World Triathlon Championships

What an honour and a privilege to race a World Triathlon Championships on home turf in Hyde Park! This race had been at the back of my mind ever since I qualified back in June by winning the British Champs.  I was so nervous in the lead up to the race but on race morning I woke up to this text from my nephews....

"Go Go Go Auntie Sam! We are on our way!"

....how could I be nervous? I had to go out there and enjoy it!

On the pontoon the weather was typically British....drizzly rain - although not quite as bad as the Worlds in Budapest back in 2010! I plonked myself on the pontoon next to Suzy Robinson and then a few empty boxes either side of us to give ourselves room (what a luxury!).  Good tactic I thought.  The hooter went and off we started but I had no-one to draft off. No-one to my left, no-one to my right. Where was everyone? A bit of a lonely swim until I got a clout round the head at the first buoy and then I found some feet. Out of the water in 15th place, an excellent start....except I didn't feel so good, I'm normally pretty tired after the swim but this was different....

Over 70 girls get ready to line up on the pontoon for the World Triathlon start

....hauling myself out the water I started the long run (500m?) to T1. This is where I realised that I felt absolutely terrible.  I wasn't ill, I had had good preparations going into the race, but something wasn't right. I began what felt like a hand-assisted crawl up the grassy slope to my bike. My legs were heavy, my arms were heavy, even my head felt heavy, my neck ached, I felt a bit not with it.....(I have since come down with a sore throat and general aching so wondering if this was the onset of it)?  Mind over matter I told myself.....

Really trying to dig in on the bike

.....onto the bike and things went from bad to worse, I felt terrible. The support from the crowd was absolutely immense and I had so many friends cheering it was incredible. Check out the home-made banner from my friends.....That's what made me dig in!

The support from the crowd was amazing - thank you!

I somehow managed to claw back 12 places and returned to T2 with 2 other athletes putting us in 3rd, 4th and 5th place.  What an exciting position to be in! A real shot of the medals!

Clawing back the places

Except those weren't the thoughts that were going through my mind. I was in so much pain with a swollen stomach, I either looked 8 months pregnant or like I'd had one too many trips to Maccy Ds.  The pain was debilitating.  For those of you who read this blog you will know how much I have suffered for the last 2 seasons with a mysterious stomach condition! It's definitely some sort of food intolerance, but when accompanied with nerves and racing hard it massively escalates.  I have been running really well recently with an 18:59 5k just 2 weeks ago, and mile reps in training off the bike all at sub 5:50 pace last week so that's all I needed to do to achieve my much sought after world championship medal.  But it wasn't to be....

Onto the final 5k

The support kept me going and I dug in deep to try to show character and spirit but the other athletes, along with my medal hopes ran away from me.  I dropped back to 7th place by the end of the run.  In fact I was lucky to hold on to 7th as there were some fast finishing athletes.  The biggest disappointment was that I hadn't felt like myself from start to finish.  I crossed the line and thought "Don't cry!" "Don't cry!" and thankfully I was quickly picked up by the other British Age Groupers who were congratulating me and full of smiles.  What a lovely bunch they are!  My race was won by elite athlete Emma Holt who absolutely smashed it and was a different class to the other Age Groupers, I think she will achieve big things in her triathlon career.

Even the best in the world have bad days.
This is such a sad picture we took of Gwen Jorgensen crashing out of the finals.

A few moments later and I was reunited with Chris, my family and friends (some of whom had traveled so far to cheer me on!).  I was sorry not to give them a better show on the day but I had tried my best.  I later congratulated a winner of another age group to then overhear him say to his mate "Oh that's Sam Anderson, she's alright but she hasn't got it mentally" - talk about kicking a man when they're down!  I beg to differ and will let my results this year do the talking.  It has still been my best season to date and I'm more encouraged than before to achieve more in 2014.   

Ladies at lunch! My friends picking me up - thank you!
(And well done to Anna in her World Aquathlon Race! Bring on 2014!)

Anyway, there was no time to wallow in self-pity as my team mate Jacqui was racing in the 45-49 Age Group.  With a British and European Title already under her belt she raced her socks off to clinch the silver medal, just a few seconds behind an Ex-Olympic Gold Medallist!!! What a performance!  If you ever want to watch an athlete consistently come up with the goods you need to watch Jacqui race, she is incredible.

My team mate and World Siver medallist Jacqui
(beaten only by an ex- Olympian who was into EPO doping)

In 2 weeks time I will be racing with Jacqui as a 2-up pairing in the Duo Normand Time Trial in France. At least there's no running involved in that and if I feel awful I can sit on her wheel the whole way and have a breather (and a chat, which we seem to be pretty good at!).  Well done to everyone who raced this weekend in London, congratulations if you achieved your dreams, and if you didn't I hope it spurs you on for next year.  There are too many people to thank who have helped me love every second of this season - you know who you are - thanks for your support. xxx

Bike shoes, Bee stings and Beginning the Countdown

August is always that time of year that I'm about ready to hang up my trainers and kit in favour of a rest and non-triathlon related hobbies, but with less than 3 weeks to go till my last race of the season (The World Champs at Hyde Park) I've been training consistently.....and learned a thing or two along the way.  Here's what I've learned:

1. Never underestimate how difficult it is to buy bike shoes

I've been trying since June! I must have exceedingly large feet for a lady! Some finally arrived in time for the relays but were too small and all my toes were squished so they are no good.  Thankfully I have lovely friends rallying round in the quest to buy some size 7 tri specific bike shoes before the worlds.  Fingers crossed I won't be on the bike in London in trainers (although that will make for quick transition times).  Sorry to everyone who has had to put up with my moaning about the bike shoes!!!

2. Always check you have underwear on before stripping completely

My team mate Caroline stripped at the relays not realising she didn't have a crop top on underneath. She found the whole thing hilarious (she has a wicked sense of humour) and needless to say the men around us were loving it too!

3. Tri Camp's Camps are hard but fun!

I went on a training camp last weekend with Tri Camp.  Being the tough cookie that I am I thought I would find it easy.....how wrong was I!!?!? A brilliant training location with loads of mad people, lots of fabulous gluten free food and so much to learn about technique, training and nutrition.  Find out more about their future camps here and get involved:  http://www.tricamp.co.uk/

4. Don't walk or run with your mouth open

I either have a very large gob or walk and run round completely gormless with my mouth wide open as I swallowed a bee yesterday and it stung me on my windpipe on the way down. I have never been in so much pain! Rather dramatically we rushed to hospital and my dramatic panic attack led to hospital staff wheeling me in to treat me straight away but I live to tell the tale and actually it's a whole lot better today!!

5. Don't swim with your mouth open

(seems to be a theme here)?  I swam into some sort of underwater tree branch in the River Wye on a training session.  It completely missed my hands, arm and face but instead went straight for my front tooth and chipped it slightly.  Not so much painful, just a major shock, cue crying, flapping and panicking in the water and waiting for the lovely Heather Jackson to come and save me!!

6. The best things about triathlon are the friends you make along the way

With races, holidays and general busy times it had been a while since I'd trained with my partner in crime, fellow British and European Champion, Jacqui Phillips.  We've managed to get together a few times recently to train for the Worlds and also a 2-up that we are doing in France at the end of the season, we started off our 2 ups a bit all over the place but we are definitely getting quicker now!  

7. Non-swimmers can become swimmers!

There is hope for all us runners/cyclists out there! I've been working hard on my swimming and it's paying off.  At times (i.e. last out the water at Liverpool) I've thought about maybe forgetting the swim altogether and concentrating on running and biking but in recent weeks it seems to be coming together, alleluia! I'm always off the same leg at the National Club Relays so can directly compare my time year upon year, if my swim continues to improve at this rate I may even be first out the water next year (a girl can dream)!?!?

	Swim	Bike	Run	Total
2011	9:26	23:38	21:12	54:16
2012	8:34	23:40	19:48	51:52
2013	7:05	23:53 (I’m blaming the bike shoes)	19:11	50:12

8. Get inspired by others 

I love hearing of others successes. I also love the pic below with 2 inspirational ladies from the Club Relays - Kat Berry who won the Trade Team event overall (well done!) and Kate Scotter who insanely raced both morning and afternoon!

9. Apparently technique is involved in running too!

I've learnt so much about technique in swimming and cycling but this is the first time I've ever really thought about technique in running.  I think this along with some good core work and plyometrics may be a useful thing to work on in the winter.  I've even had a go at some barefoot running recently!

10. Don't be a second rate version of someone else, be a first rate version of yourself

With less than 3 weeks to go till the World Champs it's easy to get caught up with what everyone else is doing and I'm terrible for thinking "If only I could swim like her or run like her".  But actually everyone comes with their own strengths and I can only be the best version of myself so that's what I intend to be.  I'm mega excited for the last tri of 2013 and also (rather geekily) very excited to plan for next season!  The picture below shows me happy and relaxed before the relays talking to my friend Holly, enjoying what this sport is all about, racing hard, socialising hard and enjoying the journey along the way.

Lake Logic Olympic

Well I have massively struggled to stay motivated this month and have tried everything and anything to get that spring back in my step. Things have been done without enthusiasm recently which is so unlike me! At first I tried to get inspired again by buying new kit but when my cycle shoes arrived and were too small and then a new swimming cossy came that was for the size of a 6 year old I still wasn't feeling the love for training (although today my new Nike Frees arrived from Hong Kong although I think they might be fake! Haha! Typical!)

Buying new kit to help with the mojo

My next attempt was to persevere and make training even harder and come out the other side but when I set off for my 3 hour ride last Sunday and turned around after just 15 minutes to head back home I knew that wasn't going to work! Last week I put my costume on to swim at 6am and then got back into bed still in my cossy (sexy!) as I reeeally didn't want to swim! I bought a new Ipod to replace the one I lost (I sound like I've won the lottery recently!) but even being reunited with my Scouse House wasn't enough. I booked in to see Jai at Total Immersion to learn new things and whilst that was absolutely fabulous (see his services here) I still didn't feel like running and cycling.  So feeling uninspired, unfit, lazy, lethargic and pretty darn useless I did what most normal people would do.....entered a race!

Completely relaxed before the race because I didn't think I'd get round

I chose an Olympic Distance one close to home as I'm not so good at that distance so there was no pressure or expectation.  I was also competing against my friend Anna, other half Chris and Chris' cousin Phil who formed a pretty impressive relay team and so I thought it would be a good laugh to go and take them on!  We also had my mum, Chris's mum and dad, Anna's friend and my friend Simon from work to come and watch!

Chris forming part of the dream team

It was quite a small event and quite different to all the other ones I've done this year - the main difference being that there was no sunshine! And it wasn't an afternoon start that I have become accustomed to! The swim was a non-wetsuit swim (whaat!? couldn't believe it!) and Anna and I went head to head! I loved the swim (Jai can you believe that - see previous blogs, I hate swimming!) and was out the water first closely followed by Anna. On to the bike and I had no speed whatsoever. I had to borrow some wheels as the puncture I had tried to fix following the mid-week time trial had been unsuccessful and I seemed to be telling myself that my back wheel was rubbing on my frame. I was trying to look down to see but nope, it wasn't rubbing, I was just that slow! The 42k cycle took me 1 hour 11! Shocking! I was hoping for at least a sub 1 hour 5! Chris flew past me as if I was stationary (he got the fastest bike split of course!). To be fair to myself it was blowing a gale and whichever way you turned you were cycling into a fierce headwind. Off onto the run and still in first place, I took on the 6 lap 10k! 6 laps!! How mentally tough is that! It was an off road run around the lake and quite twisty and bendy (and muddy at this point thanks to the torrential rain, my poor pink Nike trainers!) The little hill on lap one was like Mount Everest by lap 6 and my severe lack of mojo and run training definitely showed here. I ran a 41:05 and although I couldn't run any quicker at the time I felt remarkably OK at the finish.

Phil had completed the dream team and ran a sub 35 10k!!! That is mightily impressive considering he runs once a year! So Anna, Chris and Phil had dominated the event by winning in fine style! I was excited to receive my first place prize after finishing in 2:18:50 but then realised there would be no prize giving as the results were to be merged with Saturday's race and then prizes would be sent out.  How bizarre is that? Not only was it a bit of an anticlimax not being able to celebrate and cheer on others getting their prizes but the weather and conditions from Saturday to Sunday couldn't be more different. So it turns out I didn't win after all as there was a faster athlete called Leanne from the day before. It would have been good to go head to head with Leanne in a proper race on the same day as the only time we have raced before at the British Champs I held on for the win and I thrive on being tested to the line. Being the good sport that I am though I will still accept my 2nd place plaque in the post (but will still tell everyone else I won! Haha!) Nevertheless the race helped me get my love for exercising back - it was good just getting out and racing again, being with my friends and family and proving to myself that I'm not the unfit slug I seem to think I am!

Ha! Looking a bit moody at the finish but I did enjoy it!

So what next to get back on track? A rest! There's no point fighting it, if I want to rest, I'll rest.  On Friday it will be 5 weeks exactly till RACE DAY in London (woop!) so I will start back then and really keep my eyes on the prize (although what prize I'm not sure!).  In the mean time I'd really like to say a massive GOOD LUCK to my friends who are heading out to Canada for the World Duathlon Champs! I hope you all achieve what you have your hearts set on and enjoy the journey and experience along the way.  I'd also like to say a big GOOD LUCK to my nephew Henry who is doing his first ever triathlon on Saturday. He's only 8 and is raising money for the British Triathlon Foundation which aims to encourage children to keep fit, active and healthy through triathlon and also improve their confidence, self-esteem and social skills. Please sponsor him just a quid or two here: If he wins his event or raises enough money he will be able to race in London on the same course as the Olympics was on (but obviously not that distance!!!) which would be a dream come true to him! Thanks All.....Happy training!

Good luck Henry!
Please sponsor him here:

Liverpool Elite

So after achieving my Age Group goals this season it seemed the natural progression would be to have a go at an elite race on the British Super Series Circuit.  I was really pleased to get a start at Liverpool Elite which also counted as the Elite British Champs but must admit did start to think I'd got a bit carried away with it all!  But I decided to race for 2 reasons: 1) Nothing ventured, nothing gained!! I got an elite start last year at London and wimped out and then spent the whole winter not knowing whether I would want to do any of them this year or not and 2) It was in my home town! I moved from Merseyside to Coventry when I was 16 but always remember Liverpool fondly and had many a drunken night out on the Albert Docks with promises of diving into the docks but never actually saw it through so to actually get to race there (and swim in the docks!!) was an opportunity I couldn't turn down.

My transition space - how excited was I to see this!?!

So with my mind made up Mum and I ventured over to Liverpool on the Friday and had a mooch round town. It's changed quite a lot since we left, mostly with the building of Liverpool One which is a great new part to the City. We instantly started slipping back into our scouse accents and feeling at home again! Mum showed me where she used to run off to in her lunch break to see the Quarrymen perform (before they became The Beatles) and it was nice to actually see the city at it's best in glorious sunshine as opposed to bitterly Northern Winds that I always remember!

Chilling before the race

On race day we watched my friends compete in the morning as best we could but the Elite Racing Scene has quite a few differences with briefings in the athlete lounge and bikes and kits being checked etc etc and so I wanted to be sure I didn't miss anything so unfortunately we didn't get to watch the Age Groupers as much as I would have liked to.  From what we saw though it looked like a fantastic race!  Luckily for me, all the girls racing on the Super Series Circuit are really friendly and I knew a few of them from Age Group racing (and have been really impressed by the jump and transition they have made to Elite racing).  They spent the day trying to convince me that I would not be last out of the swim!.  Suzie and I checked out transition and joked that we would be out the swim last together and could hook up in T1 to talk tactics before picking some of the others off on the bike.....little did we know that was actually what was going to happen!

Cheering my friend Caroline on in the morning - she had a great race

With a late 2:10pm start it was HOT HOT HOT but I was gutted that it was announced as a non-wetsuit swim (my wetsuit seems to hide a lot of my swim flaws!) For Age Group racing it has to be above 22 degrees to be a non-wetsuit swim but for elites that limit is moved to 20 degrees.  This seems quite a strange rule to me but maybe I am now considered hot stuff? So eventually we trundled off to the swim start (without our wetsuits), had a quick warm up swim and then were asked to line up in order and called one by one onto the pontoon.  As I stood there looking at the swim I started fiddling with my goggles and with about a minute to go to the start....they snapped! Oh my god! My hands were shaking so much from the adrenalin that I was trying to tie them in a knot when one of the lovely girls next to me said they weren't broken and managed to fix them for me. Phew! Panic over! Remain Calm! The whole of the Docks were lined with spectators, it went deathly quiet, the TV cameras were zooming in on us and I suddenly thought "what the hell am I doing!?" Hahaha!

The pontoon for the swim start

The hooter went and we were off! The start was brutal! I got whacked over the head a few times and found myself swimming on top of someone else. I slowed a little to let the girl I was swimming on actually get ahead so I could draft off her and thought I was doing brilliantly to be able to keep up with them.  I must point out this all happened in the first 50m! I did a few strokes and noticed the canoe was right next to me. Maybe the canoeist had taken a shine to me? Round the first buoy and it dawned on me....the canoe was bringing up the rear....I was last already! I hadn't even stayed with the pack to the first buoy! These girls must have fins and gills! They are fantastic! Luckily there was another swimmer that had also missed the groups so I just tried to keep her in sight. I actually thought I had a good swim (for me) as I swam in a straight line and didn't panic and (dare I say it) enjoyed it! It was an interesting course, especially with the jelly fish to look at, although I was concerned by just how far behind I was!

As the swimmer ahead of me hauled herself out I realised it was Suzie! I don't believe it, we are actually last out the swim! Into T1 and thankfully most of the spectators had gone to watch the leaders although the support I received from my own family and friends was immense...thank you! T1 was pretty quick. Someone shouted a "go on Sam, reel them in on the bike" and those words seemed to strike a chord with me and give me a bit of confidence, this was the part of the race that was my thing! First to catch was Suzie, although I think she was more waiting for me than anything else so I gave her a shout to let her know I was there and off we worked together.

A brilliant 4 lap cycle on closed roads

We quickly caught someone, then someone else, then another 2.  With it being an out and back course we could see the lead packs which was quite exciting (although deceptive as you think you're closer than you actually are!).  Each time we cycled through transition we were coming in that little bit higher up and it was a great feeling to have someone like Suzie to share the work with.  We did form a pack of 4 at one point with 2 other girls but they seemed reluctant to take their turn on the front so, making sure my partner in crime was in tact, I put an effort in on the front and we rode away from them.  The support from everybody was phenomenal and I absolutely loved it!

Suzie & I working together on the bike

Back into T2 and no longer last (hurrah!) we made our exit onto the run.  Suzie flew out and I knew that was the last time I would be that close to her but was thankful for her efforts with me on the bike.  I had worried so much about the swim and missing all the packs (or bringing all the packs down!!) on the bike that I had completely not given any thought to the run and I had most definitely left my running legs at home! I felt shocking! That was a shame as it would have been nice to finish with a good run but tons amounts of racing and minimal amounts of training is starting to show with fitness levels so I did the best I could on the day.  The three laps up and back to Albert Docks was brilliant and lined with supporters the whole way.  I lost 2 places on the run but caught someone with 400m to go so all was not lost.  I did get lapped by the first 4 girls though which on the down side is pretty disheartening, but on the plus I might get on TV when they show them going past!!!

Running out of T2

Running through the finish was a relief! I was so happy I'd given it a go.  The results show I finished 27th (19th senior) out of 36 (although I think I might have actually been the last senior to finish!) but someones got to come last and you've got to start somewhere.  I think if I could improve my swim by 2 minutes that could have a huge improvement overall as it would mean I would make the cut for a bigger and stronger group on the bike and then not have to work quite so hard and have a stronger run......but that's easier said than done!  There was a good bunch of girls that came in 3 minutes ahead of me so if you take off the 2 minutes I lost on my swim that's not too bad.  Most people say they learn something from every race....I learned that I love racing and that I'd love to get quicker but that I'm much better in non-drafting races!

A rather roasty toasty 5k

Thank you so much to everyone who stayed to cheer me on, if I didn't manage to acknowledge you in the race it wasn't because you weren't appreciated!  Well done to everyone who raced in the Standard Distance Events in the morning and to everyone else who raced in the afternoon races.  Thank you especially to the girls I raced against for being so friendly and well done to you all.  I'm looking forward to getting back to training now and having a break from racing.....what a season 2013 is turning out to be!

Belgium Championships

Having been back from Turkey for a whole 10 days I decided it was time to pop abroad again for another race! I went with a group of friends to celebrate Malc's 80th birthday! How many people can say they enter a triathlon to celebrate the birthday of an ancient relic like Malc? I won't write too much about the people I went with as hopefully you can read more about that elsewhere in a few weeks to come but let me just say this......they are crazy! (But at the same time the nicest, friendliest, funniest bunch of people you could ever meet!)

The group in Belgium - with the legend that is Malc Bennett

I had opted to do the sprint race as that's what I've been focussing on this year after dabbling with various distances last year.  With a nice sociable start time of 1pm (or was it 12pm), I could have a lie in, a couple of bowls of coco pops and a leisurely ride down to the start.  The race itself was the most confusing race I have ever done. I'm not normally one for a hundred questions about a race or one to analyse course details but this was complicated! T2 was 10 miles away from T1! There were shuttle buses to get you from place to place. Roads were closed but nobody seemed to know where the route went.  Every question to a marshal received an answer of "hmmm, that is a good question" and on the morning of the race Michelle and I ended up cycling for over an hour trying to find the lake, even the marshal on the motorbike who we asked for directions said "I am searching for it also!" That said it was a fantastic venue, lovely weather and a very exciting event to be a part of with prize money up for grabs and the status of being Belgium National Champion.

The crowd gather to watch along the water's edge

So here's how my race went....

Get in the swim. Talk to my team mate Michelle. Not nervous. Very odd. Quite excited. About to go. Called out the swim. What?! Swim is delayed by 15 minutes! Booo! Potter about in the shade. Need the loo. Start poking the hole in the side of my wetsuit. Eaten too many pies? Think of random things. 15 minutes have gone! Back in the water. Swim 50m out to the starting buoys. Tired already! Michelle is yapping to me. Canoes hold us on the start line. The gun goes off. Michelle is still yapping. Everyone starts swimming. I can't swim as Michelle is in front of me. She is still yapping! Has she not heard the gun? Go go go! She goes! Thank God for that! Immediately lose the front pack. Damn it. Keep going. Completely on my own. Can't swim in a straight line. Feeling tired (repeated theme here from previous blog posts). Must learn to swim more efficiently. Lead pack pull away. Think of Dory from Finding Nemo....."just keep swimming". This is a very lonely swim.

Out of the swim on my lonesome

Eventually out (the swim was definitely long). My name is announced on the speaker. How exciting! He says it again! Woop that's me! I'm 45 seconds down on the lead pack. Seem to have a slow transition. Wetsuit won't come off. Start faffing. Funny Belgium rule about putting wetsuit in a bin bag in T1. I don' really have time to do this! But in goes the wetsuit, out comes the bike and off I go.

Out of T1

Lovely cycle route. Loads of spectators. Lots of cheers. Feel the bees knees in my new trisuit (thanks sponsors) although I look like a walking billboard. Although I'm not walking at this point, still cycling hard trying to catch the lead group. Where are they? It's taking me a long time! Do not feel strong on my road bike. I miss the Cervelo! Start to feel sad that everyone else is working together and I'm not drafting in a drafting race. Oooh wait, there they are! Pedal, pedal! Caught up! Yipee! Chat to Michelle, she is not even tired. Legendary swimmer! A lead girl has broken away. We start to work to catch her. I say work, I was a bit lazy. Decision time. Do I time trial away and close the gap, or stay where I am and battle it out for second? 6 races in 2 months have taken my competitive edge. I have no indication of how far behind I am so opt for a safer bet and stay put. Have a lovely time cycling with Michelle. She came up next to me and chatted a few times only to be told to "get back on my wheel & save your energy"!! We have no idea where we are going on the route. It's hard to follow, we started shouting directions to each other. We know we are near the end of the cycle but no idea where to turn off. Start shouting to the crowd. Right? Left? Dismount line? Here? There? Oh no, over there....

At last, a good dismount!

I spot the dismount line and hop off. First place is out of reach so it's a run for second. Legs feel tight as not used to riding the road bike. Put in a bit of a spurt out of T2 to get a comfortable lead. I'm sure I can still hear Michelle talking! Settle into a relaxed rhythm. Really enjoy the run. 2 laps around the park. Lots of cheers. The sun is shining. Felt very relaxed and enjoyed the atmosphere. Crossed the line full of smiles in second place. Somehow managed to post the fastest run split of the day. Michelle had a storming run to come in 3rd and looked great done the finishing shoot.  Looked at the results and instantly thought I should have attacked for first but you live and learn. After such big races this one was a real nice change with no pressure and no expectations. We had still podiumed, the Brits had come to Belgium and conquered!

Finish line!

The prize presentation was fantastic (a glass trophy, bouquet of flowers and $75.00!!) In fact the whole of the rest of the day was awesome! We set up base in a big grass square in the centre of the park surrounded by drinks bars, stalls, hot dog vans, a band, a big stage etc etc! The Olympic distance event was off once we finished so we could watch and enjoy that and cheer on all our friends competing. I was so proud of each and every one of them, particularly Pam who competed her first ever Olympic Triathlon (racing against girls who competed in London Olympics 2012!!!) Unfortunately due to the error in the delayed start Malc was not allowed to finish the race as the roads could not continue to be closed. That was such a shame but I think he thoroughly enjoyed the weekend and the company. I think the highlight of his weekend was his own lovely presentation in which he received a trophy for his services to triathlon.  That was my highlight too, that along with Michelle winning a bike in the raffle!!!! Who wins a bike in a raffle!?! And how are we going to get it back to England!!! Fun times! Thanks so much to Boss & Boss' boss for organising and to everyone else for making it a great trip!

Michelle and I - podium finishers :-)

As much as I enjoy drafting races though they are not for me. I am too slow at the swim and don't think that it utilities my strength on the bike, in fact I don't think the fastest triathlete overall wins drafting races, but you have to be smart and make good decisions and I think that's why it makes it so exciting. That said I have another drafting race next weekend......Liverpool Elite! It is highly likely I will come last and I have often wondered why I am even doing it. But when I started as an age grouper I was last and I have worked my way up so there's no reason why I can't do it again.   I've worked really hard to even get a start so I may as well work hard to finish.....and like I always say, God loves a trier!

Thank you Malc - The True Legend of Triathlon

European Championships

I did it!!! I won! I can't believe it! I have never had an Age Group medal of any colour before so to finally win Gold is a fantastic feeling (God loves a trier!)  I can't say I enjoyed the race, in fact it was probably the most stressful race I have ever done.  Winning the British Champs two weeks ago seemed to make people think I was going to win (I am most definitely not used to this sort of pressure), racing under the radar is definitely the way forward! But what my friends didn't know was my race included lots of Brits who hadn't raced at the British champs including the very talented Natalie Batey (who had beaten me by 1min and 31seconds in last years Europeans in Israel) and a French girl called Emilie who I had raced against once in the Europeans in 2011 and lost to by 1min and 39 seconds.  So I knew if I was to medal it would be pretty tough going but in my heart of hearts Gold was the colour I wanted and I would race my socks off to get it.

Setting up in transition

When race day finally came I couldn't breathe! I was so nervous! We waited on the pontoon for what felt like an age with some awful music of a heart going da dum, da dum.  Girls were pushing already in the queue to try and get in single file so that they could get the spot they wanted on the pontoon edge.  At this moment I tried to block everything out (unsuccessfully).  Here are my thoughts throughout the race:

Called to the pontoon's edge. Pick a box. Any box. Please be a lucky box. Find myself next to Natalie's sister Jenn Batey. I hope she is a good swimmer so I can draft off her. Someone else appears in my box. No get out of my box. There is not enough room for two. I realise it is the lovely Liz Bullivant. This is OK. She is a good swimmer. She is more than welcome to share the box.  I will jump on her feet. We chat about some friends in Sheffield. 30 seconds to go. This is it. Jump into the water. Feel sick. Dunk head under. Grab onto rope. Hooter goes. We are off. Realise I have nothing to push off so bit a of a belly flop start. On Liz's feet. Another 100m go by, still on Liz's feet. 300m in, still on her feet. A swimmer to my left is literally on top of me. So is the swimmer on my right. They squeeze me out. Nowhere to go. I check back round them. I have lost Liz's feet. I feel sad that they are gone (like Tom Hanks when he loses Wilson in Cast Away). I try really hard to catch them back up but they are gone. Whack. Kick. Splutter. Not a good swim. Round the first buoys. Still in some sort of pack. It's brutal! Was that a scuber diver I just saw under the buoys? Round the next buoys. As I breathe to the right I can see the names of the athletes on the trisuits next to me. How exciting! Momentarily distracted trying to see who they are. Must concentrate. Feeling so tired. Why am I so tired? The beach seems miles away, my pack is breaking up, seem to be on my own. Just keep going. Finally out of the swim in 28th overall. Dire. I know it has not been a good swim. I am 50 seconds off the leader in my Age Group, at this sort of level that is hard to make up. Have I left myself too much to do?

Those buoys felt a long way away

Massive cheers for me as I exit. Seem to be like a bull in a china shop and have a storming T1 overtaking anyone in my path, take no prisoners, coming through. Jump on the bike. Really out of breath. That no  wetsuit swim really took it out of me. Oh well. The bike is what I do best so must attack and close them down. Pedal, pedal, pedal. The bike course is rather rough going over cobbles. Relax upper body. Relax hands. Concentrate. I had overtaken a fair few but not really taken any notice. Then I get overtaken. On the bike?! What!? No! This never happens (unless it's Anna Turvey!). Feeling so tired. Am I going slow on the bike? Where is Emilie and Natalie? Why have I not seen them yet? At the halfway point of the first lap and still no sign of them. My ears in my aero helmet are on fire. Hot! Hot! Hot! Convince myself that I am third and that third is still really good and a bronze medal will be lovely. Out of nowhere I hear Caroline's voice yelling for me. Then Chris "they are just ahead". Is he just saying that to make me feel better? 5 seconds later and I hear mum saying I'm closing on them. I get refocussed. 30 seconds into lap 2 and I overtake Emilie, then Natalie, then my team mate Sophie, then some men. This gives me the confidence I need that I am cycling well and I push on. Last turn around point. I see the girls I have just overtaken - they are still there! I have not really pulled away from them at all. Start to panic about dismount (after epic fail at British Champs). So busy thinking about this that I have slowed down. Concentrating is so hard! Pick it up again. Feet out of bike shoes. Feet on bike shoes. Leg over bike. Perfect dismount. Voila. I have returned to transition 1st in my age group and 5th overall.

Just keep running!

Huge cheers into T2. OMG it's hot! Great support. Just the run to do. Aiming for a sub 20 run, I know I've got it in me. Trainers on, off I go. Please don't get a stomach ache. Please don't get a stomach ache. Damn, I've got a stomach ache! Belly is completely swollen. I want to slow down but know I can't. Natalie is 20 seconds behind. Legs feel fine. Breathing feels fine. Stomach is killing. The fast run that I am capable of wasn't to be today. I tried to think about something else. Concentrate on that left arm. Catch the next person ahead. European Gold could be yours. Lap 1 is over. Everyone is cheering. One lap to go. This time the cheering isn't so much cheering but anxious yelling. Natalie has closed the gap to 6 seconds. I know if she comes next to me I can pick it up but I really don't want to. Please. Slow. Down. I think! It's so hot. Less than 5 minutes to go now. I want to take a peek over my shoulder to see where she is but I don't want to give away that I'm tired!! Keep going. I see Mum at 400m. She is yelling "Go now! Go now!" I pick it up a notch. Natalie must be just there, I can tell by the concern in Mum's voice! Surely now I have dropped her? At 200m to go I hear Mark absolutely screaming "You've got to go hard!" I pick it up once more and stride into the finish. I keep pushing and pushing. It's not so much the finish I'm running to but a tiny bit of shade just past the finish to collapse into! I cross the line and 2 marshalls help me to stagger into the shade and poured water over me. My stomach was killing. I watched Natalie come over the line 14 seconds behind and over a minute ahead of third place. Her medal is one colour better than last year and I am really pleased for her. We congratulate each other and got our finishing medals and then it finally sunk it......I had won $100 euros! Haha! Not really, well I had, but it had finally sunk in that I had achieved what I had set out to do. It wasn't the most convincing win but it was one hell of a race! I was European Champion! What an incredible feeling!

On the podium!

What's more is there was such great success from my other British friends too.  Team Jewson/MI Racing Team mate Sophie Edge  finished second in the 20-24 Age Group, beaten only by a pretty much full time athlete.  Crazy Emily Whitmore finished second in her Standard Distance race the day before, fellow Worcestershire athlete Helen had a storming run to win the 35-39 category and TRiKS athletes Caroline, Rob, Graham and Tony had fantastic debuts to really show they deserved their place on the GB Team. It also transpired that Graham was only 60 seconds off a medal! Tony punctured so was really unlucky but he will have his day one day.  When I watched the video that Mark had took of Caroline crossing the finish line I burst out crying, I was so proud of her. She has been plagued with injury and setbacks all year and she overcame them all to show she is the athlete we all knew she was.

Celebrating with Sophie & Emily

But perhaps one of the most inspirational stories of the trip was my team mate, friend and training partner Jacqui successfully defending her European title in the 45-49 Age Group.  To win it once is phenomenal but to go back 12 months later and win it again is something else.  Especially as she has really stiff competition from a German who pushed her every step of the way. Such is her strength and talent that she would have also medalled in my age group against girls that are 20 years younger than her! Now that's saying something! You can read more about Jacqui's race here

My team mate Jacqui and I ~ From British Champs to European Champs

2 other highlights of the trip included seeing British girl Hannah Johnston out of the 1500m swim in first overall and do some sort of crazy dance. That was her moment. It was great to see her having fun!

Brilliant swimming celebrations!

And also Sam McClary who completely missed the start of our race (she was probably sunbathing) and had to do a sprint along the pontoon and dive in about 5 minutes later when she realised those girls heading around the first buoy were the girls in her race! At least, like a true sport, she can laugh about it. Read more about it here

The trip all seems a bit of a whirlwind now. I haven't done one shred of training since the race but instead actually stopped to enjoy what I have achieved and have a much needed rest! There just remains one last thing to be said. Thank You. Mainly to Chris and Mum who have been brilliant at keeping my confidence up, maybe now I will start believing in myself! To Caroline for organising the whole trip and Mark for the testing and challenging run sessions, they gave me the strength I needed at the end to hold on! The TRiKS support crew, especially the Moors and Caroline's family who flew all the way out to be there with us. Paul, Mick, and my sponsors for your ongoing support and advice. Boss and Boss's Boss for telling me that one day I would achieve the goals I had set. All my normal friends for putting up with my forever busy schedules and of course to all my triathlete friends who have made triathlon one incredible journey for me.