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Challenge Barcelona 

5/28/2013

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Challenge Barcelona was not on my original race plan but when I saw that the course at Barcelona had been changed to make use of the hilly surroundings and that it was to be the ETU Middle Distance Championships I decided that I would give it a go.

It felt really strange to leave Sands Beach which has felt like home for the past few months but I set off for Calella (near Barcelona) on the Wednesday before the race. The next day I decided that driving the bike course would be a great idea as I like to have at least driven the bike course before a race if there is no opportunity to ride it. A group of us set off around the course including Brits, Joe Skipper, Holly Lawrence, Mark Threlfall and fellow team TBB team mate Ritchie Nicholls.

They added a little hill or two to the course so nothing to be too worried about but as we set off around the course it quickly became apparent that the course was going to be much tougher than any of us had expected. It looked pretty tough with some technical parts and the more I saw of it the more excited I got about racing it.

On the Friday before the race we went for a swim on the course. It was rough, choppy and tough conditions for swimming. I was hoping it would be a little better on race day. We also had the briefing and press conference that day. It was much better and more relaxed to do these two days before the race as pre-race day can be quite stressful.  It took me by surprise to be invited to the press conference and it was strange to be sitting beside the likes of Macca and Gomez. I definitely was aiming for a spot on the podium but I wouldn’t have seen myself as a pre-race favourite.

Race day arrived and we were called to the start line, I was standing there with my green Compressport calf guards poking out a little below my wetsuit when an official said I better either remove them or pull them up before we start. So I frantically had to remove them as I wasn’t sure how they would feel rolled up and I didn’t want to waste time pulling them down after the swim.  That official must have disliked green as he let another athlete also wearing Compressport calf guards (in black) wear hers! The gun went off and we sprinted from the beach in to the choppy water.

I had a fairly good start and for once found some people to swim with so we formed the second pack as the faster swimmers pulled away from us. I was in a pack which was a good thing for me but the whole pack was swimming blind. We couldn’t see a thing; I was following feet and hoping that the girl in front knew where she was going. I thought that perhaps she could see more than me.  It soon became clear that she couldn’t see much either and as we progressed we found that we were well off course swimming way to the left of where we should be. I saw some officials point to where we should be going and I decided to take the lead of the pack at that point and stayed there for the rest of the swim. I had a fairly quick transition and got off on the bike putting some pressure on knowing that group would be coming after me.

On the bike we wound through some of the smaller streets of Calella before heading on to the main part of the course. I hit a speed bump about 5 minutes in a lost my front mounted water bottle. Not a big problem just a little inconvenience! As we turned off the main road and headed towards the first climb I realised that the course might not be as bad to ride as it seemed when we drove it. I worked hard and after around 40k I began to catch some of the first swim pack. I had no idea what position I was in or how many were in front but I just kept pushing on. Before the top of the steepest climb at around 45k I could see the Polish girl Maria Czesnik not too far ahead and some men were shouting at me in Spanish  ‘Vamos, venga, venga, venga’ and holding 4 fingers up. I took it that I might have been in 4th so I was possibly one spot from the podium at half way on the bike. I had been told about Maria before the race and knew she was one to watch. I kept gradually gaining on her as we descended. Then we hit a short flat out and back section and I rode over something. Suddenly there was a loud hissing sound coming from the front wheel and I panicked. I didn’t know what to do, a puncture in a race I began to think, ‘No no no, I feel good and this can’t be happening’. It didn’t feel like a puncture so I though it must be going down slowly. All I had was a Pitstop to repair it so I thought I would try to use it before the tyre completely deflated. I stopped checked both tyres and no puncture checked the bike and couldn’t see anything! Unsure of what was going on I jumped back on and started pedalling again only to hear the same noise. Then I saw that there was something stuck between the forks and wheel, I quickly removed it and got back to work on making up the lost time.  I caught up Maria with about 15k to go we swapped positions for a short while and she rode not far behind me all the way in to T2. I knew she was a short course girl and that she could run so I wanted to get out of transition as quickly as possible.

In my haste to get out of transition and on to the run I forgot to remove some small stones from my feet. I began running and all I could feel were the stones in my socks. I wondered how I was going to get through a half marathon and thought I might need to stop as they really hurt and that was in the first K. Soon those thoughts left my head as I could see where Camilla Pederson, the race leader and Eva Wuiit who was in second place were on the course. Camilla had a great lead off the bike but I could see that I could possibly catch up on second place with a strong run.  Sometimes when I run it feels like I am flowing and running well and other times when I run it feels much more like hard work. That day was one of the hard work days, I didn’t feel good and it didn’t help that there was someone running hard to catch me.  Just after completing one lap I ran in to second place and had to keep running strongly to the end to hold that position. I crossed the line in second place pretty pleased after a tough day out. It felt like a solid performance and I was happy to make the podium and to take a silver medal at a European Championship race.

I know it sometimes takes me a little while to update my blogs and race reports but this time I have a good excuse.  I have been celebrating my birthday and making my way to Switzerland where I will be based for the summer. It’s been a big shock to the system as we have had snow every day since I arrived. It has been nice to have a taste of the winter I missed when in Lanzarote but I am looking forward to the weather improving. My next race will be Ironman UK 70.3 next month. The start list is looking extremely strong and I know it’s going to be a really tough race but I am looking forward to heading back to Wimbleball. 


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Leaving Lanzarote 

5/14/2013

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I arrived at Sands Beach in Lanzarote on the 30th of December and have been here since with just one brief spell off the island to race at Challenge Fuerteventura.  Coming to Sands Beach as part of Team TBB was my first step in to being a full time professional triathlete.  For me the decision to completely give up work to become a full time athlete was an easy one as it is something I have wanted to do for a long time but due to the financial implications I needed to wait for the right time and the right opportunity to ‘just do it’! Joining Team TBB seemed like the perfect time to take the risk and go for it. It was and still is a huge risk is financially as it is very tough to survive as a self-funded athlete in our sport but I feel for me it is worth taking the risk and hopefully I will earn enough money along the way to keep me going. 

When I first arrived I felt that I was ready to hit the training and after being on the turbo since around October I was excited to get out on the roads of Lanzarote.  That excitement was soon dampened when I was dropped on every climb of my first training rides. I guess I wasn’t so fit after the Christmas break back home but the fitness slowly  returned and I was gradually introduced back in to some hard training. Soon after I arrived a few other Team TBB athletes joined us. Matias Hecht, Dan Halksworth and another new member Ritchie Nicholls. Together with Bella and Stephen we had a good little group out here and though we didn’t do every session together it was great to mix the training up with others and good to have some good banter in the evenings.

I was eased in to the training quite well which was a good thing as not long after I had arrived Bella and Stephen went to race in South Africa and joined in on an epic 10 day training program with the boys. It was a hard 10 days but it was great fun and I really enjoyed the major challenges that were set. Soon after Bella and Stephen returned and we cracked on with normal training. My swimming is where I really needed to make big improvements and I began to see some improvements in the pool. I have been continuing to improve with the swim but I now need to learn how to transfer my pool speed to the open water which I am finding is not that easy to do!

Living in Lanzarote there are always lots of races to keep us occupied. The first of these was the Lanzarote International Duathlon, a race where I would not normally feel any pressure but I did feel a little as it was my first race with Team TBB and I wanted to race well.  It did go well  and I managed to win so it was a good start. The next race was on the amazing island of La Grasoisa, it was a last minute decision to go to the race which was a 31k off road run race. I loved it, it was hot and hard and like nothing I had ever done before. This was then followed up with the Tri 122 race in Costa Teguise, my first triathlon of the season which I also won.  It was great to have each of those training races on our doorstep in preparation for the start of the season which I got underway at Challenge Fuerteventura, (see my previous blog).

So now the season is getting underway and it is time to leave Lanzarote for the ‘real world’.  I am excited to move on and to have a change of training location but at the same time I am a little apprehensive. We have it so good here at Sands Beach, it’s the perfect training location and you really can’t beat the food. In fact one of my main concerns is the fact that I am going to have to shop and cook for myself when I leave here! I don’t really know how I am going to manage considering the amount and variety of food we have had here at Sands Beach but I guess I will have to get used to that again! Juan Carlos, the manager at sands beach has been so good to us and very helpful and accommodating throughout our stay here so a special thanks to him.

We now leave Lanzarote and head to Barcelona for the ETU European Championships this weekend.  Following that it will be time to head off to our summer training base of Leysin in Switzerland. It will be a huge change from Lanzarote in many ways and I am excited to get out there and to continue with the rest of the season!

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Volcano Triathlon

5/2/2013

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One of the great things about training in Lanzarote is that there is no shortage of races, many of which are great to use as training sessions. Our latest race was the Volcano Triathlon held at Club La Santa, not too far from our training base at Sands Beach in Costa Teguise. I had an up and down couple of weeks after Fuerteventura. I felt like my body was recovering well but just as I started to get back to training I got a little stomach bug. I was in two minds as to whether to race but come race day I felt fine and I personally find it very hard not to start a race that I have planned for so I was happy to be on the start line and excited to race over the Olympic Distance. As is usually the case at any Lanzarote race the field for both the men and women had a few notable names on the start list. It’s great as it make the race more exciting and allows you to see where you are at this early stage in the season.

My Mum had come out to visit for the week and it was really nice to have her here. She had a great week and spent some of her time enjoying looking after little Charlie Bayliss while we were training! It worked out really well  as she was able to pick up a bike from Wheelworx bike shop in Dublin (with the help of Gregory from EFP Gyms thanks Gregory!!) and took it out here for me along with some other great kit; I even now have a Garmin which is a great novelty for me.  It was really great that the guys at Wheelworx were able to get a bike together for me at very short notice and it was literally ready to go within a day. I am really pleased to have them on board as a sponsor and look forward to visiting the shop again when I’m back home.   

The race was the good solid session that I had expected and I was pleased to finish in 2nd place however I have to admit there were very few times in this race where I actually felt good! I swam quite well for me.  After having a below par start at Fuerteventura I tried to get off a little faster this time. It worked until we hit a sand bank where it upset my rhythm and I lost feet of the people I was following. It meant that I ended up swimming most of the swim just off the back of a group unable to bridge the gap. The swim felt really hard for me and I thought I was in there for a long long time so I was pleasantly surprised when I found that my time wasn’t that bad and I was even more surprised to hear that as I was approaching my bike in transition Michelle Vesterby was just leaving transition, she’s a strong swimmer so I was pleased to be much closer to her than I had been before.

I soon caught Michelle on the first hill out of La Santa but it was Camilla Pedersen who was doing the damage on the bike. She was extremely strong , blitzed the bike and had a good lead by the start of the run. The bike course, although it’s not extremely hilly is a tough one because of the wind but we are well used to that after training out. I worked hard on the bike (my new Felt B12 that arrived from Wheelworx (www.wheelworx.ie) earlier in the week) though I had only ridden 2 times before the race during one of which I took a little tumble! The bike felt good but I found that I definitely needed to make a few adjustments to the position.

On the run I have to say I didn’t feel great. It was one of those runs where my legs felt hollow and it seemed like there wasn’t much spring in my step. I just pushed on the best I could for the run and gained back a couple of minutes on Camilla. It was also good to see Bella Bayliss racing strongly in preparation for Ironman Lanzarote. She too had a good race and also finished on the podium in 3rd place. The Team TBB boys also had solid performances, Ritchie Nicholls finished in 2nd place and Stephen Bayliss finished in 5th place among some strong competition.  It was a great race and a great way to get a good hard training session in.

From here Ritchie and I will be going to race at Challenge Barcelona (half distance) which is an ETU European championship and Bella and Stephen will be racing at Ironman Lanzarote. My training has been a little different this week as my stomach bug didn’t quite clear up as quickly as I had liked so I have backed off a little to try to get rid of it. Hopefully the sensible approach will help me to recover quickly and get back to it so I can prepare the best I can for my next race.

Links 
Wheelworx Bike Shop (www.wheelworx.ie)
Sands Beach resort Costa Teguise (www.sandsbeach.es)
EFP Gyms (www.efpgyms.com)


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