eimear Mullan
  
 Professional Triathlete
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Coaching
  • Results
  • Sponsors
  • Contact
  • gallery
  • About

UK 70.3 Defending the Title

8/18/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
I travelled to the UK from Mallorca to race at the UK Ironman 70.3 Championships at Wimbleball Lake. For this race you can usually expect to find rain, cold temperatures and a massive mud bath at the race site. This year it was a totally different story. The weather was the best I have ever seen it at the race. It was sunny and warm for the entire weekend and the lake temperature was a lovely 18+ rather than the usual 14 or below.
I love racing at Wimbleball because its remote location makes it very different from any other Ironman race in the world and also means that the course is super tough which suits me down to the ground. The bike course is hilly and hard and the run is even tougher. I was really looking forward to racing as I wanted to defend my title and to make it my 3rd win at the race. In previous years, the race has attracted a strong field of athletes but this year the pro field was very small so I knew it could be a very different type of race for me.
My race got off to a mediocre start - I didn’t feel like I was swimming very well - but I kept moving along and came out of the water with small gap over the other professional woman. I jumped on my bike and set off on the bike course which is my favourite part of this race. I started steadily up the first hill and rode the first lap quite conservatively then pushed on a little for the second lap to extend my lead before the run.
I usually get off the bike and go as hard as I can to the finish line, either chasing people down or being chased, and on a course like Wimbleball it’s a tough way to run. This time, with a comfortable lead off the bike, I was able to take it all in and really enjoy the run. The conditions were great, the off-road surface was solid underfoot and the support from the crowds was amazing.
It felt really great to win here for the 3rd time and it was great to catch up with all the familiar faces and with my old training buddies from Bedford and Milton Keynes. 

Wimbleball was a great way to prepare for my next race just 2 weeks after at Ironman Nice/France. I went home to Ireland for a week and then headed off to France just before the Ironman. I had the privilege of staying at Stephen Roche's apartment with some friends who were on holiday there. 

I finished 4th at France with a solid swim and bike but this time my run was well off my usual run form. I was trialling a new nutrition strategy which obviously didn’t work for me as I had a lot of stomach problems on the run. It meant that my run was slow and very painful and though I was disappointed not to make the podium as always I learned a lot from the race and from the problems I encountered. 

The few days following the Ironman felt like a real holiday and I had great fun cruising around on Boris bikes, biking in the hills with Stephen Roche, eating some amazing French food and chilling out by the pool


Picture
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    December 2018
    August 2018
    March 2018
    November 2017
    July 2017
    February 2017
    August 2016
    December 2015
    September 2015
    May 2015
    March 2015
    November 2014
    October 2014
    August 2014
    May 2014
    March 2014
    January 2014
    November 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    January 2013
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.