I arrived in Dundalk train station on the Enterprise a couple of hours before the race (If you didn't know that the enterprise service has a whole carriage with bike hooks and storage for your gear then you do now). Dundalk train station is like a scene from Casablanca; black and white photographs of steam engines, station masters line the walls and the mist rolls over the walls onto the tracks from the local brewery.

A quick cycle later and I arrived in Blackrock, where work was well under way setting up transition and getting the canoe safety marshalls ready for the race. I got a great spot on the bike rack with plenty of room and next to an easy to find gap. I pottered around in transition for a while, setting my bike to a low gear, setting up my shoes and generally getting things in order. Last year I must have been close to winning the cup-of-tea-in-transition award, so this year I did without socks and all the other home comforts (tea anyone?).

The start came around really quickly. 200+ people had arrived and the small town was rocking; the local Centra was doing a roaring trade in sugary drinks and oat bars. We made our way to the start line, having been told that this year there was a fairly strict "No Running the Swim Course" rule after some of the shenanigans last year. You really can walk for 75% of the course, and last year people gave that a damn good go. This year the organisers had markers towards the end of the course where you were allowed stand up - but no running allowed before then. 500 meters must mean something different in Louth, because the swim course was definitely closer to 600 - but anyway - the Tricolour on the beach waved us off and I huffed and puffed my way around the course without incident, zig-zagging up the beach into transition while dragging my wetsuit off.

Shoes on and away on the bike, an 18K course out and back in a very simple loop. I was flattered, and mildly annoyed to have a few people draft off me on the way back in (seriously fellas, I'm not going this slowly because it's windy) and I had a hilarious chain falling off the bike moment coming up the hill into the town, but I got it back on quickly (30 seconds or so) and got back to transition.

I lashed on my new runners (pain free running, a miracle) and trudged out through transition, remembering that just down the road there's a hill that nearly killed me last year. This year it wasn't too bad, the hill came and went and my legs slowly came back to life. I was passed by a good few people on the run, it's definitely my weakest link, but I didn't really mind - I have been injured for months and just coming back to running slowly, so I was happy enough to let them zoom by. I crossed the line in Blackrock in 1:12:03, a few minutes quicker than last year - so I was happy enough. The course ran about 5 minutes quicker last year, so I was pleased to have made some progress.

Anyway, I met up with the other Piranhas afterwards, grabbed a burger and cleaned up my gear. Sinéad came second in the women's race, beating all bar one of the competitors in the swim, hats off to Sinéad. After the prizes I wearily cycled the 5K back to Dundalk to catch the Enterprise back to Dublin. The cup of tea and danish from the cart tasted nicer than usual, and I snoozed for most of the journey back to rainy Dublin. Not a bad way to end the day having cracked (sort of) the Rock.

Thanks to all the organisers. Well done to all who took part.