Grendon

Grendon Triathlon

13^th May 2012

I was really excited about racing at Grendon; the first of three European Qualification races.  It would be the first time I had raced most of the GB athletes since Israel and I was keen to show that my performance there wasn’t just a one off.  With the 3 Brits who beat me in Eilat not racing, I was confident I would win my age group and put my mark down as one to watch.  That was until Thursday when I was struck down with some horrendous bug that left me being sick all day and night and continued all day and night on Friday, until I woke up on Saturday morning feeling weak, drained, about 4 stone lighter...and still feeling sick! It was hit and miss whether I would race on the Sunday as I knew I had lost a lot of strength – and also didn’t know if I could get through the race without throwing up! That said, I wanted to book my place in the GB Team for the European Championships next year so decided I would go and, provided I wasn’t about to pass out on the start line, I would just try and come in the top 4 in my age group.

I saw lots of old and new faces.  Some had done the whole GB Age Group thing lots of times before, some were completely new and trying to qualify for the first time.  The water wasn’t too cold for the start of the race and the sun had come out.  I had a surprisingly good swim considering how I felt, I managed to draft effectively until the first buoy, then I lost the lead pack but held my own and came out the water in 10^th place, about 30 seconds down on the lead pack but 30 seconds ahead of the next girl.

I struggled terribly on the bike.  Girls that I usually put 2 minutes into over a 10 mile TT ended up getting faster bike splits than me.  I had a gel strapped to the bike but daren’t take it in case it came straight back up again.  I didn’t dare to have a drink either.  I felt tired and even the smallest of gears felt like hard work.  I dug in on the bike because I knew the run would be horrendous.  When I came back into T2 I had no idea that I had actually moved up into fifth place overall and was winning my age group!

Sure enough the run was terrible.  My running has gone to pot over the last 6 weeks anyway but trying to run with severe stomach cramps when all I wanted to do was curl up in a ball was something else! It was really a case of mind over matter! The dog legs in the course meant I could see who was ahead and who was behind, and the girls behind were really closing me down! With just over a kilometre to go I got overtaken by a girl in my age group but my fighting spirit had gone and it was more a case of getting over the line in one piece! A fellow age-grouper Kat had also been worse for wear in the week and I saw her spewing on the side of the road on the run.  At least I wasn’t feeling as bad as her! I felt so sorry for her as she had obviously gone with the same mindset as me.

I crossed the line second in my age group, 11^th overall.  There was really no point analysing the results or my race as I had gone to get my slot for Turkey and had achieved what I’d set out to do.  Now it’s time to get back to base.  Training has been hit and miss since Israel and I had lost a lot of mojo and confidence.  With summer approaching and big races to impress in, I need to get the miles to get the results I so want to get.

Hopefully I'll book my slot to Turkey in the Standard Distance too.  There's no more sprint races for me on my agenda.....here's to my next challenges!