Thursday 28th May

Approx 1200m sea swim tonight in Strangford Lough with 12 other people from Peninsula Tri Club. Good swim and felt quite strong.

Getting a bit nervous at the thought of doing my first Oly on Saturday in Athy.

Wednesday 27th May

Easy 5.3 mile run tonight in 46 minutes

Tuesday 26th May

1200m open water swim tonight in Lough Neagh. It felt good and I now have my confidence built up.

21.25 mile cycle tonight in very cold, wet and windy conditions. Ended up a bit upset with being so cold - think my core temperature was low from the swim before we started and getting a major soaking did not help. Need to harden up a bit...

Sunday 24th May

Liam Ball triathlon today. Better performance than last week and I kept my nerves and heart rate under control. Swim time was 13.45 getting out of the pool - long run to transition - including a flight of stairs and a lot of gravel. Way too slow in transition though - I really need to get that sorted as I lost about 6 places overall with it. Bike was a good course - out and back - again I was pleased with how that went apart from my general speed. I had a reasonable T2 and then a two lap run - same time as last week more or less. Overall 1 hour 32 minutes and third in my age group again.

My bike speed is what I need to work on and what is causing the differential between me and the other women in my age group.

Saturday 23rd May

Second open water swim today in Lough Neagh. Good calm conditions and a much better swim - approx 500m or so. Just need to build up a bit more distance now to get used to not having the end of a pool to push off!

Friday 22nd May

21 mile cycle tonight in 1 hour 17 minutes. Good average pace and reasonably nice conditions - not too windy. Legs felt strong again which is good. I need a really intensive stretching/roller session tomorrow before the triathlon on Sunday.

Thursday 21st May

1600m slowish swim this morning in 30 minutes. Still not 100% but getting there. Working hard to free up my ITB and to get rid of DOMS in my leg - slept in my Skins last night which helped - the things you have to do....

Tuesday 19th May

7 mile cycle only tonight - had to cut the session short as my cold is making me feel pretty weak and shivery. So I was being sensible for once in my life....

Monday 18th May

1000m early morning swim - 200m drills with 20 seconds rest in between - working out at just under 17 mins for 1000m.

Still feeling under par and I think I have still lactic build up after the Tri on Saturday - major fatigue in my arms and legs - not good...

7.25 mile run tonight in 65 minutes - legs felt very sluggish - I need a really good stretch session to loosen everything up again.

Sunday 17th May

First attempt this morning at open water swimming up in Lough Neagh. Very, very cold and windy - and that was before we got in the water! Managed ok and new wetsuit was fine apart from it rubbing on the back of my neck. I need to get that sorted. I didn't panic which was the main thing. Another longer one planned for this week to try to get my confidence built up.

Saturday 17th May

Roe Valley Sprint Triathlon today - Ulster Sprint Championships. Brutal conditions for the bike with heavy rain, hail and 40+mph gusts of wind. I think my cold took more out of me than I thought it would. Didn't feel too strong in the swim which was reflected in my time of 14.30 minutes, bike was slowish too with the conditions and me mangling the gears, run was fine in 25 minutes. Still, my goal was to finish within the top three in my age group which I did and I got a bronze medal to prove it!

Hoping for a better performance next week at the North West triathlon.

Thursday 14th May

Struggling with a cold so missed my run last night unfortunately. Forced myself into the pool this morning for a 1200m swim in 24 minutes. Hope I am ok for Saturday for the first triathlon of the season.

15.3 mile cycle tonight in 56 minutes - very, very wet but a reasonable speed considering that I am a bit under par.

Tuesday 12th May

1200m early morning swim in a warm pool. Clock broken so no idea of my time today.

16 mile cycle tonight with strong headwind - average speed 15.8 mph - slight improvement, thankfully!

Sunday 10th May

42.2 mile cycle today in 2hours 48 minutes in much better conditions - wind was tolerable! Added on to last week's route which I can expand on now for longer cycles. Quite hilly for a good bit of it although some good flat stretches too. Stopped very briefly twice to make sure I had a good drink and to eat something. Need to eat more though but managed to drink a whole bottle of water/energy drink.

Not a very balanced week of training but most I have run in a long time with 24 miles clocked up for the week. Think I need another year before I will be ready for the Half Ironman - getting a bit worried now about Antwerp...

Saturday 9th May

13 mile run this morning - slowish pace - 2:04. Very, very wet and cold - I was glad to get back to the car. Everything felt fine running which was good but legs and back stiff now.

Thursday 7th May

4 mile early morning run along the Thames embankment this morning. Nice run and a good pace.

Wednesday 6th May

1600m easy early morning swim in 29 minutes. Right shoulder is quite stiff for some reason.

Monday 4th May

7.14 mile run today as 3rd relay leg in the Belfast Marathon. I ran it in 57.57 minutes so pleased with that.

Sunday 3rd May

32.6 mile cycle non-stop today - brutal head wind for a good bit of it with a lot of climbing - new route today which I can build on. Big downhill bit when I hit 36mph for over a mile.

Back and hamstring very stiff today after yesterday - one step forward and two back....

Saturday 2nd May

12 mile run on my own this morning, accompanied by Chris Rea and Elbow. One of the best runs I have done all year - 1hr 46 almost completely even paced with the last mile at 8.23 minute mile pace. Only slight stiffness in my leg running which is good. Maybe, maybe if I continue like this and build very, very slowly, I could think about an autumn marathon - let's see....

Friday 1st May

Rest day today and I went for a verrrry painful sports massage tonight - extra value for money - 1 hr 10 minutes of torture!! Everything feels looser now, though :-)