Tandem Triathlon

Throughout this blog I (Sam), will be writing in this bold, rather confident typeface.

And I (Ali), will be writing in this relaxed, more elegant font.

A little while ago, Ali and I….

That’s me.

….had an idea that was really quite random.  To take on the Bishop’s Castle Tandem Triathlon. Probably the only Tandem Triathlon in the World. So by default, the British, European and World Tandem Triathlon Championships.  Set in an area of outstanding Natural Beauty in the rolling Shropshire Hills, I was going to take on the 1k swim, tackle the tandem ….

….with me! And I was going to take on the 10k run.  How hard could it be?

We hit a couple of obstacles in the lead up to the race.  Firstly, a team name. 

Double Trouble.

Secondly, a tandem.

A tandem?!?  We haven’t got a tandem?

And thirdly, a chlorine allergy.

There is no way I am swapping to do the swim!

Finally practicing together on the Friday Evening

So in the weeks leading up to the race I managed to source a tandem: an old vintage relic with the gear shifters on the down tube.  I had volunteered myself to pilot the bike so thought I better get some practice in and made Chris sit on the back to avoid looking a bit odd on it on my own.  It didn’t go well. We couldn’t get started, couldn’t stay on it, and made it 100m away from home before Chris decided it was safer to walk home!  Oh well.  At least Ali had assured me she would be practicing daily on the back of a tandem during her week at Centre Parcs.

I had a brilliant week!  Nailed the rapids, rowing boats, high ropes, mountain bike course, several visits to the pancake house (clearly we needed to find out if sweet or salted pancakes were better)......Tandem?

Eventually it was Friday night and Ali and Jonny were here to stay! As the dinner was cooking…

Or rather not cooking, Sam had broken the oven…

we dusted the cobwebs off the tandem and went out for a quick practice.   I quickly established a running commentary such as “3, 2, 1, go,” “just making the gears harder”, “turning right here” and “stopping, stopping, foot down” which I’m sure Ali really appreciated.

Sam's running commentary lasted forever and, if it is possible to do so, just made dinner even later….

After a fantastic evening of eating drinking and yapping away, we were soon up and out early doors to make our way to the race. 

Very happy with our Double Trouble coasters

Bishops Castle - what a friendly place!  As we walked round to check out what was what we first found the registration table and could have gone home happy after getting out personalised coasters! We found the start line, we found the finish, we found the man getting naked in the street in T1...

What T1?

Oh yeah there was no T1.  The swimmers just jumped out of the pool to run round and look for their tandem buddy (me!) waiting for them with the bike.  Back to the naked man....So Mr Speedo there had decided that the best option was to make best use of his tandem buddy to hold up what can only be described as a flannel as he stripped down to his birthday suit before popping on his cycling shorts!  Naturally all of this also happened next to a man dressed as a Nun and another in a pink dress with coordinated Fluro tights!?

I had been really looking forward to the open water 1k swim. However if I’d have read the race details I’d have known it was a pool swim.

The best T1 in the world

In a 20m pool.

Meaning.…

…..50 lengths!

I was drugged up on antihistamine to fight the chlorine and before I knew it I was off. After 20 lengths I got an almighty tap on the head with the float by my lane counter. I had been promoted to the fast lane. Excellent!! I got the giggles with 10 lengths to go as I started thinking about Ali waiting at the mount line. She was probably itching to get going and I tried to speed up a little to go and greet my partner! Out of the swim in 15 minutes, fastest of the females, and I was on my way to the flying mount of the tandem!

So whilst Sam was busy deciding which lane she wanted to swim in, I tried to suss out a bit more about the race. I noticed a few bikes had all started to stand in a row so I checked with the commentator who reassured me "you can start anywhere you like love!"  Of course we could!  Deciding to stick to the spot where Sam had left us (which just coincidentally happened to be next to a large kerb to help us get on the thing, as well as being a few meters in front of everyone else....) I chatted to Derek and explained that I loved running but definitely didn't have a PB in my legs today.  "You won't be PB-ing on that course!"

What did he mean by that? Oh, oh Sam's out! Yes let's go!!!

We're doing it!!!!

The bike mount was a bit…

…..wobbly!

We cycled all of 20m to the end of the car park and then had to get off, turn the bike round to the right, and start again!

We were doing it!!  I didn't take my eyes off my feet for the first 10K and my knuckles were white from holding on so tightly... But we were doing it!  Of course, the most important advantage of having two people on the tandem, is that it means you can really make the most of having someone to talk to all the way round!

Ali was chatting my head off but because of the wind she couldn't quite hear my replies, so the only way to carry on chatting was to turn my head round to carry on the convo!  I sort of forgot about the fact I actually needed to look where I was going!

Not being able to see anything on the back hadn't seemed to bother me much until then!!

My best memory of the bike went a bit like this:

Sam can we free wheel for a minute?

Yes, sure, why?

My feet aren’t on the pedals?

What on earth are you doing?

Ok they’re on.

[5 mins later]

Sam, can we free wheel for a minute?   

The most exciting thing was when we saw other tandems in front of us.  We had not expected this to happen.  Without a word we both picked up the pace and rode past with a cheer!

As we saw more people up ahead, Ali started stroking my bum. "Ali what are you doing?" I'd ask to which she'd say "I'm getting more aero!" Oh God, she's on the drops!

All the chatting and taking in the views meant that before we knew it we were climbing the killer hill for the second time where we overtook a few more people who took the sensible option of getting off and walking.

We'd make it to T2!!

Jonny and Derek seemed amazed to see us! We had done brilliantly! It was a little confusing about what we were supposed to do here so we jumped off the bike and ran (or rather shuffled) with it down a little trail forest.

When can I run, when can I run?

Not yet, we need to rack the tandem. 

The best T2 in the world!

Where’s the racking?

Errr…

I spotted a free patch of grass and shouted “here!” before pushing the tandem to one side and dashing away!

Go Ali Go!!!

I think I got a bit too excited and put on a full on sprint and before I knew it I was hurtling down a pretty steep descent! Which just kept going on....and on! Until then it happened, I was faced with the first of a million hills to climb. If you weren't running down one, you were pulling yourself up.  So this is what Derek meant!!

Still managing to keep some pace and overtake a few, a cheered everyone running back in the other direction of the out-and-back course, however barely got a smile back... What was up there?!  As I finally got to the longest ever 4.5k marker I scrambled up the last steep stretch to the 5k point, very pleased with myself I quickly turned and went flying back down.

Hurry up Ali, I'm freezing!

A couple of minutes later when it started to level out I heard "where are you going?!!"  Very pleased with myself thinking he was just surprised how quickly I'd done it "back down, I've been to the top"  "You're supposed to go over it and back the other side"

Oh bugger.

"Ali, I forgot to tell you - you've got to get back on the bike!"

Once again I was climbing to the top of the summit, and this time carried on to indeed the other side.

Phew, the hills weren't quite so bad on this side but that's when the heavens opened, it was pouring it down and the trail turned to mud. Luckily I was boiling from my extra miles and I was loving it!

Jonny, Derek and I were absolutely soaked and shivering. Hurry up Ali!

Home straight! The km markers came just as slowly as they did on the way out, but finally I was stumbling up and hating the hill that I'd loved so much at the start, ready to put a quick sprint on as I went round the corner for when everyone could see me again.

Then I saw a gazelle in the distance running towards us with steam coming up off her head! FANTASTIC ALI! So I got ready again with the tandem and passed Ali’s helmet to her.

So at this stage you are probably wondering why Sam is passing me my helmet?

Ah yes.

There are many things Sam didn’t tell me about this race – like the fact the run was up a mountain, and she didn’t own a tandem. She also forgot to mention that the race was swim-bike-run-bike.  So we were back on the tandem for the final flourish!

Getting ready for the Final Flourish to the Finish!

By this point all our race nerves had gone and we jumped,

Well err, climbed…

on to the tandem and got going for the last bit.  The roads were soaking from the torrential rain and my hands had gone white because they were so cold so I couldn’t actually feel the brakes. I didn’t tell Ali that.

You never told me that!!!

And before we knew it we were at the finish! What an amazing event! We had smiled, laughed, chatted and giggled from start to finish!

And it turns out we won the women’s event by 36 minutes! We are now unofficial British

European

And world tandem triathlon champions! Haha!!

A huge thank you to Mick for loaning us the tandem, to Jonny and all of Chris’s family and Phil's family for coming to support us, and to the organisers and marshals for a fantastic event. There are so many little quirks to this event, and we would not change a thing!!!  A big well done to Chris and Phil who finished 2^nd in the men’s category, although we could match their speed on the swim and run we couldn't quite match their bike speed (with a bike split that was erm, 20 minutes *cough cough* quicker than ours!) They may be the Tandem Titans this year, but watch out next year boys!

You’re doing the run next year

Thank you Bishop’s Castle Tandem Triathlon.  See you in 2015!

Dambuster Triathlon

The Dambuster Triathlon attracts a high quality field of athletes year upon year....for that reason I have always avoided it like the plague!!! Getting your butt well and truly kicked by super-human athletes never used to be my idea of fun, but this year I was ready to accept the challenge! "The big guns, the Rutland Ripple and the dreaded 10k run, here I come!" (Apparently there would be something to enjoy in there somewhere?)!!!

The week leading up to the race saw me swim in a pool on the Monday (big mistake), run a cheeky sub 20 5k (19:55) feeling awful from the chlorine, and win £10.50 at Royal Ascot on the Horses (I'd like to say a massive thank you to my sponsors KWB Workplace and The Senator Group for treating me to this! Mark & Jacqui I had an amazing time thank you so much!)

As you know training has been horrendous BUT I am feeling much better (at last!)! When I entered this in November the goal was simple....TO WIN! Haha, a girl can dream! By March that had changed to top 5 overall and this week it had changed again to "Just survive!" How hard could it be to survive? (VERY! Trust me!) I also debated whether or not to put my name down for the Standard Distance GB Age Group Team until right at the last minute Mum said "Just do it babe!" So I did!

The night before the race we sat in traffic for about 3 hours, got lost, got hot and bothered and nearly passed out from sheer starvation and the heat from the lorry fumes! Thank God I had Chris and Mum there to keep me sane! We had tea at about 9:30pm in a lovely restaurant and then found our rooms for the night....in a small pub called The Green Man with a live band playing all through the night! Brilliant!

An early start in the morning and I got to do what I do best.....talk! It was lovely seeing everyone and it took me about 2 hours to rack my bike as I kept getting distracted. I'd like to point out at this point I wasn't eating a burger.....it was just the bread (honest!).

Once I was racked it was wetsuit on, goggles on, say good luck to everyone, including Suzie who waves me off...."errr, Suze aren't you racing?!" and off we go to the beach start. With 30 seconds to go Suzie and I are absolutely in the zone, indicated by the picture below!

The hooter went and off we ran into the lake and I stood on the biggest, sharpest rock in the world that took my breath away. Ouch! I pretty much thought about the pain in my foot all the way to the first buoy until the girl I was drafting off did this fancy back stroke turn around the buoy and I thought "ooh er, that was good!" (she did it at every buoy and every time I was impressed as I breast-stroked round!).  On the last straight we started to weave in and out of the older men from the wave before and I got a couple of kicks in the stomach but other than that I loved the swim! It was clear, relaxed, calm. I wondered at times if I should push on but settled in a small pack of four and as the marshall pulled me out of the water he said "Well done, you're 7th lady!" WOW!

The white hat really shows off my tan! Haha!

Off on the bike to take on the Rutland Ripple! I had great company in the form of Claire Shea-Shimmonds who dropped me on every climb, but then I would real her back in and over take her on the flats.  The bike was pretty uneventful and at times pretty lonely.  I knew I was cycling below par but just had to give a measured effort and had somehow moved up to 5th place.  I'm hoping there is a lot more to come on the bike now that I can start training again; it used to be a real strength last year so maybe I can start getting some form back?  A minor panic in T1 when I completely couldn't find where I was supposed to rack my bike (I had run down the wrong row!) and then I was off again on the run. I just had to relax on the run.

I held on to 5th place all the way until 7k which was a big surprise to me.  Sarah Lewis flew past but  I was still third in my Age Group, which I had been right from the word go and at 9.5k I just started to think that I might just hold on for the National Bronze Medal when the lovely Ali Moult went past and gave me a huge cheer. She had run so well to hunt me down from over a 4 minute deficit starting the run and she completed the podium for our Age Group along with Lucy Nell and Suzie Richards (who also finished first and second overall), well done girls!

After the race I was really disappointed to lose 2 places with just 500m to go, finishing 8th overall and 4th in my Age Group. But I was fastest of the non-medallists, which is a bit like winning the B race, and in my primary school years I'd have done anything to win the B race!

We stayed to cheer all the girls on who got their medals before making our way home.  It was great to see Suzie and Ali up on the podium, Jacqui also conquered her Age Group again winning the gold medal - she is just amazing, and Claire who I had been twoing and froing with on the bike had won her Age Group. Well done to all!

With Mark & Jacqui at the finish

In the car I spoke to Mum and Chris about my disappointments and they were both super encouraging (as they always are), and helped put some perspective on it.  All things considered (i.e. illness and lack of training) I had done my absolute best, which is all you can do.  I'm slowly starting to get a bit of form back and I am super encouraged by the support from my friends; people seem to genuinely want me to do well and that means a lot!  Thank you! Also, it turns out that I got the first qualifying slot in the 30-34 Age Group for next years Europeans in Geneva which was a nice surprise!

So, had I challenged myself? Absolutely! I had massively stepped out of my comfort zone! And had I enjoyed it? Yes! I loved the swim, enjoyed the bike, loved the course and most of all, enjoyed seeing so many friends from across the UK. The event was amazing, the organisation was fantastic and I would definitely go back again!

Results - Age Group (4th out of 23), Overall (7th out of 195 finishers) - full results can be found here: http://www.pacesetterevents.com/dambuster-triathlon-live.php

Thanks for reading and happy training! :-)

Blenheim Elite

I first raced at Blenheim Triathlon as part of a relay team in 2009;
I was so excited to go back this year to compete in the elite race.

Chris and I were joined by royalty (aka Suzie Richards, recent winner of the World Duathlon Championships and Slateman) on the Saturday night and we chatted so much (and laughed so much!) that by the time she stopped talking I was completely exhausted and trundled up to bed close to midnight for all of 5 hours sleep before we left for Blenheim Palace in the morning.

So how is Blenheim Elite different to the usual  races I've done?

Blenheim Palace is a stunning location for an event!

Well firstly, it's fast! Incredibly fast! There is no letting up here, these girls mean business! 

Secondly, the elite race is free. And everyone loves a freebie! 

Thirdly, there's prize money....although see point one about having to be really fast! 

And finally, it's a drafting event, meaning after the 750m swim you are allowed to tuck in on the bike for 20km before the run section.  

Now point 4 would be great if you could tuck into a pack of good cyclists as they go much faster than solo riders. But to make that pack you have to be out the swim faster than a mermaid (back to point one!) and if you miss the main pack after the swim, you're race is pretty much over. So with this in mind.....the goal (and the only goal!) was don't mess up on the swim!

So into the water (a lovely 18 degrees), and off we go and I actually (unlike Liverpool elite last year!) held my own! It hurt! It was fast! But I was roughly keeping up in the mix. Out of the water in a huge PB of 10:54.  A good start!

Except Blenheim has a testing 600m run uphill from the lake into T1. At this point Natalie Seymour, Eloise Du Luart & Suzie Richards all overtook me (if you have seen them run, you will now why!).  I initially thought I could make a good cycle pack with them but this soon turned to bitter disappointment when I came into T1 about 10 seconds behind them and watched them all form a group in the distance.  I jumped on my bike but it was too late. They were gone. And because they are super talented and would no doubt work hard in a group, that 10 second deficit turned into around a 4 minute deficit by the end of the bike!

So instead my bike was mostly solo for the first lap, picking off a few other solo riders, going over the T1 run in my head thinking "I was right there!!" and "How did I miss that group?" and "It wasn't even my swim that let me down!"  In between these thoughts I joined a small group of 3 and recruited a few others along the way - with every person we caught they jumped on the back.  Unfortunately the group wasn't very effective at all so it was more like being out for a Sunday jolly.  Looking back I was not tactically smart at all, I towed a lot of people round and let impatience get the better of me, but I learnt so much and got to experience the importance of decision making (or lack of!) in drafting racing.

The run was undulating and tough but in a stunning setting.  Having the palace as a backdrop was amazing!  I eventually crossed the line in a disappointing place of 25th senior elite lady, miles behind the girls I wanted to be racing with, but with bucket loads of positives and memories to take away.

I had a mix of emotions after the race:

1. Relief! Thank god it was over! That run was painful!

2. Euphoria! I was killing myself laughing with Hannah and Suzie shortly after the race and completely forgot all about the pain and decided this was the best day ever! 

3. Disappointment! Once the results were listed I wanted to rub them all out and start again.  I was frustrated to not show what I can really do. 

4. Determination! Once I got home and went for a quick spin on my bike I started to think about how I could use this experience to better myself as a person, and an athlete, and try to bounce back faster for the next one.

So, for me, the best bit of racing is catching up with friends afterwards and it was so nice to see everyone! When I told Chris I was off to get my bike out of transition he knew that would mean an hour of chatting en route to everyone! It was so nice to speak to the girls and I chatted to Kim about her future travels to Kitzbuhel, Kirsty about her wetsuit dilemma, Katie about her massive successes in the French Grand Prix, Hannah about her mad swim dance, Lou about her Pontevedra tip, Natalie & Elo about their Elite debuts, Leanne about her Xterra races and then had a lovely picnic with Chris, Suzie and Suzie's family (thank you for the food!).  I'd like to say a massive well done to all the girls; win, lose or drawer it's the sportsmanship and fast, fair and fun racing that makes it so worthwhile. 

So my final thoughts: I am not an elite triathlete (despite friends at work asking if I am going to race in Rio 2016!!) and so I am extremely grateful to the organisers at Blenheim Triathlon for giving me this experience, it was amazing and I'd love to come back next year! Not all races go how you want them to, but bad races don't define you....they strengthen you. So now it's time for me to practice getting my wetsuit off without removing my timing chip before the next race!

European Aquathlon Championships

After missing the British Triathlon Champs two weeks ago I was so happy to feel well enough to go and race in this event in Cologne, Germany.  Although May has pretty much been a write-off in terms of training, and I had started to feel pretty down as there's only so long you can keep your spirits up for, I was actually really excited to enjoy some girlie time away with Mum and enjoy the city break.  (I have since discovered the cause of my illness......I am allergic to chlorine! It's so bizarre it's funny! I am actually allergic to training! Not the best news for swim training but so happy to have an answer!)

Cologne's Cathedral

Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city after Berlin, Hamburg and Munich (who said this blog wasn't educational?) and is an absolutely beautiful place. It was to host the European Aquathlon event, the first one of it's kind (I think?!) consisting of a 1k swim/5k run. I have not done an aquathlon since 2011 and even that was just a 400m pool swim/3k run so this was something different.  Unfortunately it clashed with the World Duathlon Championships in Pontevedra which I really wanted to do but I knew a duathlon would take too much out of me given my current health so going to Cologne was a chance to race in a country I have never raced in (thus another flag for my nomination bracelet!) and without the faff of packing the bike away it was easy, simple and cheap as chips!

My nomination bracelet showing countries I've raced in -
I still need to buy the Majorca and Portugal flag,
then just 3 more to go until it's complete!

Mum and I travelled with Anna and her Mum on the Thursday and spent the afternoon exploring the sights. We somehow ended up in the Chocolate museum chatting to some rather cool Americans who were visiting from South Carolina.  They asked what brought us to Cologne and when I said "We are here to race in the European Aquathlon" they burst out laughing and said "YOU?!?" Errr...Yes me!! Then they did the whole back-tracking thing and bought our drinks for us (I think they felt bad!)

Cakes Galore!

On the Friday we got the open top bus around the town and visited the city's famous cathedral.  Our race was a leisurely 3pm start on the Saturday which gave us a chance to watch the elite's who were off at 2pm. With the course being in a sort of dock, and the run being two out and backs along the river Rhine, it was great for spectating and fab fun to cheer on my friend Emma who had a cracking race and also Hannah who sprinted her socks off at the end of the run to just miss out on Gold. Super inspiring performances.

Love my mum's photo skills chopping people's heads off!
Here we are learning from the elites what do eat post race....schnitzel?

Thanks to my new approach to races I wasn't nervous at all and just looking forward to getting stuck in. I didn't realise quite how 'stuck in' until the start of the swim when I had someone swimming over me for a good 300m. It was relentless and as I had someone on my other side there was nowhere I could really go.  Eventually she moved away but it took me that long to recover from it that by the time I got to the half way turn around point I realised I hadn't thought about anything to do with my stroke and was swimming with some old bad habits.  The 500m return stretch was much better in terms of having clear water to swim in but I was all by myself analysing the huge  gap that had developed between me and the next swimmer in front and I knew it would be a tall order to make that up!

I'm in the middle pack of three in the top left hand corner desperately trying
 to keep up with super Mermaid Charlotte on my right!

I exited the swim in about 14th place overall in 15 and a half minutes which was about a minute slower than what I expected/wanted. Getting up out of the river was a laugh in itself and I decided to go for the Damsel in Distress act, throwing both arms in the air at the same time, being hauled out by the German Hunks. Great, I'm out. Up some steep steps and I'm into transition with my lovely friend Helen Russell (deja vu from Turkey) and just as I'm about to put my trainers on my timing chip rips off my ankle and flies across transition. A quick dash across transition to retrieve it and I'm off on the run.

Running Happy

I tucked in just behind Helen for the first part of the run not knowing how I would feel thanks to illness etc. She pulled away from me a little but if there's one thing I have been able to train this month....it's my mind....and I used my tips from Chris Janzen at Triathlete Mind to refocus.  The nature of the course meant I could see the race unfold infront of me.  Natalie Thomas was having a storming race and had a clear lead.  Charlotte was about a minute up on me and at the turn around point I could see Kerry in fourth about three quarters of a minute down. It was close! I felt strong and both Kerry and I were running around 19 and a half minute 5k pace, slowly closing Charlotte down but the gap was too big to close. On the start of the second lap I overtook Helen and gave her a shout of encouragement and although I knew I couldn't catch Charlotte I wanted to give it my all.

Job Done!

Crossing the line was amazing, it was fab to be back racing! I had finished 3rd in my Age Group, 5th overall with a solid-ish swim and a great run (which in fact turned out to be half a km long). Not long after, Anna crossed the line with a huge smile on her face to take the silver medal in her Age Group and Mum and I cheered her across the finish line.  We celebrated afterwards with photos and Erdinger Beer.

When it came to the prize presentation, my name was not called out and instead the bronze medal was presented to Kerry who had come fourth.  I'm not normally a drama queen but I was so upset I felt my eyes welling up. I couldn't understand why I was not being presented with the medal that I had raced so hard for?  I tried to explain to the organiser that I had come third and he asked what my race number was. I told him I was number 119 to which he replied "you did not race!" I most definitely had raced but it turned out my timing chip hadn't worked.  I then tried to explain to the girls who were giving the medals out that I had come third but they probably didn't want to cause a scene as everyone was applauding and cheering. Kerry could see my protests and was really gracious in presenting the medal to me as it was an honest mistake and she gave me a big hug which helped calmed me down a little!

Feeling completely out of place getting my medal
Loving the pom pom girl though!

Afterwards Helen, who speaks fluent German, managed to explain to the organisers that I did race and could vouch for where I came in the race, as could the other competitors,  so to make things easier they gave me the same time as Helen minus two seconds, which although not 100% accurate, suits me absolutely fine, and I was so grateful to Helen for her help as she went to so much trouble to help me! Thank you!

So with a certificate and medal in hand it was time to celebrate with the other GB athletes. We hit the town and in true scouse style, hit McDonalds in the early hours of the morning!  On the last few days we enjoyed a boat trip down the River Rhine, shopping in some German Markets and I found a love for running again getting in some relaxed jogs before it was time to go home.

A very informative sign on our open top bus tour!

I'd like to say a massive well done to everyone who competed. It was a great event and although it was a much smaller scale than usual, the quality of athletes was still high - so high in fact that anyone in my Age Group could have competed with the elites and not come last! Massive congrats to Natalie & Charlotte who took the Gold and Silver in my race and also to Kerry who pushed me every step of the way, you will be on that podium next time! Huge well done to Anna and Helen (and thank you for your help!), to Mary for being lovely company and cheering me on, Dermot & Bill for getting me on the start line (your patience with me is much appreciated!) and finally, Chris and Mum who are just the best!

Absolutely love my Mum!

The day after my race I got some fabulous news that three of my most favouritist people in the world medalled at the World Duathlon Champs in Pontevedra.  Jacqui won the GOLD in the sprint distance, Jess (who I have been coaching for the last 8 months) went from (in her words) "a fatty bum bum to a BRONZE medallist" (also in the sprint distance) and Suzie aka BIG SUZ won the GOLD in the standard distance! Chris and Alister also made their World Championship Debuts and I sent them all tons of love & congrats vibes from Sunny Cologne!

So next on the list for me is Blenheim Elite on Sunday. I am totally there to make up the numbers but if you fancy seeing someone coming last and enjoying every moment of it, then come and support me on Sunday at 8:55am!

Enjoying the Journey

I came across this picture and it really made me stop and think.  I have been very focused through the winter with my training, getting up in the dark mornings and training late after work with the 2014 race season very much in mind.  There was a big emphasis for me on goals and outcomes and now that illness has struck it's hard to not feel like it was all a waste of time. In fact pretty much all of my races so far have been done feeling under par and I have finally been referred to a specialist to help sort out the infection on my voicebox that just won't go (this makes talking quite painful which is a bit of a problem for me!). So not knowing what the rest of the season has stored for me I've decided to embrace this part of my journey and accept it for what it is; and also reflect on my journey so far.  Once I got thinking about it I remembered some tales that have made the journey seriously good fun.

My Top 10 funny Tales

1. A few years ago I drove for an hour to my nearest lake for some open water swim training and by the time I got there realised I had forgotten my wetsuit, swam anyway and got hypothermia. So as to not make the same mistake the next time I drove to the lake in my wetsuit but completely forgot I had no petrol.  Filling up on the forecourt in full neoprene caused a few funny looks! #Brilliant!

2. At my first ever TT I wondered what these strange species of men were doing dressed head to toe in lycra with pointy helmets. I had arrived in my best red hotpants as pictured below. The race was a little painful and it was a while before I wanted to get back on a bike again! #Ouch

Time Trialling Hot Pants??

3. For some strange reason I turned up at my first half-ironman still drunk from the night before. Nothing like good preparation! My false eyelashes stuck to my goggles and I couldn't get my wetsuit off for fear of breaking a false nail! Part way into the bike course, still with a lap to go I called it a day and returned to transition, only to be announced by the commentator as the first female back with the crowds going wild and applauding! #Embarrasing!

4. At quite a low key duathlon a couple of years ago there was only the smallest amount of racking available. When I asked where the racking was for my bike I was told "there's plenty of trees to lean it against".  The mount line was a twig in the grass (that got kicked throughout the race) and the official loos were a bush in the forest! #KeepingItSimple

5.  Apparently at a TT you can only clip your feet into your pedals with 30 seconds to go.  I wish someone had told me this before I clipped in too early - with no-one holding the bike it was quite an embarrassing slow motion fall to the floor and as I was lying there trying to un-clip wriggling like some sort of fish out of water (to the amusement of those in the queue behind me) I got the countdown of 3...2....1....Go #Ooops

6.  There have been many races where Mum has said to me "I've got some great action shots of you!" only to find later on that all the shots she got were of men. "Is that not you?!" she would later question! Haha, maybe I need to apply more make up whilst racing! #manly

"I've got a good picture of you Sam!"

7.  At my second half-ironman race (this time I was sober) I leaned against the racking running out of T2 for the whole thing to collapse! Thousands of pounds worth of carbon fell like dominoes into the slush mud pit of a field.  Needless to say I have never run out of T2 quite so fast! #Sorry

8.  On a training trip to Lake Annecy I was persuaded to believe that they put dye in the lake to make it so blue.  I was really intrigued by this and wondered how people swam in the lake without coming out looking like a smurf.  #TrueBlue

9.  In my first attempt at the British Champs back in 2010 I punctured and felt like the world had ended.  Sat on the side of the road crying I was picked up by a marshal in his van.  He tried to console me as I blubbered "but you don't undeeeeeerstaaaaannnndddd!" accompanied with a whole host of tears and snot.  So after a little while he asked me where I wanted to go and when I replied "transition" he asked, "so what's that then?" Uh Oh!!!! Turns out I had got into a random red van with a random man and was enjoying a random trip around Milton Keynes! #Random

10. Finally,my friend was once telling me how for an ironman he likes to save time on going to the loo so made the customary item of clothing below to suit his needs! #Genius

Ah well. Even the elite women get it wrong sometimes.The video below never fails to make me laugh! Let's just hope like me, they are enjoying the journey! 

Lisboa Triathlon

Battle of The Sexes

My good friend Jenny had recommended The Lisboa Triathlon to me after she narrowly missed out on the title last year (beaten only by an Olympian!) It makes for a fantastic day of racing with a Kids Event, a 70.3 Half-Ironman and an Olympic Plus - which is the event Chris, Jacqui, Mark and I opted for. Otherwise known as 'The Battle of The Sexes' the women receive a headstart from the men and it's the first 3 across the line, regardless of gender, that take the glory. It has never been won by a woman before and it was our chance to give the guys a run for their money (although we did not quite realise how much money.....more about that later!)

Whilst my last race at the European Duathlon had gone really well, I had pretty much had 4 weeks of no training thanks to tonsilitis without the tonsils (yep, apparently it can happen!). 56 antibiotics and 4 boxes of strepsils later I did a few tentative sessions in the few days before we flew out to Portugal which were quite frankly, hideous! I couldn't even run around the block without walking. I also realised I was a whopping 4kg over race weight. Fortunately in Women's Health Magazine it had an article on how to shed that extra 4kg (although it did not recommend doing it over 4 days!) Ah well, it was a chance for sun, sea and sand and if I couldn't race, what better place to spectate!

My excuse for being a little on the heavy side

We stayed in the VIP Arts Hotel, which was also acting as the Race Hotel and had a great time wondering the streets of Lisbon taking in the culture. We had a day to build our bikes, suss out the swim and acclimatise to the heat (something I am not very good at - my perfect weather conditions for a race are more along the lines of a wet and windy Bala!). The race itself was very well thought out and the organisers even offered a race briefing the day before and a Pasta Party. With athletes flying in from Canada, Brazil, Morocco, Finland, Mozambique, it really was an international triathlon at it's best!

Race Day came and I was surprisingly calm.  I was so calm I actually forgot I was racing. I popped a couple of strepsils for breakfast and then spent the morning laughing with Jacqui who couldn't get out the lift quick enough with her bike and ended up yo-yo-ing between floors for most of the morning before she could make her exit! (When you laugh this hard you probably don't need to do sit ups for a week!)

With a simple transition check in (and some rather posh name labels) it wasn't long before we were good to go! The swim was a deep water start and the women gathered between the buoys all eager to go. The hooter sounded and we were off. How exciting! I had a good start and after a while realised there was no-one with me. WOW! I was out in the lead on my own!  The TV crew on their boat pulled up along side me and seemed to be zooming in with their cameras so I tried to give them a wave but this is harder than I thought and after two attempts I went back to swimming normally! Back on land Chris and Mark were watching, waiting for the men's start. They later told me how they could see one girl streaks ahead on the swim who was "fantastic" - you can imagine my delight when I told them that the lead swimmer out in front was me! The swim felt effortless and as I got out the water to run up the ramp I had a cheeky look back to see the gap (it was over a minute to the first pack, and just shy of 2 minutes to the next). The crowd went absolutely wild, banging railings and pans and cheering. I felt like a celebrity!

Out in first!
You can just see the next swimmer coming round the last yellow buoy

A quick T2 and off I went over the cobbles to start the bike section. It was during this time that I thought "this race is amazing!" Firstly I had the lead motorbike next to me. Secondly I had another motorbike that was like the papparazzi snapping away! And thirdly the bike leg was on a freeway completely closed to traffic in Lisbon City Centre on a Saturday afternoon! Things like this just don't happen in the UK! A quarter of the way through the bike when I made a 180 turn was the first chance I had to see how far behind everyone else was. As I came whizzing back the first person I saw was Jacqui! I gave her a huge cheer as she worked up the climb to the turnaround point. Then all I saw was tarmac, tarmac and more tarmac. Our lead was huge! A little later on when the men came into view I nearly fell off my bike when Mark cheered for me as he went zooming past the other way. Onto lap 2 and the bike was still going well.  I didn't have the power or the edge that I would have liked but given how ill I have been I was pleased to just maintain a constant speed and take confidence that when training starts, the speed will come.

Despite having the lead motorbike I still managed to go wrong on the bike twice!!  The first time I didn't mind too much as I just had to turn around quickly and get going again in the right direction but the second time was when I had completed the bike section (2 laps for the Olympic Plus) they turned my bike to send me on a third lap (as the 70.3 athletes had to complete 4 laps!) After a quick bit of panic and confusion they then let me go again but with my feet already out of my bike shoes and a bumpy cobbled path it was tough to get going again for the final 150m stretch! Back into transition there were more huge cheers and waiting for my arrival was the marshal on his bike who would be leading the way for the first runner.

Posing with the marshal who lead the way for the first runner

So the run. Ah, the run. The definition of a run is to "move at a speed faster than a walk, never having both or all the feet on the ground at the same time." With that in mind I think it is safer to call mine a bum shuffle!!  It was not my finest hour!!!  Gone were my legs that raced a sub 19 min 5k 4 weeks ago. This was quite simply, a case of survival. The run was made up of many dog legs so plenty of opportunities to see the other athletes. It was great to see that Jacqui was still in second and I knew she would catch me, it was just a case of when. I probably only held on for about 2k until she trotted past and I shouted "Go Love! Run like the wind! Do it for the girls!" (at least that's what it sounded like in my head - It was probably more of a grunt accompanied with some flying snot in reality!) I spent most of the run thinking I could be on the beach with a pina colada (or two!) and wanted this agony to be over. Towards the end of the first lap I thought I better start getting my brain into gear as there was still no sign of the third lady or the leading man. When the men did come into sight we still had a huge lead and Mark again cheered (he had way too much energy!) "Hold onto that podium Sami!" Being an Olympic Plus, the bike and run sections were longer than that of a normal Olympic Distance and I really felt it with every metre extra!

Tired is an understatement!

Eventually the finish came into sight. I knew Jacqui would be waiting for me so the first thing I did as I came into the finishing shoot was give her a huge wave (before collapsing into a heap in some shade!). Less than 60 seconds later, the first man (Dave from GBR) came in to complete the podium - I was so lucky to hold on for second after his fast finish! What an event! We didn't have to wait long before Chris finished in 10th place (recording the fastest bike split by some 3 minutes!) and I'm pleased to say I finally got my breath back to re-pay the cheers as Mark crossed the line with a huge smile on his face!

On the Podium! Girl Power!
Huge congrats to Jacqui & Dave

We wanted to stay to watch the 70.3 event but unfortunately we had to check out of our hotel as we were off for part 2 of the holiday over in a beach resort so had to dash off after our podium shots. As I was packing I was keeping an eye on the News Feed for the PRO women as I knew Alice Hector who was racing. The feeds mentionned a French and a Portugese girl but no sign of Alice until eventually they commented "Apologies to those who are following but it seems #16 is the current female leader (and has been all day until now)." It seems the organisers didn't know who she was.....well they do now! Hot on the heels of winning the Israman, Alice came home to win the Lisboa 70.3 title which was a fantastic result and it's great to follow her successes. (You can read more about her race here).

Post race celebrations

For the last few days of the holiday we went over to Costa de Caparica which was a lovely little place by the beach. I finally got my Pina Colada and we reminisced about the events of the last few days. We popped into the Old Town of Lisbon to absorb some culture and take as many photos as humanly possible! It wasn't until one evening when browsing the race results that we saw that the winner of the Battle of the Sexes Race won a whopping €750!!! WOW! You have never seen someone reach for the phone so quick so that we could contact the race organiser to arrange for Jacqui to collect her prize money and for me to collect my trophy! Jac and I are not elite athletes, and are not accustomed to winning money, so you can imagine my delight when Jacqui shared her winnings with me.....which was completely unexpected and the thought of a shopping trip to Lisbon that evening to shop like we have never shopped before made me burst into tears! What a lucky girl I am (Thank you Jacqui!! xx)

Lisbon

So I'd like to thank Jenny for recommending the race. I'd also like to thank my usual support crew and sponsors; we had a fantastic time. I'd like to also say a massive well done to Jacqui, the photos of her finishing lifting the banner are amazing and an experience I hope she will cherish always. You'll be able to read about Jac's race here.  A big well done also to Chris, finishing in the top 10 at his first ever open water triathlon is amazing (& without the headstart I wouldn't have beaten him!) And finally a big well done to Mark, who doesn't always get to race all that much as he's too busy looking after us, so well done to him on his first tri of the season too!  Unfortunately I'm not out of the woodwork yet in terms of being healthy, but I'm hoping that one event soon I'll actually be able to race at 100%!

My final thought of the blog: If you are looking for something new, or something different, I would highly recommend this event.  Whatever level of ability, there is something here for everyone.  It's easy to get to, cheap to enter, extremely well organised and the race venue and course is just fantastic. The 10th edition of this race takes place on 2nd May 2015 and race entries are already open. Why not give it a try? 

http://www.lisboatriathlon.com/

European Duathlon Championships

Powerman, Netherlands
Sunday 13th April 2014

Well I can safely say that getting a silver medal at the European Duathlon Champs completely exceeded my expectations. What a lovely surprise! This might have been because I didn't have any expectations! In fact, my approach was completely different to this race and I was calm, happy and a little more ready to accept whatever will be will be.  It was also a huge surprise because the lead up to the race had not gone swimmingly to say the least and I'd like to share a few quotes with you to sum this up:

"Put the ghosts of last year to bed, this is a new season with new athletes on a new course". 

These wise words were spoken by Mark Phillips who in his sixth sense could tell a few months ago that I was not up for this race. In 2013 I had been bitterly disappointed with my race, I had been riddled with illnesses and I was frustrated by my result. I was worried that going back to race the same event in the same place would bring back these disappointing memories. Actually, Mark helped me to see it as an opportunity to be a real athlete and overcome the adversity I had faced last year.

"You run OK for a busty girl." 

It's funny that despite coming from a running background, running is my weakness. I ran on the track (first sprinting, then middle distance) from the age of 8 but I am by no means a natural runner. I did it because I loved it. I made great friends and had some great times. But throwaway comments from running coaches along the way do stick. When you're told you're too big to be a runner, you don't have the right physique or you need to shift a few kilos.....it sticks! Despite the encouragement from more recent running clubs I have joined (including the fabulous athletes at Northbrook and TRiKS), I still regarded myself as a poor runner....maybe now I will finally let go of that belief!

"It's just post-viral fatigue, you'll be fine if you rest for 3 weeks". 

I have felt rotten, as in really rotten, ever since Oulton Park and my new coach Dermot and I have had many discussions about what training I should and shouldn't do....which as the weeks went by turned into whether I should or shouldn't race. In the end we decided not to decide. I felt quite relieved by that and I packed my bags for Holland with an open mind. By the weekend I said to Dermot I felt up to racing and he simply said "Agreed" so I knew he believed I was capable of a good race despite the setbacks. This, if anything, may have been a blessing in disguise as I had no pressure, no hopes, I was just simply happy to be racing.  I also received some really nice messages via Twittersphere from Big Suz (@suzie_richards), Kate (@norwichkate) and Elysia (@elysiaridley) who also believed I would do well. (Thank you!)

The race was not until 2pm on Sunday afternoon so I had some time to ride my bike, do some yoga, and complete some crosswords on the Sunday morning whilst our friend Russell took on the long distance course. This was his GB debut and he came in just outside the top 10 in a fantastic time, which he was really chuffed with. He then made up part of the chief supporting crew also including my Mum, Mark (Jacqui's husband) and Zoe & Natalie (Phil's wife and baby!).

Number 1 fan - Mum (the others are comparing maps!!!)

New additions to our support crew - Zoe and Natalie!

From left to right: Russell, Chris, Me, Jacqui and Phil

With about 5 minutes to go to the start we huddled in the starting pen that made us seriously claustrophobic! We were packed in so tight that my nose was right up a man's armpit! I must admit I felt a little sick! I was tucked in just behind Jacqui and there was a lot of pushing and shoving going on. As the horn went off and we got away, Jacqui absolutely flew off into the distance like a gazelle and I knew that would be the last time I saw her! Here it was time for me to exercise real discipline and I remembered what I had planned with Bill & Dermot and discussed with Chris. "You're not interested in the first run!" Don't get me wrong, I wanted to run well, but I did not want to commit 100% to the speed and instead wanted to run within myself so that I could really race the bike and second run. This was hard to do with so many girls going past but I had an inner-belief that it would all come together on the day. The run was so incredibly fast but I felt good and came into T1 in 18:53.

Running fast, feeling relaxed

Out onto the bike and I was weaving past people through the windy roads of Horst. Once out of the town the bike was very much a 300m fast sprint section, followed by a 90 degree corner, then another short fast sprint section and another corner. It was time to exercise goal 2 of committing to the corners (last year I was terrible on this bike course). It seemed to be going pretty well apart from a couple of scary moments where I thought I wasn't going to make it! I felt better having spoken to Jacqui afterwards who said she too ended up in a field!  

The bike was going relatively well. I knew the German Maria was up ahead of me but other than that I wasn't sure where I was coming. As I was faffing around with a gel my good friend and fellow Brit Suzy Robinson overtook me. Suzy is a fantastic cyclist and was going really well after a week of warm weather training in Majorca. Last year she caught me on the dismount line so she was having a great race to catch me a little earlier this year.  I was just about to give her a shout of encouragement when I noticed the Dutch girl Dieuwertje also overtake me, closely behind Suzy.  I had lost 2 places in the space of 5 seconds and needed to refocus. My attacking of the corners was going well until I hit a cone to do a 180 degree turn which I completely ballsed up and then took ages trying to clip my foot back in again. Refocus. Concentrate. Produce the power. I was soon approaching the twisty roads of Horst again and slipped my feet out my shoes as I approached the dismount line.  I could see Dieuwetje and Suzy having a bit of a nightmare on the dismount line and as I hopped off and ran past I saw Suzy having some sort of battle with her shoes, half attached to the bike and half itching to run into T2. 

Negotiating the corners

I racked my bike quickly, helmet off, trainers on, and despite being the last one into transition, I was the first one out. Russell yelled "you absolutely nailed them in transition!" and then another supporter yelled "come on Sam, let's do this shit!" I was buzzing from our mini race within a race, I had no idea what position we were battling it out for, or how far behind Suzy and Dierwertje were but I felt happy, positive and strong. I worked hard on the second 2.8k run. Going round the final bend I got a cheer from Greg (Suzy's boyfriend) and Jessica Earp (who had started our race but must have got into some difficulty & I thought she was a true sport staying to cheer us on), and it was only then that I allowed myself to look behind me to see clear ground. I grabbed the GB flag and really enjoyed the final stretch into the finish.

Finishing stretch

As I crossed the line and got my breath back I waited there to see who would be next. I was keeping everything crossed for Suzy, not only because she is my friend but also because I felt she had put in a really gutsy performance and deserved it. A few seconds later and I could see a runner coming into view......it was Suzy! I cheered her as she crossed the line and got a lovely sweaty hug! It wasn't until she said "Where did you come?!" that I thought, "I think we've only gone and got in the medals!!" I'd normally ask my Mum but because I wasn't expecting anything I'd told her not to bother counting the women! Maria, the German who had won, came over to give us a big hug and congratulate us on our second and third place!!! We still weren't sure if it was true or not, in fact it wasn't until ages later when we saw the results printed in black and white that we allowed ourselves to believe it! It was fabulous to share the podium with Maria and Suzy and I was absolutely over the moon with silver.

Podium Girls

The day went from great to greater when I reliased Team Mate Jacqui had defended her title to win the European Gold for the second year on the trot! She was the only woman to do this and I can honestly say she never ceases to amaze me! My other half Chris made his GB debut to finish 20th which I thought was amazing, although he was disappointed to lose 10 places on the second run. When I put it into perspective for him (he had a whole load of beers the night before....and the night before that), I think he could reflect on it a bit more positively. And finally Chris' cousin Phil had finished in 7th place in his race, which was again, another brilliant GB debut.

Jacqui on her way to becoming European Champion (again!)

We train hard, we laugh harder!

Now I know I haven't won an Oscar or anything, and at the risk of taking myself too seriously I just wanted to say a couple of big Thank Yous. Firstly to Dermot, I know I'm not the easiest person to work with and I really appreciate your help and commitment to me. Bill and Pam, thank you for having pride in how far I have come and faith in how far I can go. Chris Janzen of Triathlete Mind for getting me in a winning mind set, I am loving my new approach!! Mum, Mark, Russ, Zoe and Natalie for all of your support on the day (and of course in the lead up to the event Mum), I always said spectating is harder than racing! Mark, Jacqui, Russell & Phil for making the trip so much fun. The other athletes for making it a great event, it's always nice to catch up with friends from all over the UK and Europe too. And finally Chris, who nearly ran past me on the first 5k without acknowledging me and then ran back to say "I love you!" You have redeemed yourself! Thanks for everything you do for me.

The gang!

The European Duathlon Championships, both this year and last year, taught me that sometimes things go your way, and sometimes they don't. Sometimes you get the success you've worked for, and sometimes you don't. But if you make that decision to try, if you continue to persevere and bounce back, then one day I'm sure, you'll come out on top.