Set backs

Nearly all of my blogs are long winded race reports that analyse data and reflect upon the highs and lows of the race and it's just dawned on me that as I've withdrawn from my first tri of 2013 next week due to illness, it'll be a while before the next blog!  I thought I'd write this little snippet of what goes on in an athlete's mind behind the race scene, particularly my approach to training.

Training is easy when you feel strong.  It's easy when you feel fast.  Motivation is high when you're winning races and when you're hitting targets.  When progression is evident and personal bests are rolling in thick and fast, it's easy to jump onto the bike to clock in the miles that will lead to your next win. Or to jump into your trainers to pound the pavements time and time again.  Confidence breeds confidence. 

But it's not so easy when you're losing.  Or when your form or fitness has gone.  Or when you've had a crash on your bike or an illness or injury.  Clocking up the miles again can seem painstakingly slow.  Paces that you used to do with your eyes closed seem all of a sudden tough again.  Strength has gone, enthusiasm has gone, motivation has gone......

........But that's what makes an athlete.  Not just achieving goals, but achieving them in the face of adversity.  Not just doing well when it feels easy, but doing well when it's not pretty, when it hurts, when it takes something you never thought you had to drag yourself over the finish line or through a training session.  It takes guts and determination to keep going, especially when athletes around you seem effortless.

Everyone suffers set backs, it's how you embrace them and fight back stronger that defines who you are.....and I'm hoping I bounce back stronger than before :-) 

Oulton Park Duathlon

Well what a mad two weeks the last few have been! I was on a real high after Althorp Duathlon but began to feel very ill very quickly and so took some time out to rest and recover. I was absolutely gutted to miss out on the British Duathlon Championships but forfitted my entry in the hope to shake off whatever mystery illness I had.  By the end of the middle of the week I felt 100% better and was back to normal training so entered Oulton Park Duathlon last minute in an attempt to cheer myself up.  I loved the race and was over the moon to win but then 2 days later collapsed in pain and was rushed into hospital.  Never a dull moment here! The doctors and nurses were great and ended up diagnosing an infection that has been spreading  for some time since an old kidney infection so hopefully now I'm properly on the mend.

So where to start over the last 10 days? Well first of all a big well done to everyone who braved the  elements at the British Championships, the weather was horrific.....maybe it wasn't such a bad weekend for me to miss after all? I promised my friend Emily I would big her up in my next blog (Paul B it's your turn next time!). She had a storming performance to be crowned AG 20-24 British Champion! Well done Em! Very well deserved & really proud of you! See more here:

I went to race at Oulton Park the week after.  I had done the race last year and had many fond memories of it; there's no traffic to worry about, no pot holes, it's great for spectators, the road surface is lovely, there's laps (and lots of them) and I love laps (especially for the geeky stats afterwards!), and with it being the final GB Qualification race for the Europeans it was bound to attract another strong field.

My lovely team mate Caroline picked me up at 5:45am and we hit the road to Cheshire (looking a bit like zombies) but were excited by the day ahead.  Chris was coming over later with his cousin Phil who was competing in the standard distance event.  I have got into good habits of setting 3 goals per race (it gives you more chance to meet a goal if you have 3!) The 3 for the day were:

1. To enjoy it
2. To establish a good warm up routine and improve preparations for the race
3. To cycle harder than at Althorp and push myself more on the bike

So about 40 mins before the race Caroline and I started a warm up,  I put my ipod in (Caroline does talk a lot) so that I could switch off a bit and get ready for the race.  Nothing like a bit of Planet Pitbull and Snoop Dogg! We listened to the race briefing and were then good to go!

Early birds setting up in transition

When the gun went off, the speed of some of the men was ridiculous! I've never seen people charge off so fast! I was conscious not to get too caught up in the fast pace too early on so settled into my own rhythm.  Although I was settled in about 25th place overall I was aware that I was the first woman which in one respect is a good thing, but in another you almost feel like a sitting duck waiting to be caught!  The course was only 4.5k but nevertheless I was really pleased with my time of 16:43 and felt strong.

Onto the bike and it was time to execute goal 3.  Chris had told me that just because I feel good and feel like I am going fast, doesn't mean everyone else isn't feeling good and going fast so I tried to concentrate a bit more this week and replicate a bit better that feeling of Time Trialling.  It was really windy in parts, much tougher conditions than last year.  My front wheel kept catching the wind at times and I felt a bit blown about but dug in and tried to stay powerful.  The laps seemed to go really quickly and I was pleased with my bike leg of 35:40 which was almost 3 minutes quicker than the next fastest bike.

Thanks to www.eventphotos.co.uk for this action shot!

I didn't feel quite so fresh on my second run as I did at Althorp; maybe a sign that I had pushed harder on the bike?  I quickly closed down 2 guys that started about 100m ahead of me, they seemed to speed up when I caught them but that was nice to run in a group of 3, each one of us trying to drop the other.  I knew I had a big lead but wanted to keep pushing to the line, like you would in any other race.  The climb on the last bend seemed to massively increase in gradient on the second run and my legs did feel pretty sapped of energy so I was chuffed to run the second run in 16:55, only 12 seconds slower than my first.

A very dramatic newspaper write up!

Winning the race by nearly 5 minutes was a massive bonus.  I had achieved everything I had set out to do and had thoroughly enjoyed the day.  Caroline was not far behind in 4th place which is a great start to her 2013 season especially as she has been plagued with injury this winter. Well done Caz!!!

		RUN	T1	BIKE	T2	RUN	TOTAL
Sam	Anderson	16:43	1:01	35:40	0:50	16:55	1:11:07
Holly	Ferrar	17:21	1:12	38:35	1:03	17:49	1:16:00
Jenni	Muston	17:36	1:38	40:46	1:08	18:21	1:19:27
Caroline	Cresswell	18:33	1:20	40:21	1:12	18:53	1:20:17
Katherine	Bancroft	18:20	1:00	42:11	1:11	19:06	1:21:47

We stayed to watch the standard distance event afterward with some great performances from the girls (Sam, Flic, Christine, Kate).  Phil finished 11th which considering he only took up running at the end of last year was fantastic! Thanks to Extra Mile Events for a fantastic race and for the Timex that I won (what a great prize!!!) - you can enter their events here, also to Event Photos for my free high resolution pic (check out their great pics here) and to all the other spectators, supporters and marshalls.  I even celebrated with a glass of prosseco!  

What's next? Well after spending the last few days in hospital on a drip, first and foremost is rest and recovery!  I may even have some time for none related triathlon things (there are actually quite a lot of hours in the day when you're not training!) Its 4 weeks to Holland so I'll just have to see what I can do between now and then but at least we have booked into Centre Parcs in Holland so if the race is a disaster or my fitness has deserted me we can make the most of the splash pool and slides!  

Althorp Duathlon

This early season duathlon was the perfect way to blast the winter cobwebs away and see where I was at following recent training.  I chose to do the Sprint distance race which consisted of a 5k run, 20k bike and 5k run, all in the beautiful grounds of Althorp.  The race had  initially been scheduled for the 16th February and then postponed due to water logging so it felt like it had been on my mind since forever!!!  It was also an ITU and ETU qualifying race so the standard was pretty high to say the least!!  There were lots of names I didn't recognise on the start list so I had no idea what the strengths of the other girls were but I went into the race planning to stick to my own tactics with 3 goals to meet:

1. To break the course record of 1:21:37

2. To come in the top 3 overall

3. To run strong off the bike with a time as close to my first run as possible

My team mate Jacqui and I were so busy yapping before the race that we almost missed the start (typical) as we were running the opposite way still warming up! With 10 seconds to go we pushed our way to the front and the hooter went and some of the girls just flew off! There are some super speedy runners in duathlon! I stuck to my own plan and let them go.  I felt really strong on the first run.  I knew I was running quick and wanted to push on but also wanted to hold back to keep energy for the rest of the race.  I came in 9th off the first run in 19:14 and tried to get my breath back in T1! 

I was off out on the bike in no time and felt great.  I was whizzing past everyone and quickly caught a few girls back up.  I was overtaking men with their disc wheels (girl power!) and felt pretty smooth.  I think the problem in hindsight is I felt too good.  When I do 10 mile TTs I can really dig in and hurt myself but I never seem to replicate this feeling in triathlons or duathlons, definitely something to work on! More time out on the roads is needed I think! That said I had joint third fastest bike split.  My team mate Jacqui had a great ride with the 2nd fastest bike split and flew past me on the dismount line.  I entered T2 just behind her and was now in sixth place, not sure how far behind the other girls I was.

I was definitely on track to break the 1:21:37 course record; it was now time to try and execute goal 3.  I ran so hard out of T2 that I thought my legs might give up on me part way round the course but they didn't.  I still felt pretty strong and pushed hard right to the end, catching another girl in the final 1k to complete the second 5k in 19:38.  To run within 25 seconds of my first run and to run both 5ks at sub 20 pace was really pleasing.  I finished 4th overall in 1:17:02 and with lots of positives to take away from the race.

Thanks to Chris goes without say, but also to Mark (Jacqui's husband) for all his support and all the Rugby Tri crew for their encouragement and cheering.  What a lovely way to spend a sunny Saturday morning.  So it's back to the drawing board now to get that cycling back on track and to keep working on areas that need improving.  Well done to everyone else who raced at Althorp and further afield.