2014 Round up.

2014, Clearly my best year to date......

Proud and excited

I started the year knowing I had qualified for the European Sprint Duathlon championships in Horst, Holland, in April.  This was to be my 'A' race. Training became serious knowing I needed to be on top form.  I also booked a couple of sprint duathlons before this 'A' race as race prep.

Racing face at Oulton Park

 The first was Oulton Park Sprint Duathlon, where I finished 7th female, 3rd in age, qualifying me for the World Sprint Duathlon championships in Pontevedra, Spain, in June. What a great start to the year!










 A week later I did the Mumbles sprint duathlon where I was thrilled to finish 1st female. Both of these events were brilliantly organised and I would definitely do either of these races again.

Winning at the Mumbles

Celebrating post race, Horst, Holland

 I went to Horst feeling excited and up for the race. We had a brilliant weekend, I was so proud to be representing my country and thrilled to finish 3rd British woman in my age group, automatically qualifying me for next years Europeans! Wow, what just happened in my life? I suddenly realised that I wasn't too bad at this running and biking lark.







However, as well as being a du'er I also wanted to be a tri'er as apparently 3 is the magic number. I entered a few triathlons, both open water and pool based, but swimming is by far my weakest discipline. For some reason my coordination and confidence disappear when I'm face down in water. It also makes me feel very isolated within the race situation which I struggle to engage with. I tried swimming lessons, technique sessions etc, but continued to feel more and more frustrated as I didn't get any faster. It was also several more times per week that I had to wash my hair. I did have some success with age group tri, but I couldn't help thinking how much better and happier I was with the extra run instead of a swim.

I had the race of my life at Pontevedra in the World Sprint Duathlon age group championships. I was absolutely elated to win a Bronze medal! Wow, what just happened in my life? I suddenly realised that I wasn't too bad at this running and biking lark.

ABSOLUTELY ELATED at Pontevedra!

Confirming myEuropean placement finishing strong in the Althorp duathlon

 I continued the season competing in both duathlon and triathlon. However, after a few tri's I decided to have a go at standard distance duathlon after having made the decision to focus on being a duathlete. My first standard distance duathlon was Oulton park, where I raced well, and finished strong as 5th female overall, 2nd in age, qualifying me for the European standard distance duathlon championships in Alcobendas, Spain, April 2015. Hooray!! Just to prove to myself that this wasn't a fluke, I did a second qualifier 2 weeks later at Althorp estate where once again I raced well, achieving 2nd in age, 6th female overall...confirming to myself that I had earned my place for the GBR team in Spain. Wow, what just happened in my life? I started to believe that I wasn't too bad at this running and biking lark.

All of this racing and training requires a lot of fuelling for my needy body! I rely a lot on Soreen malt loaf for pre training energy snacks and those 'Hangry' moments! USN for  energy and hydration on the bike, and Cherry active for post workout/race muscle recovery.
So I now have to make a decision...the 2015 sprint and standard distance European championships are both to be held at the same venue on the same day.......sprint, or standard? Decisions decisions..

Representing Great Britain has been incredible. What a feeling. After having experienced it twice this year all I know is that I want to do it again, and again. I intend to be at the Europeans next year, the Worlds unfortunately are out of my reach literally. Even though I have pre qualified for the sprint distance, alas, they are being held in Adelaide, Australia. The budget doesn't go near!!

Smiling post fall, not realising how long recovery was going to take

Unfortunately, 2014 did not all go completely smooth. In July I took the mother of all running falls on the Malvern hills. Six stitches in my elbow and a nasty infection which took me the best part of 6 weeks to recover from. Training was put on hold and I was climbing the walls ... Virtually..... obviously.



 I have to say that there is no way I would have succeeded in my 2014 races if it wasn't for the massive amount of love, help and support I get from my partner Ron, who also happens to be my bike mechanic, bike cleaner,  route planner and cycling buddie. I also receive a huge amount of help from Neill, who structures my training and keeps my body in good working order by way of sports massage. One of the companies I work for, Malvern Spa, kindly paid for me to fly my bike out to Spain for the world championships, and  a huge THANK YOU goes out to Viv Nelson and John Mortimer of Nelson training who very kindly gave me a generous amount of sponsorship money enabling me to go to the World championships. I had the time of my life and was so proud to win that Bronze medal.

The year has come to a close and last week was the Malvern triathlon club Christmas meal and awards evening. I was so honoured and happy to receive an award for 'Performance of the year' for my Bronze medal at the World championships. It was lovely to know that club members recognised my acheivment and had voted for me.  I received a certificate and a voucher to Echelon cycles of Pershore. Thank you so much Malvern Tri Club :-) rounding off my year nicely.
2014 is going to be tough to match, but trust me, I am going to give it my best and have a go! Let training commence :-)



2014 stats:
Oulton Park Sprint Duathlon                                                    7th Female, 3rd in age
The Mumbles Sprint Duathlon                                                 1st female
European Sprint Duathlon Championships, Horst, Holland:   5th in age, 3rd British female.
Lydney First Triathlon (pool,sprint):                                        1st female
Grendon Sprint Triathlon (open water):                                   20th female, 2nd in age.
World Sprint Duathlon championships, Pontevedra, Spain:    Bronze medalist.
Southport Marine Lake sprint triathlon (open water):              26th female, 3rd in age
Bourton sprint triathlon (pool):                                                1st female
Upton upon Severn sprint triathlon (open water):                   2nd female, first in age.
Oulton Park standard distance duathlon:                                 5th female, 2nd in age
Althorp House standard distance duathlon:                             6th female, 2nd in age.