Bonk!

Exciting news!

I only have time for a very quick post...however...

I am very proud and excited to say I am going to be working with Bonk Athletic in the coming months :) 

Stay tuned for an update on my picks from their new athletic clothing collection.

#LiveToTrain 

In the meantime you can check out their very informative website http://bonkathletic.com/ 

P.S Don't forget the shop! 

Challenge Rimini

Well it certainly lived up to its challenge name!

Before even getting there this race was causing me a headache, my work situation had changed considerably and getting the time off was no longer a simple thing. Also my loyal bag carrier was due to come with me but couldn't due to his work situation! 

The race must go on! 

The race was due to start at 1100 which for triathlon is unbelievably late, and my wave wasn't due to start at 1155. Never-mind worrying about breakfast, lunch was going to be the next issue!

Bike racking was in the morning of the race so I decided the best course of action was to rack the bike, then go back to the hotel for a larger than normal breakfast. Very leisurely...very odd. 

The morning of the race the weather was pretty bad, although not as bad as the day before. Rain but not too much wind. 

Swim got underway and after running out almost 50 meters we were splashing away quite happily. Until about 100m out where it got rough as hell! I always joke that at least the swim is the flat bit, but I felt like I was literally swimming uphill! 

The buoys were really hard to sight and the orientation seemed to bear no resemblance to the map of the swim course. A spectator told me the next day that during the race one of the buoys had blown off course, and was dragged back....during the race!!!That meant some people were sighting to a buoy that was moving! I clearly had my own ideas about where the swim went and ended up swimming just over 2.2km.

Into transition and I found my bike pretty well. Transition was about 300m long, pretty crazy! 

100m out of transition and I went to change gear when I herd a rather disappointing PING. The cable had snapped and I was stuck in the little ring for the whole race. Face palm! 
The bike course was a lot less hilly than the course profile might lead you to believe and I was wondering if I had made the right choice bringing my road bike rather than the TT. However when it got pretty wet at the top of the climb I was glad I had my trusty roady and was cornering with confidence, whereas on my TT I would have probably been better getting off and running with the damn thing!

Back into T2 in just over 3 hours, I was pretty happy with that considering the gear situation, even happier later when I found I had the 10th fastest bike split of the day.

I learned my lesson from Fuerteventura on the run and decided a sub 18min 5km was not the way to go. I tried really hard to reign myself in for the first lap of the 3 lap course. It paid off and on the last lap I finished strong in just under 90 mins for the 21.1km (that was my secret aim). Turns out this was the fastest AG run by over 2 mins and would have been 5th including the pro ladies!

All in all its been another great experience. Im sat in the heart of old town Rimini surrounded by beautiful Italian architecture and sipping on a cappuccino. Fantastico. 

Until next time...Arrivederci

Spring is here!

Tired - very tired 

Eaton Dorney,
2012 Olympic rowing venue

March is apparently the first day of spring-hurrah, so here is the Jan/Feb update.

These past 2 months have been full of ups and downs. I very much felt like I was emerging from my winter cocoon all through Jan, and I was really wondering if I was going to train and compete at all this year. Injury, coupled with quite a vicious illness which meant I couldn't eat properly for nearly 2 months in 2014, along with being diagnosed with depression have all been a huge strain. I am going to write about these in more detail later.

Alsager 5 

I am very pleased to say I pulled my man up pants on, with the help of my closest friends and family, and I am now in a much happier place. A new non shift, non underground job is also helping me manage my depression a lot easier, and I finally have some continuity in my training. I have raced a couple of times too which has been really good, no pressure and just enjoying running again, relief! 

I have been incredibly fortunate this last month to spend 3 weeks at the regional rehab unit at RAF Halton, with the hope of getting my achilles back on track. I can honestly say it has probably been some of the best weeks I have spent in the RAF. I have learnt so much about my body. Both in the book learning sense, but also in terms of how much I can push myself, not the sweaty lung busting pushing, but in terms of stretching and intricate control work. Just because you are not working your ass off with your HR nearing 200, does not mean what you are doing isnt beneficial! I have been well and truly reunited with my glutes! Lots of clams, bridges, mud walking...pain!


I have learn the importance of stretching and foam rolling. Yep it hurts, but its a necessary evil people!

I have also been experimenting with other recovery stuff, magnesium and beetroot juice. More to follow on these soon so watch this space :) 

The rest of the week at Playitas, Fuerteventura

Breakfast was indeed all one could have hoped for and more!

Athletes, especially triathletes happen to be the fussiest bunch of eaters I know. Well, this breakfast had something for EVERYONE. Every kind of bread you can imagine, gluten free, rye bread, white brown and everything in-between. A smoothie bar manned by a guy churning out smoothies like no-body’s business. An egg area, for whatever kind of egg you would like! Omelettes, that Spanish thing I have forgotten the name of, like quiche without the pastry. My fave is the ‘make your own museli’ station which has load of different dried fruits and nuts. All kinds of milk, soya, even no lactose milk! And of course cooked breakfast including fried courgette and all kinds of strange stuff along with all the faves. Basically everything!

The staff also seemed to have warmed up a bit and have been helpful and friendly. Someone even kindly showed me around the apartments as I think that might be nicer (and easier for food etc) when I come back for the Challenge race in April.
 

This is pretty much the landscape!

 My thoughts on the bike course (The Challenge Fuerteventura bike route) is it basically has 4 distinctive parts;

Undulating

HILLY/mountainous

Undulating

Flat and fast



Hydrating on the beach!
 Nearby café with great
coffee and free Wi-Fi!

I think that hydration and feeding are going to be critical on the bike, its very hot and humid even now in December. The wind ads anew problem to the equation too, since taking a bottle to drink from, at the same time as a strong gust nearly sent me tumbling into a ditch!

I have found there is a wild cat feeding area in the hotel! Some very friendly kitties seem to mooch about here. This provided a nice distraction from the pain in my legs for about 5 minutes!
 

Dinner was as good as breakfast, everything you could hope for and lots of it! My only criticism is that drinks are pretty pricey, and they don’t let you take your own bottles in, even just water.
 

Day 2 and the rest of the week

Went for a little dip in the sea which was lovely. The sea temp is about 19 degrees centigrade. There were a few little tropical fish floating about, but after they had gone the seabed was pretty barron! Just black and volcanic! It’s a really good beach for OW swimming as there are a number of bouys fairly near the beach so great for sighting practice.

Off on the bike again after breakfast and I went on a short-ish ride down to the south. It must have been hotter than yesterday, but the wind masked that. I only realised how strong the sun was when I got back and saw my lovely red arms and crazy tan legs in the mirror!

I ran off the bike today…cripes! Windy and hilly made for a fairly miserable run…however I got some new tan lines. Ehem….I mean burn lines!
 

I swam in the evening in one of the later sessions, and now I know why no one swims then…it gets freeing! I couldn’t finish the session since my head was pounding and I started getting black spots in my eyes! 10 mins in a hot shower and normality was restored.

The pool is an extra EUR2.70 for an hour. It was really clean and 8 lovely wide lanes in the sunshine :) Very nice for someone who hates swimming.

One day I decided to try out the small fishing village adjacent to the resort. I went to a lovely restraint and decided sea food would be the best option given the nature of the location. I had a delicious meal, and cheeky EUR2.00 glass of wine! The dinner was lovely and on the seafront. Perfect place and way to unwind after an intense day in the sun! And it was really reasonable. The dinner was also accompanied by the local kitties, fine for me as a cat lady, but others weren't so keen!
 

Last day

I had a late flight which meant after checking out at 1100, I had some time to kill. I did a swim and sesh in the gym (which is free to hotel guests). The gym is large and really well equipped. Lots of eights and machines, plus all the foam rollers and thera-bands you would expect in a top-class gym. The staff kindly stored my bike and luggage for me so I was free to swish about the resort as I pleased. A bit of trg and a lot of book reading, and then it was time to leave :'(

Concluding thoughts

The resort is really clean and well set up for runners, triathletes and generally active people. The weather in Demember was lovely, not too hot, but sunny enough to top up the vitamin D levels and get a bit of a pre-Christmas tan! The staff were actually very friendly and helpful, I think they were just having a bad day when I arrived. The food is good and plentiful! The cycling is as challenging as you want it to be, but beware, its not called the windy island for nothing.

I would definitely go back for a week, or more of training. The long flight time (4h +) makes it a little too far for any time less than a week. Looking forward to being back for the Challenge event! And by looking forward....I mean totally terrified by the hills, the heat and the sheer enormity of 70.3 (for the Sprint and SD distance girl anyway!)



 

First Fuerteventura thoughts

I hopped on a plane this morning over to rather misty Fuerteventura. I only have a few days here due to work and other commitments, but a few days in the sun is definitely better than none!

In good holiday and triathlon tradition the flight was at 0715 (not too bad) but that did mean leaving home at 0330 (quite bad). However once at the airport Easy Jet were brilliant! You herd it here first kids. The bike was no hassle, staff were very kind and polite, and I witnessed my bike being handled carefully by easy jet and the Gatwick ground crew. Good start.

I also used the valet parking at Gatwick which I booked online with them, cheaper than the long stay car-park miles away and it was super easy! Drive in, give them a car, 2 mins and you are at check in! Deffo one for the future, so much less stress, and the less humping about of a bike box the better! 

 

Not so good start was that in my bleary eyed state, after feeling quite smug at buying some intellectual books for the jaunt, I left my debit card in the WHSmith card reader at the self check out!

The flight was pain free and I slept most of the way, my aircraft essentials are;

                The trusty neck pillow that looks a bit like a cushion for people with piles, but oh so worth it to not wake up and feel like you have been in a 10 car pile up!

                Sleeping eye mask – no daylight, and no one tries to talk to you

                Newly found fab item – the cape/coat come blanket, snuggly sleepy warm heaven!

                Of course some comfy trews and shoes you can slip off easily (preferably with socks underneath!)

                Wet wipes, mini mouth kit (toothbrush and mouthwash) and a mini perfume, all = freshness!

Meow - there is a cat feeding area in the hotel complex!

I arrived and at the moment I have mixed feelings about the hotel. The rooms are quite basic but comfortable, but EVERYTHING is an added extra. You have to hire a kettle! But there is a fridge in the room and you don’t have to feed it euros to keep it cool! The room I have is a good size for one, but with two it might be a bit cosy.

Wifi is an added extra and horrendously slow.

50m 8 lane pool - lush

Use of the pool is extra, and despite me trawling the Playitas website before coming I could find no mention of a fee.

There is even a charge for maps which I have found are normally given out freely.

However the bathroom is really well fitted out, with a fab shower, and a bath which I’m sure I will be soaking my legs in towards the end of the week, and decent complimentary toiletries (at least I think they are complementary!)

Christmas decorations in the local town

There are a couple of sports shops on site (quite expensive too) but useful if you have forgotten something essential. A gym which looks great. A spa, and even a fish pedi place. A couple of on-site restaurant and a few bars dotted about the place. There is also a really decent bike workshop, and I think most people who come here just hire a bike as they have the place packed out with Di2 Cervelos and alike.

I didn’t manage to do any training today due to being soooooooooooooooo tired! I decided to head into the nearby town instead since I probably won’t get a chance/will be too knackered to go later in the week. It is quite sweet, and the Christmas decs are all out which I find quite novel, being next to palm trees and the sea! There are a few shops and a couple of supermarkets, plenty enough to stock your fridge if you were staying in the self catering apartments.
 

So, I’m not overwhelmed as yet, the staff were not terribly helpful or accommodating…but its all about the phys, so we shall see what tomorrow brings. Oh and the buffet brekkie….that could change things! 

Learning is taking place - injury

Things I have learnt having an injury. 

There have been a few different phases of mood associated with the news that I couldn't run due to pain in my achillies.  

Stage 1 

Relief! This was probably an indicator of over-training too. I was honestly relieved to have the pressure of competing and relentless training removed from me.

Stage 2 

Jealousy. I love to race. So after I got over the initial feelings of exhaustion,  and had a bit of R&R I was then itching to get back out there.... But I couldn't :( I then had to stand on the side-lines and witness ever one else continuing with their amazing seasons!  Made worse my the constant information streams from Facebook and Twitter! 

Stage 3 

Boredom and loss of interest. After a couple of months of swimming and cycling only,  I definitely lost my mojo. I find the threat of a competition looming on the horizon a good motivator, and there was no option of doing this. So another week off was in order.  

Stage 4 

Realisation that sport isn't everything!  I began to remember that I have some other interests!!!  And I have a family and friends who have suffered between mild and significant neglect at the hands of my obsession with triathlon and running.  I started to draw and paint again,  saw friends and family I hadn't seen in ages and tried out a few new things too.  

I think that one of the best was to approach an injury is to think of it as an extended off season. Focus on your form and weaknesses in the things you can do. I am lucky I can still swim, cycle and do S&C. Do all the things you don't have time for when you Adele training, working, looking after the kids etc.  

Yes it sucks. And no one wants to have an I jury, be in pain,  and generally not do what they want, but you really do have to look for the silver lining, else you will go mad!

Off on a tangent

I have decided after 2 weeks off work, and generally remembering what its like to be me, not some work crazed triathlon crazed work and train-o-holic, that I have been neglecting a lot of my other interests, therefore this blog is soon to contain lots of other stuff that interests me.

Firstly...
I like triathlon - yes, and I am of the female variety. However there seems to be a lack of female friendly tri stuff (although this is getting better). I like to try (try is an understatement) to retain a bit of my femininity when part-taking in sport. So I will be sharing some tips on things such as swim proof nail varnish, how to remove the ever present smell of chlorine from yourself and other useful stuff for us ladies. Plus I am also a lover of exciting colourful tri clothing, swim and gym wear, which I shall share with y'all too. 

Second
Art, photography and generally making stuff. I do it, some of it is going to be coming your way!

Third
Baking!!! This seems to be something shared by my fellow triathletes. Some recipes, good and bad to follow.








Fourth
Cocktails and eating out.









Fifth
Make-up, clothes and beauty.

Sixth
Yoga. ahhhh yoga. I have neglected thee recently. However a new routine and focus means I am back on the namaste-bandwagon and feeling good :) 

Oh yes....and cats. I really like cats :) 

Shift Work & Training

I have been asked by a few people to share my methods/tips/coping strategies for training while doing night shifts and shift work in general...

The Background

Currently I am in a full time job where I work 12 hr shifts in an underground bunker. These are both day and night shifts. There are a lot of problems relating to shift work and lack of exposure to natural light. The first being sleeping and how that effects recovery for an athlete, but also other things like mood, motivation and willingness to train. 

Sleep

There are 3 main functions of sleep. 1 is to repair the body. 2 is to process food and restoration/recovery of the nervous system and 3 is the cognitive function of learning and memory.  Many now argue that sleep is mainly for the brain rather than the body.

"Sleep affects recovery, metabolism, hormonal balance, mood, and athletic performance. During sleep, the body secretes growth hormone, which aids in strength building and recovery from injury by stimulating the healing and growth of muscle and bone as well as the burning of fat. Sleep helps keep athletes mentally sharp, too, and is important for memory, reaction time, and hand-eye coordination as well as for learning and acquiring new skills."

So, all the good advice says get between 8 and 10 hours a night, which just aint gonna happen if your are on the night shift!

 

There is loads and LOADS of stuff on the internet about how bad not getting enough sleep is for you, disturbances in circadian rhythm (your body's natural rhythm)  etc. etc. so I wont go into all that, I am just going to share my tips about getting through it, and especially getting through it while still trying to achieve your athletic goals.

Training

Unfortunately you are going to have to adapt your training, and this might mean having more easy or light training days than you would ideally like. However this is better than trying to train at a really high intensity when you are exhausted, resulting in becoming frustrated and angry because you have had a bad session, or worse becoming injured. 

Day shifts 

These are long and tiring. I normally try and do a light training session before work (horrendously early) or after work. Anything more than that and I would be wasted and unable to do much in the following days.

Night Shifts & The Tips

1. Don't try and skimp on sleep in the day in order to maximise your daylight hours. It is really frustrating to spend the best bits of the day asleep and miss all the sunshine, but you NEED the rest. It is said you need an hour of sleep for every 2 hours awake, therefore after a night shift you have a 'sleep debt' which needs to be repaid. Set an alarm if you need too, but try and wake up naturally so your body had banked the sleep it needs. I have found moderate to hard training sessions achievable on these days in the afternoon.

2. Go to bed as soon as you can after your shift. Try not get distracted by other jobs which need to be done, this will likely wake you up and you will find it hard to sleep.

3. Get some decent black-out curtains, blinds or sleep with an eye mask. Personally I have thick curtains AND use an eye mask which make it really easy to get back to sleep again.

4. If where you are sleeping is noisy, and living communally is I can assure you. You can try ear plugs (the type motorcyclists use, or if you don't like putting things in your ears (I don't) try ear defenders.

5. Put a sign on your door if you can, explaining 'Shift worker sleeping' or something similar. This should dissuade people knocking on your door trying to sell you something, or something else equally unhelpful.

6. Keep your room cool, this makes it easier to get to sleep.

7. Don't get stressed if you cant sleep. Try reading a book, listening to calming music. I like to write a list of what I need to do when I get up, then I can see my goals for the day and allocate my time appropriately.

8. If you are hungry, eat something. It can be hard to not over-eat while on the night shift, but if you are starving when trying to get to sleep, you wont. I sometimes have a small bowl of porridge or a handful of nuts. Walnuts, almonds, cheese, rice, cherry juice and chamomile tea are all know to help stimulate sleeping.

9. Don't under-estimate the power of the afternoon nap! Although you should try to nap for 90 or 45 minutes (or factors of, e.g. 3 hrs). This is one full, or half of a sleep cycle. This will stop you waking up in the 'deep sleep' part of the sleep cycle. That is when you wake up and feel totally awful!

10. After nights I find I am extremely irritable, my mood is very unstable and I can find myself being easily distracted. I am aware of this and that alone has helped to enable me to re-focus on what I need to get accomplished on that day. However I have also learned to LET GO, if I miss a session, it is not the end of the world! This is my hobby, I'm not a professional and it should be enjoyable.

Days off

These might be in the week rather than the weekend, and depending on your family situation this will dictate how much time you can give up to training, but generally I make the most of my days off and get in some big sessions with long periods of rest. I also try to do as much prep as possible for my days at work. Doing things like food prep, washing and getting bags of kit prepared so I don't have to waste time in what can be busy and very long days.

 

My First Triathlon

I thought I would reflect on my first encounter with 'proper triathlon' (this I classify as one with an open water swim) was the Dambuster standard distance triathlon in June 2013.

This was also the first EVER time I had swum in open water, more of that later.

Pre race kit checking and packing
N.B headphones are for warm up
not for using during any part of the race

The day began horrendously early, 05someting I got up. I was at registration by 0630 and collected my hat, number and found my space in transition. There was a sticker on the racking with my number and name on, this made me strangely excited. I made numerous newbie errors here, the biggest being - no track pump! Therefore I just guessed what pressure my tyres should have been with a hand pump - oops. After getting everything in transition sorted (sort of) it was time to have about 10 nervous toilet trips and wait for the start!


Swim

The various waves of men were off first, with a beach start and frantic run into the reservoir. We lined up on the beach at around 0830, the klaxon went and we were off into the water. About 300m into the swim I thought "oh dear god, will this ever end?!" I thought about paddling my way over to the canoe, but then reminded myself of how much I had paid to enter, and how I would have to sit about for the rest of the day with a quitting cloud of shame over my head! Not an option. I did a few strokes of breast stroke and remembered some wise words which were given to me - breathe, relax, and stay calm. And I was off again in my finest front crawl (not very fine by the standards of other humans with the gift of sight). 

All ready in transition

I struggled out of the water in just over 30 mins, which wasn't too bad, then I remembered the swim had been shortened by 100m due to it being so rough. However there was not time to dwell on what had just happened. It was into transition.

I had practiced this a few times (on dry land) so I thought I knew what I was doing. However I had not expected to be quite so disorientated after the swim and SO out of breath. I remembered all the important points, kit off and INSIDE my own transition area, helmet on BEFORE touching the bike, number on, glasses on - and away!...Or not, after the dismount line my chain fell off! (Of course it would choose now to have unexplained mechanical issues) and now I am facing slightly uphill, trying to get my chain on, then get my frozen feet to start pedaling! Eventually all parts of body and bike were functioning as best they could and I was away. 


Bike

The bike route is beautiful, undulating and really interesting. At one point I forgot I was supposed to be racing and was just really enjoying being out on my bike. That was short lived though and before I knew it I was back in transition - now to the favorite part...

Run
The day had heated up considerably and the sun was raining down gloriously. The run route goes across the dam, out to a turn around and back to the finish. This provides a good opportunity to see how far ahead the competition are, which in some cases was very far! 

Coming back to the finish was amazing, there was a fantastic buzz and it was amazing to finish. 

The Aftermath I kept grinning to myself all the way home in the car (despite some agonising stomach cramp). I felt elated that I had conquered an OW swim, and the rest of the standard distance tri. 

The first but not the last!

P.S when I later checked my tires they were at 80psi!

T3 - Run --> home --> washing machine

Time for a little sprint

 After the Kitzbuhel blues, and quite a while without a race, I thought I would ease myself back into the fold with a sprint.

However...I had not anticipated the trauma sustained to my achilies at the Inter-Service Track and Field Championships the previous Wednesday. I intended to do the swim and bike only, and I should have listened to my own advice (who ever does!) and not taken my trainers with me...

Into the deep

Another very early start, arrival and registration all went very smoothly. Set up in transition was stress free, and due to it being quite a small event I was confident I would be able to find my bike. It was really great to see so many hands go up at the race brief when "who's first triathlon is this?" was asked. I really hope they all caught the bug! And not the bug in the water (more on that later)...

Swim
Terrible as always. At least this was only 750m, and with so many novices I thought it would be fairly friendly - WRONG! I got my head fully dunked after about 50m, then my ankles grabbed (definitely not by accident) and then a swift punch to the face! A little extra trepidation was added to the swim after being told that there was a parasite in the water which causes 'swimmers itch'. Basically this parasite lives in water, and will try and lay its eggs in your skin. From what I have researched you don't then become some sort of walking parasite house, and they die quite quickly, but it can just make you itchy! Out of the water and a loooong old run to transition. Really glad I brought an extra pair of trainers as it was pretty gravelly and I managed to run past a few people exuding a lot of "ooch, aah, owww, ouch" sounds.

End in sight - getting pretty warm too!

Bike
I was really looking forward to racing the bike as I was determined I wasn't going to run so I could really go for it. However the course was pretty flat and I tend to switch off when there is no hill. I was catching people though which is always fun and definitely a motivator. Managed to stay in the TT position most of the course except some corners (still need to work on bike handling!) 

Run
Yes...I ran (bad athlete) but only at a plod really. The course was off-road which helped, and I wasn't feeling any pain so I just kept it steady and plodded on. I finished as the 1st Lady which is always a welcome confidence boost, and even got a prize donated by Wokingham Lexus which was pretty cool.

Love this photo
My poor other half supporting and photo-ing

Goody Bag
The medal was absolutely gigantic! And the post race goody bag had some good items, a flapjack and some face cream and the obligatory flyers. One of which was for Miles Stronger who make these really cool bar-code t-shirts for Park Run! 

There is this really cool video from the event. Someone had a remote control UAV type camera which got some really unique footage of the race. Very impressed with how high it got too! 

Thanks for all the great marshaling and officials who made the event possible :) 
'Grey Snapper' photos
'Sports Alive' photos

Results

European Triathlon Championships - Kitzbuhel

I have been extremely slow in writing about this event, despite it being super-awesome itself, I had a less than perfect time which unsettled my Mojo for a while.

This time I was lucky to be able to travel with my mule, and we arrived in Kitzbuhel on Monday (before the race the following Sunday) which gave us lots of time to relax, take in the sights and do a little bit of training.

The long way down.



At the top of the horn!

The first day we took on the Kitzbuhele-horn which featured in the Elite European race of 2013. It involved 8km of climbing 4000ft, which was INCREDIBLE! I am a bit of a sadist on the bike, however the TT was not the tool for the job, but I don't have a garage full of carbon fibre machines to choose from. The way back down was a bit more terrifying, and we had to keep stopping for wheel cooling down breaks (maybe a bit over cautious, but I didn't want anything exploding before the race!)



The rest of the week featured all the usual pre race stuff like course recce, registration and racking. I have never been anywhere where I have had the luxury of being able to do a swim recce, and maybe this was an error to start doing things I had not done before. Following my swim recce, that afternoon I felt a little dodgy, then Friday (2 days before the race) I spent the entire day in bed, sweating, and shivering with a less than enjoyable stomach! (make of that what you will). I was now pretty worried about my race on Sunday. Saturday I felt better, but still not 100% and I managed to make it to the team brief and bike racking in the evening.

RACE DAY! Wake up at some offensive hour, try to cram some breakfast down my face, then off to the race. My race start was the second of the day at 0730. The start went OK, but after about 500m I was sick while swimming. If you have never experience this, it is very un-nerving. Unhappily this happened twice, and although I am an abdominal swimmer, my swim was much worse than expected, meaning lots to do on the bike and run. I was sick another couple of times on the bike which player havoc with my nutrition. I did however manage to enjoy the beautiful course, and I was catching up with people all the time which is always nice! Onto the run, and yep...sick again! However more people to catch and the end was well and truly in sight. I managed to claw my way up to 7th in my AG and posted the fastest run of the day which was a small victory.

I learned so much from this race, and although it didn't really go my way, it was fabulous experience, made all the better to have someone to share it with. Not only that, there were a handful of RAF Triathletes competing at the European Championships at both Sprint and Standard Distance which made celebrating all our achievements even better.
 
I even made it onto the race review! (My feet at 2:10 and me at 2:15 for a smidge of a second!) Age Group Standard Distance Highlights

Reflecting on the race now, and after realising that this race was on the anniversary (to the exact day) of my first Standard Distance Triathlon, and my first EVER open water swim, it just shows what you can do with hard work, determination and a bit of luck!
 

View from the top of the Hahnenkamm at the closing ceremony