Well I did it!

Slateman Triathlon completed, and I'm over the moon.

My race did not start well - we missed our allotted starting group, but the brilliantly helpful marshal sorted us out and put us in the last wave, which then had a false start so we had an extra three minutes of treading water in the bitterly cold lake before we got under way.

I really struggled to sort my breathing out and had to flip onto my back and scull to get it under control. I genuinely considered pulling out at that point but got myself under control and started swimming again and realised I was catching and overtaking some of the swimmers, and noticed my partner in crime, Katie Watson to my right, I could tell lots of others were struggling and had switched to breast stroke - that gave me the belief that if they could do it, so could I. After that I swam well until the final hundred metres or so when I started to really feel the cold sapping my energy. My legs felt like jelly climbing out of the water and I staggered my way through transition to prepare for the bike leg, feeling very relieved that my weakest discipline was over.

As I made my way out of transition it was great to see Ian's smiling face cheering me on. I got on the bike and immediately felt back in my comfort zone on the long climb out of llanberis, and almost immediately started to overtake some of my competitors - a great feeling! The bike leg was truly stunning and a privilege to ride around, especially with the marshals and spectators doing a great job of cheering us all on.

And so with about 5 miles of the bike leg to go I decided to have another energy gel as I was starting to feel a little low on energy - within minutes I could feel my stomach objecting, but it was tolerable. So I rode into transition, ready for a quick change into my running shoes, and off to go. As soon as I began to run the stomach cramps got worse but I pushed on as best I could until the "quarry mile" a 9% incline on loose slate, where I joined all my fellow racers by walking up, breaking into the occasional jog when a photographer or supporter was spotted! Once at the top I had a quick drink at the water station which helped to settle my stomach, and I began the run down through the beautiful blue bell woods and back to the arena.

It was great to have so much support from fellow racers and friends on the run to the finish line, with a thumbs up from Steve (it was his glowing recommendation of last years event that inspired me to tackle the slateman - thanks Steve!) As I ran over the finish line I spotted Katie and Ian cheering me home, I obviously looked done in as they ordered me to go and eat before going over to chat!

I was truly exhausted at the end, nearly overcome with emotion and it was an absolute honor to be surrounded by so many amazing people. Thank  you all.

And a massive thank you to everyone who sponsored me to take part in this epic event, knowing that I was helping to raise money for leukemia and lymphoma research helped to give me strength in those last few miles and in my darkest moments in the swim - Thank you all.