​​It's taken me a while to get around to writing this but i guess i have been pretty busy lately. 

​I moved in to trimester 3 still feeling pretty good. I always wondered how I’d feel when pregnant and how I’d cope with the huge changes in my body especially towards the end but in general I felt like myself. Just a big bellied, slower and less hectic version of me but my thoughts soon moved to how I would cope after the birth. Much like my predictions on the gender of the baby my feelings about training and racing after pregnancy changed from day to day. Some days I’d be full of excitement and confidence that I would be able to do it, other days I was full of doubt. It’s such a long and most likely very bumpy road back that I’d sometimes doubt my ability to cope especially after having already had such a long road back from injury before. Eventually I stopped thinking about it and decided to take each day as it came.

I kept moving with training/exercise but each week the volume naturally dropped to correspond with how I was feeling. I did plenty of swimming and biking with some walking (with a bit of jogging) and easy gym work. After 34 weeks all bikes moved indoors only because I didn’t want to risk the open road anymore. So from then I was in an basically upright position on the TT bike resting my hand on the arm pads. At 37-38 weeks my jog/walks were almost entirely walking and swims were slower but I was still managing at least 3k per swim. I also kept a few strength sessions mostly focused the rehab work I usually do for my hamstring.I was very lucky as I only had around one week where everything felt a little more uncomfortable, the baby was really high up making it hard to breath and giving me a bit of heartburn when I tried to do any activity. Then at 35 weeks I actually felt the baby drop down and from then on it was much more comfortable. 

Just after 39 weeks, on the Friday we got the keys to our new home. it probably wasn't the best idea to move house around the due date but it's just how things worked out. We planned to spend the week slowly moving everything before the baby arrived but he had other ideas. That very night/early the next morning my waters broke so I left our old house and never returned to it. After the birth Ritchie spent the day moving everything so I returned to our new home with our new baby and a lot of unpacking to do. 


The scariest thing throughout the whole pregnancy for me was the thought of labour. It’s such an unknown and everyone has such a different experience that you just don’t know what to expect. I heard many horror stories but I wanted to have as little pain relief as I could handle because I wanted to see how much it really hurts. Although once it really started I would have given anything for more pain relief (but by then it was too late).

The midwives wouldn’t believe me when I said I thought I was progressing quickly because I was pretty chilled out and was asking for food. They brushed it off and said I’d still be there in the evening and were suggesting that I would need to be induced. One minute I was pretty relaxed eating sandwiches and the next I was shouting for a midwife to come quickly as I was sure I was close and was in a lot of pain. I had asked for a water birth so when I started pushing they ran the bath for me but said it would be a while before I’d be getting in the water. The bath was still running when our little Rui Odhrán was born. With under 30 mins in active labour he was there. It went much quicker than expected and from that moment our lives were changed forever.

The weeks after were very tough, tiring and physically painful but I was very lucky to have my mum stay with us for over 2 weeks. It was brilliant to have her help and I’m not sure what we’d have done without her. As tough as those first few weeks are you forget about it as things gradually get easier. 

After 4 weeks I slowly started to ease in to some exercise  and after 7 weeks I stared getting training sessions from my coach. This might seem early to start being coached but for me it’s as much to keep me from doing too much or silly sessions I shouldn’t be doing. We’ve agreed to take thing very very slowly. I’m only swimming and biking at the minute as I have some pubic bone and groin pain after then ‘rapid’ birth but I’m happy to see a little bit of fitness returning. Grandpa Nicholls is now a full time babysitter so without him and granny too I wouldn’t be able to even think about returning to racing!

I still have my doubts about whether my body will recover enough to let me run and race again but I’ll take things as they come and hopefully will make the start line (and podium) of a few races next season.

And finally to answer that age old question; childbirth is definitely more painful (and daunting) than an Ironman!

​I had been planning to race much earlier in the year but injury after injury when trying to come back from the original injury kept me from racing until now.
It was exactly a year ago when I came to Phuket to train at Thanyapura. From April 2015 up until that point I had been trying to sort out my injury (hamstring tendonopathy), trying to come back, trying to rehab, trying to train, trying all the treatments I could think of but nothing was working so I had 3 months of complete rest before heading to Thailand for what was to be my final attempt at getting over the injuries. It was slow and painful both mentally and physically but I got some swim fitness back and gradually built up the bike and run from zero.
Throughout the past year training, especially running has been very much two steps forward one step back. I have had at least 8 other injuries mostly in the lower body which have either kept me from running and sometimes biking. Some were short lived niggles others had me off running for long periods again which was very frustrating.
From November until July I was self coached, which at the time was a good way to get some base fitness. I was in Phuket at the time but soon after I got home, around July, I started working with a new coach Rob Cheetham (husband of Susie Cheetham). We started very slowly and tried to build up some running and though I could run it just didn't feel right to me but I wanted to compete so planned a few races anyway. Each of these races passed by and niggles kept me from competing so we settled for Weymouth 70.3 in mid September. The week before I got a pretty sore foot/toe injury and that was me out of the race and off running for another 4-5 weeks. This got me pretty down and I was thinking that it's just not going to happen for me and I'd never race again but a little chat from Rob lifted my spirits and I started looking at the last races on the calendar. I knew Xiamen 70.3 in China would be a bit soon and I'd be a bit under prepared especially for the run but I wanted to race if I could manage it without upsetting any old (or new) injuries. I travelled to Thanyapura in Phuket for 2 weeks before the race which meant a much shorter trip to Xiamen than going from home. Things didn't go exactly to plan after arrival but I managed to work around my problems and got a few decent sessions done before heading off to race.

A small group of us travelled together from Phuket and whole trip was great fun. I felt no pressure whatsoever going in to the race and wasn't bothered at all about where I finished, I was just grateful and happy to be there and to be racing again. I swam in a group of 3 with Hayley Chura about 90 seconds ahead of us. It was a wetsuit swim which I was pretty anxious about having not worn a wetsuit for a very long time. The swim was very fast and with the current, 22.27 is pretty fast for me! Though my swim has definitely improved thanks to the hard work that Eanna McGrath put in to it when I trained in Wicklow during 2015.
The bike was very different from how I usually ride and was the most controlled I've ever felt on the bike in a race, I was more than happy to stay in the pace line as our group of 3 made our way to the front of the race by T2.
On to the run and this is usually where I'm feeling most at home but this time it's what I was most worried about as I knew I wasn't really prepared for it. My best run split is 1.17 but we decided that in my current shape a 1.30 would be a good run for me on the day. I was scared to push and wasn't really sure how fast or slow I should set off. This is where the race got interesting, at least for the spectators! I think the lead changed at least 8 times. In my head for the first 13k or so I was thinking 'wow a podium is awesome' and wasn't thinking I could win. I was so unsure of what I could do that I decided my best tactic was to run with whoever was running the quickest so I stayed behind while Haley took the lead until Imogen caught us and I stayed behind her for a while. Then in a moment of madness and much too early (6k to go) I put in a little surge and got a small gap. I didn't know how much of a gap I had until I looked over my shoulder with 800m to go and saw Imogen pretty close to me so pushed on to the line to win by 12 seconds! I honestly couldn't believe it, it was so unexpected and such an amazing feeling.
So many people have helped me over that past two years in many ways and it's incredible how generous and caring people have been. I'm certainly not completely 'out of the woods' in terms of injuries but things are progressing and I hopefully I'll be back to 100% for the 2018 season. Without the help of my team Alameda Triathlon Team I certainly wouldn't be able to keep racing, they have stood by me keep believing in me when I was having trouble believing in myself. Also having Thanyapura as a sponsor has been a huge part of keeping me in the sport at a time when I was ready to quit.
Post race my body is still in shock and I haven't really been able to run at all since Xiamen. I know 2 weeks is a very short turn around between races for me right now but I'm planning to be on the start line this weekend at Phuket 70.3. It almost a home race for me and I know I'd regret it if I don't at least start and give it a go.

​Today is a rare complete rest day so I thought I would take the opportunity to write a little update. I can’t remember the last time I had a full day off and it’s mostly because for the past 10 months I have been coaching myself. I think it was the right decision to be self-coached when managing my first steps in returning to training after a long break due to injury. I could assess how my body felt day to day and could train accordingly, but as usual when I coach myself I tend to want to do perhaps a little more that I should and rarely have a full day off. As I built up a base and things began to progress I started to think about getting a coach. I decided that I would keep doing what I was doing and see if an opportunity came up. It came up quicker than I thought and I began working with a new coach 2 weeks ago. I’m very grateful for the opportunity and it’s been a very different kind of program for me. I’ve never really used power or pace when biking and running never mind uploading sessions for a coach to see but I am slowly getting used to it and am really enjoying having a program to follow. It allows me to just get on with the training without thinking too much. I was planning to race some 70.3 races in early August but now I am happy to be a little more patient and will wait until at least the end of August to get started.

I left Thailand around a month ago and after 7 months I was really sad to leave. I loved every minute of my time in Asia and am so grateful to have had the opportunity to train at Thanyapura and to do my rebuild and rehab in such a beautiful place with such world class facilities. Without it I would not be doing the sport anymore. I feel so lucky to have met some really amazing people along the way and I can't wait to go back later in the year for more training and some races.

I managed to do my first race at the end of May which was absolutely amazing and a great weekend away seeing more of Thailand. The Thai Tri League races are very professionally run and such great fun with a real community feel. I was underprepared and hadn’t started any proper run training, just a few slow jogs, so I didn't have any plan for the race except to run easy and to not set myself or my recovery back. I stuck well to the plan but in hindsight was a big risk to race so soon though luckily my body coped well.  I had a good swim (maybe one positive from my injury) and took the lead quickly on the bike. I really enjoyed just being in a  race again and I managed to hold on for the win.









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I spent a short time  at home in Ireland and my hometown was host to the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open, I’m not a big golf fan but it was a great experience. I also did completely unplanned 10k with my brother, I hold the overall course record of 34.29 on the hilly course and I was way off that mark but am definitely making progress.  Right now Ritchie and I are settling in to some training in Scotland. It’s a bit of a shock after the heat of Thailand and we could do with a few more sunny days but I’m slowly getting used to it and enjoying getting in to a rhythm in training.
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Thanks once again to my sponsors for standing by me and for being so patient, Alameda Triathlon Team, Thanyapura, Trisport Arabia and On Running 

I've sat down to write a blog a few times over the past few months but never actually managed to write anything down, it's much more difficult when things aren't so positive. I haven't been able to race as I've been struggling with an injury for a long time now (15 months) and it's been the most testing and frustrating time for me as an athlete. I'm generally a very patient and positive person but this has been quite hard especially on the bad days but I have to keep the faith that I'll manage to get through this injury.

The injury is a high hamstring tendonopathy (https://runnersconnect.net/running-injury-prevention/high-hamstring-tendinopathy-injuries-a-pain-in-the-butt/) in my case it was caused by a hit to the pelvis which unknowing knocked things out of place and gradually caused a problem with the tendon high in hamstring.

I've had various treatments and therapies all of which have taken a huge tole on my bank account and most of which didn't work at all. Things didn't really start to improve until quite recently when I saw the right people to diagnose the root of the problem and straighten out the issues with the back and pelvis. The fact that it's a damaged tendon makes it very frustrating as it stopped me from both biking and running and there is no set time line for the recovery. It's not a simple case of rest and heal, there's no set protocol that works for fixing it, especially for mine which doesn't seem to follow the normal rules of a tendonopathy.

I've had many ups and down, good days and bad days (and weeks) and a lot of not knowing if I'll ever be able to train or race again. I'm now starting to do some training which is great. After so much time out of a normal training routine it's going to be a slow, careful build back to normal training. I'm picking up various niggles as I ease back in to training which is slowing the process down little but hopefully these will settle down soon. I still have some issues with the hamstring tendon and the odd very bad day where I'm on the verge of giving up altogether but on the whole things are improving. I'm very lucky to have had some great people around me during this time including my team Alameda ON, my Base2Race training group and my coach Eanna McGrath who is being very patient (and many others who have offered support and advice on how to deal with the injury). So for now I'm focusing on healing and recovering rather than fitness and performance and I'm aiming to be racing again by the end of the year.

On a more positive note Ritchie and I got married at home in Portstewart in March. My mum and my aunt Susan organised the whole thing. They put in a lot of work, it all went perfectly and we had a brilliant day/week with friends and family.

Now that the Olympics are on in Rio I'm looking forward to supporting 3 of my Alameda ON team mates at the Olympic Games in Rio, Gillian Sanders (South Africa) Lawrence Fanous (Jordan) and Mohammed Lahna (Morocco). I can't wait to watch them race 🎖😊

I have to say that I was happy to see the back of 2016. There were some good points from last year like getting married at home in Portstewart, living in Ireland for the first time in a long time, training with coach Eanna McGrath and the Base2Race group and meeting some amazing people but with regards to triathlon and injuries I'm definitely glad to be moving forward in to the new year. I could write many pages about my injury, the physical and mental impact and ups and downs that come with such a long injury but I'll save that for another time when its a distant memory and I'm fit and racing again.


Towards the end of last year things did start to get a little better. My injury began to slowly improve and an amazing opportunity came up for Ritchie and I to train at Thanyapura, a world class sports resort in Phuket, Thailand. We were so excited at the prospect of training in with the Thanyapura Pro Team and racing in Asia in 2017 and jumped at the chance to be a part of the team.
The opportunity came at a great time and I am so grateful to be here with such a great group of people, coaches and truly world class facilities. We are now in a great rhythm of training here, joining many of the bike and run sessions with guests and other pro athletes and also swimming with Coach Miguel and his swim squad.


After a very long time off any training at all It's been a slow process to get back in to it since early December. Having not done any real consistent training since April 2015 and barely any bike and run training at all in 2016 the process has been/is slow but but it can be quite rewarding and I'm now getting back to some more 'normal' training. I feel some fitness and strength coming back on the bike which feels better and better with each ride.
I'm also running again which is brilliant but it's taking a long time to get going. After such a long time without running there are many issues that are popping up along the way especially with the lower legs which don't know what's hit them after so long. I'm managing to be fairly positive and patient with addressing each niggle as it comes. It's slowly coming together and I'm happy to be making some progress.


I am very grateful have the continued support of Team Alameda and On running in 2017. After a tough year or more with injury it's brilliant to have some loyal sponsors who still believe in me.


At the minute I have no solid plans but I'm hoping to start racing some smaller races in a couple of months time and to build from there.

It's been a while since my last update and I've been fairly busy lately.  
Firstly there was Ironman Barcelona which I entered as a backup but honestly had no intention of racing, but after a puncture in T1 at Ironman Mallorca the previous week I decided that I'd go to Barcelona. I was disappointed that I couldn't defend my title in Mallorca but I knew that whichever race I did I wouldn't be on top form. I have had a lot of trouble running since May due to an injury and that's was when I did my last long runs or proper run training sessions. Coach kept things realistic for me reminding me that I wouldn't be at my best but I could still have a go. I considered withdrawing and approaching the race I was still a little nervous about the run. Because of  my preparation I really didn't have any expectations for the race. I knew it was a flat fast course and that there was the potential for some girls to go under 9hrs but I honestly didn't count myself as one of them. I just wanted to make it round, I really wasn't sure I'd finish.
 
I had a little panic on race morning, when I couldnt get any air in my rear tyre. I thought it would be a simple fix but it wasn't and suddenly the race start was very close and I was standing with the mechanics when I should have been  on the start line. Eventually told me to go and that they would try to sort it while I was swimming. So I left it with them to fix it and rack it for me. Quite a stressful start to the day.
 
The sea was not as choppy as the days leading up to the race and I found that I was in a pack as we rounded the first buoy. The swim distance was 3.8k but I am sure we swam a couple of hundred meters extra. We were all over the place and off course a few times so I was happy to get out of the water. 
 
On the bike I rode pretty steady, it was possibly the most controlled I've ever ridden in an Ironman. I wasn't desperate to make up lost time or hammering up the little inclines. I was happy to go easier as I wasn't sure of my fitness for Ironman and planned to build the last 90k if I felt OK. I was on my new Ventum bike which I had had on the road twice before the race but it felt super fast especially on the flat sections and extremely comfortable in the aero position which made my job much easier. 
 
On to the run and I started very very slowly and instantly thought that I wasn't going to finish. After about 2k I saw the first big load of Irish supporters and suddenly thought I'd feel very guilty if I quit so I said to myself I'd try 10k. I continued slowly that in 4th place for a long time and wasn't really thinking about times or records just moving forwards. With around 7k to go I had a look at my watch and was trying to work out roughly what time I was on, (my maths is terrible at the best of times so it was quite challenging). I thought I'd maybe be able to beat my old Irish record of 9.05 so I pushed on a little then I started thinking I could go sub 9, so with about 5k to go I went for it. It felt really strange to run hard just for a time rather than for a position. I was a little disappointed not to make the podium but going sub 9 (8.56) and getting a new Irish record was great so I was very happy. 
 
Following the race I decided that the best thing to do was to end the season there and get my injury sorted. I was very lucky to have a trip to Hawaii with my team Alameda ON just after my race. It was an amazing experience to be there and definitely very motivating. 
 
After a longer than normal break from training Ritchie and I headed off to Cyprus for a kick start to winter training with Mark Livesey from Train Xhale (www.trainxhale.com) and F2 Events (www.functionalfitnessevents.co.uk). Cyprus was an amazing place to train and It was very refreshing to meet new people who are so passionate about our sport and about helping others. 

This week I’m off  to Egypt with Alameda ON Triathlon Team, I’m really looking forward to catching  up with the whole team and meeting our new members. We have some exciting plans for 2016 some of which will be revealed soon.

I feel so privileged and grateful to have had such great people and support around me this year. Thanks so much to my main sponsors for standing by me in what has been a tough year, Alameda ON, FSG property Ltd, Trisport Arabia and Ferrer Hotels. And also Ekoi and On running.And a special thanks to WK fitness for your help and support. 

Over the past few months I've had a lot going on. In May I started to struggle with a hip injury but by the time I realised or admitted that it was a problem it was too late and there was no easy way back from it. As someone who loves to race and train it was very difficult for me and for the first time I was loosing the love for what I do. I felt isolated, wasn't having any fun and was a little down about being Injured. In July I switched back to my old coach Brett Sutton. I am very happy to be back with Brett and the squad and had a great summer training in the beautiful Saint Moritz. Thanks Brett and the Trisutto crew for welcoming me back to the squad! 

My injury bothered me for most of the summer. I was on nearly every race startlist as I didn't want to miss the entry deadline if I did happen to be ready to race. Just as things began to improve I stared to get about 4 other injuries to add to the list. At one point it felt like I had a new injury every day.

Eventually I made it to Budapest 70.3 at the end of August and I was so excited just to be racing that I didn't care about my finishing position. All I wanted was to go out and enjoy racing again with no pressure and no expectations.

The swim was non wetsuit for pro athletes and I think I swam quite well. I felt fairly strong on the bike going steadier for the first half and pushing on a little in the second half. I don't usually race on flat courses but I enjoyed this one and was surprised to be first off the bike. I didn't realise that I was in the lead till I reached transition. Vanessa Raw was just behind me off the bike so we set off on the run very close together. Considering that I had been running for less than 2 weeks and hadn't done any proper run sessions I had to change my thinking and tactics for this run. I knew I'd be ok to make it to 10k then after that I wasn't so confident. Usually I go hard from the start and hang on but this time I ran as steady as I could so I could keep gap to Vanessa without pushing too much. Vanessa stayed within 50m for 3 of the 4 laps, I saw her at the end of lap 3 and thought she seemed fairly close. Soon after her coach made me think that she was right behind me. If I had been thinking logically should have known that she wasn't going to have closed the gap that quickly but of course I didn't think I just put my head down and charged forward for the last 5k managing a 1.18 something run split. I loved every minute of the race, I was just so happy to be there and winning with a course record was a massive bonus.

After Budapest the camp in Saint Moritz was coming to an end and less than 2 weeks later we packed up the Volvo and set off for Mallorca but with a stop in France for Gerardmer XL triathlon. A tough and hilly half that I've done twice before.
I wasn't sure about doing the race in Gerardmer as my injury flared up a little after Budapest but Brett thought it would be a good training day so. In his words 'if your leg hurts you will race the rest of the season without run training'. Sounded fair enough to me.
I finished 3rd on the day and was pleased to make the podium after what was a cold, hilly tough day out with a few little problems.
Following Gerardmer we set off for Barcelona for the ferry to Mallorca back to our training location at Ferrer Hotels in Can Picafort. I knew Ironman Mallorca was coming up so I entered it knowing that it would be unlikely that I'd race. A few days after we arrived in Mallorca I decided that I'd like to give it a go but I knew that I wouldn't be able to run much leading in to it. I'm going to be on the start line on Saturday as defending Champion but I have no expectations and once again in happy just to be there. I know I'm going in with a slightly underprepared body but I'm ready to do the best I can on the day. 

I have to say a massive thank you to my amazing sponsors Alameda on Triathlon Team, FSG property Ltd, Trisport Arabia And Ferrer Hotels! I don't know what in would have done without your support this year. 

Thanks also to Ekoi helmets ,ON running, Fusion (kit) Computrainer,