Challenge 28 – Fritton Lake swimrun
The trouble with writing my blog
the day after a challenge is the temptation to look back at it with rose tinted
glasses! Don’t get me wrong, I did enjoy
the challenge but swimming is not my forte and I knew that I would have to
really push myself to get through and I really didn’t want to let Phil down by
not finishing in a competitive time. It was very intimidating as we waited for
the briefing looking around at all the people in their triathlon kit and
thinking what am I doing here! We were
given a very attractive orange swimming hat which we had to wear throughout the
race even during the runs! We also had a
numbered bib like I used to wear to play netball and being one size fits all it
was huge on me – great!
The event started with a 2.9k run
and as running is the bit that I can do I really wanted to get ahead to try to
ensure that we didn’t finish last! With
Phil pushing the pace we set off on the whistle and found ourselves leading the
pack into the first corner! It did go through my mind that we may be using too
much energy up too soon but we held our own and entered the water for the first
swim in 5th place ready for everyone to come past us in the water!
As I have already said, swimming
is not one of my strengths and I have been working really hard to try to
improve and master front crawl since getting my challenges. Swimming in a nice clean pool being able to
touch the side every 50 meters is very different to open water swimming and the
first swim was the longest at 650 meters.
I did attempt front crawl but the cold water took my breath away and
with the weight of my wet trainers dragging my feet down, I felt more confident
with my breaststroke and although the stronger swimmers raced off we didn’t seem
to fall too far behind. The swim was one
of the toughest things I have ever done and I remember thinking to myself that
if I could get through it, I can get through anything including my upcoming
ultra! I did have to dig deep but there was no way I was going to give up and
with Phil encouraging me all the way, the end did eventually come and with
relief I dragged my aching body out of the water through the bog and the reeds,
I heard Phil saying ‘come on this is the bit you can do!’ and reluctantly I got
my legs pumping and off we went chasing down the people ahead and pushing our
way past other pairs back to the water again where they would then overtake us
again!
The runs and the swims were all shorter
than the first ones and I became more confident as we went along. There were a few moments that stood out such
as the torrential rain that came down during the third swim which was quite
magical being in the middle of a beautiful lake and running through the woods as
well as along the road, soaking wet and in a swimming hat!
When the final run came I gave it
all I had and Phil and I managed to make up a few places before racing down the
hill and through the finish arch to get our lovely medals.
The swimrun was definitely the
toughest of my challenges so far and something that I would never have entered
myself. I am very glad that I have done
it but do not anticipate ever doing it again (although Phil may have other
ideas) and I’m very proud that we came 16th out of 45.
