Dambuster Race Report

It's taken me a little while to write this report as it's never quite as easy to get the words out when things don't go to plan, but nonetheless here is my race report from The Dambuster Duathlon and a brief update of what I've been up to since.

Saturday 5th March saw me take to the start-line of my first race of the 2016 season at Pacesetter Events Dambuster Duathlon  held at Rutland Water. 

I can some my day up in one word. Brutal. What I was hoping to use as a good test of winter fitness became one of the most mentally challenging races I've done.

The forecast made it was clear it was going to be cold and I was hoping that the snow would pass before race day. When I woke up and saw rain but no snow I was relieved but knew it would be cold; something confirmed at the race briefing when we were told there was a wind-chill factor of -6 on the bike course. Great.

As it was my first multi-sport race in 6 months and my first ever standard distance duathlon, nerves were high pre-race and questions like 'Have I been training enough? Or too much? Have I made improvements on my run? Or bike? Or neither?' were floating through my mind.

As I lined up with hundreds of other athletes all these thoughts disappeared and I just focused on the next 2 hours. The horn blew and we were off! The pace was blistering from the start and after the first km I 'settled' into a group of 3, with 2 athletes up ahead. As we hit the 5km turnaround in 16:20 the heavens opened and it was encouraging to see all the other athletes coming along the dam in the other direction as we held pace back to transition.

Coming into transition was when my day made a turn for the worse. 43 of the coldest km's of my life were to follow. I had picked my new race bike up from Mailcoms Ltd. - a beautiful Trek Speed Concept 9 Series- a few days before the race, so I only had time for a rough set-up and a quick 30min spin. It was unknown territory, which wasn't the most thought-through plan and only made worse by the conditions. Losing my nutrition and getting caught on every possible junction (to be fair there are only 3 junctions on the whole course, but still...) added to my shambolic ride which was topped off when I came into transition. With little feeling in my hands, and some very wet brakes, I hit a sharp corner too fast and ended up in the barriers. I'm ashamed to say that my first thought was that this was a good enough excuse to call it a day and get warm, but I soon gave myself some stern words, climbed back on and made it into T2. I fumbled my helmet off and shoes on before what can only be described as a stiff shuffle round the final 5km run.

Final Result

Run 1 - 33:29

T1 - 0.50

Bike - 1.12

T2 - 0.51

Run 2 - 16:34

Overall - 12th

Age-Group - 3rd 

On reflection I'm glad to have got through a tough day when things really didn't go to plan, although I am still disappointed with my result as I expect more from myself and know that this isn't an adequate reflection of the work that I've put in over the winter.

For the last few weeks my training has moved on and I've been putting in some hard sessions now my main races are fast approaching. I have a long season ahead and it's been a tough job for Dr Garry Palmer of Sportstest to hold me back and make sure that I'm firing in the summer, when it counts. For now I'm going to keep pushing and am hoping for a better race at The Windsor Duathlon next weekend.

'Don't give up what you want most, for what you want now.'

Winter Update

It's been a while since my last post - mainly because technology has been failing me (no phone for 6 weeks and no laptop for 8 soon showed how much I rely on technology these days!) and I've been busier than ever juggling training, work and family/friends.

It feels like we've broken the back of the winter and thoughts are on the fast approaching race season. Goals have been set and races have been entered so there's no going back.

To sum up my winters training so far I’d use the word ‘consistent’. I’ve strung more consistent weeks of good training together than ever before, with more consistently strong individual workouts. I’ve not been breaking many PB’s but I’ve not been reaching for them either, using the zones set by Sportstest after a day spent in the lab (see last post) I’ve been able to train efficiently minimizing waste miles in ‘no man’s land’ and keeping every session purposeful and progressive. Later this week I'll be heading back into the lab with Sportstest and we’re hoping to see some significant improvements in my aerobic efficiency, which was highlighted as a weakness in the last tests.

Whilst training has been consistent I’ve also thrown in a few races to keep things fresh. In December I raced the Christchurch Christmas Pudding 10km and - after a stressful period I wasn’t expecting a lot but was over the moon to come away with a PB of 32.52! I’m sure there’s more to come off that though… I’ve also taken part in a local cross-country league scoring two 2nd’s and one 1st so far in a strong field. I’ve got my final cross-country race tomorrow and then I’ll be starting my multi-sport season at The Dambuster Duathlon on the 5th March to really see where I’m at physically and whether I have an outside chance of qualifying for the Duathlon World Championships that will be held in Spain in June.

There's plenty to be excited about as race season is just around the corner and things are falling into place nicely for the summer. I'll post again soon about my support team for 2016 and my race plans, until then I’ll leave you with a quote I’ve been thinking about a lot recently during training and day-to-day life:

‘I am made of the days you don’t see, not just the one that you do’

A Day In The Lab.

So it’s been a while since I last posted anything but that doesn’t mean that it’s been a quiet time in the New Forest - in fact it’s been the opposite and I’ve been making some exciting new plans for 2016 which I’ll be putting in my next post in a few days…

But back to the here and now.

After a short break I thought it was about time to get back training and start working towards 2016. After reviewing 2015, I decided that it would be a good idea to look for a coach; someone to push me on as an athlete and hold me back when I’m about to do something stupid (which as it happens seem to be a more common occurrence than I would care to admit…).

After a few conversations one possibility stood out to me. One thing which has always held me back from getting a coach was finding the right fit. I personally didn’t want a coach that would just send over session plans; in my opinion that’s not  coach and it’s not something I couldn’t do myself. I wanted someone who could help me look at the whole picture and who could understand me as both a person and as an athlete because I think that that is what will really bring out the best in me.

Here is where Garry Palmer and Sportstest come into the picture. Garry is an experienced athlete in his own right, with a wealth of knowledge on exercise physiology - if there’s something he doesn’t know in that field then it’s not worth knowing.  We met during the summer through ‘triathlon circles’ and have stayed in touch since.

After some initially conversation we decided that it would be a good fit and we both wanted to see what we could achieve together, great news!

A few days later I found myself up at the crack of dawn driving up to Stafford for a day in the Sportstest lab to perform an array of bike and run tests which would be the basis of my plan from here on.

This was to be the start of my winter training and my road to next season.

The day was an eye opener to say the least! The results showed some clear areas that needed work and we had some great discussions that will no doubt help Garry (and me!) to understand what exactly we need to do to reach my goals.

I’m into my second week of my winter training with Sportstest - it’s all going well and I’m seeing the benefits already of wasting no time, working in the precise zones and getting the most from every session – which includes something which I haven’t focused enough on: rest!

That's a wrap for 2015!

 Hever Castle Olympic Distance Triathlon

This was my first Olympic distance triathlon two years ago and I loved it so much I've been back every year. It’s always been one of the highlights of my season, but this year things didn't go quite to plan and it wasn't the end to the season that I was hoping for.

After the incredible high of Chicago I was struggling with the come down of normal life in the following week; I was excited about the prospect of another race but my body wasn't so sure. I didn't travel well on the return flight which took over 24 hours door-to-door. I thought a night flight would be a good idea but I only managed half an hour of sleep which is a long way off what I'd normally get! This, combined with the time difference and jumping straight back into work, left me feeling deflated all week and I wasn't training particularly well. In fact I was still feeling the effects of the race out in Chicago - I was hitting good times in the pool but couldn't find any run or bike legs.

 

That's my pointy elbow in the center of the picture 

I got through registration as quickly as I could, ran up to the marshals letting people in and out of transition and quickly explained that I didn't have time to stand and stick all the stickers on as my wave was in the water. Luckily they let me in and I got to the first free racking space I found, dumped my bike, got out my bike and run shoes and my helmet, stripped down to my tri suit, grabbed my wetsuit and goggles and ran down to the swim start. I got there just as the last athlete was getting in the water and stuck my arms and legs in my wetsuit hoping I wouldn't rip it to pieces. As I jumped into the water I did the zip up and heard the starting gun go off! I was about 50 meters from the start line with 200 athletes ahead of me. My first thought was "It's bloody freezing!" but that was quickly followed by "I'd better get a move on".

Unfortunately there was no way I was going to bridge the gap up to the top Elite athletes but I gave it my best shot, weaving between groups of athletes I made my way up through the field quickly but once ahead of the masses I was stuck in no man’s land too far back from the fast moving lead groups. From then on it was a cold and lonely swim. The swim course is technical but scenic and I couldn't help think that it would be a great place to train but during the race I found it hard to keep on the best course as I wound down the river on my own. I was pleased to take the turn out of the river and head back in front of the Castle and the swim exit.

Once out of the water I realized how cold I’d gotten; fumbling with numb fingers trying to grab my zip became an almighty challenge and it felt like I was running on stumps not feet as I made my way up to transition. For the first time this year I ran down the wrong racking lane and had absolutely no idea where I'd left my bike, having left in such a rush I hadn't picked out any markers or even payed attention to which lane I'd gone down. After a bit of panicked dashing around I found my bike and headed straight out along the muddy pathway.

Once I was out on the bike I still couldn’t warm up much - my feet were still numb and the wind against my wet, cold skin cut me like a knife but I pushed on, mainly to try and warm-up! Having done this race before I remembered roughly where the route went but had never got caught in so much traffic before, getting stuck behind a number of cars from the backlash of the car park. The bike was fairly uneventful for me as I was still a way down from the leading Elites so had no-one to gauge my position or speed off but I enjoyed the course (which probably shows I wasn't working hard enough!). The crowds were great and a group of boys on one of the tougher hills were amazing, both times I passed by they went crazy! I couldn't help but smile.

By the time I turned back down the castle entrance the sun was out and I'd warmed up but still had no idea of my position. I jumped off my bike and heard over the PA system that Cat Jameson was just racking her bike. I knew from Castle Howard that Cat was an incredible athlete and it gave me an idea that I couldn't be too far down and might actually catch some athletes if I had a good run. This gave me a boost and I sped out of T2 with a new lease of life on the hunt.

The run course is a really tough two lap, off-road route that has a number of nasty climbs that sting the legs and the lungs. This type of run suits me as I enjoy running off-road, letting my legs go and pushing hard on the hills. Despite the mud ridden course I felt like I was running well and managed to stay upright through the trickier sections which I'm sure took a few people down. On my last lap I began passing some athletes and carried on pushing, unfortunately from my point of view the run was over too soon. As I climbed the final hill I saw a group ahead who were suffering; I knew I was gaining but we were on the finishing chute before I could pass.

Seaon Over. 

It wasn't a great race to finish on and a shame that I hadn't improved on my result from last year but there are still a lot of positives to take from the race. I finished 9th overall, losing time to the top Elites on the swim and bike but I ran a 33:15 which was a few seconds off the fastest run of the day - I'd like to know what my legs could've done on a flat road course!

Bright Lights, Bigger City

World Triathlon Championships Chicago 2015

I can't believe how quickly the time has gone, the end of September already!

I’m in the process of putting something together about my training and racing through August and early September in the build up to the World Championships but I thought it best that I put down my experience in Chicago whilst it was still fresh, so here goes!

Firstly I would like to say that I am incredibly pleased with my result, although some of you that I’ve spoken with will know that it may not seem like it when I talk a about it. That is simply just the way I am, I’m my own harshest critic, I set myself high standards and I always want to achieve more than is expected of me. This obviously isn’t always possible, I think I put together a solid performance which I am proud of, but I know that I had prepared better than my performance shows and I can’t help but be slightly disappointed in that sense.

At the start of the year this event wasn't even on my radar but after a good result at the European Championships I wanted to know how I would compare against a World class field. I'm not someone who has travelled a lot, in fact this would be my first time out of Europe, so heading across the pond was a big deal.

Anyone who has participated in race of this scale will know that the most important thing is to have a ‘clean’ race; no-one wants to sit on a plane for 9 hours to go three round with Mike Tyson in the swim and then puncture.

The day before the race didn’t go exactly how I had planned, in fact I did exactly what I knew I shouldn’t do. Through a combination of getting my bearings in the city, the race briefing, bike racking and swim familiarization (all in the unexpected blistering sunshine) I found myself out and on my feet in the sun all day. I got back to the hotel in the evening and just thought "what have I done, I'm knackered and sun burnt!". From then it was legs up and all I could do was hope I could recover and hadn't ruined my race before it even started.

 

#beanselfie

Having a race start time of 10:10 meant for a relaxed morning, I had a coffee and some porridge at the hotel before heading down to transition to set up the rest of my kit.

The sun was out in full force again and I hung to the shade listening to some music before I put my wetsuit on and dropped my bags off with 45 minutes to the start. This is was when things took a turn for the worse, I found myself cooking in my wetsuit, sweat running out of my wrists and ankles and I knew then that I should have put a bottle on my bike. As I’d been expecting mild temperatures and hoped for a quick race I chose to save the weight and not bring one, I’d been racing sprints throughout the summer without and knew I should be fine. But not in this kind of weather.

As we made our way through the pens and onto the pontoon we were given 1 minute to get onto the start line and then it was go. People began elegantly diving in all around me and I thought I’m not bloody doing that, I can’t dive! I didn’t think this was a good time to try and learn either so I jumped in hoping no-one was about to dive on top of me. After getting beaten up for the entire swim in Geneva I’d put in a lot of time in the pool and knew I’d made some good improvements but I really didn’t want to get punched in the first stroke and suffer for the rest of the race, as they say

“you can’t win the race in the swim, but you can lose it”

I chose to start near the far buoy just off the main group having heard the turn buoy at the end of the swim was further out than you expect and people had been sent back to go around it the previous day at the aquathlon. This proved a good move as I set off with clear water I kept out of the fights and just got my head down. It turns out the swim course was long by ~100m which I wasn’t glad about at the time but I was soon at the turn buoy and heading straight for stairs, having swam parallel with the main group the whole way with a group of swimmers on my feet I was pleased with the clean swim but could have benefited from some faster feet if I’d gone off with the right group, it’s a choice you’ve got to weigh up at every race and I chose to play it safe and do all the work myself.

Out of the water, up the steps and it was a long 800m up to transition. It always feels like a long run out of the swim in a wetsuit but I passed a few athletes on my way and found my bike no problem which was a miracle in the packed transition area.

Once on the bike it was clear it was going to be a fast day in the saddle, the majority of the course was up and down a main highway so it was a case of tucking and pushing hard. Unfortunately as we weren’t able to recce the course before the race it came as a shock when a man in a fluorescent jacket stood on a wall was shouting at everyone that passing, I wondered what was going on and then I smashed into a pretty large section of raised tarmac. Obviously a scar from some roadworks that weren’t particularly well finished, it was a metre long raised section crossing both sides of the road. It left a number of athletes with DNF’s through punctures; a couple of crashes and a lot of bottles were rattled out and rolling across the road. Anyway, the course flew down the narrow section and round a sharp 90 degree bend and back onto a wide highway for about half a mile before the full turn around. The first lap was taken tentatively not knowing what was coming or how it could be taken but after that it was full throttle, well that was the plan. On the wide sections of road it was easy to stay clear of other athletes and make progress but when the road halved in size and athletes were slamming their brakes on because of the bad road surface it made for a congested part of the course in both directions, I was caught in a big group for most of my second lap, I was nervous about getting caught for drafting but from what I saw there wasn’t much chance of that happening and I definitely wasn’t gaining anything from being boxed in.

One of the few moment I could put my head down and work

On my final lap I was passed by a fellow GB athlete who I knew, I suddenly realised I needed to be going faster and made sure I didn’t let him out of my sight. It wasn’t the first time this season that I’ve needed a kick up butt on the bike, but it definitely helped as I flew around the last lap.

Flying into T2 with the other athlete about 50m ahead I jumped off and was into a full run straight away passing him on the 800m run that circulated the transition area. Once racked we ended up running out of transition shoulder to shoulder, this wasn’t what I wanted so I pushed on straight away creating a good gap within the first kilometre.

Suffering

I’d been working hard on getting some fast legs off the bike and I felt like I was running well, passing a number of athletes without any problems. Unfortunately the heat and humidity began to have a big impact on everyone, as I rounded Buckingham Fountain for the first time it felt like I was running through syrup, my head was pounding and it was hard to take a full breath. The course was made up of 1.5 laps, starting at transition heading down the highway before a full turn back up the highway and into Grant park before circling Buckingham Fountain, this was where you either peeled off to finish on your second lap or continued on round the fountain and back up the highway to transition before a full turn into your second lap. I know that people do some incredible things and I can’t begin to imagine and kind of suffering athletes go through in long-distance racing but I can honestly say that I suffered badly on my second lap, I wasn’t the only one as I saw 2 athletes collapse and a ‘Red’ warning was put out over the loud speaker based on temperature and humidity. I can’t remember much about the remainder of the run and I don’t even remember finishing, I saw the footage of me crossing the line and it was like watching someone else. Once over the line my legs went and a marshal took me by the arms and sat me in an ice bath and gave me a bottle of water, I’ve never felt like my head was actually throbbing before and I hope it’s not something I’ll have to get used to. I had no idea where I finished but made my way out of the athlete’s area and found some friends who had the live results and said I’d finished 6^th in my AG, the first European and currently the fastest British time overall which I held onto. I was pleased but still not feeling great so it was a lot to take on at the time and to be honest I’m not really sure when I will fully digest not just this race but everything that’s happened this year.

The times are a bit off because the swim and the run were both long and the bike was short but here are my splits and positions overall for each discipline, they don't represent my position throughout the race unfortunately:

Swim: 10:31 / 17th

T1: 2:59 / 13th

Bike: 28:17 / 15th

T2: 1:59 / 3rd

Run: 17:13 / 7th

Overall: 1:0:59 / 6th

Overall the whole experience was truly unforgettable and something that I will always remember fondly, leaving me with amazing memories and a result i can be proud of. I need to thank everyone who made the trip possible; Pedal Potential, Les-Stables, Mailcoms Ltd and an abundance of family and friends whose help was overwhelming. I just hope that I can make everyone proud of me and succeed in ways these people believe I can, even if I don’t yet.

 Video courtesy of World Triathlon.

It's Been a Busy July!

It's been a busy couple of weeks with 2 races in consecutive weekends after the European Championships.

The City Of Birmingham Elite Sprint Triathlon

First up was The City of Birmingham Elite Sprint Triathlon. I was invited to take part in the event as a new idea UK Triathlon are trying to add another dimension to some of their larger races. Set at Sutton Park, with a bike course that circles the park on traffic free roads and an off-road run that takes you through the heart of the race headquarters, it was a very spectator friendly event, apart from the weather...

Roughly 20 athletes were invited to attend the elite section of the event which made for a comfortable swim with plenty of clear water. I went off hard and found myself leading round the first buoy. I then settled into a comfortable pace and enjoyed the clear water until the final buoy, when another athlete decided to make a move and took the inside line leading out of the swim; I stuck on his feet and followed him into T1.

After a clean transition I was onto the first of the 5km loops around the park.Unfortunately the weather had taken a turn for the worse, and the rain made a number of sharp turns on the short and tight course a bit risky. I had sat comfortably in second place with the leader just up the road when on the third lap he unfortunately took a tumble rounding one of the corners. A few seconds later I hit the same corner and my rear wheel slid out from under me. Luckily I managed to stay upright but decided that it was time to sit up and just stay safe - I had bigger goals to think about. I rolled around the next few laps trying to stay safe and waiting for the run.

Into T2 and I was pleased the bike was over and happy to have held onto second with the leader in sight. I felt confident in my running and was ready to put some work in and gain the lead. As I'd hoped I caught the leader within ~1km passing him on a steep ascent and pulling away, from that point I settled into my running and enjoyed the off-road undulating course. The loop went back through the races headquarters which was great for spectators as they could clearly see how the race was developing and gave the athletes a chance to soak up the cheers from family and friends. On my second lap I took a quick look down the main hill to see if anyone was going to make a move and was surprised and pleased that there was no-one in sight. As I approached the finish I was all smiles and soaked up the atmosphere as I ran down the finishing chute very happy to have taken the win a full minute ahead of second.

Castle Howard Olympic Distance Triathlon

The following week saw me make the long drive up from the South Coast up to Yorkshire for The Castle Howard Olympic Distance Triathlon, one of the races that make up The Castle Triathlon Series. My preparation the day prior to the race could have been better as whilst driving up the M1 my trusty Ford Ka had a tyre blow-out - not ideal, but not the end of the world. With a few hours added onto the already long day of travelling I eventually got to Leeds and settled down for the night.

The forecast was set to be horrendous with gale-force winds and torrential rain, however I was pleased to wake up to clear skies on race morning and hoped that it might hold out till the afternoon.

You really could not ask for a more picturesque location for a triathlon and with the transition area and finish line right in front of Castle Howard you were constantly reminded of where you were.


I was off in the first of the Olympic distance waves and had a pretty uneventful swim. I managed to get away with the lead group from the start but went a bit off-course, losing them just before the turn point - not that I'm sure I could have kept up with Cat Jameson, who smashed the swim dropping everyone and leading out 15s ahead of second! From then it was a lonely 750m back to swim exit but I got into a rhythm and was happy to record another sub 19:30 1500m coming out in 3rd. The run to transition was 800m up a grass hill. It nearly killed me and set the tone for what was to come... 

I had a little trouble getting my wetsuit of in T1 because all the water had drained out on the run but I was eventually off on the 29 mile bike route around the Howardian hills.

I had heard a lot about the course at Castle Howard and knew to expect a hilly ride. I found the course testing due to the constant undulation and played a lot of the descents very carefully after the previous week's slip-up, which after looking back on the results is clearly were I lost time to the eventual winner - but as I said before, I've got bigger goals and I was happy to get round the course safely. I held a steady pace throughout, gaining on the climbs and losing a few places on the descents when a few athlete shot past me making me feel stationary! The single lap route made the time fly by and I was soon heading back into the Castle grounds ready to run. 

I came into T2 with 2 athletes just leaving and once my bike was racked and shoes were on I was in hot pursuit.

As always I went off hard, testing my legs and setting myself up for the rest of the run. I soon caught and passed the 2 athletes I saw in transition but was unsure of my overall position. The run was entirely off-road and mainly on bridle paths which I really enjoyed and made a change from a flat looping road route. Saying that the run was incredibly tough, coming in at 7 miles with a number of considerable hills and really tough sections. There wasn't any let-up from the go. I was struggling but everyone else seemed to be struggling more as I passed another few athletes, working my way past the 5km mark. From then I had a long period on my own which was physically and mentally tough. I ran out of the woods after ~9km and could see the Castle which was a welcome relief as I knew the end was near. I was running around a large pond when the race organizer Brian called out to me saying I was 3rd! I couldn't believe it and my first thought was "don't cock it up now!" I knew I was near the finish and I was gaining with every step on an athlete ahead of me which I assumed was 2nd place. I decided that I was going to make a move but didn't want to leave it to the finishing chute, so along the back of the Castle I picked up my pace as best I could and shot by the athlete -unfortunately I had assumed that it was a straight turn at the end of the castle and you were set for the finish. It wasn't. As I approached a marshal I saw the an arrow was point off the gravel path and up a very big, very steep grass hill. $h!t. I was already over the line from my effort and I thought that it was going to get very embarrassing when I keeled over and the athlete jogged passed me. I gave everything I had up the hill and at the turning point at the top I took a glance and to my relief I saw him still at the bottom. From then it was all downhill, literally. Back down the steep hill and into the finishing chute. As it turns out I don't know what race the athlete I just passed was in or whether Brian got my previous position wrong because I crossed the line in 3rd, still very happy and relieved it was over.

 Looking at the results after the race I saw that I came off the bike in 7th and ran a minute faster than any other athlete to work up to 3rd. 

 It is my best result in a Castle Series race and I look forward to racing at Hever Castle later in year as I aim for another podium finish.

European Triathlon Champions Geneva 2015

This was my first time representing Great Britain and one of my main target races this season so nerves were running high going into the event.

After arriving late in the afternoon on Wednesday I had just enough time to build my bike and register. Thursday was a busy day with an early morning bike recce when the roads were quiet and I could take in the climb and descent on the course. This was followed by some breakfast and the team briefing which was informative but definitely added some pressure! It was then time to rack my bike, remembering to deflate the tyres to make sure they didn’t explode from the heat. I spent the rest of the day hugging shade and jumping between Wimbledon and the Tour in my hotel room.

Race day came around quickly and it was set to be a hot one from start to finish. With an 11:00 start time, the morning was relaxed with time for a foam roll, some stretching and mobility work before breakfast, then it was off to transition to get set-up and pump my tyres back up. This all went quickly and smoothly but the sun was beating down already and I went in search of some shade to get ready.

 We were told to be at the race pens 30 minutes before the start, so at 10:30 I was outside in my wetsuit and everyone was soon cooking as we were ushered into a small penned area to wait till the start. With 5 minutes to go we were moved along the pier towards the starting platform. Unfortunately we weren’t allowed any warm-up time in the water and were made to wait on the starting platform and then given a 30 second warning to wade waist deep to the start line.

As soon as the horn went it was carnage. Arms and legs were flying everywhere and I completely out of my comfort zone so it was just time to put my head down, swim hard and hope for the best. Luckily I managed to stay out of trouble and we were round the first buoy and into the main straight in no time.  The rest of the swim was more of the same with arms, legs, choppy waters and current making it hard work and relatively slow for all swimmers.  I was soon rounding the final buoy and heading for the huge blue carpeted bridge into transition.

Transition was ~400m from the man-made bridge, which made for a long run to my bike but I found it easily and had my wetsuit off and helmet on in no time.

The bike course a made of 3 loops which incorporated some minor inclines, one significant climb, a long decent with a sharp turn at the bottom and a full dead turn. Once out on the bike I put my head down and focused on getting my legs spinning! Riding on closed roads was great and made for one less thing to worry about. The climb comes quickly on each lap and after recceing it I wasn’t too worried but when you’re racing it’s a different story, each lap I put a lot into the climb and it seemed to be paying off, I just hoped my run legs would still be there! There was one scary moment when my bottle, held between my aero bars bounced out on the decent at 40+mph; somehow I managed to catch the bottle mid fall before it went straight under my front wheel and would have probably led to a serious problem. It was really hard to tell how I was doing on the bike because each lap brought more waves of athletes onto the course but I wasn’t too concerned and was just focusing on my race. I chose not to use any bike computer or watch for the race because I didn’t want the distraction and was hoping to be racing for position. I knew that if someone was in front of me I just had to go harder regardless of time.

I was soon onto my final lap and heading back to transition which was another long run to my rack.

I usually like to attack the run hard from the start but out of transition it was straight into a 1km dragging hill which really sapped my legs and left me unsure how I was going to cope with the rest of the run. The course then led into a park, and the sharp turns of the route constantly upset any kind of rhythm. The heat was relentless and it was clear some athletes were struggling. Although I was hot and suffering I wasn’t experiencing any ill effect directly from the heat and was just doing what I could working my way up the field passing athlete after athlete. After my second lap I took the turn down to the finish which was an 800m a tunnel of supporters cheering which gave me a final boost and kept me going strong, although I wasn’t able to catch the athlete 100m down the road I soaked up the atmosphere and absolutely loved that final stretch. Turning onto the finishing carpet I was overwhelmed by what I’d just been through and the incredible journey that had brought me here, I crossed the line still unsure of my position or performance I was just happy to of been there and got through it all.

It soon dawned on me that very few athletes had finished ahead of me and a number of spectators told me I was the first British athlete to finish. My mind was running and I really wanted to find out the result but they weren’t being printed until the last athlete finished! Luckily I found the team manager who had access to the results on which were live online.

To my absolute disbelief the results read that I was 2^nd! I couldn’t quite believe what I was reading and was overwhelmed by emotion. This was my best result to date and more than I was hoping for, the icing on the cake came later when I found out that I had set the fastest British time of the event and the 6^th fastest time overall!

Later that day I attended the medal ceremony which was another amazing and new experience, wearing my Great Britain tracksuit, draped in a British flag and stood on a real podium felt distinctly different to my previous experiences where I’ve stood in wet and cold field waiting for someone to read out the results.

I had the most incredible experience and one that I will remember for years to come. Although I am really pleased with my result and it is by far my greatest achievement to date, I know that there is still plenty of room for improvement and I plan to do exactly that! I’m already back training hard and working to do one better next time.