Although it was a Sunday morning (and i'm about two steps away from lack- of- sleep induced psychosis) I set the alarm early to go out and look at the Howth triathlon.
Until I got injured earlier in the year I had hoped to compete in this as my first tri, but after dropping out of the marathon 3 weeks before the event I don't think i had the strength of mind to get into the whole bike,swim,run thing straight away, and i only kept myself ticking over with 2 or 3 short runs a week, in fact its only in the last week or two that i’m really back at the running.
Anyway, K had expressed an interest going out to see the triathletes (her teacher from last year might be competing) so after morning calcs / injections / breakfast we set off at about 8:15 on the short journey.
The weather for the day was atrocious, temperature couldn't have been more than about 12C, very windy with choppy seas and threateningly overcast.
We went down to the beach to wait for the swimmers. The first swimmer over from Ireland's Eye had a huge lead over the field. The 2nd swimmer home was a women (yippee, Kate was v. impressed) and she also had a huge lead over the field (apparently they’re both experienced sea swimmers, they needed it yesterday).
Looking at the people battling the choppy sea part of me was relieved that i wasnt with them, but a part of me was also dead jealous....
Until I got injured earlier in the year I had hoped to compete in this as my first tri, but after dropping out of the marathon 3 weeks before the event I don't think i had the strength of mind to get into the whole bike,swim,run thing straight away, and i only kept myself ticking over with 2 or 3 short runs a week, in fact its only in the last week or two that i’m really back at the running.
Anyway, K had expressed an interest going out to see the triathletes (her teacher from last year might be competing) so after morning calcs / injections / breakfast we set off at about 8:15 on the short journey.
The weather for the day was atrocious, temperature couldn't have been more than about 12C, very windy with choppy seas and threateningly overcast.
We went down to the beach to wait for the swimmers. The first swimmer over from Ireland's Eye had a huge lead over the field. The 2nd swimmer home was a women (yippee, Kate was v. impressed) and she also had a huge lead over the field (apparently they’re both experienced sea swimmers, they needed it yesterday).
Looking at the people battling the choppy sea part of me was relieved that i wasnt with them, but a part of me was also dead jealous....
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| K. on beach with Irelands Eye behind |
After freezing on the beach for about half an hour (July in Ireland, who thought we’d need fleeces!) we headed for a warming cup of tea, followed by a drive up to the summit to watch the bike race.
A truly enjoyable few hours, mainly for the one on one time i got with my daughter.
The Weekend Long(ish) Run
The day got away from me after that and it was 9:30pm before i got out for my run. I really ( REALLY) didn't want to go out, but i figured that if i start compromising before getting into a plan what chance will i have later in the year.
I wanted to do 12k, so I ran down the Howth Road to Fairview, then along the Coast Road, to Watermill and back home.
The wind down to Fairview was awful, really strong and funnelled by the road into a headwind. Kinda takes the zip out of one’s step.
I was worried that the wind would still be against me on the coast which is no fun at all, but thankfully it was at my back, so I had a pleasant trot over the next 5k.
Wind was against me again for the last 2k, but i was so cheered up by forcing myself out and getting thru the run that i even managed to up the pace for the last k.
Distance - 12.2k
Time - approx 1hr 15mins (Garmin playing up a bit & had to be re-booted)
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