Raquel's 40 Race Challenge

I started this challenge with some pretty big events. I didn't plan it this way, the aim was to start small and increase the difficulty and intensity of the challenges as time went by and hopefully my fitness would follow. But somehow fate had other ideas and I managed to start with two triathlons and an absolutely epic Wolf Run. Where to go from here? RISE 8km Undercliff of course. A straight forward, flat and fairly short run, easy peasy. Thankfully an event that couldn't get more local for me if I tried and its my usual run route so I really didn't feel any pressure with this one at all.  Just before Wolf Run, I started a diet because I've realised that lugging around unnecessary weight really does make these challenges a damn sight harder. Anything that can make these challenges easier needs to be given a shot. So after three weeks of dieting and having lost half a stone I was really missing "bad" food and really really wanted to cheat. What was bad

1st lake swim complete! What an incredible experience this was! Thanks to the amazing ladies that joined me on what was an extremely mentally challenging event. Rachel, Ash, Sarah, Nat, Sonia, Zingy, Nikki, Naomi, Debbie - you’re all my heros. In the lead up to the challenge one of my fellow team mates circulated this message on our whatsapp group and I thought it was a joke. I'd signed up to a 10km wildrun with obstacles. Not in a million years did I expect this warning: " You should be a strong swimmer to complete the lake swim during the Wolf Run - it looks a short distance but is very cold indeed and you need to be a strong swimmer to complete it ".  I honestly had no idea there were lake swims. Note to self..."I must check out these events in much more detail before entering". Its one thing knowing you're in for a lake swim (Southwater Relays) in a wetsuit and quite another doing one without one when the weather is colder. My bigge