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!