Just Keep Swimming

As a kid I did every sport going. That also included a short spell in a swimming club when I was about 10 years old. Unfortunately it didn't last long. Constantly having to wear a verruca sock wasn't a good look! The other youngsters in my lane also used to sprint to catch me up and yank my foot underwater until I was close to drowning so that they could swim over me and finish the length first. It is also not natural to want to train for a sport where you can not breathe! So after a few months I told Mum I wanted to join table tennis club, trampolining club and high board diving club instead and that was the the end of my short lived swimming career.  When I started swimming again at 24 I couldn't remember how to do front crawl and had to start from scratch again, starting with just a length at a time.  All I remember thinking was "why on earth did I ditch swimming for table tennis club?"

I quickly realised the most important thing about learning something new is being able to laugh at yourself. Check out this video below of me being mega serious thinking I am absolutely nailing the tumble turns.....no wonder the lifeguard used to kill himself laughing!

When I first started triathlon Mum could pick me out amongst the other hundreds of swimmers because I was the one who had the incredibly fast arms but didn't seem to be getting anywhere!  Over the years I have been able to improve my swimming.  I'm never going to be the quickest but I'm gradually decreasing the gap between my own time and the lead swimmers time, this can be seen in the latest championships I have done, starting in 2010 a whopping 3 minutes 50 seconds behind the lead swimmer in my age group and decreasing that this year to 48 seconds. Granted, every race is different and it depends on who is in the race but my geeky stats table below shows I'm stepping (or swimming) in the right direction....

	My Swim Time	Time I’ve lost to the lead swimmer in my AG	Average Swim Time	Time over average swim time
September 2010, World Triathlon Champs, Budapest Position after swim – 17th Finishing position – 11th	13:28	3:50	11:42*	1:46
June 2011, European Triathlon Champs, Pontevedra Position after swim – 11th Finishing position – 7th	13:07	2:43	11:09**	1:58
June 2013, European Triathlon Champs, Alanya Position after swim – 5th Finishing position – 1st	12:43	0:48	12:13***	0:30
September 2013, World Triathlon Champs, London Position after swim – 18th Finishing position – 7th	11:53	1:42	11:02****	0:51

* Taken from top 10 finishers

** Taken from top 8 finishers

*** Taken from top 3 finishers

**** Taken from top 10 finishers

One of my swimming highs this season was definitely coming out of the water with the lead pack(ish) at the British Champs. What a great position I had put myself in to start the bike leg.  However, last out the water at Liverpool Elite (with the canoe bringing up the rear) and also 28th out of the water at the European Champs in Turkey (giving myself a hell of a lot of work to do) made me realise that I need to crack this swimming business.

With 3 compulsory non-wetsuit races this year, it's time to learn more about technique!

To help me in the right direction I contacted my friend and swim coach Jai Evans.  Jai has been coaching swimming for 20 years and has been around the world to coach every standard of swimmer from non-swimmers and novices, through to competitive and professional athletes.  I met Jai when we raced in Belgium earlier this year and over-hearing him talk to others about swimming I thought "there's nothing this guy doesn't know!".

Jai is convinced there is a great swimmer inside of everyone (even me!). Rather than break the stroke down and isolate movements, Jai has helped explain how the whole connection of everything I do impacts on my stroke. He has got me thinking about my body position, taught me to swim more effortlessly and even got me humming when I swim!  The speed is starting to come naturally without thinking about it. Last week I clocked a 400m PB (5:43) and a 600m PB (8:58) which by the fast swimmers standards is not speedy by any means, but compared to where I started, it's a massive improvement.

The following photos taken from swim video analysis also show the progress I've made.

The above photos were taken about 6 months apart but show the same point in my stroke. You can see on the left hand pictures that I have no high elbow under the water thus no catch and I have no real sense of body position in the water, my head is all over the place and I'm often losing balance in the water. The pictures on the right show an improvement in both of these things.

This most recent filming shows a much more streamlined body position in the water. The picture below also shows more control in my rotation.

(The bruise on my leg is courtesy of Jacqui after we fell off our bikes a couple of weeks ago!)

So between now and when I next go and see Jai again I'm just working on mastering what I've been shown and trying to maximise my potential as a swimmer.  I've done a bit of research on my own and as I don't go to any coached or group swim sets, I've been thinking more carefully about planning my own swim sets.  Luckily I've been able to drag my training partners Anna and Jacqui in to help me complete them and I'm really enjoying the variety and challenges these swim sessions are giving us.

If you're interested in seeing Jai for some specific swim feedback of your own he can be contacted on swimjai@me.com and his new website will be up and running soon too so watch this space! Thanks for reading, happy training.....and just keep swimming.

1:29:59

So that's the number that is driving my winter running at the moment!

1:29:59

It's been a while since I have done a stand alone half marathon, maybe 4 or 5 years. The last half I actually did was at the end of a half ironman last year where I ran a 1:41:59. Running through winter is something I love to do. We have loads of nice places to run near home - Wyre Forest, Malvern Mountains, Nature Reserves, commons and the countryside.  So I thought what better way to motivate myself to get the winter miles in than enter a half marathon.  For some reason I had decided I would love to do a half again, I am blaming my sister who raced at the Birmingham Half where I went to spectate and thought "ooh this looks like fun!"

This was the last half marathon I ran,
I obviously didn't try hard enough as I am still smiling in the last 100m!

So my good friend Stu started on the case of finding half marathons for me around February or March time. After trawling the internet, finding lovely half marathons in cities such as Berlin and Munich, I settled on the grand location of Watford! Pay day came, the race was entered, and now it was time to set a goal. For this I turned to my friend and training partner Jacqui and our conversation went a little something like this.

Me: "Jac I've entered a half marathon"
Jac: "Which one?"
Me: "Watford"
Jac: "Fab, I'll help you with your training."
Me: "Great. I want to run a good time."
Jac: "What time do you want to do?"
Me: "1:29:59.....or less"
Jac: {pause} "Oh. That's quite fast."
Me: "No I think it will be fine.  How hard can it be?"
Jac: "It's sub 7 minute miles"
Me: "No it's like two 10ks at 45 minutes, that would be OK."
Jac: "It's quicker than that, it's longer than two 10ks"
Me: "Oh. So how quick would I have to run the two 10ks?"
Jac: "More like 43 minutes."
Me: "Oh, that's quite fast."
Jac: "Yep"
Me: "What does that work out at per mile?"
Jac: "About 6:49 minute mile pace."
Me: "Oh. That's very fast" {feeling slightly deflated}
Jac: "Yep. You could always have a range instead of one specific time."
{Pause}
Me: "No, I want to do 1:29:59"
Jac: "Great, well lets get cracking...."

And with that both Jacqui and Stu have helped me with my run training to help get me started. Who'd have thought running could be so fun! Tempo runs, progressive runs, negative split runs, interval runs, hill runs, fartlek runs....the list goes on! Best of all I am really enjoying it!

My first cross country in years....another run & still smiling

If I'm totally honest, my first thought was actually, if I can't break 1 hour 30, I'll forget the long runs and just enjoy some Christmas films and put my feet up instead. But actually I love a challenge. Hitting my target is, quite possibly, a bit out of reach, but thinking big and working hard is something I'm very good at.

I'm definitely not a natural runner. Do you ever ask someone a question hoping that their answer will fill you with confidence and positivity? After a good run session the other week I said to Chris "What do I look like as a runner?". His response was "heavy." Haha! Not the response I was hoping for but I know what he means, I am heavy on my feet and sometimes I sink a bit into my stride. So that's lead me to concentrate a bit more on my core strength and read up on run technique. It's amazing after 20 years of running that you still continue to learn more!

So now I've said it out loud (or written it in black and white), it makes the goal a little bit more real (and scary!).  I'm also very much hoping to change my own perception of myself as a runner and actually start believing that I can and will run well.  So 13.1 miles of pain, here I come. If you have any training tips of advice to help me along the way they would be greatly received.

Bring it on!

Off-Season

Ending the 2013 season with a poor performance at London was such a blow and made me question what I was going to do next year. Being quite a dramatic 'all' or 'nothing' person, I considered my two options:

a) pack triathlon in altogether

b) quit my job, win the lottery, train full time and take the triathlon world by storm

Then when I stopped torturing myself with looking at the World Championship Results, I realised that I had forgotten a little thing called balance. People sometimes say "you have achieved all of this despite the challenges of work, family commitments etc" but I think my successes come not despite those factors, but because of those factors.  The off-season is always the perfect opportunity to re-embrace my love for all things non sport-related.  No way did I want to swim early morning, or cycle in the wind or rain.  I definitely couldn't run to the end of the road and I felt just about strong enough to lie on the bench without actually lifting any of the weights to do bench press!

But actually, as soon as I stopped worrying about what I was going to do in the 2014 season the plans started to form on their own.  As soon as I stopped worrying about whether I should swim or not, I started to miss it and actually wanted to swim.  My focus has shifted back to normal life and squeezing training in around it, as opposed to dedicating set time and days to training and squeezing in life!  I have excellent training partners close to hand and without needing persuading, the alarm has been going off for early morning sessions before work and I have enjoyed and looked forward to them.

With training partners Jacqui & Anna

So all of a sudden option b doesn't suit anymore. I love the balance that my life is giving me and actually if I stop setting the bar so high and allow myself to succeed on my own terms, then triathlon can be a hobby again instead of a chore. I have loved getting back into winter training and it's nice to start feeling fit again; albeit there is a long way to go to but that's what winter's for!

The hours that used to be dedicated to training have more recently been dedicated to the following:

1. Going to Weddings
......although my competitive streak did come through when I caught the bouquet - the other girls didn't stand a chance!

Congratulations to the lovely Zoe (and new hubby Phil!)

2. Being a Sports Spectator
Spectating is fab! Why have I been going through the pain of races when I can watch others do it themselves! So my own long run was ditched in order to watch everyone else do theirs at the Birmingham Half Marathon:

My sister Helen in the final 200m, on for her sub 2 hour target

3. Being a Designer for Snowy's Lodge
Rather than drag myself out on a bike ride that I just didn't fancy, Chris & his Dad and I spent a weekend creating Snowy's lodge.....which involved putting a tunnel from his hutch in the garage out to his pen in the garden! Best of both worlds! Unfortunately he can't quite get the hang of the tunnel, I think he thinks its a one way system.

Snowy quite confused about the drama

4. Training with Vodka Shots
So apparently the staff Xmas party is pretty messy each year.  The girls thought it would be a good idea for me to ditch my triathlon training and instead do 12 hours a week of drinking and partying training. So off we went for my first session which started at 7pm on a Friday night and finished 4am the following morning with large amounts of alcohol being consumed, leaving me very ill, very tired and most definitely becoming T-Total for the rest of my life....give me back Tri Training any day!!

The calm before the storm!

5. Goal Setting
.....and then before I knew it I had a whole host of ideas and races that I wanted to do next season and started putting pen to paper.  Winter training requires a fire that must burn for many months before you see the end result and I think now I can say I have the motivation and enjoyment for racing that will keep my fire burning well into next season. I won't be hanging up my trainers just yet....

The Duo Normand

The Duo Normand two-up team time trial is held annually in September in the Normandy town of Marigny.  My other half Chris had won the tandem category last year and harped on about it so much (in a lovely way of course) that I just had to go and see it for myself! From a British time triallist's point of view, it's a spectacular event - not only because of the number of spectators, but because of the large numbers of competitors from unlicenced to professional on virtually closed roads.  

You even get your own following car with your name plate on it!
Fabulous!!!

Riding two-ups is actually not as simple as two riders just racing together: you need to be reasonably well matched in ability, and to be able to do the changeovers quickly and efficiently, without unnecessarily  varying the pace as the riders go through to take a spell at the front.  I partnered up with my TRiKS team-mate Jacqui to form a formidable duo!  We have been practising together for the last 4 months or so and have improved a lot since our early outings when we got accused of just pottering around the course having a natter because our times were so slow when the truth was I rode too erratic on the drags and then couldn't descend or corner like Jac on the technical bits.  

There's always time to clown around when riding the course the day before!

So off we went with our rather large crew.  Amongst us were Chris and Phil (UK tandem record holders, unbeaten on the tandem - aiming to defend their title), Phil's cousin Andy partnering up with Wyre Forest CRC friend Andy O, Jac's husband Mark partnering up with Tony and official supporter and photographer, fellow TRiKS and Team Jewson club mate Anna.  We stayed in a gorgeous place just outside of Marigny and really enjoyed some much needed chill out time, with lots of cups of tea, a game or two of scrabble and cheese and wine by night!

The Crew!

When race day came I was really excited to be a part of it but a little worried that all these extra kilos I've put on doing no training would really show on the climbs! The first part of the course was really flat and fast but once you got through the 20 mile marker it was climb after climb after climb and Jac and I have only practiced a 17 mile 2-up together in training so the last 10 miles would be tough! Mind you we needn't have worried....we were absolutely fab! Jac set the pace well and we were pretty much textbook style riding! The sun was beaming making it pretty tough going but we recovered well on each others wheels. Sure enough the climbs did hurt at the end but the cheering from our support car kept us going and we finished a very creditable 6th, just one second off 5th!! Jacqui has been of huge support to me throughout the whole season and it was so nice to ride my final event of 2013 with her, thank you Jac! Mark and Tony blew everyone away with their ride finishing 36th out of 100 unlicensed teams (well done), Andy and Andy also had a fantastic ride a good 4 minutes quicker than they anticipated, and Chris and Phil were finally beaten on the tandem but finished a fantastic second.  Chris & Phil's results actually show how naturally talented they are as I can hand on heart say they have hardly trained for this event at all. Phil had recently become a dad (congratulations!) and Chris had lost his mojo without Phil to train with and so you could literally count on one hand how many training sessions they have done for this! I am still really proud of them both (even if they won't let me have a go on the tandem - something to do with my bad bike handling skills?!)

Closing in on the girls ahead

The time away also gave me a chance to reflect on my season. I have done 9 triathlons, 3 duathlons, 1 running event and 1 2up TT. I have podiumed in 8 of those events, with 6 being first places.  I have finished 4th (the most annoying position ever) twice. I have won my first ever British Championship medal (gold), my first ever European Championships medal (gold) and had my first elite start (although I did come last!). I have raced abroad 5 times (Holland, Majorca, Turkey, Belgium and France) and made some fantastic new friends along the way. I have had a 5k PB (18:43), a 10k PB (38:54) and a 750m swim PB (11:44). The 3 pictures below sum up my favourite 3 memories of the season:

My first ever OW sprint win - at St Neots, 
I wasn't doing aeroplanes across the finish (honest)

Smiling as I become the 25-29 AG British Champ, 
the goal had been top 7, the win was the best surprise ever

Celebrating our European AG Golds in Turkey with Jacqui - 
my seventh attempt to get an Age Group medal!

Despite all of the above I still think there's a lot more to come. This is my favourite time of year when new plans are written and new dreams are formed. Enjoy the end of season break, happy winter training and if there's one event you plan to do next year.....make it The Duo Normand!

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.