Bedford Olympic

Not quite the race I wanted.....

I was very excited to be racing at Bedford, the first of 3 European Qualifiers for the Standard Distance event in Turkey next year.  I had been going really well in training but was really nervous for this. The race itself was in a really nice location with a river swim out to a bridge and back (that ended up being about 200m too far), a nice one lap flat cycle (that was also a mile or so long) and a three lap run along each side of the river and over the bridge. This meant it was great for spectators too and with my Mum and Chris in tow, and Jacqui, Mark, Mark & Rob from TRIKs the support and encouragement would be ace.

When the race got underway I didn't pick my spot on the start of the swim so well and ended up getting completely swum over and cut up.  Girls can be pretty brutal and the older men were just as bad, using sheer brute force to charge their way through.  Later in the swim a woman in the wave 10 minutes ahead had completely forgotten to sight and swum straight into me on her way back to T1! God it hurt! It made me panic more than anything. I think she came off a bit worse than me as Chris said he saw someone getting out with a bloody nose! The swim felt really long and I was out the water in  a disappointing 27.04, about 4 minutes down on what I was expecting, but when I got into T1 I still saw quite a lot of bikes around me.

Out on the bike is where I'm happiest and after some really ace time trial results I was confident I would catch a few people.  The bike was flat and took in some nice countryside lanes.  I felt really comfortable and strong on the bike but didn't really get going like I do in the TTs, I think the thought of the 10k run is always in the back of my mind and I probably hold back more on the bike than I should.  Maybe one race I'll go all out for it and see if I can still run afterwards? Anyway, I posted one of the fastest bike splits and came into T2 feeling good.

I was looking forward to the run as I have been running much better in training lately and have not had recent tummy cramps since giving up gels.  However, on the run I had the most awful cramps.  It's not really a stitch, more an actual spasm that leaves me heaving and wretching.  It would come in starts and fits and then settle a bit so I tried to pick it up during the times when it settled and then was forced to slow down when it came back.  This has been a real pain (quite literally) throughout the whole of this season and something I'm going to read up on and experiment with nutrition-wise until I get it back on track.  A terrible run of 43:57  saw me gradually drift down the field, just clinching the last 4th place slot for the European Championships in Turkey next year. 

I was so disappointed after the race, mainly because I went from an age group win contender to 4 minutes off the pace all in the last 2 laps of the run.  My age group was won by the lovely Ellie Barnes who had a storming run to clinch the victory by 6 seconds, good on her! I was really quite hard on myself after the race and probably a bit of a misery to be around (sorry!) but actually I have a lot of positives to take from it:

• Cycling is becoming a real strength
• Swimming is getting there all the time
• I'm starting the run in a good position
• I saw lots of lovely friends from Eilat and from up north and from old clubs and new clubs, and had a nice catch up with fellow blogger Kerry who had an amazing race to win the shorter distance event, check out her blog:    www.kerryroughtri.blogspot.co.uk
• My old Cov Godiva friend Jenny has made an awesome come back from an injury plagued 2011 to win her age group and come third overall in a brilliant 2 hours 14.
• My wonderful friends Emily & Caroline both qualified for the GB Team next year too (this was Caroline's first ever attempt and both her and Emily are going to kick ass next year!)
• I have finally seen the best way to pack all your kit for triathlons and set up in T1 courtesy of Emily's gorgeous polka dot trolly! Haha!

So there's no time to dwell on the negatives but instead relish in the Olympic Fever and watch how it's really done at the Women's Olympic Triathlon in London this Saturday....can't wait!

Fast and Frantic Fun

After the half-iron I was on such a high, it was great! I felt fit and rearing to go, so much so that 4 days later I was on the M6 on my way to event 3 of the Midland's Women TT Series.  My journey and preparation was pretty horrendous:  As the earlier good weather deteriorated into rather cool and drizzly conditions so too did the traffic on the M6.  4 of the women's series riders got caught up in the chaos, spending over 2 hours stuck in the jams.  Fortunately I arrived with enough time to sign on, get my bike out the car, and start the race! I was looking forward to an 'eye balls out' event following the more controlled, paced event the previous weekend.  Anyway, I set off like a bull in a china shop and didn't seem to fade, which was a great feeling! In fact, when the finish line came it was a bit too soon as I still had a bit more 'fight' in me! I won the event overall and set a new women's course record which I was delighted with. I was closely followed by Liz & Sue who are not far behind me in the overall series standings:

Pos	Name	Club	Time
1	Samantha Anderson	Team Jewson	0:23:12
2	Liz Powell	Mike Vaughn Cycles	0:23:47
3	Susan Semple	Stafford Cycle Club	0:23:50

3 days after that it was back to my roots in Coventry for my running club's 10k.  My sister was doing it too, and Chris randomly decided on the morning that he too wanted to run, Mum and my niece Issy were coming to watch, so it was a real family day out! Despite knowing the route like the back of my hand, the hills seemed a lot harder when you were trying to run up them quickly! I felt tired pretty much the whole way round but it was a good tempo run and the support, marshalling and organisation of the race was fantastic! My fellow club-mate Amanda Deavy had a fantastic run to finish in a podium position....oh to be able to run that fast! My time didn't even place me in the top 10 women but it was still a very enjoyable morning:

Runner	Club	Time
Kim Fawke	Telford AC	35:56
Eleanor Fowler	Nuneaton Harriers	37:06
Amanda Deavy	Northbrook AC	38:14
Juliette Minter	Olney Runners	38:31
Nardia Poole	Kenilworth Runners	38:55
Amie Fithern	Unattached	39:49
Riina Kuuselo	Knowle & Dorridge	40:15
Carolyn Wilkinson	Spa Strides	40:37
Louise Collins	Stourbridge Runners	40:44
Amanda O’Leary	Knowle & Dorridge	41:03
Dawn Compton	Stratford AC	42:41
Sarah Wheeler	Stratford AC	42:44
Samantha Anderson	Northbrook AC	43:06

My sister ran a great race (despite being hungover) in just over 50 minutes and Chris had a great 10k debut in 46:06 which given how hilly (&hot) the course is was brilliant! Following the morning's efforts, some lovely people of Allesley Village had opened up their gardens for a nice afternoon of garden walking, wine tasting and cake eating (that's more like it!).

After these 2 races I was getting a taste for single sport racing again - they're much cheaper and involve much less kit! So on Sunday it was back to another Women's Series 10 TT and this time it was to also count as the Midlands Championships! I didn't come as high up as I would have liked but did work really hard and am racing much more consistently across these time trials.  I always have a little too much left at the finish - which I'm sure will come with time as I get better at pacing.  I thought I had finished 5th overall but the results this morning confirm I was 6th in 24:23 and was the 4th ladies series rider back. 

 

1	Helen Boatman	Team Milton Keynes	00:23:10
2	Rosie Armitage	Team Echelon - Rotor	00:23:24
3	Claire Sadler	Baines racing	00:24:09
4	Suzy Patience	Banbury Star CC	00:24:13
5	Tori Plant	Rugby RCC	00:24:22
6	Sam Anderson	Team Jewson - MI Racing - CNP	00:24:23
7	Liz Powell	MikeVaughan.co.uk	00:24:26
8	Emily Whitmore	Loughborough Uni cycling club	00:24:28
9	Sue Semple	Stafford RC	00:24:46
10	Libby McLaren	Coventry RC	00:24:50

Rosie Armitage now wins the series overall with an unbeaten record. I'm coming 2nd with a first, a second and a fourth but both Claire & Suzy are not far behind with an event in hand.  It looks like it may come down to the final events to determine the final 3.   I've tried to work out points to date, so unofficially top of the standings league looks something like this:

Name		Club	Event 1	Event 2	Event 3	Event 4	Event 5	Event 6	Event 7	Total of best 3
Rosie	Armitage	Team Echelon-Rotor	100	100		100				300
Samantha	Anderson	Team Jewson-MI Racing	94		100	79				282
Susan	Semple	Stafford RC	75	79	86	63				240
Liz	Powell	Mike Vaughan Cycles	50	71	93	71				240
Claire	Sadler	Baines Racing Silverstone		93		93				187
Suzy	Patience	Banbury Star CC		86		86				161

All in all, 3 fast, frantic and furious races that have been great fun. (Oh & I better just boost Chris's ego a little more and say that him & Phil won the tandem event at the Midland's Champs in 20:23, although I think if Emily Whitmore & I had a tandem we'd give them a run (or ride!) for their money!)