I took part in the first ever Croyde Triathlon standard distance this weekend. It was a sea swim, possibly not the best part of the country for a sea swim as North Devon is known for its surfing beaches. There was a 4ft swell in Puttsborough beach so they allegedly shortened it (my Garmin clocked just shy of 1500m however!). The waves were so big I struggled to even get off the beach and then I couldn’t see the second buoy until I was 10m away. I couldn’t find any distinguishing cliff features to sight from either! I was one of the first women out of the sea so I was pretty happy. Not so happy with the kilometre hike (with 400m steep uphill slip road to navigate) back to transition on a field above the beach. I grabbed my bike looking forward to the cliff top views of the coastline but 5km in I decided it was no longer a race but a training ride! There was a long drawn out climb that lasted for what seemed like forever. Then the steepest of descents into Ilfracombe for a couple of kilometres before starting another even more drawn out climb. I spent 80% of my time in the easiest gear my bike has. After 600m of climbing on the bike I started the 12km ‘trail run’. It took us up and down the cliffs past Croyde and Saunton beaches, through farmers fields with crops chest height, many styles to cross over, before dropping down to the coastline to run across Croyde beach. Then one final push up another steep climb over and round Baggy Point back to Puttsborough. Needless to say it wasn’t fast paced with 250m of climbing! Not sure I’d do it again!!

Pretty views if you’re in any fit state to take them in 😀 Lara