It was a beautiful , crisp day in Surrey, the whole event was chilled and beautifully British. Having been in the US and Europe to do most of my racing it was so nice to be in England to race. AND so different to XTERRA racing. The event was a two day multi race including a swim, duathlons and sprint/full distance taitlons. all off road. so well organised and casual. I was feeling pretty ok only turning up 45 minutes before the race was due to start and no prep. Until I was informed that the water was only 14 degrees. Cold even for me. Last swim was 19 degree in Switzerland.. 
I had a quick warm up on dry land and in I went ouch that was pretty cold, so a few minuted later we all lined up for the two lap swim with a quick 20 meter run between. I did start to warm up after the second lap and tried to stay on the toes of some fellow swimmers. I came out into transition and there were people everywhere, strange, I thought ? It was a shock to see people in transition, as usually no one is allowed in once the race has started! I had to shout to get some space to change in to my bike gear. I then got a head rush with the cold and couldn’t do my buckle up on my helmet and then nearly collapsed with a dizzy spell. I get this sometimes when coming out of very cold water. I grabbed my bike and ran to bike out direction and to my dismay couldn’t find the exit..! Serves me right for not prepping the course first!
Once on the bike it was a very decent 23 km , 4 lap course and was not at all technical which suited me fine. I caught up with a couple of girls on the bike but the traffic was pretty bad once the sprint was on it s way. . Single track was tricky to pass, but it was fun. It was so nice to have a day where the sun shone and it was dry, no mud!
!Once 4 laps were complete I set off on my run I was second at this stage. Tamsin was behind me but not for long as she caught me after the first few kms. The run was fun, two laps of nice off road running. No hills to speak of, and some nice winter film secne to run through. They were ‘whiting’ down the trees for a film shoot.It still hurt all the same the run always does! But I came in second overall so happy with hat. Looking forward to my ‘snow and Rock’ vouchers!! 
My run has felt so much better thanks to some really good work from my brilliant Physio/Masseur/ Personal trainer -Bruce Butler.:))AND my lovely sponsors are always worth mentioning. Bike and Run, Sunnto, Craft, shock absorber, Snugg wetsuits, Bikeboxalan and I was using my new Clif Bar (www.clifbar.co.uk).isotonic drink for the first time in a race. It tastes great without any nasty chemicals.
