I spent a fab weekend in the Cotswolds 8/9 June with a crazy bunch of ladies known as ‘Twinkles’ to take part in the Cotswolds 113 middle distance tri in a relay team. #teamtwinkle is a women only FB page that has brought together 100’s of women with a common interest, mainly triathlon, who share experiences, problems, ask for advice and have a penchant for profanities. This race was a Twinkle Fest with over 100 of the girls taking part and getting to meet for the first time. I would not have met Gemma if it weren’t for #TT. So I was to swim, another Twink,Charlotte was riding and Gemma running. If you are looking for a low key, friendly event set in a beautiful water park then this one is great. After not much sleep in our YHA bunk room for 4 and a 4am alarm we set off for lake no.32! What an amazing OW swim venue. The locals are very lucky to have this on their doorstep. The water was about 18 degrees and incredibly clear. There were 6 waves going off at 10 min intervals from 6am and all the relays were in wave 2 along with other individual athletes. Twinkles had around 20 relays taking part. I guess around 220 athletes in my wave. The air temp was a bit chilly and the sun was low and bright! I felt very nervous having been out of action for such a long time with my shoulder and only just starting to swim properly again over the last month or so. Gemma kept me calm, zipped me up and it was time to get in. I decided to stay on the edge instead of middle front row! I somehow managed to avoid human contact the whole way around other than catching those from the previous wave who were easy to navigate around. An interesting swim course hugging the edges of the lake with a dog leg in the middle. I exited the 1.9k in 29.14 putting us as 3rd relay team at that point. I ran as fast as I could while trying not to slip on wet grass,into the holding pen to hand over to Charlotte. She had a great ride returning in 2.55 to hand over to Gemma. Gemma went out of the pen like a rocket and as its a lapped course we were able to cheer her round. How she wishes she hadn’t worn leggings as it was very hot! She stormed home for a half marathon of 1.48. Finish time 5.16.Our team finished 6th out of 36 teams, some of which were all male and some mixed. We felt rightfully chuffed! Next year I may just do the whole thing only next time staying in a lakeside lodge and not a YHA!