{"id":16718,"date":"2014-05-20T06:30:18","date_gmt":"2014-05-20T05:30:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/?p=16718"},"modified":"2014-05-20T06:34:12","modified_gmt":"2014-05-20T05:34:12","slug":"race-weekend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/2014\/05\/race-weekend\/","title":{"rendered":"Race Weekend"},"content":{"rendered":"

We’ve just returned form a good weekend away racing at the British Sprint Triathlon Championships at Eton Dorney. We drove down in glorious sunshine on Friday and arrived at the lake for a quick look around. The course looked good and the weather looked as though it was going to be hot.<\/p>\n

We had booked into\u00a0the Marriott Hotel in nearby Slough so headed off to find that, get settled I’m and get some dinner. The race organisers had a deal with the hotel which said the price was \u00a359 B&B, but by the time we went through to the hotel website to book and booked for all three of us it was \u00a368 and there was no mention of breakfast. There was also a \u00a39 parking charge at the hotel, but even so, the hotel looked nice, it was no more expensive than something like Premier Inn, it was nearby and Morgan liked the fact that it had a swimming pool.<\/p>\n

Anna phoned to confirm the booking a few days before we left and they then tried to charge extra due to the fact that we had a third person in the room and extra again for a camp bed for Morgan. Anna disputed these charges and said we’d bring our own camp bed and sleeping bag for Morgan which they did allow us to do, but it meant we were a little wary when checking in.<\/p>\n

We needn’t have been though as the staff at reception were really nice. We were told we had a room with two double beds, so there was plenty of room for us all to sleep and no need of the camp bed for Morgan. Breakfast was included for all thee of us as was the parking charge. So, the \u00a368 covered everything which was actually a good deal.<\/p>\n

The hotel was quite a maze mind you but once we found our room it was lovely. Quite large, clean and comfortable. We checked it out and then headed off to the pool for a swim and a soak in the sauna. Again, the staff everywhere in the hotel were really nice.<\/p>\n

\"Hotel<\/a>

Hotel Room<\/p><\/div>\n

We then headed across the road to a Toby Carvery for dinner. The service here was a little haphazard at first but improved throughout the evening and \u00a35.99 for a four meat Carvery is a pretty good deal as well. I did eat quite\u00a0a bit which probably isn’t advised on the night before a race, but I just can’t help myself. The chocolate brownie sundae was maybe just a step too far though.<\/p>\n

Back at the hotel there was little left to do than play on our electronic devices, chat, watch the final of Masterchef and then head off to bed ready for an early start the next day.<\/p>\n

I didn’t sleep much, if at all, but we all got up and around 6am, showered and packed the car then headed to the restaurant for breakfast. I couldn’t really make the most of it with a race in a few hours so limited myself to a couple of large bowls of granola topped with yoghurt and seeds followed by an almond croissant, cranberry juice and a couple of coffees. I avoided the cooked breakfast counter completely and managed to resist the muffins, toast and bagels too. I did pop some muffins, croissants and doughnuts in a box for later and wished I could have sampled the cold meats and cheeses, but I’m sure what I had was sufficient really.<\/p>\n

We then headed off to the lake passing Eton College as we did so where lots of boys dressed in their uniforms of tails and white bow ties we’re heading off for breakfast.<\/p>\n

I won’t repeat the race details here as I’ve written a separate Race Report from the British Sprint Triathlon Championships<\/a> elsewhere, but the location was perfect, the course was perfect, the conditions we perfect, the sun was shining all day long and the event was well organised. I didn’t quite have the perfect race myself but still managed to finish in 8th place, which isn’t too bad in the British Championships as this is\u00a0always the hardest race of the year with the toughest competition.<\/p>\n

Despite the glorious weather we didn’t hang around for too long after the race and instead jumped in the car for a quick trip down the M4 to my parents house. We stopped off at a services en route as I wanted a Whopper Meal from Burger King so the journey took just over 2 hours. Onve in Kimgswood where my parents live we headed to Village Hall. There was a mountain bike event going on here so it was quite busy, and made even busier when my Mum and sister turned up along with Mike and his three children, my sisters two children and my other 3 nephews as well. Morgan headed off to play with his cousins and we sat there in the sunshine chatting and chilling. I did have a go with a diablo\u00a0thingy for a while and helped set up a slack line for them to play on as well.<\/p>\n\n\t\t