The Two Inns / Cross Clyde Swim Triathlon

Saturday saw a triathlon of events for our household…

Leg 1 – the cycle (9.30am – 10.45am)

The Two Inns finishes outside the Clachaig in Glencoe, but you have to find your own way to the start at the at the Creagan Inn near Appin. I decided the best way to to deal with this was to leave the car in Glencoe and cycle the 22 miles round to the start. And why not on a pleasant Saturday morning – gave me a great excuse to get some coffee and cake in before the start of the race!

Leg 2 – the run (12noon – 3.30pm)

The Two Inns is a fantastic point-to-point route taking you from the coast near Appin across the mountains to Glencoe. Not a typically walked route making it all the more special. And finally, after the first 2 editions of the race being in poor conditions, the weather was perfect this time, giving stunning views and straightforward navigation.

I was delighted that there were 2 and a half other Westies there too – Luke Arnold getting a rare day off from family duties, Dave Rogers, and the half is former member Elsie Riley who is unattached at the moment having moved to Stirling.

Being a rarely walked route the ground is very tussocky and boggy, which makes it a really tough race. I quickly found that Leg 1 had taken a lot out of my legs and they felt heavy. But I settled into a rhythm and the checkpoints started coming in nice and quickly.

For all the bog, there is precious little running water on the route though, and by the final summit checkpoint I was suffering from a lack of water and found that the descent to the valley brought on an uncomfortable amount of cramp. So after gulping all the water I could on crossing the river at the final checkpoint, the final 3 miles along the track were all about controlling my stride to keep the cramp away.

Great race if you enjoy the long ones and love a journey.

Leg 3 – the swim (4pm – 5pm)

So the triathlon was more of a relay. Shortly after I crossed the finish line in Glencoe, Steph dipped into the water at Kilcreggan for the cross Clyde swim. And a little over an hour later after 2 miles of swimming she walked up the beach at Greenock in her luminous yellow bikini – second woman and one of only three swimmers to battle the tides and jellyfish in a swimsuit rather than a wetsuit.