So my first time representing my country and in GB kit.....wow that felt good!! There really was something special about pulling on that GB Tri-suit on race morning and the feeling of wanting to do it proud. The ETU Cross Champs were in Schluchsee (Germany) and having travelled out a couple of days before the race and had a quick recce of the course, with new buddies Deano and Simon (cheers for looking out for my guys) I was feeling positive about it all and just wanted to get going. Heading down to transition to set up on race morning and it was a little cloudier/cooler/windier than we all wanted but hey that's racing (just to rub it in the following day was perfect sunshine and not even a breeze). A slightly different rack was used than I was used to where you try and wedge your rear wheel in a crate, for some bikes it worked perfectly, unfortunately for the bike next to me, not so great...each time they left their bike, I'm sure you can imagine the sort of domino action that occurred. Very annoying and not to mention a little worrying when you're leaving your pride and joy to be knocked over :( normal racks please next time.
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| The lake |
Transition was a fair way away from the swim so once racked it was time to walk down and have a quick dip in the swimming pool next to the lake, I'm not sure it's owners wanted it but they were going to struggle to stop a few hundred pumped up triathletes from jumping in for a quick paddle. The elites were called down in order and us age groupers had a great view of their start from the bank, 2 minutes later and we'd be off. I've witnessed the heat-beat countdown at the ITU London race in Hyde Park and it was quite nauseating then and I wasn't even racing, but to hear it for your own race really hyped the pressure on even the most relaxed of us. The gun went and we were off; a few stoney steps into the water, a dive and then go. I was very happy with the first half of my swim, I managed to settle into a rhythm quickly, found a few feet to tow along on and was making good ground. However after the 75m beach run and out onto the 2nd lap it all went a bit to pot, I think I pushed a bit too hard on the run trying to make up places and as such was gasping for too much air whilst trying to battle against the choppy water. A couple of near drowning's and bit too much effort later I reached the turn buoy and enjoyed the last leg of the swim down wind and with the flow back into the beach for the 450m long run back to T1, picking up a few places and then off on the bike I went.
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| Rolling around on practice day |
There was a fair amount of climbing straight out of T1 so I was conscious of holding back a bit and let a few guys power off up the hill as I was sure I'd see them again in a bit (most of them I did, fair play to the guys who stuck at that pace!) On my practice lap, the 2 lap bike course seemed a bit tame and with not much going on other a couple of big hills, come race day it felt completely different. Due to the fact there was a lot of fire road there was a real emphasis on trying to lay the power down and hitting 62kmph doesn't happen much on a mtb course and is fine, but really sapping for the legs when trying to spin up the hills afterwards. There was a nice techy downhill section towards the end of the lap that was great fun and made me a lot of time on others and a crowd pleasing log to leap too, sounds like someone got it a bit wrong though and had a bit of a face plant, hope that's healing well bud!
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| Running that fast... |
A swift T2 and out on the run. 4 laps of a tortuous 2.6km lap with the majority being slow and steady fire road uphill's and then short sharp single track descents followed. My running form has been coming along nicely recently and I was feeling really confident going in that I could set a pace and stick to it, on the day my legs had other ideas though. Cramp set in both hamstrings by the end of lap 2 and was always lingering on the edge or sending me to the deck like a sack of spuds at anytime. Grovelling uphill and then praying downhill with a good few kick outs to try and release them led to a funny running style, think ministry of funny walks and you're part way there, but with a bit of a stern talking too and remembering how far I'd come I made it to the finish. A free stein and complimentary alcohol free beer, a currywurst to recover and off to celebrate with the team mates I went.
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| Giving it the robot :) |
Looking back I'm fairly happy with the result, 11th in Age group and 75th in Europe knowing I couldn't have pushed any harder on the day feels pretty good. International fields are always stronger than you think they will be, remembering everyone there had to qualify just to start helps....but I want better and I know I can improve. Training adjusted and new sessions added, its time to get stronger, faster and better.
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| Current phone screensaver |
Until next time xoxo GG.....Oh no wait that's someone else's tagline
Take it easy
Tom
