The first Cross Triathlon I have ever attempted and very nervous about completing this event, especially the mountain bike section.  No pressure, but my sister is watching me race for the first time as well as two friends from Alcala La Real.  

The lake where we had the swim was absolutely stunning, however, this did not quite take away the fact that the water was still VERY cold, although the official temperature was 19 degrees!   

I have been experiencing issues in the swim section lately with panic attacks at the start causing difficulty in breathing and the last race in Granada I breast-stroked the whole way around. Thankfully, for the first time in a long time I got this under control and swam the whole 1,000 metres in crawl with no gasping for air. Finished the swim in a decent time, 23.58 mins and then a rather leisurely, according to Julio, transition to the bike. 

The mountain bike ride was extremely difficult and went over all different terrains including, sandy, muddy, stony, gravel (my worse as you really have to power through to not fall down) with some really steep up-hills (I walked at least half of the longest one) and some scary downhills. I survived and finished the bike leg which for me was a great outcome/success (*laughs*). I think my sister was getting anxious as the cyclist were coming through and I did not appear for a while.  Took me about 2 hours 8 mins to complete and I think from a physical and mental point of view as one of the hardest things I have done. 

The run was in town with the start going uphill (of course!) but then some flat and downhills and not too difficult. My issue at the start of the run was cramps in my quadriceps from the cycling which thankfully relaxed enough for me to complete the 6km run in 38.10 mins.   

Once again, a very well organised and run event and at no time on the bike course did I feel that I was unsupported or lost as there were marshals at every corner pointing the way we needed to follow and more. Everyone was so friendly, and I would love to compete again next year, however, I need to get some more mountain biking and confidence under my belt before then.

As a team we did extremely well with Toni, Maryam and myself number one in our age groups and Mayka getting second, with our team getting first. Brilliant outcome for IT Horticula Iliturgitanna (Training Tri).