A runner’s high has a lot to answer for.

Back in November after running the Snowdonia Marathon I persuaded Leah to sign up and join me for a Half Ironman. How hard could it be? We could both ‘probably’ do all three sports. After all, it’s only a 1.2 mile swim, 56 miles on the bike and a half marathon. It’s just a bit of practice, yes? Just sticking them all together.

About the same time I was struck down with (undiagnosed) whooping cough. Joy.

So Leah carried on training – and stormed her London Marathon, a mere 6 weeks before the Cotswold 113, our first middle-distance triathlon, and I eventually got better after 5 months.

In April we (and Kath) both got into Salford Quays for the first time (brrrrrrr) and for one of us it was all about conquering fear of the murky depths.

So here we are, early June and we’re in the Cotswolds.  It’s 3.30 am and we’re up and getting ready for a 5 am transition set-up. Zzzzz. But it’s quite the buzz. There were some serious looking athletes as well as plenty of first-timers. We’re in the 6 am start wave and the water in the lake is positively balmy. 19.5 degrees. Happy days!

Leah is super speedy and is one of the first out of the water, I’m one of the last but that’s OK. Six weeks ago I was hanging onto a buoy in The Quays in fear. Look how far I’ve come!

The swim-bike transition was smooth – no wetsuit traumas! – and off we go for our bike ride. It’s flat and fast. Well as fast as we can cycle anyway. We were both overtaken by most of the field but I think it may have been because we didn’t have a pointy helmet.

We both come in just over 3 hrs 20 mins but it felt like a long time to be on the road. The bike-run transition was just a quick change of shoes and off we go with calves that feel like they’re about to pop and Achilles Tendons taut like violin strings. Leah had a great run and finished in 6:02:44 and I was not too far behind in 6:26:59.

Thanks to the generosity of friends, family and colleagues we both raised a lot of money for MNDA in memory of our friend Steve Mycio. Thank you to everyone who sponsored us. It was a great day and I don’t think either of us has ruled out doing a full one but I’m waiting for full or semi-retirement before that! Now. Where’s the Summer??  Lisa D.