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,