Tiszy 2017

I went out to Tiszaújváros the week before the race, along with Issy Morris, in order to get used to the heat and prepare well out there. More people joined us during the week and by the end there was the rest of the Brits who were racing staying in our same apartments. Tiszy is different to most ETU cups as it has the semi and then final format. This is super tough racing, especially in the hot and humid conditions of Hungary. I was in semi final 1, whilst the other 2 Brit girls, Issy and Olivia Mathias, were in semi final 2. I had a very good swim here, getting about a 10 second lead over the next person. Out onto the bike and I wanted to push hard to get a bit of a gap. There was a large chase group behind me, I couldn't count how many but only top 14 qualified and I wasn't certain there wasn't more than that. I got off the bike with just over 20 seconds on the chase pack and ran tempo for the first lap, got information about the rest of the race and whether or not it was safe to ease up for the second, so I could just get through into the final with minimal effort.

 I felt very strong during this semi final and was happy to finish 1st, which gave me good confidence going into the second day. We did an easy spin in the evening and prepped well for the next day. In the final I was ranked number 2, so had a lot of choice on the pontoon, so I chose the same place as I'd chosen the previous day, number 17, as it had treated me so well the day before. It was a violent swim, I got closed in by both of the people next to me and had people pulling my feet and dunked all before the first buoy. I went round the first buoy in 14th place and then had to start trying to make progress through the field starting from there. In the end and after a big effort I managed to exit the water in 5th. Unfortunately I just missed the front pack and was in the large chase group, where minimal cooperation was happening, so the front pack just kept making time on us. Going out onto the 3 lap run I was feeling frustrated with my race so far and the first lap wasn't that great, but going onto the 2nd and 3rd lap I started making really good progress through the field and sprint finished to grab 11th place in the end. Even though the placing wasn't quite what I was hoping for, the performance itself made me proud. The key thing I wanted to work on was my run and this race definitely showed that I am making steps in the right direction. Next up for me is Lausanne ETU cup in few weeks. Hopefully this will be a really fun and good race, with a massive GB contingent on the start list.

End of first year

After having Easter at home, I went back to Loughborough a week earlier than most in order to prepare well for BUCS sprint triathlon, held down in Calne. I was super excited for this as it was also going to be my brothers first triathlon (excluding kids triathlons when we were teeny). I went down to Southampton to see Eddie and stay with him a couple of nights before so I was nearer to the race location and that way didn't have to get up at 4am on the morning of. I had a solid swim, with it being in a pool I felt confident as this was essentially my number one sport before taking up triathlon. Out of the pool and set off onto a 22km non-drafting bike leg. It was a windy day and at some points very lonely on the course, only seeing 2 other athletes the entire time as I was one of the first set off in my wave. I had my bike computer on for this race, which I found useful as it gave me an indication of speed and if I started to drop or ease up, it would nudge me to push on. In from the tough bike and just a 5km to go. This was lonely as I didn't see another athlete at all for the entire run, which made it hard to properly race but I kept trying to push myself as much as possible. I was really pleased to finish 5th in my first BUCS tri, still got a couple more years as yet to see what else is to come. 

After BUCS, up next was Llanelli triathlon 2 weeks later. A race which I love but also know is gonna be tough no mater what. Here my swim start was terrible, fully awful! I had to work my socks off to get back to the front of the race and past quite a lot of the field. After the first lap the field was pretty close together, being able to see this with a running exit and entry between laps. On the second lap there were 3 of us off the front and the pace went up and this is were most the damage was done to chasing competitors. After a slick T1 there was 2 of us away, Olivia Mathias and I, onto the bike with roughly a 15 second gap to the chase pack. It was a very windy day which made the breakaway extra hard work, but we tried our best to keep away and after the 5 laps, we had a time gap of about 50 seconds to the next group. I went onto the run and felt better than I did the previous year, but still felt pretty flat. This may have been down to an extremely tough bike or I just didn't have my best run legs that day. Either way I finished 6th in the end, after a fast group of runners stormed through. I was pleased, not thrilled, but content with this result. It shows I had made progress from last year and that things were definitely going in the right direction, just needed to get more work done and keep focused. After this race I then had to have a slight change in focus from sport to exams, with it being my first year of uni and first big set of exams. I was meant to do Leeds aquathlon at the beginning of June, but unfortunately I had to pull out as I had a crash the week before and had a little niggle which prevented me from being able to run and kick in the pool.

Next up would be my first ETU cup of the year, Holten. This is one of my favorite races and I was super excited to be on the start line for my 3rd and final race as a Junior here. Seems like a repeating record here but  once again my start wasn't great. I need to learn to be more aggressive when getting off the pontoon and with my first 20 strokes. Once I found clear water I started making progress through the field and quickly found myself at the head of the race, with a couple of meters on the rest of the field. Going out of T2 there was just one other girl and I to begin with and we tried to have a go at a break but pretty soon got swallowed up by the big pack of chasers behind. It was a wet day and a technical course, this put me on edge a bit as my confidence was still a little bit knocked after my crash the previous month. 2 girls saw an opportunity and made a break off the front and they held it, I was disappointing to miss this but i wasn't in a good enough position in the pack to get onto the wheel. I was relieved to have made it round the bike safely and in a good position. Onto the run I felt strong, probably the best I've felt in a while. I found myself with a Russian girl and we were pushing on well together, I'd found a decent rhythm but at 2km got a bad stitch, I tried to push through but found myself having to ease up to try and get rid of it, this is where I lost the Russian and found myself running on my own for a while. I kept trying to push on once the stitch eased up and with about 1km to go it completely went and I really tried to dig in. In the end I finished in 10th. I was pleased with this as I think I executed a decent race, but ideally I would have liked a higher placing and the race ti have gone a bit more my way. This weekend just gone I did the Lord mayors 5km in Norwich, this is a fab race through the streets of Norwich on closed roads just before the Lord mayors procession. It's a tough race, going up a steep and long hill 2 times, round the roundabout and then down the hill again. After a big week of cycling in Holland with my family and plenty of running, I was aiming to just have a hard run and enjoy that electric atmosphere that the race undoubtedly always provides.