Finally my MSc assignment is all finished, albeit half of the allotted word count, and now i can turn my attention to Turkey! My stuff is laid out all over the place ready to be packed, the bike is safely tucked away in the bike box & now i'm going to enjoy a quiet evening on the sofa before i pack it all up tomorrow and head to the airport for an overnight hotel stop.
The last couple of weeks training has been good, hard but short sharp sessions during the week and then a longer bike/run sess on saturday mornings. This week has been sharp and intense but for now the hard work is done and it's rest time before i put it all together for race day. Thankfully the weather has been good here the past couple of weeks, so i've had some hot training sessions to try and help acclimatise. I'm not sun-seeker so i have my kindle fully stocked of triathlon & cycling autobiographies and my mother has bought me the Brownlee's brand new book :) it'll be nice to have time to read as lately when i've taken time off it's been to train!
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| GB trisuit - fits like a glove |
Tried the GB trisuit out in last week's aquathlon with the 'K squad' and it felt great to swim and run in. Swimming recently has been good, felt strong and fast when doing speed work, just wish i could sustain a higher pace through a longer distance. I have no grand ambitions of ever being a good swimmer, and i know i lose a lot of time to the better triathletes because their swimming is that much better than mine, but all i can do is control my own performance and as long as i'm happy with it then that's all that matters. I'm in this sport because i enjoy pushing myself, i enjoy the buzz from a hard training sess, or the feeling of finishing a race having given it your all. I know i'm lucky to have gotten to the Euro Champs, through the roll down process and i'm under no illusions that i'll be anything other than left for dust by most out there in Turkey, but it's up to me to do the best that i can, to enjoy the experience, and to come away a better triathlete because of it.
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| Bit of bike bling ;) why not huh?! |
Biking recently has been going well, been trying a few things out technique wise to try and optimise speed and power, without burning legs out (like i did on this week's TT when i clocked a new PB by 90 seconds), and also trying to manage knee pain which comes on acutely when pushing too hard at a slow cadence (so especially in winds). I'm still learning, i'm still relatively new to this game, Turkey will only be my 8th triathlon and only my 3rd olympic distance race, so it's about building and developing and learning all the time. Maybe next year i'll be that much better from having that many more miles in my legs on the bike, from having a whole year under coach Rose's guidance, and also from refining things as i find what works, and what doesn't work in terms of technique, nutrition, gear, etc.
Having had my MSc assignment hanging over me has meant i haven't spent much time thinking about Turkey, but i am now determined the enjoy the experience and i'm already looking forward to the post-race party because the journey out there so far has already been a challenge so i'm sure some stories will be shared over a few pints with my fellow team GB teammates once the races are run. I'll have internet access out in Alanya so i'm hoping to update my blog about my experiences out there...good luck to all in their races which are coming thick and fast now we're well into race season and i hope this weather stays for the whole summer :)
