St. Wendel, Germany.
21st May 2017.
Run 10k, cycle 60k, run 10k
Its a long one but I need to get this one off my chest, draw a line under it and move on.
Build up
This was to be my spring A race. I had pre qualified for this race after winning a bronze medal at the same distance championships in Copenhagen last year.
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| Run and bike course profiles. |
I followed a strict training schedule from Christmas. Once I found out that the course was going to be very hilly, for both runs and the bike, training was structured around that. It all went very well. I progressed with both my running and cycling. I became stronger on local bike climbs, of all gradients and length, and ran on the Malvern hills weekly, increasing pace and distance. Four weeks before St Wendel I raced Storm the Castle duathlon in Ludlow. Advertised as the 'UKs toughest duathlon!' It was tough, they were right, very hilly. I raced well and was 3rd female overall. This gave me a huge amount of confidence one month before my A race. I had lost a few pounds of weight (fat), had a last minute position change for the TT bike and was feeling more aerodynamic, fit, lean and ready.
The journey there
When the Germans shut motorways, divert you off, but then don't tell you how to get back on....several times, and you have no sat nav....yes, that.
Accomodation and the couple of days before the race
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| Not a poo bag or MacDonald wrapper in sight |
There was a perfectly tarmaced cycle path all the way to from our village to St Wendel..perfect for pre race day easy runs/bikes. The weather was very very wet for the few days prior to the race.
On Friday we drove the bike course and walked the run course. I was excited as the whole course was right up my street, everything I like about running and riding (hills, hills and hills) and none of it daunted me.
That night I cooked dinner. Prawns.
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| Bike recce, photo credit to Nicola Nobles selfie |
I went on the bike recce with our team manager Baron and some of the other GBR athletes and I made a point of drinking plenty of electrolytes for the rest of the day but didn't really have an appetite until late at night and ate late, after the team briefing which didn't start until 7pm.
Race Day.
I woke early Sunday and was as usual, nervcited. I'd got everything ready the night before when I knew I would have a clearer head. This included making up sandwiches for post race refuelling and putting my timing chip in a safe place where I wouldn't forget it. We'd racked our bikes the afternoon before, but were allowed into transition in the morning to check tyre pressures and add water bottles etc. So, I'm pretty relaxed as I know everything is sorted and I didn't need to rush. That was until I suddenly panicked as I hadn't checked what time transition closed on race day morning !!! It was now 7.50am and we hadn't put everything in the car ! Luckily I found the piece of paper I had it written down on and to my relief it didn't close until 8.30am. The next half hour was a bit of a blur. We managed to park close to race HQ and I ran in with my bag which had in it my helmet, water bottle, gels, cycle shoes etc. Luckily I had ran through bike/run in and out the night before so could focus on getting my transition area ready. Wheres my timing chip? Wheres my timing chip? I put it in my helmet so I wouldn't forget it. It wasn't there. I told Barron and Ron and thought I was going to have to go DataSport in the sports hall to try to sort something out. I continued to panic also carried on getting my area ready. I was about to walk away, still panicking,when I realised I hadn't put my cycle shoes out ! Doh! Cycle shoes out of the bag...timing chip inside one of my shoes........As you were.
This was my 7th international representing GBR....WTF was I doing ? #rookie
Team mate Kate 'up the old birds' Morris was setting up near by. We had a pre race hug and photo and I showed here the hole that had appeared in my GB tri suit that morning #bonding.
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| Where's Gill Fullen?! |
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| And they're off. |
Two laps of a very hilly course totaling just over 10kms. Multi terrain too, very pretty in places but pretty concrete in others. It was potentially leg sapping from the start.One of the hills had a 10% gradient. But all was good, I prefer a hilly race to a flat race. Kate was off and ahead of me from the start, this was no surprise as she was favourite to win our age group. Other than that there were 2 German women in our AG. Claudia Hille, who is a coach and ex Ironman elite athlete with several Kona appearances amongst other achievements under her tri suit, and AN Other German who's name I couldn't remember on the morning. I finished the run just ahead of Claudia but had no idea where the other woman was.
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| Showing Claudia Hille the way ! |
T1
As practiced, no issues.
Bike course
Originally I heard that the roads were to be closed to traffic. Then we were told that traffic would be flowing in just one direction...the same direction as us, but on race day none of the roads were closed and there was 2 way traffic all around the course.
The course went up from transistion, immediately followed by a fast descent into town, followed by a short sharp uphill, not long after that the first long climb starts...Its a pretty long drag, about 1.3 miles of climbing, the descent is long and fast. Then there was a couple of punchy little uphills and a tricky 'chicaney' bit through a small village, another fast stretch followed by the second climb uphill (taking us back into St Wendel) of about 1 mile. Each lap of just over 13 miles had over 1000 ft of climbing.
Lap 1
I was on my bike and away. The new position felt good and the first climb brought no problems...the descent however was a different storty. I dropped onto the bars ready to fly when I was struck with excruciating calf cramp on the right leg. I free wheeled and tried desperately to rub my calf and stretch it out whilst on the move. It was so painful but most of all it was psychologically a nightmare. I haven't suffered with cramp for years, not since I was running marathons. Why was I getting it now? Was this going to be race over so soon. PLEASE NO! I had 500ml of electrolyte drink in the reservoir of my TT bike, I gulped loads of this and then sipped at it through the rest of the lap. The calf kept twitching and threatening but didn't spasm again.
Lap 2 and 3
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| Heading towards the dismount line |
I had pulled well away from Claudia Hille but still did not know where the AN Other was. I had a great race with 2 German women, I was guessing one of them was the fourth 50 plusser. I raced hard into transition and was not going to give anything away.
I wanted that silver medal.
I raced right up to the transition line and on this occasion had decided not to do a flying dismount as I was worried about cramping. So I uncleated one foot as I approached the line, and CRAMPED! Proper spasm...fell off..gravel rashed my shoulder and knee, calf still spasming the marshals were great and lifted my bike off me and made sure I was ok and didn't need medical assistance before I carried on. I was aware of cyclists I'd overtaken whizzing past me as I sat on the floor. Tail between my legs, head hanging low I hobbled through transition miserably, racked my bike and set off slowly on the run sore and deflated.
Run 2.
Very early on I saw Ron, I told him what had happened. He told me how much lead I had on Claudia ! Great, she was still behind, but was I in second or third position at that moment? |
| Disappointed |
I crossed the line knowing I hadn't got the result that I had set my heart on. However,at this point I think I've got bronze. I finished 1 minute 45 seconds behind Claudia Hille.
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| Close, but no cigar. |
Immediately post race
As always Ron was there for me. So too was Kate, who'd had a storming race and easily taken the gold for us. She told me it was ok to have a little cry over my disappointment and then proceeded to put her arm around me onto my bad shoulder!
Leslie from Tri247 took this picture and told us that she'd just heard the news that our team mate Gill Fullen had just won the Outlaw half. First female! We were thrilled to bits for her.
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| As you can see Mozza is already on the gin :) |
Medal ceremony
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| Hob nobbing with Emma |
Powerman events are unique whereby the elites share the age groupers medal ceremony. Emma Pooley spent some time chatting with us telling us about her race (she won easily), her new bike and her future race plans,
Ron quickly checked the results table before the ceremony started, good news, I had got bronze, bad news, AN Other German was a DNS !
However, I felt much better when I looked at the overall results for all age groups, men and women, and was really pleased with my performance and overall postition. I was really disappointed at the time but soon realised that actually I had had a good race, performed well even with the unfortunate cramping and gravel rash, and just happened to be up against 2 very high ranking athletes in my age category.
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| All smiles on the podium with Kate and Claudia |
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| Matt, Dr H, Kate, Nicola, Kirsty |
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| When in Rome... |
Later that night we headed back into town to celebrate with some of the other GB athletes. The atmosphere was great, it was a fab team. Very supportive of each other, we'd been through a brutal race together and all had stories to tell.
On reflection
A great race, brutal course that caught a few out. Believe in yourself, its right to be upset if things don't go to plan: get patched up, have a little cry, a large beer, a few group hugs from team mates and everything is ok again. Team camaraderie really was top notch this time. Loads of support and laughs.
Thanks to Ron, for as always, helping with race prep, being the best supporter and picking up the pieces. Neill for all his help through my training. Barron Mendelssohn for once again being a fab team manager and describing the course as one of the most brutal he's been to! Kate, Dr H, Kirsty and Matt and Nicola for cheering me up in the evening. Along with the rest of the GBR team throughout the weekend.
