Lough Key is a beautiful forest park located in Roscommon. I am looking to avoid sea swims so it was worth the drive over for what is the first of a few end-of-summer/autumn races I have lined up.
Being in a forest park they have a visitor’s centre with proper indoor toilets, which was a luxury. I wasn’t feeling great on the drive over, though, and had to stop a few times meaning I got there a bit late and was in a rush to set up transition, misplacing my neck protector along the way.
Luckily, it was a short swim (200m) that I took easy for the first half and then a bit faster on the way back. Despite the cool conditions, the water was warm enough.
The cycle route was fantastic. It was extended to 23 km to allow us to do one complete loop of the lough. Some of it was behind trees but other parts climbed up onto the hills and gave us a beautiful view right across the lough. Tough side winds, and a final head wind, made for some hard work but well worth it for the views.
The run was similar, going alongside the lough before turning in land a little to come back. Things were going well until 2 km in when I felt a sudden pain under my arm. It didn’t stop me from running and I finished in good time, delighted to have completed another event.
My total time was:
1:33:31
And my spits were:
| Discipline | Time |
|---|---|
| Swim | 8:32 |
| T1 | 5:34 |
| Bike | 52:20 |
| T2 | 2:02 |
| Run | 25:01 |
After the race, I headed over to the first aid station so they could take a look at my arm. The paramedics suggested it might have been a bee sting. Nothing serious but I ended up in the ambulance for 30-40 minutes while they checked my vitals and what not. Thank you to Andrew and Mags for taking good care of me.
I finished the day with some food from Paddy Paella. Thank you to everyone at Lough Key Triathlon and all of the volunteers who made the event happen.
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Tags: triathlon
This entry was posted on Sunday, September 7th, 2025 at 11:00 am and is filed under Sport. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.