End of the season

 So with Nottingham being the last race of the season, I really wanted to end it on a good race. I'd prepared well and had 

inspected the course so I had no doubts about where I as going .My race was quite late in the day, being the second to last race, starting at 2.35pm. It was quite a weird day on the weather side: one minute it would be very cold and raining, then the next minute it would be beaming sunshine and boiling hot! I got there just in time to watch the ETU junior girls cup race. It was a great race to watch with such a strong field. I knew pretty much everyone in the race as the Italian girls who I’d been on camp with earlier in the year were also competing. I also got to see the tristar 3 race, boys and girls, which was good to see and cheer for Eastern region.

After 4 hours of waiting around, it was finally my time to go. On the way down to the start a thunder storm took over the sky. It was raining so hard, but luckily we saw no lighting. I quickly put my wetsuit on to avoid getting cold and kept jumping around. I was a bit worried about the pontoon start due to the fact that the previous night during registration, I found that I wasn’t on the start list. They missed the top few so the A’s and B’s were not there. So I happened to have to highest and last possible number in my race. I wasn’t use to this, normally being at the front with Alden! But in the end they drew numbers out of a hat, so I ended up being in the first third of people getting on. I lined myself up directly with the buoy and Livvy Mathias managed to find herself next to me!

Boom boom, boom boom. The heart beat started, but it was hard to get nervous when Livvy just kept saying how she hated the heart beat. They blew the horn so quickly after “On your marks”, I’m pretty sure I was the last to dive in. It was ok as I think I came up just on Livvy’s shoulder. Liv and I swam next to each other until the first buoy, breathing in time looking at each other for some f it. At the first buoy I had the inside line so Liv just dropped back onto my hip. The swim was so cold. I led out of the water and was really pleased with my transition, again leading out. For the first time this season I actually had a decent mount! It was just Emer and I for the first 400m but there was a large group of 5 or 6 that it was inevitable we were going to get caught. The bike was tough with a very unstable pace. So many surges occurred and also many drops in pace. But we still managed to gain over 1 minute on the chase group. Going into T2 me and Kate had a little collision due to a very tight corner. My T2 was terrible. My wetsuit was on top of my trainers, making it very difficult to find them. I went out of T2 in 5^th. I was roughly 10 seconds down on Kate, Liv and Lizzy. With Georgia Hannam roughly 5 seconds ahead. The first half was agony. They just kept running further away. I was still in 5^th at half way. Just after this point I caught Lizzy up. We ran together for a while but in the end she told me to go and gave me words of encouragement. Liv kept looking behind and I could tell the gap was getting smaller.  Only at 400m to go did I catch her and that’s when she asked “can we finish together?” I must admit I just kept running through, having no energy to speak.

So I was so happy with 3^rd, after having to run myself into the position. Normally my placing would go the other way on the run, so it’s showing how much my running is improving by which gives me great confidence and motivation for a hard winters training and cross country season.  1^st was Kate and 2^nd was Georgia.

Overall in the series I secured 2^nd, with Kate 1^st and Emma Clapton 3^rd.

On top of this season I also had exams and GCSE’s to think about. I waited until I got home Friday night, rather than receive them on the Thursday like most people. I was happy enough Friday with the race but to come home and find I got; 6xA*’s, an A and a B: put me on such a high.

Overall its been such a great season and hopefully next season when I move into junior, it will be just as good. I’m especially looking forward to the longer distance!

BRITISH TRIATHLON CHAMPS

So this weekend was the British Triathlon Championships in Liverpool. It was one of the bigger events of the super series and it didn't disappoint! So many people were there competing and the transition area was absolutely massive. It was an indoor transition so a bit strange to normal but it was so well organised. I was very nervous for this event as it had been a while since a super series race so it was a bit like the first again. I was very pleased with my swim, I knew I was strong on the swim at the minute as I’d just raced well at Nationals the previous week.  I led out the swim and managed to split the pack quite well.  I went into T1 (the 500m run into T1) with Emer Winsch and coming out of T1 there was a small group of 4 of us, Lizzy Hood, Emer, Kate Waugh and me! I was sure to make the pack work well together, Making sure we went


through and off. It was a hard cycle due to the fact there was a very large pack trying to chase us down. I knew there were very strong runners in the chase so it wasn’t over yet.  Going into T2 Lizzy led the way with me and Kate right on her heels and Emer just a few metres behind.  Leaving T2 Kate and Lizzy led with me just a couple seconds behind. We missed the other pack coming into T2 as when we went once side of the wall, they went the other!  The run was an out and back and 2 laps of that. Going out onto the run, Kate went so strong and as I pasted Lizzy she gave me a push of encouragement which was gratefully received.  I could see at the far end of the run that Caitlin Roper was having such a strong run as per usual (She normally has a top 3 run time)! I had to keep pushing really hard. I was running with a boy for my first lap which helped me keep my pace up but then he went into the finish and I still had another lap.  I could see Caitlin was closing the gap slowly but by the last turning point I could see it was too late and I had secured second, with Kate 1^st and Caitlin 3^rd! I was so happy with this and it matched where I came last year at this event so couldn't be happier. I would like to say thanks to Carl Goose for the great sports massage which got me ready for the race, H2pro for the great hydration tablets which helped on the surprising warm but rainy day and Zone3 for the amazing wetsuit which helped me lead out of the swim!

This week I am preparing for the last race in the series in Nottingham! In prep for the race I have had a great bike fit at velocity Norwich which will enable me to have more power on my bike! It was fantastic! 

Summer so far...

Well, after Russia it’s fair to say I was on a bit of a high. It took about a week to sink in. But I couldn't let it affect me as I still had some hard training to do during the summer for the last few events of the season. There was a great training camp in Loughborough which only a small group of athletes attended during July so that was a good solid week of training. 

The first of my races left was the Virgin Active London triathlon. I done this race last year and absolutely loved it. This year it was just as good. Before the race I visited the vision for sport stand and they were kind enough to give me a great new pair of glasses which I wore to race. First I changed the lenses as it was a bit of a dull day so this made the road clearer. The race was good, I had a solid lead out of the swim and all I had to do was hold it on the bike and run to achieve first place.

I just had to recover quickly ready to race the next day, so thanks to H2pro I managed to rehydrate and fuel up well ready for the National Open water championships in Rother Valley country park the next day. I was quite nervous for this event as a triathlete racing just swimmers, it was going to be very tough. I had good dive and a solid first 100m to get myself up in the mix of the race. I done this event last year but I was still very unsure on pacing myself over 2km. The course was two 1000m laps. The first lap I think I could have gone out faster, but I now have the confidence to do this, so hopefully next year I will know better. But one the 2^nd lap I really tried to up the pace and luckily I found myself with 2 other girls pushing on so I managed to cling onto them (for the majority of the lap). I did lose my top swim hat on the second lap and my bottom one was only being held on by my goggles so that was taking my mind off the pain. But I was very happy with a finish of 11^th place. I was hoping to break top 10 but 11^th isn't too shabby.

Back to Norwich for a couple of days training then back up to Sheffield for the 800m National pool championships. This was the first time I have raced this event at nationals so I was quite unsure about how to take it. I like going out fast so I thought I would just stick to my guns and go for it. Apparently everyone else in my race likes to go out even faster than I do. I was clinging on to the girl to my right, (the girl to my left was already 5m ahead by 100m but the gap stayed that size) and managed to hold onto her for 700m but then she “dropped the hammer” as my coach Alex said and dropped me. The first thing I said to Alex after the race was " That was the longest 800m of my life" But I was happy to come 5^th in my heat and only less than a second off my pb! I also had my highest ever national pool finish of 21^st in my age group. So all in all it has been a good week so far.

BACK to Norwich we came,  making sure I am well ready and well recovered for British Triathlon championships this weekend in Liverpool. I just got back from a visit to Carl Goose, where I received a wonderful sports massage and am now loosened up ready for Liverpool. Just the final preparation to go in the next few days and then off on Saturday, ready to race Sunday.

Me crossing the finish line at the London Triathlon

Me (number 6)  walking out onto the pontoon ready to start the Open water National Champs