BLOG |
Wow, where do I even start? From qualifying for this race last September, through winter training to race week, it was a whirlwind of an experience! The anticipation for this race had been building for months. My family and friends had sent me supportive messages prior to the race, and we were all excited! Obviously, I was super grateful for their support, but it soon became overwhelming as I felt an extra sense of pressure as so many people were supporting me. I not only wanted to perform well for myself but also for those around me (even though they put no pressure on me at all!) Anyway, I will jump right into it otherwise this will be a very long blog post. We flew into Hamburg on the Wednesday night (the race was on the Friday) with a rather delayed flight. There was always the question of ‘will my bike make it?’ especially as it was my first time flying with my bike, we just didn’t know what to expect. We all made it to the Airbnb, and it was straight to bed before a busy Thursday. I did not realise quite how busy Thursday would be, so in hindsight we would have got the earlier flight if we could. I started the day with my pre-race easy run and strides before heading to registration to get my race pack. It was straight to the pre-race briefing with the GBR team managers, I just could not believe how many GBR age group athletes there were, I think someone said 680 GBR athletes! It was lovely to meet some of the athletes who I then spoke to on race day, and we supported/cheered for one another. Thursday finished with the opening ceremony and spectating the junior world championships. Both these events really set the atmosphere for the weekend ahead, it was all becoming so real now. FRIDAY = RACE DAY! 0900 = slot to set up transition, this was a whole 4hrs before my race start so it felt odd to then go home again before the race. Transition was like none I’d ever seen before because:
1000: My nerves were really brewing, they quickly went past the helpful pre-race nerves and turned into one of my full anxiety breakdowns. I was feeling very nauseous and was really struggling to eat anything, far from ideal when the race was at 1315. At this point I didn’t really know what was in store for the rest of the day. 1200: Time to head back over to the race… 1310: We entered the water! We had 5 minutes to acclimatise before the gun went. As soon as I jumped into the water, I really struggled to catch my breath so for those 5 minutes I was trying to regulate myself and my breathing. I found the swim hard; I couldn’t get into a rhythm, but I just had to get it done. At about 600m there was a tunnel we had to swim through which was quite dark but spiced up the course a bit. Out the water and into transition, oh but wait, there was about a 600m run to get there – at least it was blue carpeted 😉 Onto the bike course which was extremely flat and fast. The first 5 minutes were all about finding my feet and forming a group (it was a draft legal race). I had only ever done one draft legal race before, so I didn’t know all the lingo like some of the other athletes, but I tried my best and learnt as we went on. All in all, we had a good group going. Halfway through the bike course, two groups combined, and we had a massive group of about 20-25 athletes. Unfortunately, this resulted in a crash in the final few kms. I could hear the crash behind me in the tunnel and there were quite a lot of ‘oh f**k’ around us. I just hope those girls are ok! ‘Ah shit I’ve lost a shoe’ – my words getting into transition. At dismount one of my shoes got stuck on the ground and fell off my pedal but I couldn’t stop so had to kick it out the way and keep going (I think I need to keep practising my flying dismounts as this had happened more than once now aha) I felt in a good position coming off the bike and wanted to see what I could give on the run. Coming into the run I knew I had put a lot in on the bike, but I was hoping my legs would have it in them for the run. I slowly chipped away at the girls in front of me, feeling strong until about 3km when I started to fade. I began to work with another few girls from Germany and Mexico. This not only helped me physically but also mentally. I found something in me to dig a bit deeper for the last km. My chest was on fire, and I knew I needed my inhaler asap, I knew that if I pushed too much harder, I would end up having an asthma attack and struggling to make it over the line. I overtook a few more girls to cross the line in 13th. I was proud of how I did but upon reflection I knew I could’ve placed top10 if I had a better swim and just knocked a few seconds off the run and the transitions, but it is always good to have aspirations for next time. The field was strong, and I was proud of all the GB girlies! 1430: IT’S ALL OVER!!! Wow, finishing the race didn’t feel real, I was exhausted by the endorphins were flowing for sure! I caught up with some of the GBR girls before heading over to my family and the FREE FOOD section aha. I had some of the snacks and a delicious Erdinger (my fave) before going to watch some of the men’s races and look at the triathlon expo. I trialed some of the compression recovery boots which now I really want, but they are so expensive!
The rest of the weekend we explored Hamburg and watched the elite races. It felt good to relax and enjoy where I was! Upon reflection over the last month, I have made a list of some of the things I want to work on before my next races.
Anyway, that’s the end of my brief race recap. There is so much more I could write about the whole experience but I did not want to make this an essay. Keep your eyes peeled for my next post – My city guide to Hamburg.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
RECIPES
RACE RECAPS TRAINING BESIDES RUNNING SELF CARE BACK TO SCHOOL OVERTRAINING THINGS I AM LOVING LATELY TRIATHLON NEW YEAR Month/year
August 2023
|