After a busy two days, Sunday’s triathlon was a more relaxed affair to begin with. It was another swim in a virtually empty pool and when I stopped to check my watch to see how many lengths I had done, it showed 1,520 metres so time to stop, I was so close to doing more than I needed to.

Then on the bike and the toll of the last two days took hold. The cycle seemed to take forever and every time I looked at the mileage, there didn’t seem to be much difference and I really began to question what I was doing. The tedium forced me to remind myself that I am just three triathlons away from such a major milestone – 50 Olympic-distance triathlons in 50 days – half way to my final goal of 100 in 100 consecutive days.

The 10km run was much easier to cope with than other days though. Even though it was just a couple of degrees warmer, it made a huge difference. The hands were not painful and the bitter wind that sapped my strength was gone.

And after completing number 47 today I even managed to do some stretches that I hope ensures I make it at least to 50.

As I do every day, I paid tribute to those police officers and staff who died on that date. On December 16, they are:

1844 – Police Constable Richard Fairclough – Liverpool Borough Police

1859 – Police Constable Charles Welch – Metropolitan Police

1910 – Sergeant Charles Tucker KPM – City of London Police

1920 – Police Constable Patrick Halford – Royal Irish Constabulary

1920 – Police Constable Ernest Harden – Royal Irish Constabulary

1920 – Police Constable Albert Palmer – Royal Irish Constabulary

1920 – Police Constable Arthur Smith – Royal Irish Constabulary

1980 – Police Constable James Drennan – Royal Ulster Constabulary, GC