Uni Life

 Its been a while but finally found time to write about what I've been up to and how university is going. Since September I have been living, training and studying in Loughborough. It was a hard transition into the training centre and living in Halls but one that I feel went quite smoothly. Moving into a place full of strangers is a very daunting thing to do, but its crazy how quickly you make friends when you're living with people 24/7. To start with it felt as if I was on a training camp, staying in accommodation and would be leaving
after a week or so to go back home once it was done. It was hard to get my head around the fact I would be there for 11 weeks before I was to go home again, but those weeks absolutely flew by and it seemed like only a couple of weeks before I was back home in Norwich. The training load is probably what made the time go super quick, I was tired most the time as the amount I was doing compared to back in Norwich was a lot more, but it is really enjoyable being with a solid group and I have much more time to be able to get the training in, so I can get it all done during the day so my evenings are pretty free. So far this winter I haven't done any cross country, not even county champs which felt weird, but the one race I have done and really enjoyed was BUCS Duathlon. This was my first experience of a BUCS event and it didn't disappoint. It was great to be able to have my brother and parents there as well, with it being Luke's first duathlon I was happy to be there and watch him race. I was really pleased with my race, I had a strong first run, coming into T1 just inside the top 30. Out on the bike I started working through the field and managed to get myself into the top 10, having the 4th fastest bike split. I kept working hard on the 2nd run and finished up in 11th place, which I was very happy with. We managed to get 3rd team in the girls competition, and overall Loughborough got top Uni.  Just before going home for Christmas I headed out to Rio Maior, Portugal with the rest of the England Talent Squad for a week of warm weather training. It's the third time going to this venue and it is always as good every year. The area has great cycling routes, running trails and a fab 50m pool, so perfect for a camp. Now I'm back in Norwich enjoying Christmas and some well needed recovery time and preparing for another solid block of training to come in Loughborough.

Sweet and sour end to the 2016 season

Next race for me was Liverpool triathlon, which doubled up as British Champs and World Champ qualifiers. We had 6 weeks between the Bananaman tri and Liverpool, so this meant 6 weeks of hard work. During this time I also went to Sheffield for ASA Nationals with City of Norwich SC. Here I was part of the 17+ yrs 4x100m IM relay, swimming the butterfly leg. It was nice to be back in that environment one final time after being with the club for so many years and finished on a high, swimming a strong leg.  I was looking forward to Liverpool, as I always enjoy the course and race, especially being in with the senior women as well, making it a more interesting race. Not so much this year though. I had a terrible start in the swim, being 3 people back at the beginning and got madly caught up. I did manage to make my way through and around people and eventually got myself back up to near the front of the race, but didn't manage to get back on to the very front few swimmers, which meant I ended up in the chase bike group, which I was happy with, as it was just Sophie Coldwell and Jess Learmonth out front. Unfortunately, I didn't have the legs or the lungs to stay with this group on the day, being dropped back to the second pack and after that just lost my head. I finished the race after a painful but character building run. Just one of them races to forget about and move on. 

 Final race of the season was at the commonwealth games venue at Strathclyde park, Glasgow. I put in a really strong block of training between Liverpool and this race as I wanted to do my current fitness justice. We went up to Scotland on the Tuesday before the Sunday race day in order to have time to recover from the ridiculously long drive and acclimatize to the crazily cold temperatures up there. The race was early on Sunday morning with a 9am start and my race being the first of the day. I prepared well and felt good leading up to the race. I was very pleased with my swim, although I didn't get the best start, which is pretty standard for me due to not having as much speed as others, but then managed to make my way through the field and onto the feet of the lead swimmer. After about half way through the swim, us front 2 managed to get a bit of a gap on the rest of the field and this continued to grow for the remaining metres. The nature of the course meant it was hard for a breakaway to stay clear, as a result of this, after the first lap of 4 Emer Wintsch and I were caught. I tried not to let my head drop and keep working hard to make it an honest race. A few attacks were made but nothing stuck and the group was working well to catch any threats. I made a few tactical errors and in hindsight this probably made the cycle a lot tougher for me than it should have been. I went into transition close to the back, again making a silly mistake which had a big impact on my race. I started the run behind the lead pack and felt like id left my running legs 300 miles away in Norwich. I struggled through a bad stitch but was pleased to finish 8th overall after a tough race and long season. 

After the race I came down with a bad cold which summed up the race and the how tired i was and i am very grateful to have some time to rest and recuperate now before getting back into hard training.

During all the build up to my races I also received my A Level results whilst on an ETS camp at Leeds, I was over the moon to get into my first choice university, Loughborough, to study Human Biology and this was the main aim for this year to get to Loughborough. I am really looking forward to making a fresh start here and having new challenges come my way starting in October. 

My swimzi XK keeping me warm in the cold Scottish
temperatures.

Thanks to my sponsors for supporting me through an up and down season but their help made it much easier: Zone3, Precision Hydration, Carl Goose sports massage, SportsAid (Howes Percival)  and Swimzi.

After Exams

After finishing all of my exams and sixth form completely, I was finally able to get back racing. My first race back was in Holten, The Netherlands. I was especially nervous for this race, mainly because it was my first race in nearly 6 weeks, so I didn’t know how it would go and if I was race sharp yet. The journey out to Holland was lovely and relaxed; this was a big advantage and calmed me down going into the race. There was a split transition, which meant setting both up and getting ready just before was slightly hectic, but it is the same for everyone. I had a good start in the swim, getting reasonably clear water and a fast start, meant I got out ahead before the first buoy, with 2 other girls (both Brits) next to me. In the end I got out of the swim 2^nd, but then struggled with my wetsuit, meaning Lissie Hood had to help me find the zip. But once I got it down, my transition was smooth and I made front bike pack comfortably. The rain was pouring by this point so the bike was slightly slower than normal, with everyone being extra cautious. The front pack consisted of about 12 people-including 6 Brits- unfortunately one of these crashed out but wasn’t badly hurt, luckily. I was badly positioned coming into T2, so went out onto the run a bit behind the front few before it even started. I started fast though, going past a few girls early on. I felt strong, stronger than I’d felt in a long time and was working hard in 8^th, just behind 6^th and 7^th. I caught them with just less than 1km to go, but then it came down to a sprint finish and I just got taken on the line, so 8^th it was. I was still very happy with this, being my second best ETU cup result to date. It was also great that 6 of the top 10 in Holten were British girls. I stayed out in Holland for a few days after the race also in a small cottage in the woods. I went cycling with my family and we also did some exploring, which was lovely and relaxing. We also went for a day trip to Amsterdam to sight see and have an adventure around the streets of the capital. Massive thank you to my dad who was the designated driver all week in the mini bus, it must have been hard with the odd roads and many cyclists out there. It made the trip much easier and meant I could focus on training.

I had a race the next weekend at Dorney Lake, the Lidl BananaMan Triathlon. After a fair bit of travelling, getting home from Holten just the previous day, I was feeling slightly tired, but excited to race at one of my favourite venues again. I had a decent swim, coming out roughly 2^nd and a few seconds behind 1^st. The swim was very fast and spread out the field. Going out onto the bike, I just missed Meg’s wheel and found myself in no man’s land for over 5km of the bike. Just after ¼ of the laps I as caught by a small pack of 4 girls. We were working well together but still seemed to be making very little time up on the front 2. Going onto the 3^rd lap, me and Kate Waugh broke off the front of the pack and worked very hard for the next 2 laps, closing the gap from 40 seconds to just over 10 going into T2. I made a rookie error by going to the wrong space in transition but quickly corrected myself and was out onto the run just behind Kate. I worked very hard for the first 2km and that is when I caught Meg up. With Kate having a lead and Meg and I sat in 2^nd/3^rd with a large gap to 4^th we could afford to take it easier. It turned into a very tactical race for second.  The next 2.5km we ran together, taking it in turns to have shelter from what was now a very strong wind. It came down to a sprint and I was determined to win it after being out sprinted the previous weekend. So the final result was; Kate 1^st, Me 2^nd and Meg 3^rd. I was very pleased with this, as it was my first super series podium of the year.

The next day I went to a BBQ with the swimming club National Qualifiers, which was a lovely event and where we also got presented with our National T-Shirts. I was really pleased when I was asked to race for the club in a relay at nationals, especially as this will be my last year with the club full time.

As always a massive thank you to my sponsors and their continued support; Zone3, SportsAid, Precision Hydration, Carl Goose Sports Massage, Broadland District Council and Swimzi.

Big thank you to Birdsof Dereham for cutomising my XK for me

Beginning of the 2016 season

2 weeks after Quateira was the Performance Assessment weekend held near Loughborough. This was a weekend filled with workshops, talks and also a heart screening, as well as a swim and then a bike-run time trial. I had a slightly slower swim than last year, but still placed 3rd overall in that. The bike-run start was staggered based on swim times, so I went off third at my respective time. I got onto the bike with Lissie Hood, but after a couple of laps I was fading pretty fast and got dropped. I then found myself in the chase group with 3 other girls, and we worked well together but couldn't close the gap. I felt strong on the run, it's a tough course as it's always very windy with a long steady up hill (into the wind), but I was pleased to come away with 4th.
I had a few weeks until Llanelli triathlon, so back to training and revision for a while. During this time I also went to a theme park for the first time in years with Eddie (my boyfriend who desperately wanted a mention in my blog). This was a good time to relax and take my mind off of training, racing and exams and just be able to chill out, as well as have a bit of an adrenaline rush.
I then competed on a Wednesday evening in a local cycling race held at the Lotus race track, this is a brilliant venue for the local off road cycling races.There was many more women than last year so this made for a better race. I felt strong even in the earlier stages of the race and kept pushing the pace on, in the end it was just me and one other women, Lucy Nell- a fellow triathlete, she just had the sprint over me, but I was still very pleased with 2nd, racing some experienced riders.

This gave me some good confidence going into Llanelli. I was happy with my swim, using my new zone3 vanquish wetsuit, coming out in the top 5, and had a really slick transition, which meant a group of 3 of us managed to get away on the bike. Again it was Lissie and I and this time Livvy Mathias was also there. The pace was extremely high and it was hard work, and this meant Livvy got dropped and ended up working with Meg McDonald who was a few seconds down on us. I was really pleased with my bike as I worked well with Lissie and we got a good time gap going onto the run, it was just here that I struggled greatly, being able to put no real pace in on the run. In the end I finished 7th, winning a sprint finish between the 8th place finisher. The field of girls was extremely strong so I can't be unhappy with the result, but I  was hoping for better, especially after such a good two thirds of the race.
Now I have a while without racing up and down the country and just focusing on exams and school, which will be over in just 6 short weeks time. This week I did my first 5km road race of the year at Wroxham, organised by Norwich Road runners, which is a course that I really enjoy and is fast. I tried to go off at a steady pace so I didn't blow up in the latter stages of the race, but this soon went out of the window when you're with such a large group of runners and being carried along. I could see after 2 miles I was on for a good time and was still feeling reasonably strong, I was just praying I didn't blowup between then and the finish. I finished in a time of 18.21 as 2nd female home, this is the second fastest 5km I've ever ran and it shows I'm moving in the correct direction as it was over 20 seconds faster than last years time over the same course.
Luckily the day after I managed to get in to see Carl Goose for a sports massage to loosen up my legs after a hard 5km run.
Thanks again to all of my support this year from Zone3, H2pro and swimzi, I'm excited for what the season has to offer.

Pre season 2016

The year started off with many cross countries, racing the local league race at Shouldham Warren and then also racing larger national races such as Intercounties and Nationals. I wanted to get more cross countries in this year, as last year I didn’t do as many and I felt it set me back a bit at the beginning of the season. Cross country really helps develop strength and some speed getting ready for the triathlon season. I also went away on a camp with East Midlands academy to Fuerteventura. This was a great 10 days away with some really solid training; we got to do a few sea swims so this was useful in the lead up to Quateira (first triathlon and ETU Junior cup race of the year). Just before we broke up for half term I found out I had received a grant from the local council which is greatly appreciated. It was a great afternoon meeting the other athletes who had received the full grant and having photographs taken for the local newspaper.

This was also the first year I’ve ever attended the Tri expo, held in Manchester. I went along and got to visit a few of my sponsors who were at the show, including Zone3, H2pro Precision Hydration and also Swimzi. It was lovely to finally be able to put faces to names and help out on some of the stalls there.

Next up was the ETS camp to Italy, where we trained with the Italians for a few days and then on our own in the lead up to Quarteira. I always really enjoy training with the Italians as it gives everyone things to learn and I think it’s fair to say everyone benefits from these types of camps, whether it is culture differences or the way they train. Before we flew out to Portugal, we got an evening in Rome to sight see and enjoy ourselves. It was probably the highlight of the camp for me as everything was so beautiful and it almost felt as if it wasn’t even real, as if it was just a movie set or something like that, plus the ice cream was AMAZING.

Once we got to Quateira we did a bike and swim course familiarization. There was an unfortunate event during this where GBR team mates Livvy Mathias and Bronwen Owen came off down a hill due to some slippy white lines, which led to Livvy being unable to race. Even though she was gutted she couldn’t race, she put on smile and helped everyone else in the little jobs needing to be done, and she became the group: Hair dresser, Physio, Wetsuit helper and bag holder. Without her there I think it’s fair to say I’d have been a lot more stressed out, so she deserves a massive thank you.

I had a decent swim, making front bike group despite a slightly poor start. The sea was so wavy it made sighting and breathing quite a struggle for everyone. Especially entering and exiting the water was made a lot harder by the crashing waves. The bike felt very hard work, especially the first lap. There was said to be 18 girls came off on the first lap of the bike (exactly where Livvy and Bronwen had come off the previous day), so the decision was made to cut that part of the course off. I was happy with my bike, swim and transitions, but then I felt as if I had nothing to give on the run. This is just the first race of a hopefully long season, so I’m not disappointed and I’m now looking forward to my next races and excited to see what the rest of the season has to hold. Also a massive well done to everyone else that raced in Portugal, with GBR getting 3/6 junior podiums.

I was chuffed to find my new Zone 3 Vanquish wetsuit waiting for me as I arrived home. I can't thank zone 3 enough and I'm excited to try it out soon. Also another massive thanks to H2pro precision hydration for helping me stay hydrated throughout, swimzi for the support and also Carl Goose Sports Massage for helping me remain in one piece.

Great end to 2015

In December I had a training camp away in Portugal with the England Talent Squad and also some senior athletes, such as Helen Jenkins and Georgia Taylor-Brown. It was great talking to and being around athletes that have won World titles and Junior World medallists. They gave a lot to the camp and the environment. The travel there went really smooth and fast, helped along by some Justin Bieber tunes to occupy the time. The camp was held at the same location as last year, Rio Maior. The whole set up and area for training out there is exceptional, with a 50m pool and a running track, as well as some great riding routes and running trails so close by.

As a group, we all get on so well, and no matter what we always encourage each other through sessions, which makes the training that little bit easier. Some of my favourite sessions had to be the hill reps on the bike, mainly because of the feeling you got when you got to the top and you'd done it, also the descents were pretty cool. What I also enjoy about ETS camps is the training is quite different to what I normally get up to at home, for example in Norwich we don't do open water specific work in the pool, so when we do things such as swimming on feet I really like it.

Thank you to all of my support throughout 2015, SportsAid, BNY Mellon, H2Pro, Zone3, Swimzi, Carl Goose (sports massage) and vision for sport, not forgetting my coaches in Norwich Alex Pinniger (CONSC),  Jane Clarke (CONAC) and VCN. I hope everyone has a healthy and successful 2016.

swim camp and the start of winter

In October I set off for which would probably be my last swimming camp with City of Norwich Swimming Club to Fuerteventura, as hopefully next year I’ll be at University. I’ve been with the top squad for about 5 years (but I have been with CONSC since I was about 4) and been on 2 previous camps with the club, but there is no doubt that this camp was the best. The training was tough, but so enjoyable in the sun and the lovely 50m pool. My least favourite session had to be the times 5000m for the distance group. I was in so much pain towards the end I could barely spin my arms and mentally it was very tough. Let’s say only a few tears were shed.

On the Wednesday half way through the camp we got an afternoon off for a boat trip. We had the boat just for our squad and set off towards a smaller island, where we put the anchor down and stayed for the rest of the afternoon. There was loads of small fish right by the boat which we got to swim with, which was really cool. Overall the camp was really good; the swimming was hard work (physically and mentally), land training was always very sweaty and we even got a few spinning sessions in. All the time I was helped out with my hydration with H2pro Precision Hydration, which allowed me to perform well and exceed my expectations throughout the camp.

On my arrival home, I go the lovely welcome present from Swimzi with my Swimzi pack. I have been living in my onesie for the last few days as the temperature has plummeted. Big thank you to Chris and everyone there.

The next weekend I had a cross country at Ryston, Shouldham Warren. There isn’t an Under 20’s category so that meant straight up to senior women. I must admit I did feel quite old, especially seeing the U11 and U9 races, which I used to take part in. I had a 9km course ahead of me and I was feeling pretty strong. I managed to pace it well, not going off too fast and building my way throughout. Normally on the second lap I go backwards with people passing me, but I was doing the over taking this time round, which gave me tonnes of confidence and relief that all my hard work and training is paying off.

With upping my mileage over the last few weeks I thought it was about time to get myself some new trainers, so we popped down to Sport Link at Taverham Garden centre. I got some brilliant Saucony and New balance trainers with the help of Neil Featherby, former international marathon runner and now owner and fitness consultant at Sport Link.