European Championships

I did it!!! I won! I can't believe it! I have never had an Age Group medal of any colour before so to finally win Gold is a fantastic feeling (God loves a trier!)  I can't say I enjoyed the race, in fact it was probably the most stressful race I have ever done.  Winning the British Champs two weeks ago seemed to make people think I was going to win (I am most definitely not used to this sort of pressure), racing under the radar is definitely the way forward! But what my friends didn't know was my race included lots of Brits who hadn't raced at the British champs including the very talented Natalie Batey (who had beaten me by 1min and 31seconds in last years Europeans in Israel) and a French girl called Emilie who I had raced against once in the Europeans in 2011 and lost to by 1min and 39 seconds.  So I knew if I was to medal it would be pretty tough going but in my heart of hearts Gold was the colour I wanted and I would race my socks off to get it.

Setting up in transition

When race day finally came I couldn't breathe! I was so nervous! We waited on the pontoon for what felt like an age with some awful music of a heart going da dum, da dum.  Girls were pushing already in the queue to try and get in single file so that they could get the spot they wanted on the pontoon edge.  At this moment I tried to block everything out (unsuccessfully).  Here are my thoughts throughout the race:

Called to the pontoon's edge. Pick a box. Any box. Please be a lucky box. Find myself next to Natalie's sister Jenn Batey. I hope she is a good swimmer so I can draft off her. Someone else appears in my box. No get out of my box. There is not enough room for two. I realise it is the lovely Liz Bullivant. This is OK. She is a good swimmer. She is more than welcome to share the box.  I will jump on her feet. We chat about some friends in Sheffield. 30 seconds to go. This is it. Jump into the water. Feel sick. Dunk head under. Grab onto rope. Hooter goes. We are off. Realise I have nothing to push off so bit a of a belly flop start. On Liz's feet. Another 100m go by, still on Liz's feet. 300m in, still on her feet. A swimmer to my left is literally on top of me. So is the swimmer on my right. They squeeze me out. Nowhere to go. I check back round them. I have lost Liz's feet. I feel sad that they are gone (like Tom Hanks when he loses Wilson in Cast Away). I try really hard to catch them back up but they are gone. Whack. Kick. Splutter. Not a good swim. Round the first buoys. Still in some sort of pack. It's brutal! Was that a scuber diver I just saw under the buoys? Round the next buoys. As I breathe to the right I can see the names of the athletes on the trisuits next to me. How exciting! Momentarily distracted trying to see who they are. Must concentrate. Feeling so tired. Why am I so tired? The beach seems miles away, my pack is breaking up, seem to be on my own. Just keep going. Finally out of the swim in 28th overall. Dire. I know it has not been a good swim. I am 50 seconds off the leader in my Age Group, at this sort of level that is hard to make up. Have I left myself too much to do?

Those buoys felt a long way away

Massive cheers for me as I exit. Seem to be like a bull in a china shop and have a storming T1 overtaking anyone in my path, take no prisoners, coming through. Jump on the bike. Really out of breath. That no  wetsuit swim really took it out of me. Oh well. The bike is what I do best so must attack and close them down. Pedal, pedal, pedal. The bike course is rather rough going over cobbles. Relax upper body. Relax hands. Concentrate. I had overtaken a fair few but not really taken any notice. Then I get overtaken. On the bike?! What!? No! This never happens (unless it's Anna Turvey!). Feeling so tired. Am I going slow on the bike? Where is Emilie and Natalie? Why have I not seen them yet? At the halfway point of the first lap and still no sign of them. My ears in my aero helmet are on fire. Hot! Hot! Hot! Convince myself that I am third and that third is still really good and a bronze medal will be lovely. Out of nowhere I hear Caroline's voice yelling for me. Then Chris "they are just ahead". Is he just saying that to make me feel better? 5 seconds later and I hear mum saying I'm closing on them. I get refocussed. 30 seconds into lap 2 and I overtake Emilie, then Natalie, then my team mate Sophie, then some men. This gives me the confidence I need that I am cycling well and I push on. Last turn around point. I see the girls I have just overtaken - they are still there! I have not really pulled away from them at all. Start to panic about dismount (after epic fail at British Champs). So busy thinking about this that I have slowed down. Concentrating is so hard! Pick it up again. Feet out of bike shoes. Feet on bike shoes. Leg over bike. Perfect dismount. Voila. I have returned to transition 1st in my age group and 5th overall.

Just keep running!

Huge cheers into T2. OMG it's hot! Great support. Just the run to do. Aiming for a sub 20 run, I know I've got it in me. Trainers on, off I go. Please don't get a stomach ache. Please don't get a stomach ache. Damn, I've got a stomach ache! Belly is completely swollen. I want to slow down but know I can't. Natalie is 20 seconds behind. Legs feel fine. Breathing feels fine. Stomach is killing. The fast run that I am capable of wasn't to be today. I tried to think about something else. Concentrate on that left arm. Catch the next person ahead. European Gold could be yours. Lap 1 is over. Everyone is cheering. One lap to go. This time the cheering isn't so much cheering but anxious yelling. Natalie has closed the gap to 6 seconds. I know if she comes next to me I can pick it up but I really don't want to. Please. Slow. Down. I think! It's so hot. Less than 5 minutes to go now. I want to take a peek over my shoulder to see where she is but I don't want to give away that I'm tired!! Keep going. I see Mum at 400m. She is yelling "Go now! Go now!" I pick it up a notch. Natalie must be just there, I can tell by the concern in Mum's voice! Surely now I have dropped her? At 200m to go I hear Mark absolutely screaming "You've got to go hard!" I pick it up once more and stride into the finish. I keep pushing and pushing. It's not so much the finish I'm running to but a tiny bit of shade just past the finish to collapse into! I cross the line and 2 marshalls help me to stagger into the shade and poured water over me. My stomach was killing. I watched Natalie come over the line 14 seconds behind and over a minute ahead of third place. Her medal is one colour better than last year and I am really pleased for her. We congratulate each other and got our finishing medals and then it finally sunk it......I had won $100 euros! Haha! Not really, well I had, but it had finally sunk in that I had achieved what I had set out to do. It wasn't the most convincing win but it was one hell of a race! I was European Champion! What an incredible feeling!

On the podium!

What's more is there was such great success from my other British friends too.  Team Jewson/MI Racing Team mate Sophie Edge  finished second in the 20-24 Age Group, beaten only by a pretty much full time athlete.  Crazy Emily Whitmore finished second in her Standard Distance race the day before, fellow Worcestershire athlete Helen had a storming run to win the 35-39 category and TRiKS athletes Caroline, Rob, Graham and Tony had fantastic debuts to really show they deserved their place on the GB Team. It also transpired that Graham was only 60 seconds off a medal! Tony punctured so was really unlucky but he will have his day one day.  When I watched the video that Mark had took of Caroline crossing the finish line I burst out crying, I was so proud of her. She has been plagued with injury and setbacks all year and she overcame them all to show she is the athlete we all knew she was.

Celebrating with Sophie & Emily

But perhaps one of the most inspirational stories of the trip was my team mate, friend and training partner Jacqui successfully defending her European title in the 45-49 Age Group.  To win it once is phenomenal but to go back 12 months later and win it again is something else.  Especially as she has really stiff competition from a German who pushed her every step of the way. Such is her strength and talent that she would have also medalled in my age group against girls that are 20 years younger than her! Now that's saying something! You can read more about Jacqui's race here

My team mate Jacqui and I ~ From British Champs to European Champs

2 other highlights of the trip included seeing British girl Hannah Johnston out of the 1500m swim in first overall and do some sort of crazy dance. That was her moment. It was great to see her having fun!

Brilliant swimming celebrations!

And also Sam McClary who completely missed the start of our race (she was probably sunbathing) and had to do a sprint along the pontoon and dive in about 5 minutes later when she realised those girls heading around the first buoy were the girls in her race! At least, like a true sport, she can laugh about it. Read more about it here

The trip all seems a bit of a whirlwind now. I haven't done one shred of training since the race but instead actually stopped to enjoy what I have achieved and have a much needed rest! There just remains one last thing to be said. Thank You. Mainly to Chris and Mum who have been brilliant at keeping my confidence up, maybe now I will start believing in myself! To Caroline for organising the whole trip and Mark for the testing and challenging run sessions, they gave me the strength I needed at the end to hold on! The TRiKS support crew, especially the Moors and Caroline's family who flew all the way out to be there with us. Paul, Mick, and my sponsors for your ongoing support and advice. Boss and Boss's Boss for telling me that one day I would achieve the goals I had set. All my normal friends for putting up with my forever busy schedules and of course to all my triathlete friends who have made triathlon one incredible journey for me.

British Sprint Championships

1st June 2013
Holme Pierpoint

What a day!!! I don't really know where to start with this blog post.  I never in a million years thought that I would be a British  Age Group Champion! It hasn't quite sunk in! I have been fortunate enough to win all my tri races in the UK this year but this one without a shadow of a doubt tops them all.  I think it means even more after the real disappointment in Holland in April; sport has its highs and lows and this was definitely a high!

I have only ever competed in one British Championships before and that was back in 2010.  I recorded a swim time of 14:30 (at least 4 minutes of the lead girls although I was overjoyed with it at the time) and then punctured on the bike and sat on the side of the road and cried (before a random nice man in a red van gave me a lift back to the start - I thought he was a marshal but apparently not as I had to direct him to transition!).  So my aim of the day was to improve on 2010 (not difficult), try really hard to be in the top 7 to get a Qualification Place for the Worlds in London and (if I'm really lucky) get on the podium. I knew this would be a tall order as the quality of the athletes was amazing!

The day started bright and early. Mum, Chris and I arrived in plenty of time.  We bumped into lots of friends including Michelle and Kathryn en route to the registration tent, I think Mum was worried I was going to exhaust all my energy chatting so much before the start but I find it a welcome distraction to race nerves! And it's always nice having a good natter! With the race not starting until 2:15pm it was difficult to know what to eat (especially with my ongoing stomach issues) and we got so involved in watching the earlier races that I almost forgot why I was there! We set up base with my friends Anna & Emily and tried to get all our pre-race excuses in before the start!  Emily was definitely strong enough to be on the podium in her Age Group so she was also hoping for a strong race.  Unfortunately Anna has been struggling with injuries so was only planning on doing the swim and bike but is going to smash it in a few weeks time at the later qualifiers.

We eventually racked our bikes and set up (transition was interestingly split in 2 places) before walking nervously to the swim start.  I got in really early to have a warm up and I am delighted to say that my new goggles (never tried and tested before) were ace....I could actually see! (Thank you to the marshal who stood on the side with my spare goggles just in case! VIP treatment or what!) They seemed to hold us on the start line for ages with everyone trying to creep forward and eventually we were off....and omg was it brutal!!! I think girls can be just as vicious as men! I found a pair of feet to draft off and any time another girl tried to dunk me or force me in an another direction I fought for my spot.  An ongoing left shoulder injury was playing up but nevertheless I was over the moon with an 11:44 PB and to be out with roughly the main pack of girls.

I seemed to draw the short straw in transition as I was literally on top of my bike 2 steps out of coming out of the water so I hadn't even started getting my wetsuit off.  I could hear all my friends and Mum & Chris cheering for me and I was relieved to have had a good start to the race.  The bike course was fantastic and suited me to a tea being a power rider.  I had a fab first 2 laps overtaking lots of people and then (like in previous races) seemed to take my foot off the gas.  I really don't know why I do this, it's not really complacency - more distraction by things like the geese and the supporters and "ooh...isn't that nice over there".  I really must, must work on this as I'm not making the most of my strengths.  Timetrialling would suggest that I could have done a 30 minute split but instead I clocked 31:21.  The bike was pretty uneventful apart from 2 hairy moments. The first was when one girl was overtaking another but it reminded me of when lorries overtake other lorries (i.e. at the same pace) and when they didn't respond to my "yoohoo, coming through" call I breathed in and squeezed by them (not that breathing in would make any difference!).  The second was when an ambulance drove around the lake to park itself up by a whole load of geese and ducks to clear them off the course, except it seemed to stop right in front of me so I had to unclip and scoot round which wasn't ideal but I loved the course and was relatively pleased with my time.

Then for the worst dismount of the day! I can't even bring myself to write about it. It was so embarrassing I had to laugh at myself. I got my feet out of my shoes but in my excitement forgot what I was doing and before I knew it my bike shoes were dragging along the floor, I literally came to a holt 100m before the dismount line.  I cut my losses and decided to jump off and run the distance but it was rather funny!

By this point I was leading my Age Group, although I didn't know it.  I ran out of T2 in pursuit of the others and caught someone within a kilometer but then really began to struggle.  I had a stitch (which is pretty standard for me) but it was accompanied with some other rather painful stomach cramps and whilst my legs and breathing felt absolutely fine, my stomach didn't want to play ball.  I visibly slowed at this point and couldn't help but look behind to see how much leeway I had.  The run seemed to go on for an age and I was much weaker than in previous weeks but I was determined to not lose any places and when I realised a girl behind was catching me (I later realised it was Becky Schofield of Tri Anglia) I knew I had a sprint finish in my legs....but I really didn't want to use it!

When I approached the finish line the commentator announced that I was the 25-29 Winner (cue throwing my arms up in the air in disbelief!).  I couldn't believe it.  I knew I was up there, but you never really know.  I felt so emotional crossing the line; there have been big championships before where I thought I could do well but have never delivered on the day.  It also gives me hope knowing that I have more to give on the bike and run but for once I am not going to think about splits and instead be thankful for what I've achieved.  I also won biggest smile of the day, I think this photo says it all:

To add to a great day my team mate Jacqui also became the British F45-49 champion, a phenomenal achievement and a brilliant result for such a small club based in Stourport & Kidderminster!  It was fab to watch her coming in for Gold!

It's been a brilliant journey to this point and has really given me the inspiration and motivation I need to keep improving.  I really do love what I do (that positivity is just for you Holly Grundon!), not just because of the racing element and the training, but because of the friends I have met all over the UK.  There are too many to mention and I would hate to leave anyone out but all I will say is my next major competition is competing with Sam & Flic's tan in Turkey in 2 weeks time!  Thank you to everyone who has played a part in helping me to achieve my goals; it is a day I will remember fondly for a long time to come!