully the boyfriend was poolside and shouted at me to check my watch when I was on the last length and to my shock I was about to do an extra 2 lengths, whoops. So with that I was up and out of the pool in to T1.

This is where I need to do some work. Me thinks there might be some practising during training to try and tighten this part up.

Having done the bike course the day before I knew exactly what to expect, so managed to come out of the TT bars in good time when going over the really bad parts. Its actually a really scenic route and mostly on nice quiet country roads, well that is until you get 2 extra large tractors coming at you on a narrow lane, that wasnt fun. However pushed as hard as I could throughout (safety obviously coming first) and even managed a max speed of 29.6mph, thankfully I didnt see that on my bike computer as that would have scared the hell out of me lol. However I think the coach will be pleased as I hit the target for power, actually coming in at the higher end of the prescribed range, get in. Even had the quickest bike spilt of the day by 52seconds, this never happens lol and if you looked at my biking ability a few years ago this was my worst element of triathlon.

Into T2 and the next mistake, I managed to run straight past where I had left me trainers, frustrating as i left them in a really prominent position! Bike racked, trainers on and I was off out onto the run........the worst part for me.

I am very thankful I was off out early as even at 0900 it was a warm one. At 31ft of evaluation it is pretty much a flat route but that's where the good elements end for me. Wet grass, 2 sharp turns and 4 laps doesn't make for a great run, but we can't have everything. Managed to keep the pace even but would have been great if I could have pushed a bit harder. Something to continue working on......there is always something that can be improved.

So with my 4th lap complete I was first female to cross the line, but with lots of females still to come, many starting later in the morning, it would be a 4hr wait to see if I could keep the top spot.

Time ticked on and surprise surprise (for me) no ladies managed to beat my time. In the end 2nd lady home was 24s behind and 3rd lady was 1m 2s behind. The next lady in my age group was over 7 mins behind. Very happy is an understatement. As I mentioned already I haven't done this race in 6 years and on today's race I managed to beat the last time by 13 seconds.......who says things get worse with age lol

All in all it was a really well organised race by UK Triathlon. All the volunteers were really helpful and super cheerful. Weather was lovely and couldn't have asked for anything more from a race.....well maybe a better run route!

So to finish off, I've had a variety of illnesses over the last few months, I have a demanding job with lots of time on the road, house renovation and sustaining a relationship (I'm lucky the other half also does Triathlon) means time for training can sometimes be a struggle, but believing in the process and what the coach gives you and when, has for me today completely paid off. So its onwards and upwards to the next race in 3 weeks time, Deva Standard Distance Aquabike......something different for me for the 2023 season.