On 15th May I do my second triathlon.  I never thought I would do another one again but a dear friend asked me to join her. 

My initial reaction was sheer panic. I took a few weeks to consider it and said yes for 2 reasons. 

1. I didn't want to let her down as she is doing it to raise money for a cause close to her heart and I wanted to support her
2. I never got to complete the half marathon I had trained for 2 years ago which was called off during the first week of lockdown and some generous people sponsored me and I’ve always felt I had let them down

Three years ago when I did a triathlon I was semi-fit.  This time I was coming back from injury after having a fall running and hadn’t done much exercise for 5 months.

I don’t know whether it is an age thing, but my body has been saying no and I've suffered a lot with cramp.  I didn’t feel I was in a great place physically and I needed a few more weeks than the original intended date so I signed up for the East Grinstead triathlon instead.

The triathlon consists of:

• 400m swim
• 26km bike ride
• 5km run

You would think my technique would be better this time, but sadly that isn't the case - I'm just not a sporty person!  I'm still going to do breaststroke without submerging my head, I do the bike ride without going through the gears on the left-hand side (they are wasted on me!) and my running is 2 minutes a mile slower than 3 years ago! 

However, I can tell you I’m determined to do this rain or shine and get over that finish line. I've been training 6 times a week for the last 13 weeks, many times in sub-zero temperatures, juggling the children, their dance competitions, and running a business.  I’ve clocked up over 10 miles of swimming, 300 miles of cycling and 100 miles of running but I'm not there yet!

This time I’m raising funds for Cancer Research which is a charity important to my family after I sadly lost my nan and auntie many years ago.  And I would be so grateful for any donations, even just a pound or two.  It all adds up and every penny will make a difference.  I know times are hard right now and so much other fundraising is going on but with one in two of us affected by cancer, this is such an important cause.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and for your support.